Yahoo Lifestyle AFM Buzz Titles: Indie Action Movies, Period Dramas and Genre Thrills Look to Lure Buyers at 2024 Market
The American Film Market, which runs Nov. 5 – 10, kicks off in new digs as the event relocates from its long-standing base in Santa Monica to the bright lights of Las Vegas. The move will see hundreds of exhibitors setting up shop in the Palms Casino Resort, which will also play host to the AFM’s conference series, the AFM Sessions, as well as industry screenings inside the resort’s 14-screen multiplex, the Brenden Theatres.
More than 285 companies and organizations from 80 countries are exhibiting at this year’s AFM, with the event’s organizers announcing that exhibition space in the Palms Casino Resort has sold out. Countries including China, France, Germany, Italy, Romania and Thailand will host dedicated umbrella stands showcasing national companies and producers, and a total of 34 countries will be represented by international trade organizations, film commissions and national delegations.
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Here are some of the buzziest films at AFM 2024:
About a Hero
Director: Piotr Winiewicz
Producers: Mads Damsbo, Rikke Tambo, Sam Pressman
An adaptation of a script co-written by an AI trained on Werner Herzog’s body of work — with his permission — the film is a fictional narrative interlaced with interviews with artists, philosophers and scientists reflecting on the notion of originality, authenticity, immortality and soul in the age of AI.
Sales: Film Constellation
Assassination
Director: Barry Levinson
Producers: Corey Large, Jason Sosnoff
Key cast: Jessica Chastain, Brendan Fraser, Bryan Cranston, Al Pacino
Offering a new take on the JFK conspiracy, the film follows Dorothy Kilgallen — one of the most famous media voices of her era — who suspects that Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t act alone in the assassination plot and uses her fame and influence to find the real killer.
Sales: Concord Studios
By Any Means
Director: Elegance Bratton
Producers: Alex Lebovici, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chester Algernal Gordon, Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg
Key cast: Mark Wahlberg, Sterling K. Brown
Based on the incredible true story of the notorious mafia hitman who was hired by Hoover’s FBI off-the-books and partnered with a young Black special agent to hunt down those responsible for the murders of civil rights leaders in Mississippi in 1966.
Sales: North.Five.Six. (international); WME Independent, CAA Media Finance (U.S.)
Cliffhanger
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Producers: Lars Sylvest, Joe Neurauter, Thorsten Schumacher, Neal Moritz, Toby Jaffe
Key cast: Lily James, Pierce Brosnan
The reboot of Sylvester Stallone’s action classic stars Brosnan as a seasoned mountaineer who operates a luxury chalet alongside his daughter Sydney in the Dolomites, where they’re targeted by a gang of kidnappers. His daughter Naomi, who witnesses the attack and escapes, must confront her fears and fight for survival in order to save the family.
Sales: Rocket Science (international); CAA Media Finance (North America and China)
Father, Mother, Sister, Brother
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Producers: Charles Gillibert, Joshua Astrachan, Carter Logan, Attila Yücer
Key cast: Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore, Luka Sabbat
Estranged siblings reunite after years apart and are forced to confront unresolved tensions and reevaluate their strained relationships with their emotionally distant parents.
Sales: The Match Factory (international); Gersh (U.S.)
Glenrothan (pictured, top)
Director: Brian Cox
Producers: Brian Cox, Neil Zeiger, Crystine Zhang, Phin Glynn, Nic Crum, James Cabourne, Vladimir Zemtsov
Key cast: Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Shirley Henderson, Alexandra Shipp
After 35 years in Chicago, Donal reluctantly returns to the Scottish Highlands to make amends with his estranged older brother, Sandy, who wants him to take over the family’s whisky distillery or else risk giving up on the family’s legacy. But their reunion forces the brothers to confront the past and the real reason Donal left Glenrothan.
Sales: Protagonist Pictures
Hammer Down
Director: Simon Hatt
Producers: Charles Roven, Madison Weireter, Idris Elba, Gina Carter
Key cast: Idris Elba
When a big-rig truck driver takes his tenacious teenage daughter along for a job, they’re tracked and attacked by a relentless group of criminals that will stop at nothing to secure the consignment he’s been entrusted to deliver. Pursued by merciless killers and with the police hot on their trail, they must work together to prevent the cargo falling into dangerous hands and survive to live another day.
Sales: Black Bear (international)
The Hole
Director: Kim Jee-woon
Key cast: Theo James
Producers: Sam Esmail, Chad Hamilton, Nick Krishnamurthy, Kimberly Steward, Alex Foster, Andy Sorgie, Jay Choi, Jee-woon
The film follows a successful professor living abroad in South Korea, who’s bedridden after a devastating car accident that killed his wife. Left under the care of his Korean mother-in-law, his road to recovery is threatened when she starts to unravel the devastating truth behind their marriage.
Sales: The Veterans (international); CAA Media Finance, UTA Independent Film Group (U.S.)
The Housekeeper
Director: Richard Eyre
Producers: Julia Taylor-Stanley, Kevin Loader
Key cast: Uma Thurman, Anthony Hopkins, Phoebe Dynevor
A period drama of forbidden love that follows a housekeeper at a stately manor who falls prey to a young and beautiful visitor, the novelist Daphne du Maurier, who’s writing her haunting masterpiece, “Rebecca.”
Sales: Embankment Films (international); Embankment Films, CAA Media Finance (U.S.)
The Journeyman
Director: Tarsem Singh
Producers: Scott Franklin, Dev Patel, Stuart Ford, Mason Eways
Key cast: Dev Patel
The story of a struggling pro tennis player who’s lured into an illegal match-fixing ring to support his family and finds himself trapped in a ruthless world of corruption and violence he may never escape.
Sales: AGC Intl. (international); CAA Media Finance, AGC (U.S.)
Late Shift
Director: Petra Volpe
Producers: Lukas Hobi, Reto Schaerli
Key cast: Leonie Benesch
A dedicated nurse navigates the relentless pace on a surgical ward with unwavering dedication, infusing humanity and warmth into her patient care even though the hospital is understaffed. As the day intensifies, her shift transforms into a gripping race against time.
Sales: TrustNordisk
Let It Rain
Director: Hannes Holm
Producer: Patrick Ryborn
Key cast: Robert Gustafsson, Jonas Karlsson, Karin Lithman, Emelia Sallhag
The latest from the two-time Oscar-nominated director is set in a small Swedish town during the hottest and driest summer in living memory, where a grumpy widower unexpectedly becomes the center of an event that could transform his life, the village and possibly the world.
Sales: Beta Film
The Light Fantastic
Director: Chris Cottam
Producer: Debbie Gray
Key cast: Jeremy Irvine, Rupert Everett, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Layton Williams
The based-on-a-true-story ballroom dancing comedy from the BAFTA TV Award-winning director follows a thirty-something gay firefighter who dreams of becoming a professional ballroom dancer, battling the culture’s rigid traditions while embarking on a journey of self-discovery.
Sales: Cornerstone
Los Tigres
Director: Alberto Rodríguez
Producers: Movistar Plus+, Kowalski Films and Feelgood
Key cast: Antonio de la Torre, Barbara Lennie
The latest from the Goya Award winner tells the story of an industrial diver who, after years spent handling the upkeep of submerged pipelines, begins to sense that his time is past. Forced to reconnect with his sister and adapt to a land-based life, his life is wrenched apart when the duo discovers a cocaine stash in the hull of an anchored ship.
Sales: Film Factory
Misty Green
Director: Chris Rock
Producers: Chris Rock, Peter Rice, James Lopez, Tommy Oliver
Key cast: Chris Rock
The film follows Misty, an undeniably talented actress whose vices have derailed every attempt to revitalize her career. Her best opportunity in ages arrives in the form of a director with the perfect role for her — if it weren’t for their contentious past.
Sales: Neon (international); CAA Media Finance (U.S.)
Nessie Junior
Producers: Matthias Drescher, Ulrich Schwarz
A high-end CGI-animated movie based on the tale of the Loch Ness Monster that follows a local fisherman who runs a tourist show on the banks of the famous lake, where he claims to have been attacked by the creature. His teenage daughter doesn’t believe his stories, nor does she believe in any of the myths of Loch Ness — until she meets an actual, young Nessie named Fin.
Sales: Epsilon Film
Never Alone
Director: Klaus Härö
Producer: Ilkka Matila
Key cast: Ville Virtanen, Nina Hukkinen, Rony Herman
A gripping story based on actual events from the Oscar-shortlisted filmmaker that follows a group of Jewish refugees seeking safety in Finland during WWII. As Nazi influence grows, a Jewish leader must risk everything to protect his community, presenting a profile in courage, resilience and the fight for hope amidst overwhelming adversity.
Sales: The Playmaker
Paper Tiger
Director: James Gray
Producers: Raffaella Leone, Rodrigo Teixeira
Key cast: Adam Driver, Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway
A tense and gritty story about two brothers who pursue the American Dream — only to become entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true. As they try to navigate their way through an ever-more dangerous world of corruption and violence, their bond begins to fray, and betrayal — once utterly unthinkable — now becomes all too possible.
Sales: The Veterans (international); CAA Media Finance (U.S.)
Pendulum
Director: Mark Heyman
Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Jacob Jaffke, Dave Caplan
Key cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Young couple journey to a new-age retreat led by an enigmatic leader, and soon must determine if the group’s unconventional spiritual practices offer genuine healing — or mask a terrifying truth that threatens to consume them both.
Sales: Black Bear (international); UTA Independent Film Group, CAA Media Finance, WME Independent (U.S.)
Queen of the Dead
Director: Tina Romero
Producers: Natalie Metzger, Matthew Lee Miller
Key cast: Jaquel Spivey, Katy O’Brian, Margaret Cho, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Cheyenne Jackson
Co-written and directed by the daughter of legendary “Dawn of the Dead” filmmaker George A. Romero, the film follows a group of drag queens, club kids and frenemies who have to put aside their personal dramas and use their unique skills to fight the brain-thirsty undead when a zombie apocalypse breaks out on the night of a giant warehouse party.
Sales: Charades
Reading Lolita In Tehran
Director: Eran Riklis
Producers: Marica Stocchi, Gianluca Curti, Moshe Edery, Eran Riklis, Santo Versace, Michael Sharftein
Key cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Zar Amir, Mina Kavani
Based on the international bestseller by Azar Nafisi, the film tells the story of a university professor in Tehran who secretly gathers seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As fundamentalists seize control, the women remove their veils, speak about their intimate hopes, loves and disappointments, their femininity and their search for a place in an increasingly oppressive society.
Sales: WestEnd Films
The Residence
Director: Yann Gozlan
Producers: Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
Key cast: Cécile de France, Lars Mikkelsen, Frédéric Pierrot, Anna Mouglalis, Freya Mavor, Mylène Farmer
In the near future, a novelist with writer’s block joins a prestigious artist residency, living on the top floor of an ultra-modern building where her every need is seen to by an AI assistant which quickly becomes a true confidante. Unsettled by the AI’s increasingly intrusive presence, she meets a whistleblower artist who warns her about the true motives behind the residency and the tech company funding it.
Sales: Gaumont
Retreat
Director: Ted Evans
Producers: Michelle Stein, Jennifer Monks, Alex Usborne
Key cast: Anne Zander, James Boyle, Sophie Stone
Featuring an all-deaf principal cast and writer-director, the film follows a man raised in an isolated deaf community who begins to find cracks in his seemingly idyllic world with the arrival of an enigmatic outsider. Forced to question the realities of his identity, he must decide if he’s ready to discover what lies beneath the surface of his supposedly utopian community and the costs demanded to maintain it.
Sales: XYZ Films
Saipan
Directors: Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Producers: Macdara Kelleher, John Keville, Trevor Birney, Oliver Butler
Key cast: Steve Coogan, Éanna Hardwicke
A film about the events leading up to Ireland’s incendiary 2002 World Cup campaign, when Manchester United and Ireland soccer legend Roy Keane and former Ireland soccer manager Mick McCarthy had an infamous falling out at the team’s training facilities on the tiny island of Saipan.
Sales: Bankside Films
Splitsville
Director: Michael Covino
Producers: Neon, Topic Studios, Watch This Ready, TeaTime Pictures
Key cast: Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Michael Covino, Kyle Marvin
A good-natured married man runs to his friends when his wife asks for a divorce, and is shocked to discover that the secret to their happiness is an open marriage — until he crosses the line and throws all of their relationships into chaos.
Sales: Neon
The Stolen Child
Director: Sebastian McKinnon
Producers: Catherine Boily, Tara Cowell-Plain
Key cast: Stephen McHattie, Jason James Richter, Teddy Van Ee
A fantasy epic directed by the “Magic: The Gathering” artist, the film takes place as war ravages the Human Kingdom and a daring poet must lead three mystical heroes deep into the Faerie State to find a lost prince, return him to the throne and restore the peace.
Sales: Picture Tree Intl.
Victorian Psycho
Director: Zachary Wigon
Producers: Dan Kagan, Sebastien Raybaud, Zachary Wigon (in association with Anonymous Content)
Key cast: Margaret Qualley
When the staff members at a remote gothic manor begin to inexplicably disappear, the owners of the estate begin to wonder if there’s something amiss about their young, eccentric new governess.
Sales: Anton (international); Anton, UTA Independent Film Group, CAA Media Finance (U.S.)
Wild World
Directors: Aron Gaudet, Gita Pullapilly
Producers: Gary Foster, Russ Krasnoff, Joe Micucci, Dan Crown, Yoni Liebling, Kim Hodgert, Jeff Okin
Key cast: Isabel May
The film follows a young woman who must use her survival skills to track down her little sister and exact revenge on the men who abducted her.
Sales: Cornerstone Films (international); CAA Media Finance (U.S.)
Wings of Freedom
Director: Laurent Zeitoun
Producers: Laurent Zeitoun, Gregory Ouanhon
Set in Mexico, this animated adventure film follows Salana, a harpy eagle and devoted teacher who’s never left the safety of her hidden bird colony in the jungle. When she’s thrown out of her comfort zone to join the brave birds of the Animal Air Force, she has to team up with a fearless and quirky swift bird to stop a malevolent AI called Eternity and save the world.
Sales: Studiocanal
Witchboard
Director: Chuck Russell
Producers: Chuck Russell, Kade Vu, Greg McKay, Bernie Gewissler
Key cast: Jamie Campbell Bower, Madison Iseman, Aaron Dominguez, Mel Jarnson, Charlie Tahan, Antonia Desplat
A couple’s plans to open a New Orleans café take a dark turn with the discovery of an ancient Witchboard, a mystical artifact once used to summon spirits, that soon draws them into a race against time to break its deadly curse.
Sales: Highland Film Group
The Zealot
Director: Vadim Perelman
Producers: Jib Polhemus, Bradley Gallo, Michael Helfant
Key cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Djimon Hounsou
Based on the award-winning play, the film follows Hassan, a Somali American airport shuttle driver in Minneapolis who agrees to take a stranded passenger all the way to Chicago. But once he realizes the passenger isn’t what he seems, Hassan finds he’s trapped in a terrifying ride which he can’t escape from, knowing that to save himself might put countless others in danger.
Sales: WestEnd Films
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