With Cannes 2019 drawing to a close, distributors have been jostling for the best films on tap at the competition. Usually, studios such as A24 and Annapurna are among this year’s biggest winners from the festival however, this year it seems like Netflix has come out on top. The streaming giant landed the worldwide rights to two of the week’s winners in Mati Diop’s Atlantics and Jéremy Clapin’s animated I Lost My Body.
Netflix struck a deal for both that grants them worldwide rights, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions are Benelux, China, France, Russia, and Switzerland for Atlantic, and Benelux, China, France, and Turkey for I Lost My Body. Thanks to the deal, Netflix has SVOD rights for 36 months following theatrical release for Atlantics in Benelux, France, and Switzerland. It has the same deal for I Lost My Body in France.
Atlantics follows the story of Ada, a 17-year old girl living in the suburb of Dakar. Ada is in love with Souleiman but she’s already promised to a different man. Early in the film, Souleiman and some other men sail from the country in search of a better life. Then, when Ada’s wedding arrives a fire ruins the affair as a strange fever starts to spread. Unbeknownst to Ada, Souleiman has returned. Atlantics took home the Grand Prix award from Cannes this year.
I Lost My Body tells the story of a severed hand as it desperately tries to find its way back to its body. The trek across Paris isn’t a short one and the hand reminisces on its life when it was still attached. The animated feature was voted the best film at the independent International Critics Week.
