Click here to read the full article.
LYON, France — Short films by Brady Corbet, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Céline Sciamma are joining the international sales catalogue of Paris-based MK2 Films, which is expanding its collection of lesser-seen works by established
filmmakers.
The acquisitions, unveiled during Lyon’s Lumière Film Festival, headed by Cannes director Thierry Frémaux, and its International Classic Film Market (MIFC), span nearly two decades, from Corbet’s 2008 “Protect You + Me” to two recent works: Sciamma’s “Tutti Frutti” and Mendonça Filho’s “South of Tehran.”
The acquisitions are part of a broader push by MK2 Films to develop its short-film catalogue alongside its established feature film business.
“These short films create a dialogue with the feature films of iconic filmmakers represented in the MK2 Films collection, offering a different perspective on their creative vision and cinematic language,” said Frédérique Rouault, head of collections at MK2 Films. “They also open up new programming opportunities for festivals and cinemas, allowing audiences to discover rarely seen works by some of today’s most influential directors.”
The new acquisitions join Jia Zhangke’s “Torino Shadow,” which screened at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival and in the New York Film Festival’s Spotlight Shorts program. The catalogue also includes early works by two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, notably “Le Chant du Rossignol,” acquired through MK2 Films’ recently announced deal with their production company Les Films du Fleuve.
Sciamma’s 44-minute “Tutti Frutti” draws on personal footage she had shot since 2022, exploring filmmaking as a solitary practice. Commissioned by the Centre Pompidou and produced by Lilies Films, it premiered in Paris in June during a retrospective devoted to the director of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and won the Jury Prize at the 2026 Villa Medici Film Festival.
MK2’s catalogue already includes Sciamma’s 2023 short “This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet,” a tribute to Italian poet Patrizia Cavalli that premiered at Venice Days. The company also represents her complete feature filmography, including “Petite Maman” and new 2026 cuts of “Tomboy” and “Girlhood.”
Mendonça Filho’s nine-minute “South of Tehran” features Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi recalling his earliest encounters with cinema. Produced by Emilie Lesclaux and Film at Lincoln Center, it was shot during the 2025 New York Film Festival, where the two directors were presenting their latest features, and grew out of conversations between them. It premiered at the New York fest earlier this year as the inaugural project of NYFF Encounters, an annual initiative commissioning filmmakers to shoot shorts during the festival.
MK2 already handled international sales on Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” winner of the 2025 Cannes Palme d’Or, and Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” which earned the Brazilian director Best Director and Wagner Moura Best Actor the same year in Cannes.
The third acquisition looks further back in its director’s career. Shot by cinematographer Darius Khondji, Corbet’s “Protect You + Me” offers audiences an opportunity to discover the director’s early work, long before his mainstream breakthrough with “The Brutalist,” the acclaimed historical drama that won three Oscars, including Best Actor for Adrien Brody, and earned Corbet the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice in 2024.
Back in 2009, the short received an Honorable Mention at the Sundance Film Festival.
The acquisition strengthens MK2 Films’ ties with Corbet, who appeared as an actor in Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games,” recently added to the company’s catalogue, and Gregg Araki’s “Mysterious Skin,” which MK2 is preparing to re-release theatrically in a new 4K restoration.
The Lumière Film Festival runs in Lyon through Oct. 18 with the MIFC wrapping on Oct. 16.
