.png){kind=link}
The story
Founded by Sébastien Aubert in 2008.1
The company owns a catalogue composed of awarded short films, such as The Strange Ones or Social Butterfly, selected in famous festivals (Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest (SXSW), Palm Springs International Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival...) and often broadcast on national TV channels (Canal+, France 2, France 3, RTP2.
In 2014, the company produced its first full-length movie called Brides (2014 film), selected in the Panorama Section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival among movies such as Yves Saint Laurent (film) and famous directors, such as Michel Gondry, or Tsai Ming-liang.
In 2014, Adastra Films received "The Award for Best Emerging Producer in France 2014 by France Télévisions", and in 2015 during the Cannes Film Festival, it was part of the "Futur Leaders 2015: Producers" list, made by Screen Daily Magazine.
Its second feature film The Strange Ones starring Alex Pettyfer and James Jackson-Freedson is a French- American co-production with Stay Gold Features, Relic Pictures in association with Archer Gray, Gamechanger Films and Storyboard Entertainment. In 2017 the film won the Jury Prize at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival and was part of the official selection of South by Southwest where the actor James Jackson-Freedson won the Best Breakthrough performance.
Sébastien Aubert was captivated by the short film Domingo, which was then selected at the Biarritz Film Festival in 2015. He offered its director to adapt the story into a feature film, and 4 years later, the shooting took place in a favela in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the director is from. The film was financed by a group of independent investors. Post-production took place at the Label 42 studio in Marseille. The film was selected for the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival and won the Made in Jalisco award at the 36th edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival the same year. It is distributed in the United States by Samuel Goldwyn Films and internationally by Picture Tree International. The film was added to the catalog of Tubi, an American video-on-demand platform, in September 2021.
In August 2020, Adastra Films began shooting Heartbeast. The shoot took place primarily on the French Riviera, under strict COVID-19 measures. It is Finnish director Aino Suni's first feature film, co-produced between France, Germany, and Finland, with a budget of 1.3 million euros. The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Göteborg International Film Festival, where it was nominated among the best Nordic films. At the 2023 Jussi Awards, the Finnish equivalent of the American Oscars, the film was nominated in four categories and won Best Cinematography and Best Music.
In September 2023, the film LaRoy, Texas, directed by Shane Atkinson and produced by Adastra Films, won the Grand Prize, the Audience Award, and the Critics' Award at the Deauville American Film Festival. The film, shot in New Mexico with a budget of two million dollars, features a cast including John Magaro, Steve Zahn, and Dylan Baker. Sébastien Aubert and the director met at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2013, where Shane Atkinson was presenting Penny Dreadful, a short film that left a strong impression on Sébastien Aubert. LaRoy, Texas was released in French movie theaters in April 2024 and attracted over 67,000 viewers in nine weeks.
At the end of 2023, the filming of In the Name of Blood, the first film by Franco-Georgian director Akaki Popkhadze, took place in Nice. The film, produced by Adastra Films and starring Nicolas Duvauchelle, Denis Lavant, and Finnegan Oldfield, has a budget of 3 million euros. The film had its world premiere at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in September 2024 and is set to be released in French cinemas on January 8, 2025.
From Wikipedia’s article on Adastra Films, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4