TIFF 2011 Buyer’s Club: #12. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Chicken with Plums

#12. Chicken with Plums 
The Gist: A live-action adaptation of the graphic novel, set in Tehran 1958 – Nasser Ali Khan, the most celebrated violin player, has his beloved instrument broken. Unable to find another to replace it, life without music seems intolerable. He stays in bed and slips further and further into his reveries from his youth to his own children’s futures.

Directors: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (Persepolis)
Sales Agent: Celluloid Dreams
Selling Point/Suited For: While their first film was easily “translatable” (it helps when you make a popular animated film), in the currently unfriendly market, subtitled foreign films are definitely not priority. I’m hedging my bet on this one saying that it might just get picked up in Venice before it sets foot in Toronto. It’s got that je-ne-sais-quoi like quality, and sure it’s more bleak than hopeful but it reminds of the charm that a film like Amelie has. Recognizable stars in Mathieu Amalric, Chiara Mastroianni and Isabella Rossellini should help with U.S domestic audiences, but its the visually imaginative and emotionally full narrative that might help things along.