Gaumont Clinches Deals on French-Korean Romcom ‘#iamhere’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Elsa Keslassy

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Gaumont has clinched a raft of deals on Eric Lartigau’s Korea-set romantic comedy #iamhere which had its market premiere at the UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French cinema in Paris.

Headlined by Alain Chabat (“Valerian”) and Bae Doona (“Sense8”), the film was penned by Lartigau and Thomas Bidegain (“Sisters Brothers”). Chabat stars as a prominent French chef with two kids and an ex-wife who falls in love with a mysterious Korean woman (Doona) whom he meets on Instagram. On a whim, Stéphane decides to visit her in Seoul but when she doesn’t show up at the airport, he sets off to find her and spends the next 10 days searching for her . Filled with adventure, his journey allows him to open up to a new world and rediscover himself. Popular French standup comedian Blanche Gardin also stars.

Co-produced and represented by , #iamhere was acquired for Latin America (Cinepolis), Canada (AZ Films),
South Korea (New), Hong Kong (Noori Pictures), Indonesia (Falcon), Thailand (Mpictures), Singapore (Shaw), Taiwan (Cai Chang), Germany (Telepool), Switzerland (Impuls), Spain (Vertigo), Greece (Seven), Italy (Officine Ubu),
Benelux (Athena), Portugal (Nos), Poland (Bestfilm), Czech Rep & Slovakia (Cinemart), CIS (Capella), Former Yugoslavia (Blitz), Israel (Showal) and Middle East (Four Star).

Lartigau is best known for directing “La Famille Belier” which was France’s top-grossing local film in 2015 and took $72 million worldwide. A contemporary love story, #iamhere is produced by Edouard Weil at Rectangle Productions. Gaumont will release the film on Feb. 5.

Gaumont’s slate of films playing at the UniFrance Rendez-Vous also included Philippe Guillard’s comedy “Pappy Sitter” and Mohamed Hamidi’s soccer-themed comedy “Queens of the Field. The Rendez-Vous market wraps Jan. 20.