France TV Distribution Sells Widely Pascal Elbe’s Romantic Comedy ‘Hear Me Out’ (EXCLUSIVE)

France TV Distribution has closed a raft of sales on “Hear Me Out,” a romantic comedy directed by French actor-turned-helmer Pascal Elbé (“Thank You for Calling,” “Turk’s Head”).

The film stars Elbé as Antoine, a fifty-year old history professor who discovers that he’s losing his hearing and starts having a recluse life because of his handicap. His encounter with Claire, a widow whose daughter is mute, will help him open up again to the world. Elbé stars opposite Sandrine Kiberlain (“9 Months Stretch”), François Berléand (“How to be a Good Wife”), Emmanuelle Devos (“Read My Lips”).

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France TV Distribution sold the film to a flurry of well-established distributors, including Neue Visionen (Germany), Vertigo Films Distribution (Benelux), New Cinema (Israel), BIM Distribuzione (Italy), JMH Distributions (Switzerland) and Vertigo Films (Spain).

Elbé said the film was deeply personal and inspired by his own experience after he discovered that he was becoming partially deaf.

“My relationship with others became like an Italian comedy, a succession of tragic-comic adventures, and a struggle to understand, accept and be accepted,” said Elbé, adding that the story of “Hear Me Out” allowed him to deal with universal themes such as transmission, communication, difference and passing time which are close to him since his feature debut.

“Hear My Out” is produced by Jerico Films (“La Famille Belier”) and Père & Films. Diaphana Distribution is planning to release the film during the fourth quarter of 2021.

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