Greenwich Entertainment acquired Durga Chew-Bosethe first film of, Hello Sadnesswith Chloë Sévigny (Feud: Capote against the swans), Claes Bang (The Square), And Lily McInerny (Palm trees and power lines), hot on the heels of its premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
Based on Françoise Sagan’s acclaimed 1954 novel – which Otto Preminger previously adapted into a BAFTA-nominated feature film – the film will hit US theaters next summer via Greenwich while Elevation will release it in Canada. The film was sold in Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), MENA (Falcon), CIS (Nashe Kino), former Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom), Bulgaria (Cinelibri) and in airlines (Skeye), with Universal Pictures distributing internationally.
A production of Babe Nation Films and Elevation Pictures, Hello Sadness follows Cécile (McInerny), 18, who, in the middle of summer, is languishing by the French seaside with her father-in-law, Raymond (Bang), and his lover, Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune), when the arrival of her deceased l Mother’s friend Anne (Sévigny) changes everything. In the sunny splendor of their surroundings, Cécile’s world is threatened and, desperate to regain control, she enacts a plan to drive Anne away, with tragic consequences.
The coming-of-age film is produced by Babe Nation’s Katie Bird Nolan and Lindsay Tapscott (The rest of us, Alice, darling), Christina Piovesan and Noah Segal of Elevation (Infinity pool), Benito Mueller and Wolfgang Mueller of Barry Films (Woman of the Dead, Inherit the Viper). Executive producers include Denis Westhoff, Suzanne Court and Fabien Westerhoff (The lesson), as well as Emily Kulasa, Jesse Weening and Omar Chalabi of Elevation Pictures.
Perhaps best known for her 2017 collection of essays Too much and no atmosphereChew-Bose’s work as a writer has also been featured in publications such as The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, and The New York Times. In a statement on the acquisition, she said: “I am truly grateful to partner with Greenwich to bring Hello Sadness to the public. It’s an incredible honor to have my directorial debut join their selection of distinctive and dynamic films, and I couldn’t imagine a better place for this project.
Babe Nation added: “We are thrilled to bring this singular adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s internationally beloved story to contemporary audiences next summer. Although written in 1954, the themes of Hello Sadness remain modern even today and we look forward to reintroducing this iconic tale to the world in 2025, told through a female lens, as Françoise herself would have wished.
Andy Bohn of Greenwich negotiated the acquisition with UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.