‘It’s Not Me’

Cannes Film Festival

Sideshow and Janus Films scooped up another buzzy title out of Cannes, acquiring It’s Not Me from French auteur Leos Carax (Holy Motors, Annette) for North America.

An autobiographical collage of old and new footage, referencing everything from silent movies and Hollywood Golden Age classics to scenes from his own work and personal home movies, It’s Not Me pays direct homage to the late, great Jean-Luc Godard in its deconstruction of the language of cinema and the treacheries of auto-fiction.

Commenting on his cinematic “self-portrait,” Carax said: “Lots of painters have done theirs, of course. I tried to make mine without any mirror. A self-portrait seen from behind. Or, like in a dream dreamed many years ago: How come I can see myself in that mirror, even though my eyes are closed? And when I check in the mirror, my eyes are indeed closed.”

It’s Not Me debuted in the Cannes Première sidebar. It’s a CG Cinéma, Théo Films and Arte France Cinéma co-production made with the participation of Arte France, Chanel and Les Films du Losange. Les Films du Losange is selling the film worldwide and distributing it in France.

“Leos Carax is one of the visionary filmmakers of our time,” said Sideshow and Janus Films in a statement. “He created one of the most thrilling and inventive films of the entire festival that manages to transcend our already high expectations.”

The deal for It’s Not Me was negotiated by Alice Lesort for Les Films du Losange on behalf of the filmmakers with Sideshow and Janus Films.

Sideshow and Janus have had a busy Cannes, also snatching up Payal Kapadia’s well-received competition title All We Imagine as Light; Gints Zilbalodis’ 3D animated eco-fable Flow, which screened in Un Certain Regard; and Alain Guiraudie’s queer crime thriller Misericordia, another Cannes Première title.