Many French-speaking Belgian films selected in São Paulo!
"Listen to the Voices", "Life's a Bitch", and "Maldoror" are part of the 2024 SPIFF program!
The São Paulo International Film Festival has three main sections: the Competition (for new directors presenting their first or second film), International Perspectives, and Special Screenings. Each year, the audience is invited to present their award. Over two weeks, nearly 300 films are shown across 22 cultural venues—cinemas, museums, and more—throughout the city.
For its 48th edition, the festival selected Listen to the Voices by Maxime Jean-Baptiste in the New Directors Competition. Developed within the SoundImagesCulture (SIC) program, the film is produced by Twenty Nine Studio & Production, co-produced by Atelier Graphoui, and sold internationally by MoreThan Films. This debut feature by Maxime Jean-Baptiste had its world premiere at Locarno 2024, where it won two awards, and was recently selected for competition at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Melrick is a troubled young boy spending his summer in Guyana with his grandmother to escape his tumultuous daily life in Stains, France. At the end of his stay, he plays the drum to honor the memory of his late uncle, Lucas Diomar, who died under tragic circumstances. Despite a wave of murders of young men shaking the news, Melrick becomes aware of his place in a family shattered by an irreparable loss.
Life’s a Bitch by Xavier Seron is also selected in the New Directors Competition at SPIFF 2024. The film won an award this weekend at the 2024 Festival du Nouveau Cinéma and will soon have its U.S. premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival. It is produced by Hélicotronc and sold internationally by Be For Films.
To please Cécile, Tom agrees to adopt her dead neighbor’s Chihuahua. The only problem with this apparently harmless animal is that it has seemingly pushed its owner to suicide and now wants its new owner’s hide too!
Actress and muse for a famous perfume brand, Greta is crushed. Her dog and her assistant both died, run over by a bus. In a dry cleaning shop, Greta meets Charlotte and asks her to replace her assistant... unless she meant her dog!
For Franck and Lola it was love at first sight. They have so much in common, except one thing: Lola doesn’t like dogs. Franck has to choose between his new love and Perdita, his best friend and the very best dog that ever was. Love and friendship aren’t always compatible.
Three intertwined destinies – three stories of humans and their dogs.
Finally, Maldoror by Fabrice Du Welz, produced by Frakas Productions and sold internationally by WTFilms, is selected in the International Perspective section of the festival. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and was also selected for the 2024 BFI London Film Festival.
Brussels, today. Armande Pigeon is the queen of the shenanigans. In Brussels, she struggles to make ends meet because she can’t stop gambling on everything, always ending up on the wrong side of luck. When she teams up with Ronnie one night, everything changes – they win it all. And when you hit a winning streak, you have to know when to stop.
Let’s also highlight the presence of numerous selected French-speaking Belgian co-productions: Julie Keeps Quiet by Leonardo Van Dijl (Les Films du Fleuve, New Directors Competition), Marching in the Dark (Clin d’Oeil Films, New Directors Competition), Red Path by Lotfi Achour (Versus Production, New Directors Competition), Vermiglio by Maura Delpero (Versus Production, International Perspective), The Flats by Alessandra Celesia (Thank You & Good Night, International Perspective), The Damned by Roberto Minervini (Michigan Films, International Perspective), and Else by Thibault Emin (Wrong Men, New Directors Competition).
The festival takes place in São Paulo from October 19 to November 1, 2024.
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