Kino Lorber has bought all North American distribution rights to Jean-Luc Godard’s final short film “Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars.” The 20-minute short played at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and will next screen at Toronto and New York film festivals.
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical roll out for the title this fall, followed by a run at New York’s Film Forum in December, alongside Cyril Leuthy’s documentary “Godard Cinema.”
“Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars” was meant to be a feature film project but Godard died a year ago, at the age of 93, before finishing it. Godard had envisioned a complex mixed-media collage of history, politics and cinema through ideas, references and visuals.
Kino Lorber’s library already boasts several iconic films by Godard, including New Wave classics “A Married Woman,” “Alphaville,” and “La Chinoise,” as well as his final three feature films “Film Socialisme,” “Goodbye to Language” and “The Image Book.”
Alongside Godard’s final film, Kino Lorber has also acquired North American rights to Cyril Leuthy’s “Godard Cinema,” a documentary spanning the years from Godard’s 1960 breakthrough with “Breathless” to his late magnum opus “Histoire(s) du cinéma.” Produced by Cathy Palumbo and Victor Robert, the docu weaves iconic scenes from his films, alongside interviews with his many collaborators, friends and critics. “Godard Cinema” will screen with “Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars” at Film Forum and theaters throughout the U.S.
The deal for “Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars” was negotiated by Kino Lorber Senior Vice President Wendy Lidell and Eva Diederix of Goodfellas. The deal for “Godard Cinema” was negotiated by Lidell with Arianna Castoldi and Arnaud Chevallier of Mediawan.
“Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars” was written by Godard in collaboration with Jean-Paul Battaggia, Fabrice Aragno and Nicole Brenez. Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent produced it with Gary Farkas, Olivier Muller, and Clément Lepoutre for Vixens, and L’Atelier as co-producers.