Urban Sales boards 'The French Teacher' ahead of San Sebastián premiere
Urban Sales has boarded Ricardo Alves Jr.'s The French Teacher ahead of its world premiere, taking on the film for international sales alongside Les Valseurs Distribution, according to Variety.
The deal was reported on 22 September, just before the film's first public screening. That screening will take place in Horizontes Latinos, the San Sebastián International Film Festival's showcase for Latin American cinema, as listed by the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
International sales means selling a film's distribution rights territory by territory. Here the work will be shared. Urban Sales and Les Valseurs Distribution will jointly handle sales under a co-representation partnership, Variety reported.
Grace Passô stars as Graça, the teacher of the title. The title tells you who she is. She lives in Belo Horizonte, according to the festival's programme notes, a city that is also the director's birthplace.
The supporting cast includes Jehnny Beth, Bárbara Colen, Rodger Rogério and Elisa Lucinda, Variety reported. Pedro Goifman plays Tomás, described as a charismatic religious leader.
Behind the camera, the script is by Germano Melo from an original story by Alves Jr. It is the Brazilian director's fourth feature, and he was born in Belo Horizonte in 1982, according to the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The film is produced by EntreFilmes with Les Valseurs and Karõ Filmes, as a co-production across Brazil, France and Portugal.
For festival watchers, the practical details are simple. The film's original title is A Professora de Francês and its runtime is 96 minutes, the festival lists. What makes this stand out is the timing. A sales deal closed before a premiere gives buyers a clear signal about where to find the film in San Sebastián, and gives the production team two sales teams working the market at once.
