The Cannes Film Festival has added Jean-Bernard Marlin’s Marseille second feature Salem to its Un Certain Regard line-up devoted to new cinematic voices.
The Marseille gangland-set fantasy follows a former gang member who believes his daughter is the only one who can save his community from an apocalyptic curse uttered by a rival gang member in his dying breath.
Salem is Marlin’s second feature after the gritty romance Shéhérazade which debuted in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2018.
Also set against the backdrop of Marseille, the film won best first film in France’s 2019 César awards as well as most promising Actress and Actor for its big screen debutants Kenza Fortas and Dylan Robert.
The film is co-produced by Bruno Nahon’s Unité and Vatos Locos Productions, Marlin’s company with Romain Daubeach and Marine Bergère, with international sales handled by Goodfellas.
The Un Certain Regard section now features 20 titles in total, eight of them first films. Just 19 of the titles will be in the running for the main prize, with French director Alex Lutz’s Une Nuit closing the section Out Of Competition.
Cannes slipped in the addition of the new title into a press release announcing the jury for the section, which will be presided over by Cannes regular, actor John C. Reilly.
The Cannes Film Festival runs May 15 to 27.
