Salaud Morisset Takes Worldwide Sales on Khalil Cherti's 'Our Way to You'

By Tom Whitfield

Salaud Morisset has acquired worldwide sales rights to "Our Way to You" (Ce qui nous mène à toi), the debut feature from French-Moroccan filmmaker Khalil Cherti, with Condor Distribution releasing the film in French theaters on Nov. 11.

The film begins its international tour at the Cairo International Film Festival in November. That launch follows a decorated world premiere at this year's Angoulême Film Festival, where the film won two awards. The names of those awards have not been disclosed. Amaury Ovise of Kazak Productions produces.

Nina Meurisse, the César-winning actress seen in "Souleymane's Story" (2024) and "The Rapture" (2023), stars as Charlie. Sofian Khammes ("My Brothers and I," 2021; "The Big Hit," 2019) plays Hicham. Jeanne Balibar, who won the César for best actress in 2018 for "Barbara," rounds out the principal cast.

What is the film about?

Charlie and Hicham want a child. Over three years, the couple moves through infertility and assisted reproductive treatment, testing their love and their bodies through hope and heartbreak. The premise promises intimacy on a difficult subject; the execution, by a first-time feature director, remains to be seen by international buyers in Cairo.

Cherti framed the project in personal terms. For his first feature, he said he wanted to capture one of the most important relationships in a person's life, arguing that simply being a couple is "an odyssey."

"I made this film because there is something quietly moving about two people trying, together, through years of hardship, to reinvent themselves," Cherti said.

Who is Khalil Cherti?

Connection and relationships recur across Cherti's earlier short-form work:

• "Wherever Comes the Pain From" (2013) — complicated family bonds; selected at Locarno, awarded at Clermont-Ferrand.
• "T'embrasser sur le miel" (2021) — on the depth of love facing life's challenges.
• "Je, d'un accident ou d'amour" (2025) — selected at Tribeca and Clermont-Ferrand.

The step up to feature length is a genuine leap. Shorts credentials, even festival-decorated ones, do not guarantee a debut can sustain a three-year narrative arc. The Angoulême prizes suggest it can; Cairo will test that verdict before an international audience.

What does the deal mean for the film?

Paul Jullien, head of sales at Salaud Morisset, said: "With 'Our Way to You,' Khalil Cherti explores the universal themes of parenthood, love and family with remarkable depth and sensitivity, turning an intimate story into something that resonates with us all." That is a sales pitch, naturally — but it signals the company intends to position the film as a crossover title rather than a niche arthouse item.

Producer Amaury Ovise made a similar case. The film, he said, "sensitively captures the joy and pain of a couple navigating the challenges of assisted reproduction. Charlie and Hicham embody that fragile part of ourselves whose story deserves to be told."

Neither statement addresses commercial positioning in concrete terms: no territory pre-sales, no platform deals, no festival strategy beyond Cairo have been announced. What the deal changes for now is distribution reach — a worldwide sales agent gives the film a route to territories beyond France, and a November festival platform from which to secure it.

The domestic result on Nov. 11, and the reception in Cairo, will determine whether the sales rhetoric converts into international commitments.