Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s strand in which, each fortnight, we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track… So, we’re going to do the hard work for you. This week we head to France, where wildlife photographer and filmmaker Vincent Munier’s feature documentary Whispers in the Woods just hit the milestone of one million spectators in cinemas while its international rollout has also gotten off to a promising start.
Name: Whispers in the Woods
Country: France
Producer: Paprika Films
Distributor: Haut et Court (France)
International Sales: The Bureau Sales
For fans of: The Oak, The March of the Penguins
In a French box office currently dominated by Hollywood blockbusters; A-list cast-driven thrillers and animation franchises, nature documentary Whispers in the Woods is something of an outlier.
The feature follows award-winning wildlife photographer and filmmaker Vincent Munier as he returns to his native Vosges in northeastern France, revisiting the forests and mountains where he first started photographing animals as a teenager.
Munier, who made his name capturing images of arctic wolves in northern Canada and snow leopards in Tibet, reveals his appreciation for this ancient landscape and its wildlife. At the same time, he explores his relationships with his father, who cultivated his love of nature’s beauty, and son, to whom he is passing on this gift.
Michel Munier, Vincent Munier, Simon Munier in Whispers in the Woods
Paprika Films
Over the course of 90 minutes, the spectator follows the trio as they traverse the wooded Vosges Mountains, becoming immersed in their expedition and quiet observation of deer, foxes, rare birds and lynx, and tales by night of past sightings.
Haut et Court released Whispers in the Woods in France on December 17, the same day as James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar: Fire and Ash; a week ahead of The Housemaid and with Zootopia 2 still drawing spectators in its fourth week on release.
After a steady start, the film took off over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, making it into fourth place in the top 10
Entering its seventh week on release today, the film is still in the top 10 and has just hit the milestone of one million spectators. This makes it the most successful French documentary at the local box office since Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent’s Tomorrow in 2015, which had 1.5 million spectators, and before that Luc Jacquet’s March of the Penguins in 2005, with 1.8 million.
“We started off with 35 copies, and expanded to 950 copies at its height, which is the same as a big film, due to demand from the cinemas,” says producer Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin.
He lead produced Whispers in the Woods under the banner of Paris-based Paprika Films, his joint company with Laurent Baujard, alongside Munier’s Kobalann Production, with France 3 Cinema and Le Bureau also on board.
He and Baujard also produced Munier’s first documentary The Velvet Queen (co-directed with Marie Amiguet), following his quest to photograph the elusive snow leopard in the icy wilds of the Tibetan highlands.
That film grossed close to $6M worldwide. Fleurantin reveals that both documentaries were budgeted at around €1.2M each, acknowledging that this is “compact” given their results at the box office.
Poised for international success
Whisper in the Woods looks poised for international success based on the results of its release in Switzerland, where it has sold 50,000 tickets for Swiss distributor Filmcoopi since opening there on December 17.
“It’s more than double the box office of The Velvet Queen there at the same stage in its release,” says Clementine Hugot, Head of Sales at Paris-based The Bureau Sales who handled international sales on both titles.
Commenting on the success of the documentary back in France, Fleurantin points to its performance in the provinces.
“It’s very strong in small towns and villages, which will also help it achieve a relatively long run. It has managed to reach a segment we call the ‘occasionals’, people who rarely go to the cinema,” he explains.
He suggests the inter-generational storyline is part of the film’s appeal.
“It’s the story of the passing down of knowledge between a grandfather, the father, and the grandson,” he says. “It’s about transmission.”
“I think what also draws people to the film is its sincerity, as well as its spirituality, because it also talks about what we leave behind. It’s also a film about the beauty of nature and it’s truly, aesthetically, exceptionally beautiful. We’ve made other wildlife films, but this one, in terms of aesthetics, reaches a unique level.”
Paprika Films’ past wildlife productions including Jacquet’s Antarctica Calling and March of the Penguins 2 as well as Laurent Joffrion’s Brother Wolf and Vincent Steigers’ A Wolf’s Journey. Fiction productions include Filippo Meneghetti’s Academy Award shortlisted Two of Us and Jonathan Nossiter’s Last Words.
The haunting soundtrack – created by I’m Still Here composer Warren Ellis in collaboration with Dom La Nena and Rosemary Standley, the lead singer of the French-American musical group Moriarty – has also won praise.
It recently won Best Music at the French Lumière Awards earlier this month. The film is now in the running for the Best Documentary and Best Sound in France’s César Awards, the nominations for which were announced today.
On the international front, The Bureau Sales’ Hugot hopes the documentary’s box office performance in France will entice further buyers in Asia, North America and Latin America, after strong sales in Europe.
“There were a lot of distributors who released The Velvet Queen, who jumped on Whispers in the Woods. It then slowed down but I think with the box office in France, we’ll end up closing the world,” she says, revealing that Europe is pretty much sold-out. “The two big territories left for me to sell are the U.S. and Latin America and talks are already under way.”
In the backdrop, the film will release in a number of European territories over the coming weeks, beginning with Belgium on February 2 (Cinéart), Austria on February 13 (Filmladen), and Germany on February 19 (Pandora), with the title acquired for close to 30 territories including the UK (Dartmouth Films), Italy (Wanted) and Australia (Madmen Entertainment).
Hugot points to the film’s simplicity and authenticity as being part of its draw.
“It’s a very simple idea, around returning home and simple pleasures,” she says. “It’s also a very philosophical film, that talks about essential things. At a point, when we’re all losing our minds with what’s happening in the world, I think it has a calming effect and there is sincerity in its message.”
This message looks set to travel the world.
English (US) ·