A late entry in the Palme d’Or race and a surprise Jury Prize winner (tied with Eo) at the last Cannes edition, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch have found a North American taker in Sideshow & Janus Films for their first co-directing collab in The Eight Mountains. With Toronto, Telluride and possibly NYFF in the cards, Sideshow and Janus Films are looking towards the end of 2022 for a theatrical release. In a normal year, the film would be Belgium’s Oscar race contender, but not even the Dardennes have a shot with Lukas Dhont’s Close in the driver’s seat.
THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS is the story of a friendship. Of children becoming men who try to erase the footprints of their fathers, but who, through the twists and turns they take, always end up returning home. Pietro is a boy from the city, Bruno is the last child of a forgotten mountain village. Over the years Bruno remains faithful to his mountain, while Pietro is the one who comes and goes. Their encounters introduce them to love and loss, reminding them of their origins, letting their destinies unfold, as Pietro and Bruno discover what it means to be true friends for life.
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
