Iain Glen, Ser Jorah Mormont in Game of Thronesis lively as ever as a family man who experiences the turbulent beginning of the First World War in The last front by Belgian filmmaker Julien Hayet-Kerknawi, the first release from his new indie label Enigma. It will be shown in 250 cinemas.
Metrograph Pictures is here with Goodshis first title since expanding to theatrical release under the helm of former A24 exec David Laub. India Donaldson’s debut feature has great reviews (96%) on Rotten Tomatoes and is opening in limited release on three screens in New York and LA.
The cinema market is currently quite complicated and independent original films have fewer champions. These new independent distributors – and there are others – see the promotion of these films as a necessity and a business model.
“If these films are really good, there will still be a big audience,” Laub tells Deadline.
He and his team have been busy and have won seven titles this year, six of which were announced, including Santosh, Gaffer And The Kingdom from Cannes, The Black Sea from SXSW and the Berlinale Meanwhile on Earth.
“They’re all films that we care deeply about and that we believe can succeed with the right campaign and release strategy and if they’re presented to the right people,” says Laub. “If these films are really good, there’s still a big audience for them.”
Goods World premiere at Sundance in the US Narrative Competition and with newcomer Lily Collias alongside James Le Gros (Show up, Drugstore Cowboy) and Danny McCarthy (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, HBOs Someone, somewhere). The film was written and directed by Donaldson, who also served as producer.
Collias is 17-year-old Sam, who goes backpacking in the Catskills with her father and his oldest friend. As a slightly quarrelsome brotherly dynamic develops between the two men and old grudges are aired, Sam, very wise for her age, tries to mediate. But when boundaries are crossed and her trust is betrayed, tensions reach a boiling point. Sam struggles with her father’s emotional boundaries and experiences the universal moment when the parental bond is tested.
“It’s a remarkable debut for a new filmmaker, not flashy but extremely confident and well-made,” says Laub, calling it “a personal, intimate film that manages to say a lot about many larger ideas and themes.”
The last frontwas released at Regals, AMCs and Cinemarks as well as in arthouse theaters, making it the largest live-action premiere of a Belgian film in the United States. Lucas Dhont’s Oscar-nominated Close was close to it.
Director Hayet-Kerknawi won over the major chains by promising to “launch a pretty intense social media campaign and really focus on getting the word out about the film,” he tells Deadline. He also booked 90 outdoor billboards this week.
The film is being positioned as a clever action thriller and “I stressed that (Iain) Glen is such a legend that he would resonate with American audiences and it might be worth a try.” He hopes enough tickets will be sold to keep the film running for “several weeks.”
Enigma’s mission is to bring European indie films to the US, although most will be in English, like The last frontor in Spanish, or both, Hayet-Kerknawi said.
Glen plays patriarch Leonard Lambert, a devoted husband and father who fights to protect his family in the chaos of war as German troops advance on their village. Also starring: James Downie, Sasha Luss, Joe Anderson, Emma Dupont, David Calder and Julian Kostove.
Written by Hayet-Kerknawi and Kate Wood.
Other limited releases: Gabriel Byrne plays the legendary Irish writer Samuel Beckett in the film biography Dance first by Magnolia Pictures, is playing in 20 cinemas. The film by British director James March was the closing film of the San Sebastian Film Festival. With French actress Sandrine Bonnaire in the role of Beckett’s wife. The title is named after Beckett’s famous ethos “First dance, then think” and is a comprehensive portrayal of the literary icon, resistance fighter, bon vivant and recluse who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.
MORE to come…
