Charades has enlisted a string of major international distributors for Emmanuel Marre’s “A Man of His Time” following the film’s acclaimed world premiere at Cannes, where it won the award for best screenplay.
The Paris-based sales company has sold the French-Belgian drama to Frenetic Films (Switzerland), Filmin (Spain), Alamode Film (Germany), I Wonder Pictures (Italy), One From the Heart (Greece), Leopardo Filmes (Portugal), MCF (Adriatics and Bulgaria), Mozinet (Hungary), Mars Films (Turkey), New Cinema (Israel) and Falcon (Indonesia). Condor Distribution will release the film in France on Sept. 30, while Cinéart is handling distribution in Belgium.
“A Man of His Time” emerged as one of the standout titles of this year’s Cannes competition. In addition to the screenplay prize, the film also won the Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai, received a Special Mention from the Prix de la Citoyenneté jury, and earned the CST Award for Best Artist-Technician.
Starring Swann Arlaud (“Anatomy of a Fall”) and Sandrine Blancke, the film is inspired by the life of Marre’s own great-grandfather. Arlaud plays Henri Marre, an engineer and aspiring author who arrives in Vichy France with a political manuscript he hopes will secure him influence within the new regime and help save both himself and his country from collapse.
Set during World War II, the drama examines the mechanisms of collaboration under the Vichy regime through the lens of a man whose ambition and moral weakness lead him to become complicit in the persecution and deportation of Jews. The film represents a deeply personal reckoning for Marre, who has described the project as an attempt to confront a troubling chapter of his own family history.
Produced by Kidam in France and Michigan Films in Belgium, A Man of His Time was co-produced by Les Films Pelléas, Les Films de Pierre, Unité, France 2, Condor, The Ink Connection, RTBF, Be tv, Orange and Proximus.
The project marks Marre’s second feature after “Zero Fucks Given,” the acclaimed drama he co-directed with Julie Lecoustre, which premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2021 and won the Gan Foundation Award.
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