MK2 Films Buys Shorts by Corbet, Mendonça Filho and Sciamma

Short films by Brady Corbet, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Céline Sciamma have joined the international sales catalogue of Paris-based MK2 Films. The company announced the acquisitions in Lyon during the Lumière Film Festival and its International Classic Film Market (MIFC), the classic-cinema trade event founded under festival director Thierry Frémaux, who also runs Cannes.

The three titles span nearly two decades of filmmaking. They range from Corbet's 2008 "Protect You + Me" to two recent works: Sciamma's "Tutti Frutti" and Mendonça Filho's "South of Tehran."

The deals mark a broader push by MK2 Films to grow its short-film catalogue alongside its established feature business.

"These short films create a dialogue with the feature films of iconic filmmakers represented in the MK2 Films collection, offering a different perspective on their creative vision and cinematic language," said Frédérique Rouault, head of collections at MK2 Films.

"They also open up new programming opportunities for festivals and cinemas, allowing audiences to discover rarely seen works by some of today's most influential directors," Rouault added.

What enters the catalogue?

The new acquisitions join a small but pointed lineup:

• Jia Zhangke's "Torino Shadow," which screened at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival and in the New York Film Festival's Spotlight Shorts program
• Early works by two-time Palme d'Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, notably "Le Chant du Rossignol," acquired through MK2 Films' recently announced deal with their production company Les Films du Fleuve
• Sciamma's 2023 short "This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet," a tribute to Italian poet Patrizia Cavalli that premiered at Venice Days

Sciamma's 44-minute "Tutti Frutti" draws on personal footage shot since 2022 and explores filmmaking as a solitary practice. The Centre Pompidou commissioned it, Lilies Films produced it, and it premiered in Paris in June during a retrospective devoted to the director of "Portrait of a Lady on Fire." It won the Jury Prize at the 2026 Villa Medici Film Festival. MK2 already represents Sciamma's complete feature filmography, including "Petite Maman" and new 2026 cuts of "Tomboy" and "Girlhood."

Who else is in the package?

Mendonça Filho's nine-minute "South of Tehran" features Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi recalling his earliest encounters with cinema. Emilie Lesclaux and Film at Lincoln Center produced it, shooting took place during the 2025 New York Film Festival — where both directors were presenting their latest features — and the film grew out of their conversations. It premiered at the New York festival earlier this year as the inaugural project of NYFF Encounters, an annual initiative commissioning filmmakers to shoot shorts during the festival.

The Panahi connection runs deeper. MK2 handled international sales on Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident," winner of the 2025 Cannes Palme d'Or, and on Mendonça Filho's "The Secret Agent," which earned the Brazilian director Best Director and Wagner Moura Best Actor the same year in Cannes.

Why Corbet's 2008 short matters now

The third acquisition reaches further back. Cinematographer Darius Khondji shot "Protect You + Me," which received an Honorable Mention at Sundance in 2009. The short predates Corbet's mainstream breakthrough by more than 15 years — "The Brutalist," the historical drama that won three Oscars, including Best Actor for Adrien Brody, and earned Corbet the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice in 2024.

The deal also tightens MK2's relationship with Corbet the actor. He appeared in Michael Haneke's "Funny Games," recently added to the catalogue, and in Gregg Araki's "Mysterious Skin," which MK2 is preparing to re-release theatrically in a new 4K restoration.

The Lumière Film Festival runs in Lyon through Oct. 18, with the MIFC wrapping Oct. 16. Expect the shorts to surface in festival sidebars and repertory programming first — which is, of course, the point.

By Daniel Okafor