Leonor Serraille‘s “Ari,” one of the most anticipated European films slated to world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, has been boarded by Pamela Leu’s Be For Films.
“Ari” marks Serraille’s follow up to “Mother and Son” (“Un petit frere”) which competed at Cannes in 2022. Her feature debut, “Jeune Femme,” won the Golden Camera at Cannes in 2017.
Be For Films will kick off sales on the film at the European Film Market running alongside the Berlinale.
Serraille’s third feature, “Ari” revolves around a 27-year-old student teacher who collapses right in the middle of a school inspector’s visit. “Angry with him for being a failure, his father kicks him out of the house. Emotionally raw, and alone in the city, Ari reluctantly forces himself to rekindle his relationships with old friends. As his memories of the previous months successively ebb and flow, Ari discovers that other people aren’t doing as well as he imagined, and that perhaps he has been sleepwalking through his own life,” the synopsis reads.
It’s interesting to note that Serraille’s previous two movies were headlined by female protagonists, while “Ari” will explore a man’s perspective and life journey. The film srars Andranic Manet, Pascal Reneric, Théo Delezenne, Ryad Ferrad, Eva Lallier Juan, Lomane de Dietrich, Mikaël-Don Giancarli and Clémence Coullon.
“Very happy to come to the Berlinale to present ‘Ari’ with its lead actor Andranic Manet and his co-actors,” Serraille said, “as it is a film that was crafted with their essence, their words, their vibrations, their energy, and they have brought something of their generation to it.”
Leu, who founded the Brussels-based company Be For Films, said “collaborating with Léonor Serraille again has been something we’ve eagerly anticipated since the acclaim of ’Jeune Femme.’”
“Her latest film reaffirms her unique voice in contemporary cinema. We’re excited to present it to international audiences,” Leu said.
“Ari” is produced by Sandra da Fonseca and Grégoire Debailly. Production companies are Geka Films (“Shéhérazade”) and Blue Monday Productions (“Mother and Son”).
