MK2 Films has acquired a collection of films and TV series directed by Bruno Dumont, the award-winning French director behind “Life of Jesus,” “Slack Bay” and “Humanity.”
The acquisition, unveiled during Mipcom Cannes, covers the bulk of the director’s work, spanning eight films and TV series including “Li’l Quinquin,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. MK2 Films will represent rights to these titles in France and international markets.
“Bruno Dumont is, of course, a major figure of contemporary cinema,” said Nathanaël Karmitz, MK2’s chairman of the executive board. Karmitz praised Dumont for the “originality of his unusual, unpredictable [films], veering from gravitas to some unnerving, comedic tangents.” He continued, “Iconoclastic and consistently courageous in its form, his work perfectly represents the free and ambitious cinema that we are proud to promote.”
The films from Dumont’s collection have been acquired from 3B Productions, represented by Muriel Merlin and Rachid Bouchareb.
Firmly rooted in the North of France, Dumont’s films have been presented at many international festivals where they have won prizes. “Life of Jesus” was selected at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, where it obtained the special mention for Caméra d’Or. “Humanity” received the grand jury prize and two awards for its two non-professional actors at Cannes in 1999.
The road movie “Twentynine Palms” was selected in competition at Venice in 2003. Dumont again won the grand jury prize at Cannes in 2006 for “Flanders.” “Hadewijch” won the FIPRESCI Prize in Toronto in 2009. “Outside Satan” played at Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2011 and his latest film “France,” a satire starring Lea Seydoux, competed at Cannes in 2021.
Dumont’s collection joins MK2 Films’s sprawling library of movies by iconic directors, including Charlie Chaplin, François Truffaut, David Lynch, Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, Abbas Kiarostami, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Buster Keaton, Claude Chabrol, Michael Haneke, Stan Laurel and the RKO collection.
MK2 Films previously acquired films by Jacques Rozier, including a restored version of “Adieu Philippine” and “Du Côté d’Orouët,” informally known in English as “The Beaches of Orouet.” The company is also representing “Moving” by Shinji Somai, which won the prize for best restoration at Venice Film Festival.