ABOUT US
Modern Films is a London-based, female-led film production, distribution and event cinema company, working with rising and established talent from around the world and bringing innovative stories to global audiences. We focus on creating connections between content, context and curation, with a particular emphasis on pressing social issues of our time expressed through the power of cinema and cultural expression.
Established in 2017 by Eve Gabereau, co-founder and former Managing Director of leading indie distribution company Soda Pictures, which she sold to the media group Thunderbird Entertainment Inc, backers of Blade Runner 2049. Representing a library of over 350 acclaimed films in the UK and Ireland, recent releases included Jim Jarmusch's Paterson starring Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani, German break-out hit Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade, Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion starring Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson and Oscar®-nominated animation My Life as a Courgette. She also oversaw the Canadian acquisition, release and ancillary roll-out of Lone Scherfig's The Riot Club, Ben Wheatley's High-Rise and Michael Fassbender-starrer Slow West.
Modern Films was launched as an alternative to the traditional model of the film value chain to work across borders, media and windows. The first major projects include Executive Producing the 2018 BAFTA winner for 'Outstanding Debut' I Am Not a Witch by Rungano Nyoni that had its world premiere in the Directors Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival, distribution of Manifesto starring Cate Blanchett in 13 different roles, development of a documentary set in a refugee camp in Northern Greece directed by Noaz Deshe (EP on Ryan Gosling's directorial debut Lost River) and a festival of film, food and ideas, in partnership with the Redford Center, in Prince Edward Island, Canada: PEI Fest.
Our 2018 slate includes such films as The Rape of Recy Taylor directed by Nancy Buirski (producer Loving) about the woman Oprah Winfrey referenced in her Golden Globes speech and who Rosa Parks helped take her case to state level legislature against in the odds in 1940s Alabama, Venice Film Festival selected Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda directed by Stephen Nomura Schible (co-producer Lost in Translation) about the eponymous Oscar®-winning composer (The Revenant, The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence), electronic music pioneer and environmental activist, Sundance sensation Skate Kitchen about female skateboarders in New York, the first feature adapted from an Instagram feed, directed by Crystal Moselle (Wolfpack), co-produced by Pulse Films (American Honey) and RT Features (Call Me By Your Name, Frances Ha) and co-starring Jaden Smith (Karate Kid), and Utøya - July 22 by Erik Poppe (The King's Choice) about the extremist attacks in Norway in 2011 and which had its world premiere in Competition at the Berlinale 2018, receiving a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury.
OUR TEAM
Eve Gabereau - Managing Director
Eve Gabereau is an award-winning film distributor and producer, with a further background in journalism, communications and cultural affairs. Originally from Canada, she also holds a French passport and has lived in the UK since 1998. Prior to that she spent three years living and working in Japan and China where she fully ensconced herself and began her career in media. She has a BA in Political Science from McGill University and an MA in Communications and East Asian Studies from Simon Fraser University with further graduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. She is a published writer with bylines in The Guardian, Independent, Time Out and Sight & Sound, amongst other publications.
Gabereau is the founder of Modern Films. In addition to the films and projects listed above, other notable titles in her distribution roster include the first ever Saudi Arabian feature Wadjda directed by Haifaa al-Mansour (Mary Shelley), Haruki Murakami adaptation Norwegian Wood directed by Tran Anh Hung (Scent of the Green Papaya), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie adaptation Half of a Yellow Sun starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton and John Boyega, Only Lovers Left Alive starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston and John Hurt , The First Grader starring Naomie Harris, Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy, Wendy & Lucy, Meek's Cutoff and Night Moves, Ursula Maier's Home and Sister starring Léa Seydoux and Gillian Anderson, Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner The Wonders by Alice Rohrwacher, Joachim Trier's Oslo: August 31st and Louder Than Bombs starring Isabelle Huppert, Gabriel Byrne and Jesse Eisenberg, Asif Kapadia's Far North, Play by Ruben Ostlund (The Square), C.R.A.Z.Y. by Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild, Dallas Buyers Club, Big Little Lies), Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World based on an original idea by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, Oscar®-nominated Monsieur Lazhar, Oscar® and BAFTA-nominated Finding Vivian Maier and two double Sundance and Berlinale Audience Award winners The Second Mother from Brazil and Difret from Ethiopia and Executive Produced by Angelina Jolie.
She has a particular interest in the nexus where cinema, politics and visual art meet, and has worked across this field with such renowned artist filmmakers as Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (Je Veux Voir, Lebanese Rocket Society), Corinna Belz (Gerhard Richter Painting), Julian Rosefeldt (Manifesto), Frederick Wiseman (La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet, National Gallery), Auguste Renoir biopic Renoir, Ben Rivers (Two Years at Sea), Grant Gee (Patience After Sebald), Guy Maddin (Forbidden Room), Mark Lewis (Invention) and a Chris Marker Collection, as well as with such major institutions as Tate Modern, The National Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, The Barbican, Powerplant (Toronto) and the Louvre Museum. She took part in the foundation years of the Art:Film consortium that hold symposia and think tanks at select festivals and related events, including CPH:Dox, International Film Festival Rotterdam and Frieze Art Fair.
Her production credits include the BAFTA-winning I Am Not a Witch by Rungano Nyoni, main producer Emily Morgan and majority funded by the BFI, Film4, Ffilm Cymru Wales, CNC and HBF+ Europe, Omer Fast's Remainder based on Man Booker Prize-nominated author Tom McCarthy's novel, starring Tom Sturridge and co-funded by the BFI and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, essay-film Invention by Mark Lewis shot in Paris, Sao Paulo and Toronto, funded in part by the National Film Board of Canada, Canada Council, Sao Paulo Bienal and supported by the VFX house Gramercy Park Studios, documentary Pulp: a film about life, death and supermarkets, Northern Soul drama SoulBoy starring Felicity Jones and Martin Compston and Mad, Sad and Bad starring Meera Syal and Andrea Riseborough. She is a Board Member of ACE Producers.
Betty Aldous - Creative Director
Betty Aldous has over 18 years experience in the UK film industry. She has produced industry events internationally and in the UK with talent such as: Colin Firth, Cate Blanchett, Richard Harris, Tilda Swinton, Mike Leigh, Richard Linklater, Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, Paul King, Anthony Minghella and Alan Parker. Producing events with the following partners and stakeholders: BAFTA, Film4, BBC Films, British Council, Creative Skillset, NFTS, Premier PR, Screen International, Empire, Production Guild, Pinewood Group, Soho House & Co, Firmdale, The Savoy, Film London and the national screen agencies. She has produced short films and promos for the UK Film Council and British Film Commission. For numerous years, she managed and curated the programme for the UK Film Centre at the Cannes Film Festival. Furthermore, Betty has worked with producer Norma Heyman (Dangerous Liaisons, Mrs Henderson Presents starring Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins) and producer Margaret Matheson (Bard Entertainments). As a freelancer, Betty was the British Film Institute and British Film Commission's Project Manager for UK film and high-end TV familiarisation trips for senior level production and VFX executives from China and the US.
Ginta Gelvan - Marketing and Communications Director
Ginta Gelvan comes from the fashion, luxury and entertainment world. Her expertise covers branding, PR and marketing for global brands. During her time in NY and Milan she worked in advertising for Calvin Klein. At Hugo Boss in Italy she headed up PR and Marketing. For Tommy Hilfiger she managed all Live Events and sponsorships and at Agent Provocateur she was the Global Marketing and Communications Director. Ginta produced fashion campaigns, films and photoshoots - working with such creatives as Anton Corbijn, Johan Renck, John Cameron Mitchell, Penelope Cruz, Ellen van Unwerth and Mario Sorrenti. Her experience ranges from working on rebranding and innovative digital strategies to leading numerous high profile Live Events including fashion shows, music concerts and art exhibitions. Having worked and lived in Milan, NY, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin she brings international marketing experience, a global network and multilingual skills to the Modern Films projects.
Johanna von Fischer - Head of Audience Development
Johanna von Fischer worked at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) for 15 years. She started as assistant to the producer in 2001 and by 2003, she was sole producer of the Awards. In 2006 she became director, a position she held until 2015. Before joining BIFA, Johanna worked on various independent film and theatre projects as actor, casting director and administrator, as well as working as a personal development trainer for business corporations. Since leaving BIFA she has worked as a freelance event consultant within the film and creative industries. Most recently Johanna worked with Vennerfilm as assistant producer on Chino Moya’s Undergods while developing her own short and documentary project. She has a degree in Performance Studies.
OUR PARTNERS
Publicity
Margaret PR - key representative: Emma Pettit
http://www.margaretlondon.com/
Film Bookings and Exhibition Support
Munro Film Services - key representative: Frank Smith
http://www.munrofilmservices.co.uk/
Home Entertainment
DVD/Blu-ray - Elevation Sales - one of the UK's Top 10 Studios - http://elevationsales.co.uk/
Digital - Lionsgate Films - one of the world's Top 10 Film Studios, with a home ent division that also represents a slate of third party titles from leading content providers - including StudioCanal, Amazon Studios and A24 - https://www.lionsgate.com/he/