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TOO MANY BEASTS/L’Espèce explosive will now receive the support of the Europa Cinemas Network, with additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film’s run on screen.

The jury issued the following statement: “Too Many Beasts is a really fresh and original début feature. It is a real genre bender, encompassing action, thriller, comedy, police procedural and even some romance. A big part of its appeal is how the accessible plot consistently takes the audience in totally unexpected directions – and the last fifteen minutes is a delicious and crazy psychedelic fueled roller coaster. It is also a very human film – subtle and not didactic in any way, but it does look at corruption and how communities can come together to find solutions. Many congratulations to Sarah Arnold and her team. We all loved it, and we feel confident that audiences around Europe will too.”

The Cannes Europa Cinemas Label Jury this year comprised of Panos Achtsioglou (Olympion Cinema, Thessaloniki, Greece); Octavian Dăncilă (Cinema Victoria, Cluj Napoca, Romania); Alicia Hernanz (Lucernaire, Paris, France) and Māris Prombergs (Kino Bize, Riga, Latvia) and is captures here with the producer Helen Olive. 

Sold internationally by Playtime, the film is a 5À7 FILMS production, a co-production with FRANCE 3 CINÉMA and PLAYTIME, in association with PAN DISTRIBUTION, UBIK&CO, CINEMAGE 20, COFINOVA 22, SANSOFICA, CENTRE NATIONAL DU CINÉMA ET DE L’IMAGE ANIMÉE, PROCIREP-ANGOA, LA SACEM DE LA RÉGION GRAND EST, in partnership with CNC.

Produced by Helen Olive and Martin Bertier; the screenplay is by Sarah Arnold together with Jérémie Dubois, Olivier Seror, Romain Winkler, and Mehdi Ben Attia. Photography is by Noé Bach; production design by Gaëlle Usandivaras; music by Florencia Di Concilio with sound by Jérôme Petit, Raphaël Sohier, Mathieu Fichet, Marc-Olivier Brullé, and Simon Apostolou. The editor is Isabelle Manquillet.

The cast includes Alexis Manenti (Fulda), Ella Rumpf (Stéphane), Vincent Dedienne (Victor), Jean-Louis Coulloc'h (Brun), Pascal Rénéric (Alain), Bertrand Belin (Marchal), Jade Fiess (Lara), Bernard Blancan (La Tige), Thierry Godard (Brochier) and Mathieu Perotto (Stanislas).

After studying at the École Supérieure d’Audiovisuel in Toulouse, Sarah Arnold directed her first short film, Leçon de ténèbres, in 2010, which won the jury award at the Turin Film Festival. She followed it with Totems in 2014, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival where it received the Pardino d’Oro. Her film Store Policy, screened at Clermont-Ferrand, won the France TV Award for Best Short Film in 2021.

Synopsis: In northeastern France, farmers and hunters are at war. Wild boars, too large and too numerous, are devastating crops. Brun, a grain farmer on the verge of ruin, breaks down and disappears. A year later, Fulda, an impulsive police officer, and Stéphane, a therapist in crisis, investigate. What they discover is beyond their comprehension. So is the bond that develops between them.

The Label is also awarded in Berlin, Venice, Karlovy Vary, and at Locarno.  Recipients of the Label honoured at Cannes in the past include: La Danse des Renards/Wild Foxes, The Other Way Around, Un Beau Matin/One Fine Morning, A Chiara, Alice et le Maire, Mustang, 12:08 East of Bucharest, La Pivellina, Le Quattro Volte, The Repentant, The Selfish Giant, Les Combattants and Mercenaire.

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Photo credits "Too Many Beasts" © 5 à 7 Films – France 3 Cinema – Playtime – 2026

Photo credits "EC Label award ceremony" © Guillaume Lutz

Press: Charles McDonald

charles@charlesmcdonald.co.uk

+44 7785 246 377

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