mk2 is a company founded in 1974 and built around three business lines: production, distribution and cinema operation. Shaped by the political and cultural thinking of its founder Marin Karmitz, whose initials it carries, mk2 is unique in its aims to give a voice to the voiceless, promote a different view of the world and create the only alternative cultural model of its kind.
A graduate from the influential IDHEC film school, Marin Karmitz was initially assistant director to the filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Jacques Rozier, Yannick Bellon and Pierre Kast. In 1964, he directed his first short film, Nuit noire Calcutta, based on a screenplay by Marguerite Duras. In 1965, he worked with Samuel Beckett on the adaptation of Comédie. In the same year, the film was selected to open Venice International Film Festival and shocked audiences with its avant-garde material. Forty years later, the film would be recognized at the Venice Biennale and shown in museums around the world. Marin Karmitz’s first feature-length film was Seven Days Somewhere Else with Jacques Higelin in 1967, which was also selected at Venice International Film Festival. After May ’68, he directed two films: Comrades (1970) and Blow for Blow (1972), which would be screened at all the international festivals. After founding mk2 Productions in 1967, Marin Karmitz launched a distribution company in 1974: mk2 diffusion.
Being unable to find distributors and operators to promote his politically charged films, Marin Karmitz opened ’14-juillet Bastille’ (future mk2 Bastille) in 1974. It had three screens in an area unfamiliar with art-house world cinema, with theatres showing only karate and pornographic films at that time. mk2 diffusion enabled him to build A library of international films that the established networks rejected, which would be shown at ’14-juillet Bastille’. A forum for stimulation and protest where numerous debates were held, ’14-juillet Bastille’ laid the foundations for the model that mk2 has been developing for over forty years: screening films in their original version. It also redesigned the interior of traditional theatres with a piece by Gérard Fromanger in the foyer, a bookstore and exhibition space.
From 1974 onwards, the ’14-juillet’ cinemas helped developing the opportunity of seeing films in their original version in Paris. The takeover of Studio Parnasse in 1976, a cinema founded in 1931 which was transformed into the iconic mk2 Parnasse with three screens, then of ’14-juillet’ Beaugrenelle in 1979 (four screens then six), put mk2 on Paris’s cinematographic map and allowed it to promote diverse, thought-provoking filmmaking. mk2 continued to produce feature-length films and gained international renown in 1977, winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival with Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Padre Padrone.
The 1980s marked mk2’s commitment to promoting quality filmmaking from around the world. After producing Marco Bellocchio’s A Leap in the Dark (1980) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Every Man for Himself (1980) in particular, mk2 presented eight films to the Cannes Film Festival in 1982 and won five awards, including the Palme d’Or for Yilmaz Güney’s Yol, The Road, the Jury Prize for the Taviani brothers’ The Night of San Lorenzo, Best Screenplay for Jerzy Skolimowski’s Moonlighting and the Golden Camera for Romain Goupil’s Half a Life.
Relying on its critical and commercial success, particularly after producing Francis Girod’s The Good Pleasure in 1984, mk2 established its position in French cinema and consecutively produced Claude Chabrol’s Cop Au Vin in 1985 (for whom Marin Karmitz would produce eleven other films), Alain Resnais’s Mélo in 1986, Etienne Chatiliez’s Life is a Long Quiet River in 1988 and Louis Malle’s Au revoir les enfants, which won the Golden Lion in Venice in 1986 and seven Césars in 1988. 1988 also brought the success of Claude Chabrol’s Story of Women, which mk2 produced, and Percy Adlon’s Bagdad Café, which it distributed. mk2 became the leading French distributor.
Ten years after the takeover of the Paramount Odéon following the collapse of the Parafrance network, which led to mk2 Odéon in 1986 (five screens), mk2 moved into the boathouses created by Gustave Eiffel for the 1878 World Fair. The opening of the ’14-Juillet-sur-Seine’ in 1996, which had six screens in the heart of Paris’s 19th arrondissement, allowed mk2 to develop its vision of cinema, making it a forum for stimulation that revitalized life in the community and a platform at the crossroads of the arts, developed with artists and designers. A crack den in Paris, the Stalingrad area was deserted after dark by its residents and tradesmen. Heckled at first by local youths, the 14-Juillet-sur-Seine teams involved them in the cinema, making it a focal point that had something for everyone. The community venture led to a film, Jacques Doillon’s Little Fellas, which was released in 1999.
The 1990s were also marked by the first collaborations with two major filmmakers in its cinematographic history: Krzysztof Kieslowski, for whom Marin Karmitz produced the Three Colours trilogy (1993–1995), and Abbas Kiarostami with The Wind Will Carry Us (1999). To date, mk2 has produced four other Kiarostami films, ABC Africa (2001), Ten (2002), Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012), and distributed two others, Five in 2005 and Shirin in 2010. The company brought together all its activities under the name ‘mk2’ in 1998.
mk2 expanded its catalogue, first by acquiring François Truffaut’s production company in 1999, Les Films du carrosse, which enabled mk2 to distribute the director’s work, then in 2000 by acquiring a major catalogue, CIBY 2000, which included the films of Mike Leigh, David Lynch and Emir Kusturica. In 2001, the Chaplin family outsourced the representation of all its titles to mk2. With the creation of ‘mk2 éditions’ in 1999, mk2 DVDs gained a world-recognition for editing, by developing unique savoir-faire in producing innovative content with directors and industry professionals. Continuing its publishing activities, mk2 founded its free monthly magazine TROISCOULEURS in 2002, which presents film and entertainment news from Paris. That same year, the creation of mk2 multimedia (future mk2 agency) enabled the group to diversify its activities and unique positioning, using its expertise in advertising and communication.
Through its distribution activities, and particularly its ‘mk2 découvertes’ (‘mk2 discoveries’) collection, mk2 has been able to bring Bolivian, Senegalese, Iranian, Bangladeshi, South Korean, Danish and Russian films into cinemas, to mention just a few. In the early 2000s, mk2 won the Palme d’Or with Gus Van Sant’s Elephant in 2003. Afterwards, mk2 distributed Gerry (2004) and Last Days (2005) and produced Paranoid Park in 2007, which won the 60th Anniversary Award at the Cannes Film Festival. After producing Michael Haneke’s Code Unknown (2000), mk2 also produced his film The Piano Teacher in the following year, which won the Grand Prix at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Best Actor Award for Benoit Magimel and the Best Actress Award for Isabelle Huppert, who would receive a César for the role in 2002.
The first half of the 2000s marked a turning point in mk2’s operational activity with the opening of the mk2 Bibliothèque complex (fourteen screens, progressively extended to twenty today) in 2003 and the launch of mk2 Quai-de-Loire in 2005. The former has two restaurants, a store, café and bar. Located in the heart of a fast-growing area, at the foot of France’s National Library, it was developed with designers: Martin Szekely created a seat for two (Loveseat™), the lightning was designed by Jacques Bobroff and the plates of the Café Bibliothèque by Sonia Rykiel. With the aim of creating a meeting point for all forms of artistic expression, mk2 opened its cinema with an exhibition of the biggest artists from Rue Louise Weiss, the epicentre of Paris’s galleries in the early 2000s. Quai-de-Loire was also developed with artists and designers: the store was outfitted by Tsé & Tsé and its neon exterior was created by Martial Raysse, where he placed his piece Sinéma, les anges sont avec toi. A statue by Martial Raysse has also been placed at the exit to the screens in mk2 Bibliothèque.
When the UGC unlimited card was launched in 2000, mk2 partnered Pathé to create an alternative cinema pass and so balance the Parisian market. But mk2 was evicted from the Beaugrenelle centre and lost control of the mk2 Beaugrenelle cinema in 2007, which had been sold to Pathé. mk2 ended its partnership with Pathé and joined UGC, creating a card that offers access to the world’s best range of unlimited cinema and opening the doors to the biggest networks and independent theatres.
After taking the helm of mk2 in 2005, Nathanaël Karmitz involved the company in the technological transition, making it the first fully digital cinema network in 2009. The gamble paid off and in 2009 mk2 Bibliothèque generated the biggest audience for James Cameron’s Avatar, the first major 3D event in modern filmmaking, in France. The technology cut cinema from its ties and enabled another operating model: the first private made-to-measure cinema, Germain Paradisio, was launched in 2010. The cinema has a wide range of films in its digital catalogue and 24 seats in the heart of the Saint-Germain area, in a luxurious venue designed by India Madhavi. Five other made-to-measure cinemas in unusual locations soon followed: Silencio in a club designed by David Lynch (2011), Miss Cinema and Madame Cinema in the Palais de Tokyo (2014), and one screen at the heart of the Musée de la Chasse (2016).
Forty years after its creation, mk2 exported its programming model and vision of the cinema to Spain. In 2014, mk2 acquired Andalusia’s leading network, Cinesur, which had 9 cinemas and 110 screens. Over there, mk2 developed at a regional scale the work of revaluation of urban space started in Paris with the opening of mk2 Bastille in 1974. To achieve this, mk2 apply the same formula of its success: a new programming of original version films with subtilties, combining independent and popular cinemas, retrospectives, festivals and cultural events.
mk2’s Spanish network continued to expand in Madrid with the acquisition of the Palacio de Hielo in 2017, the city’s largest cinema, as well as Cinepaz in 2021. Therefore, mk2 has the biggest cinema network in Andalusia, making the group the 3rd largest operator in Spain, with 5 million admissions in 2019.
In 2008, Elisha Karmitz founded mk2 Agency which became MK2+ in 2019. As an advertising agency and creative studio, MK2+ designs communication campaigns and special events for brands and cultural institutions.
Since 2016 and the launch of mk2 VR, the first permanent room dedicated to virtual reality in Europe, MK2+ has been developing an expertise in the production and distribution of immersive experiences. MK2+ has distributed a virtual reality solution for professionals around the world, including a collaboration with Paris Saint-Germain for the creation of an interactive and immersive tour of the Parc des Princes produced and operated by MK2+: PSG Experience.
Pursuing its commitment to auteur cinema, mk2 films continues to promote recognized or promising filmmakers and talents who share an original perspective on the world. In 2010, Juliette Binoche won the Best Actress Award in Cannes for Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, which mk2 produced. 2010 also marked mk2’s first collaboration with the Quebecois director Xavier Dolan, for whom it distributed Heartbeats. mk2 has since produced Laurence Anyways (2012), Tom at the Farm (FIPRESCI Award in Venice, 2014) and It’s Only the End of the World (Canne’s Grand Prix in 2016) and distributed Mommy (Jury Prize in Cannes and Best Foreign Film, 2014) in France.
Most recently, mk2 co-produced Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War (Director’s Prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival), or Joachim Trier’s The Worst person in the World (Best Actress Award for Renate Reinsve at the Cannes Film Festival 2021), and exported Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Screenplay Award at Cannes in 2019) and Carla Simón’s Alcarràs (Golden Bear at Berlin in 2022).
In 2018, Marin Karmitz received the Golden Palm of Honor at the Cannes Film Festival for his entire career.
In 2019, mk2 continues to support the fight for democratization and access to culture that Marin Karmitz has been leading for the past 50 years with a new special offer for young audience: €4.90 per ticket for those under 26.
Since the opening of the first mk2 theater in 1974, mk2 cinemas mostly represent gateways to the world and spaces of exchange and debate that allow citizen commitment. mk2 Institut extends this vision by programming conferences with personalities from the intellectual and cultural world, inviting discussion to imagine the world of today and tomorrow. Among the participants, Esther Duflo, François Sureau, and Fran Lebowitz have been featured.
In 2020, mk2 launched mk2 Curiosity, a very unique video-on-demand platform that offers a selection of free films every week, selected by mk2 programmers.
In 2010, mk2 created the Paradiso brand to rethink the cinema experience by reinventing the pre- and post-screening phases. Paradiso has become the laboratory for new approaches to cinema with the Cinéma Paradiso festivals, which combines cinematic, musical and gastronomic experiences in exceptional locations. After the success of the 2013 and 2015 editions at the Grand Palais, the festival now takes place in the cour Carrée of the Louvre Museum since 2019. Cinéma Paradiso has become a must in the Capital and is now available in a more intimate and mobile version: Cinéclub Paradiso at La Seine Musicale since 2020, but also for the first time outside of Paris, at the Villa Carmignac on the island of Porquerolles, in 2022.
Following on from Paradiso festivals, in 2021 mk2 opened the Hotel Paradiso, the world’s first cinema-hotel, in the heart of eastern Paris. Through a high-quality hotel service, the Hotel Paradiso makes cinema an art of living by offering unique cinema experiences: rooms equipped with a giant screen and projector, cinema karaoke, and open-air cinema on the roof.
They have been produced by mk2
Jean-Charles Tacchella (1974), Gerhard Schirmbeck et Serge July (1975), Paolo et Vittorio Taviani (1977, 1982, 1985, 1987), Yannick Bellon (1978), Josée Dayan et Malika Ribowska (1979), Marco Bellocchio (1980), Jean-Luc Godard (1981), Jean-Louis Comolli (1981), Ken Loach (1981, 1987), Yilmaz Güney (1982, 1983), Jerzy Skolimowski (1982), Romain Goupil (1982), Patrick Blossier (1982), Francis Girod (1984), Alain Tanner (1985, 1986), Claude Chabrol (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002), Jacques Doillon (1985, 1998), Ruy Guerra (1986), Alain Resnais (1986, 1989), Théo Angepoulos (1986), Luigi Comencini (1987), Louis Malle (1987), Etienne Chatiliez (1988), Claire Denis (1988), Pavel Lounguine (1990), Jean-Claude Gallotta (1991), Cédric Klapisch (1992), Lucian Pintilie (1992, 1994, 1996, 1998), Djibril Diop Mambety (1992), Bartabas (1993, 1996), Krzysztof Kieslowski (1993, 1994), Jiri Menzel (1994), Pierre Grange (1995), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1996, 1997, 1998), Charles Belmont (1997), Arturo Ripstein (1997), Lodge Kerrigan (1998), Samira Makhmalbaf (1998), Abbas Kiarostami (1999, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2012), Jonathan Nossiter (1999), Dante Desarthe (2000), Michael Haneke (2000, 2001), Tareque Masud (2002), Raphaël Nadjari (2002), Philippe Leclerc (2003), Hong Sang-Soo (2003, 2005), Michelle Porte (2003), Serge Frydman (2004), Gus van Sant (2007), Olivier Assayas (2009, 2012), Abdellatif Kechiche (2010), Walter Salles (2012), Xavier Dolan (2012, 2014, 2016), Jia Zhang-Ke (2015, 2017), Pawel Pawlikowski (2017)
They have been distributed by mk2 (non-exhaustive list)
Miguel Littin (1974), Jorge Sanjines (1974, 1975), Patricio Guzman & Chris Marker (1975), Paolo Pasolini (1976), Luigi Comencini (1976, 1987), Wim Wenders (1976), Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1977, 1979, 1981), Marguerite Duras (1977, 1979), Benoit Jacquot (1977), Marianne Ahrne (1978, 1979), Alain Cavalier (1979), Reinhard Hauff (1979), Satyajit Ray (1979, 1989), Agnès Varda (1982, 1985), Raoul Ruiz (1983), Peter Greenaway (1984), Margarethe Von Trotta (1986), James Ivory (1986, 1987), Nanni Moretti (1987), Percy Adlon (1988, 1989), David Cronenberg (1989), Nicole Garcia (1990), Jean-Claude Gallota (1991), Zhuangzhuang Tian (1991), Hou Hsia Hsien (1997), Ang Lee (1998), Laurent Bouhnik (1998), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (1999), Bahman Ghobadi (2000), Damien Odoul (2001), Khaled Ghorbal (2001), Carlos Saura (2002), Faouzi Bensaïdi (2003), Fatih Akin (2004), Dominique Abel et Fiona Gordon (2006, 2011), Gregg Araki (2005), Jiayin Liu (2005), Miranda July (2005), Gela Babluani (2006), Kim Rossi Stuart (2006), Daniel Sanchez Arevalo (2006), Gavin Hood (2006), Jalil Lespert (2007), Santiago Otheguy (2007), Lenny Abrahamson (2007), Steve McQueen (2008), Mike Leigh (2008), Götz Spielmann (2009), Yorgos Lanthimos (2009), Andra Arnold (2009), Felix Van Groeningen (2010), Tom Dicillo (2010), Thomas Vinterberg (2010), Guillaume Nicloux (2010), Mike Mills (2011), Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche (2012), Yousry Nasrallah (2012), Marc-Henri Wajnberg (2013), Bruce Labruce (2013), Jonathan Glazer (2014), Stuart Murdoch (2014), Christophe Honoré (2014), Stéphane Brizé (2015,2016), Naomi Kawase (2015,2016), Kôji Fukada (2016)
44 YEARS OF CINEMA HISTORY
mk2 has produced over 100 films and formed a library of over 800 titles by the greatest directors, from François Truffaut to Charlie Chaplin, whilst operating a network of 26 cinemas in Europe. See the mk2 success story in fifty key dates.
1974
Opening of the first ’14-Juillet’ in Bastille
“14-Juillet Bastille screened politically charged films, but it also encouraged other means of expressing protest: books, music and photography. And so 14-Juillet Bastille became a forum for debate on topical issues and had a bookstore launched with the publisher François Maspero, who ultimately had to abandon the project when it was due to open. The cinema became a hotspot for expressing the difficulties of living in deprived areas, and it worked so well that mk2 expanded the project into other areas.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 64
Creation of mk2 diffusion
Marin Karmitz: “For me, what best defines my role as a film producer is my clear aim to work against. To work against preconceived ideas, established values, dominant views and mainstream trends, but realizing that working against also means working for. Highlighting, for example, films that are seldom or never screened, filmmakers from the third world, promoting European culture — which invents — as opposed to American cinema, which copies, commercializes and exploits.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 8
1976
Opening of mk2 Parnasse
“This cinema in the Montparnasse area opened with the name Studio de Paris in 1930 and became Studio Parnasse in 1931. Since then, it has consistently promoted thought-provoking and diverse cinema (screenings followed by debates, screenings of short films, etc.). It was threatened with bankruptcy and saved by mk2, which bought it out in October 1976 and made it a platform for films that had been rejected elsewhere for their unprofitability or politics. It’s also a bastion for films in the original version with subtitles.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 232
1977
First Palme d’Or for a film produced by mk2: “Padre Padrone” by the Taviani brothers
Marin Karmitz remembers what convinced him to distribute Padre Padrone: “I got my hands on the film thanks to Simon Mizrahi, the press officer for the biggest Italian directors, and Jacques Robert, a cinema enthusiast. RAI, Italian state television, had consigned it to the cellar and reluctantly agreed to give it to me and enlarge it to 35 mm. The jury at Cannes, which was chaired by Roberto Rossellini that year, preferred Padre Padrone to Ettore Scola’s A Special Day.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page page 70
Photo credit : Padre Padrone, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani (1977) copyright mk2
1979
Opening of mk2 Beaugrenelle
“Beaugrenelle started with four screens, then five in 1981 and six in 1983. Here too, the idea was to establish the original version with subtitles in an area dominated by dubbed films. The programming was quite specialist, with films such as Yves Yersin’s Les Petites Fugues in 1979 — the story of a retired farmhand who buys a moped and goes off exploring. In this film-unfriendly area, we tried to make ambitious cinematography, as the Polish school of Krzysztof Zanussi and Andrzej Wajda can be, popular with audiences. Having an art-house leaning is unusual in a shopping centre.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page page 70
1980
mk2 produces Jean-Luc Godard’s “Every Man for Himself”
“There was a lot of commotion on the Croisette: the film was big news but it was booed during the official screening and the popular press hated it. Marin Karmitz argued with a journalist who wanted Godard to stop the film and women called him a pornographer. Five months later, however, when the film was released in theatres, it was a success. In the meantime, Marin Karmitz had developed a strategy of showing journalists the film again, saying that Godard had made lots of changes. In actual fact, he hadn’t changed a single shot. The result: the film was seen by 233,000 people in Paris and Greater Paris, and distributed to the US by Zoetrope (Francis Ford Coppola’s distribution company), where it was also very successful.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 66
1982
International recognition with eight films in competition in Cannes and the Palme d’Or for Yilmaz Güney’s “Yol, The Road”
“In 1982, mk2 presented eight films to the Cannes Film Festival and won five awards. The Palme d’Or (shared with Costa-Gavras’s Missing) and the FIPRESCI Award went to Yol, The Road, the Jury Prize was awarded to the Taviani brothers for The Night of San Lorenzo and Jerzy Skolimowski’s Moonlighting won Best Screenplay. The Golden Camera went to Romain Goupil’s film Half a Life.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 79
Crédit photo : Michel Recanati in Half a Life, directed by Romain Goupil (1982), copyright mk2
1983
Release of Yilmaz Güney’s film “The Wall”
“Marin Karmitz, who was sheltering Yilmaz Güney, then an illegal immigrant, after he fled the Turkish police and sought refuge in France, decided to produce Duvar (The Wall), the story of young prisoners who are humiliated by their terrible detention conditions. They decide to rebel and demand a better life. Although he was barely out of prison, Güney chose to go back inside with a cinema. The shoot was eventful.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 83
1985
First film with Claude Chabrol, “Cop Au Vin”
The film was a hit and marked the start of a long-term relationship between the filmmaker and producer: twelve feature-length films, namely Cop Au Vin, The Flower of Evil (2002), Masks (1987), Story of Women (1989), Madame Bovary (1991), Betty (1992), The Torment (1994), A Judgement in Stone (1995), Colour of Lies (1999) and Nightcap (2000). “The commercial success of his films meant that I could produce all the others, particularly Iranian films by Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf,” Karmitz has stressed. “Every year, I gave him a list of films that I had made thanks to him. He helped world cinema.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 84
1986
mk2 produces Alain Resnais’s “Mélo”
“It was with Alain Resnais’s Mélo in 1986 that I felt able to meet all the industry’s demands for the first time. […] Before I saw Resnais, I called his agent to say: ‘[…] I can only put in seven million francs and the film can’t be longer than 1 and ¾ hours.’ […] When a film is longer than 1 and ¾ hours, cinemas are limited to four screenings instead of five. It creates a shortfall in sales. But that’s not the only reason for the time limit: few films have content that’s worth going over time for.”
Marin Karmitz in Profession producteur, conversations avec Stéphane Paoli (Hachette Littérature, 2003), page 103
Photo crédits photos : André Dussolier & Pierre Arditi in Mélo, directed by Alain Resnais (1986), copyright mk2
Opening of mk2 Odéon
Claude Villeneuve, now Screenings Manager with mk2, says: “In late 1985, we didn’t know that mk2 was going to buy out the Odéon. We found out at the last minute. Marin came by and said: ‘So, I know you think that I’m going to get rid of you. But you’re nice people, you do a good job. If you want to stay with mk2, don’t worry, we’ll keep you.’ We looked at him in shock. We weren’t expecting that. So we replied: ‘OK, fine with us.’ But there was someone who left before Marin came. That was the previous cinema manager. He left, saying: ‘I can’t work with a guy like that!’ That’s understandable — he was a royalist.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 94
1987
Success at all the festivals for Louis Malle’s “Au revoir les enfants”
“Although short and complex, the working relationship between Louis Malle and mk2 helped the director make one of the biggest films of his career. In 1987, it picked up the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival as well as seven Césars (including Best Film, Best Editing and Best Director) and the Louis-Delluc Award. And it was Oscar nominated the following year in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It was also a commercial success with 3.5 million admissions in France.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 98
Release of Lucian Pintilie’s film “The Oak”
The film looks back at the fall of the Ceausescu regime through the character of Nela, who cares for her dying father but is forced to leave Bucharest to wander through a Romania scarred by the dictatorship. Marin Karmitz remembers: “The Oak explores resistance to barbarity. Pintilie’s solution: humour, violence, even love. It’s a violent, fast-moving, wonderful film.” But The Oak was not as successful as the producer anticipated. At the Cannes Film Festival, he had to pay extras to act as photographers at the premiere.
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 112
Photo credits : Maia Morgenstern in The Oak, directed by Lucian Pintilie (1987), copyright mk2
1988
mk2 is the leading French distributor
Thanks to the four million admissions generated by Etienne Chatiliez’s Life is a Long Quiet River, Claude Chabrol’s Story of Women (nearly a million admissions) and the word of mouth around Percy Adlon’s Bagdad Café, which led to over two million admissions, mk2 became the leading French distributor. That year, mk2 distributed six other films: Lasse Hallström My Life as a Dog (Sweden), Stephen Frears’s Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (UK), Claire Denis’s Chocolat (France), which mk2 also produced, Louis Malle’s Atlantic City (France) and Gregory Nava’s A Time of Destiny (US).
Credits photo : Story of women, Claude Chabrol (1988), copyright Jacques Prayer
1993
Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Blue” triumphs at the Venice International Film Festival (five awards, including the Golden Lion)
Marin Karmitz: “I met Krzysztof Kieslowski in December 1989. Something happened between us, something like love at first sight. We talked for a long time about morals, ethics, philosophy and politics. Not about cinema. It was only towards the end that I told him that I wanted to produce one of his films. He had a complex project that meant a lot to him: a trilogy on the theme ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’, which he would call Blue, White, Red. I didn’t need to know more, I was willing to do it.”
Profession producteur, conversations avec Stéphane Paoli (Hachette Littérature, 2003), page 135
Photo credit : Juliette Binoche in Three colours : Blue, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski (1993), copyright mk2
Bartabas’s “Mazeppa” in official competition in Cannes
Although the strategy ended in commercial failure, the film remains a major artistic achievement for Karmitz. Bartabas says that he learnt how to film horses on Mazeppa: “How do you adapt cinematographic convention to horses? What does a close-up mean with a horse? For a human, you choose the most expressive area, you frame the face. Horses express themselves with their eyes and mouth…”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 118
1994
Release of “White”, after its prizes in Berlin
“The second part of Kieslowski’s trilogy, which earned him the Golden Bear for Best Director in Berlin, concentrates on ‘equality’. Karol, a Polish barber, is being divorced by his wife, Dominique, although he is head over heels in love with her. He tries to go back to Poland, which proves to be difficult, and win back Dominique, which is even harder. The film is clearly lighthearted, but no less acerbic on our society’s ideals.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 220
Photo credit : Zbigniew Zamachowski in Three Colours : White, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994), copyright mk2
1995
Three Oscar nominations for Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Three Colours: Red”
Marin Karmitz: “Red is set in Switzerland. Switzerland sent it to the Oscars but the Americans rejected it: for them, it was a French film. The film was stateless: not French, Swiss or Polish! So what happened in the US? The biggest American actors and filmmakers (Sean Penn, Robert de Niro, Martin Scorsese, etc.) appealed to the Academy, campaigned against the refusal to select Red as foreign film. It then gained three nominations: Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. […] The film didn’t win any awards, but that didn’t stop it being a huge commercial success in the US.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 148
Photo credit : Irène Jacob in Three colours : red, de Krzysztof Kieslowski (1995) copyright mk2
Opening of mk2 Hautefeuille
“After 1972, the cinema on Rue Hautefeuille had several owners. In 1995, mk2 took it over and made it mk2 Odéon’s ‘little brother’. With its fortress-like exterior, this listed art-house cinema is a bulwark protecting legendary films. It’s known for screening retrospectives.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 123 233
In 2016, mk2 Hautefeuille became mk2 Odéon Saint-Michel
Opening of mk2 Beaubourg
“mk2 bought the cinema called Ciné Beaubourg. That led to a new interior and a new objective, in terms of editorial policy, set by Marin: making it the leading art-house cinema in France. Doing even more than what had come before. The work was divided into two parts: first the programming, devised by the mk2 network’s programmers, and second events in the theatre, i.e. special screenings, matinee screenings. We also put together artistic partnerships, programmes, with theatres, operas, philosophers and writers.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 123
1996
Opening of mk2 Quai de Seine
“The 14-Juillet-sur-Seine (which became mk2 Quai de Seine) opened in 1996 in an old boathouse designed by Gustave Eiffel for the 1878 World Fair and previously used by bargemen. The building was renovated and its metal structure conserved, but its walls were torn down and replaced with large glass panels. On the sides, classic quotes from the history of cinema are written on the walls: ‘T’as de beaux yeux tu sais’, ‘Atmosphère’, ‘Amarcord’… The building, which opens onto Bassin de la Villette artificial lake, draws passersby in. In the early 1990s, few people lingered in the Stalingrad area after 8 pm. The groundwork paid off and mk2 became a major contributor to the rehabilitation of Paris’s 19th arrondissement thanks to its cinema’s social and cultural initiatives.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 124
1998
Opening of mk2 Gambetta
“Originally, the site was a 1,500-seater theatre. It became a cinema, Gambetta Palace, in 1920. It was taken over by Gaumont in 1928 and divided into three screens, with two further screens added in 1980. In 1998, mk2 bought and renovated the building, which has a listed Art Nouveau exterior designed by Henri Sauvage.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 233
Opening of mk2 nation
“A unique cinema with 900 seats. Over the decades, there have been several owners and new names: Brunin, Brunin-Variétés, Trois Nation… It took its current form in 1981 when an adjoining garage was taken over. It was renamed mk2 Nation in 1998.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 233
“14-Juillet” cinemas became mk2
“On 29 April 1998, 14-Juillet cinemas were renamed mk2. Why change the name of the biggest independent network in Paris? Marin Karmitz reluctantly gave up the name to make it clearer and more together for cinemagoers. The parent company’s production and distribution work contributes to the cultural specificity of the sites, which promote cinema in areas where it is threatened: 1998 was the year of takeovers and the openings of mk2 Nation and mk2 Gambetta. The different business lines had to be brought under the same banner.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 125
1999
First collaboration with Abbas Kiarostami, “The Wind Will Carry Us”
Marin Karmitz: “I’ve never seen the level of cooperation you get in filmmaking in other forms of creation. In filmmaking, we work on the screenplays, yes we make improvements but we shoot quite quickly. We don’t work on draft after draft, at least not to that extent. For me, the process supports the idea that filmmaking is like building. I expect a director to bring the bricks. Not to finish the build, but to carry on building it and for other people to carry on building it. […] An important aspect of our relationship with Abbas is the language. I don’t speak English, he doesn’t speak French and I don’t speak Persian so how can we communicate? […] The relationship that’s developed between us goes beyond words. Words convey meaning but also intentions, something like mutual understanding, which is a universal language.”
Trois Couleurs #101, May 2012, p. 60–61 (as told to Etienne Rouillon)
Photo credit : The Wind will carry us, Abbas Kiarostami (1999), copyright mk2
Creation of mk2 éditions and acquisition of the Truffaut catalogue
“It was a small, shiny disk with a diameter of 120mm that would help mk2 redefine its filmmaking identity. It was the late 1990s and DVDs were coming into living rooms. The format would give full meaning to Marin Karmitz’s description of mk2 as a ‘film production and publishing’ company. ‘Production’ is understandable. But ‘publishing’? The term is more associated with books than films. It means building up a catalogue like a sommelier stocks his cellar: conserving and maturing works that will become treasures over the years.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 140
Photo credit : The Woman next door, François Truffaut (1981), copyright Alain Venisse
2000
Acquisition of the CIBY 2000 catalogue (Leigh, Lynch, Kusturica)
“mk2 is raising awareness of our cinematographic heritage, which is similar to what a publishing company does with books. mk2 is striving to form an ‘archive’ with the aim of preserving and passing on films to the next generation. The films will benefit from wider audiences with the development of new channels, such as pay television or the growth in VHS formats. The idea is to look as much at the content as the container by acquiring the reproduction and commercial development rights.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 140
Photo credits : Secrets et Mensonges, Mike Leigh (1996), copyright Simon Mein
2001
Triumph in Cannes for Michael Haneke’s “The Piano Teacher”
“Haneke put together an early version of the film, which he wanted to present in Cannes. Karmitz and his co-producer Alain Sarde refused: “The film was around twenty minutes too long and weighed down by repeated scenes of violence or unnecessary provocation.” The director was reluctant to make any cuts and convinced the producers to send the film to Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux, who rejected it. The rejection saved the film. Gilles Jacob thought it too long, Marin told Michael Haneke, he shortened the film and resubmitted it. That time was the right time. Bingo! The film won several awards, including the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 144
Photo credit : The Piano teacher, Michael Haneke (2001) copyright mk2
International promotion of Charlie Chaplin’s film catalogue
“mk2 éditeur aims to pass on rare cinema to the next generation, making it aware of its pivotal films and founding moments. DVDs offer new possibilities in terms of content with menu browsing allowing additional content. We try to situate every film in the history of cinema, either by compiling existing materials or producing new ones. To promote Chaplin’s films, ten directors produced supplements presenting their views of his work, and at the same time we dug out forgotten footage, such as the film of Chaplin’s brother on the set of The Great Dictator.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 140
Photo credit : City Lights, Charles Chaplin (1931) copyright Roy Export SAS
2002
Creation of TROISCOULEURS, the monthly magazine presenting news, reviews and features
“In the early years, many readers called it Bleu-Blanc-Rouge or Un, deux, trois couleurs, but the monthly magazine published by mk2 is actually called TROISCOULEURS, taking the name of Kieslowski’s trilogy. Initially the magazine featured news from mk2 cinemas — debates, screenings, releases, etc. In 2006, it took a new direction, aiming to become a legitimate provider of entertainment news. A tacit agreement was reached with the readers, issue after issue: the more the writers liked a film, the more coverage in the magazine. In emphasizing reports and analysis, the magazine sought to distance itself somewhat from the usual promotional circus that accompanies the release of films, using them as a starting point to explore social and cultural realties.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 144
Photo credit : Hedi Slimane
Creation of a communication and content creation agency (future mk2 agency)
“December 2010, a football stadium in Clichy-sous-Bois. Kim Chapiron wasn’t banking on the snow. No matter, he incorporated it into his story. He was filming Enfants de la patrie, the first of his two-part film, which would be completed by Dripping with the rapper Oxmo Puccino and the footballer Eric Abidal. The two short films were produced by mk2 multimédia for Nike, which wanted some innovative marketing for the launch of France’s new football shirts. The pivotal role between brands and cultural figures became central to the activities of mk2 multimédia, which was renamed mk2 agency in 2012. The agency focuses on three areas: producing audiovisual content for brands, organizing promotional events and advertising.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 157
2003
Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” wins the Palme d’Or
A tragic masterpiece that covers the hours leading up to the Columbine high school massacre, Elephant is the central part of the American director’s ‘Death Trilogy’, which began with Gerry in 2002 and concluded two years later with Last Days, based on the death of Kurt Cobain. Gus Van Sant remembers: “Marin Karmitz had distributed Elephant and that was when I met him. I spent time with him and his family in Paris when the film was released. As Marin was not only a producer but also a cinema operator, I asked him if he would like to help me shoot Paranoid Park. In the meantime, he had distributed Last Days.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 152
Creation of the first seat specifically designed for two: Martin Szekely’s Love Seat™
“When mk2 Bibliothèque opened on 19 February 2003, the 13th arrondissement’s former mayor Jacques Toubon was greeted with an innovation that soon became synonymous with the site: the famous Love Seat™. The stylish red seat, which was created by the French designer Martin Szekely, can switch between a two-seater sofa and two individual seats thanks to a foldaway armrest.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 146
Copyright : The Loveseat™, by Martin Szekely
Opening of mk2 Bibliothèque
“The multiplex’s size and ambition threatened to undermine the mk2 brand. Far from the ‘reflection and stimulation’ hoped for by Marin Karmitz, the cinema could become a temple for guzzling popcorn during yet another dubbed blockbuster. How could its identity be conserved? Should mk2 Bibliothèque be a second Bastille, another Parnasse, a new Beaugrenelle, a Quai de Seine mark two? None of the above. It had to reflect all mk2 cinemas, but also its films. The Bibliothèque presents diverse programming that breaks down the barriers to cinema, opening it up to all forms of culture. Its walls exhibit works by artists; its screens foster dialogue between disciplines; today’s cinema is celebrated with previews; yesterday’s cinema is promoted with seasons; the next generation is educated on the cinema archive.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 146
2004
Golden Bear in Berlin for Fatih Akin’s “Head on”
After Reinhard Hauff’s Stammheim, it took Germany twenty years to win a Bear in Berlin. In this film, which was a festival favourite, Fatih Akin explores the conflicts experienced by young Germans of Turkish heritage.
2005
Nathanaël Karmitz becomes head of the group
Since joining mk2 in 1997, Nathanaël Karmitz has produced numerous films including 13 Tzameti by the young Georgian talent Gela Babluani (Lion of the Future at Venice 2005, Jury Prize at Sundance 2006 and European Discovery at the European Film Awards 2006), Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park (60th Anniversary Award in Cannes 2006), Olivier Assayas’s Something in the Air and Summer Hours (voted Best Foreign Film by the critics in Boston, New York and Los Angeles in 2009), Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love and Certified Copy with Juliette Binoche (Best Actress Award at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival), Abdellatif Kechiche’s Black Venus, Walter Salles’s On the Road, Jia Zhang-Ke’s Mountains May Depart and Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways, Tom At The Farm, Mommy and It’s Only the End of the World.
Opening of mk2 Quai de Loire
“In a former warehouse just opposite mk2 Quai de Seine, on the banks of Bassin de la Villette artificial lake, mk2 Quai de Loire has a store that sells books and DVDs. A small boat called Zéro de conduite can be used to cross the water to go from one cinema to the other.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 233
2007
mk2 announces the launch of its VOD platform in Cannes
The first cinema chain in France to launch a VOD platform, mk2 did things differently to its rivals with a catalogue of 1,000 titles from over a dozen different producers (mk2, FTD, Studio Canal, EPI Diffusion, Family Films, etc.) and a wide range of formats (documentaries, animations, short films, erotica, practical guides, etc.). The service is characterized by strong editorial choices: content devised by mk2 VOD’s Film Advisor, who users can contact via online chat, weekly themes (selections of cult filmmakers, comedy seasons, programmes for young people, selections to reflect film news, etc.). The catalogue is available to download 24/7 with unlimited viewing for 48 hours. In late 2007, mk2 launched its multimedia community platform ONOWA, which brings together all the multimedia creation posted by users (videos, photos, music, illustrations and texts) whilst tackling pirating.
mk2 joins the UGC unlimited card
When the UGC unlimited card was launched in 2000, mk2 partnered Pathé to create a rival unlimited cinema pass and so balance the Parisian market. In 2007, mk2 learnt that when Beaugrenelle shopping centre closed for renovation, operation of the cinema complex had been transferred to Pathé: mk2 Beaugrenelle would not reopen. mk2 ended its partnership with Pathé and joined UGC, creating a card that offers access to the world’s best range of unlimited cinema and opening the doors to the biggest networks and independent theatres.
2009
mk2 is the first network to digitize all its cinemas
“In 2009, mk2 joined the race to become the first network in Paris to be fully equipped with digital projectors. The monster that was hastening the digital switchover around the world, James Cameron’s Avatar, would be released on 16 December. Nathanaël Karmitz met his target on time and saw another development opportunity in digital technology: made-to-measure cinema.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 170
2010
First private made-to-measure cinema: Germain Paradisio
The cinema is hidden away under Thierry Costes’s Café Germain. 24 people can hire it for any amount of time, get together in the blue leather interior ‘designed’ by India Mahdavi, have a drink or dine in the cinema and, of course, see a film — any one of a large catalogue of classic, recent and even current films. That flexibility was impossible in the past, when you had to have the film on a roll. “The concept of luxury private-hire cinema was unimaginable without the emergence of modern technology,” Nathanaël Karmitz says.
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 170
2012
Opening of mk2 Grand Palais
“This unique cinema is hidden in the spectacular Grand Palais. Located on the first floor, its windows look out over the Seine before the blinds come down and the films begin. It stages private screenings but is also open to the public at weekends and shows major documentaries, short films and director’s seasons, as well as matinee films for children.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 233
2013
Première édition du festival de popculture Cinema Paradiso, créé par mk2 agency
Cinema Paradiso est l’aboutissement d’une recette mise au point par mk2 agency : s’appuyer sur le savoir-faire de mk2 pour redonner au cinéma sa dimension foraine, en sélectionnant le meilleur des acteurs de la popculture en France et à l’étranger. Baptisée « Cinema Paradiso » en référence au film du même nom, la salle de cinéma éphémère, de la chapelle de Tornatore jusqu’à la nef d’Henri Deglane, réunit quatre-vingt mille personnes autour d’un concept inédit alliant cinéma, concerts, fooding et clubbing.
Ouverture de 4 nouvelles salles au mk2 Bibliothèque (entrée bnf)
“The idea was to confirm mk2 Beaubourg’s left-bank leanings by opening four new screens with art-house programming in the BNF. Cinemagoers can use the Love Seat™ and are greeted by Martial Raysse’s light installation Relebainturc in the foyer. As a direct result of the joint project, the National Library has a new entrance paid for by mk2. It was a long time coming, as its president Bruno Racine told the magazine Trois Couleurs: “For over fifteen years, we found no use for the space, which had always been set aside for commercial activity. I’m delighted that it’s cultural instead.”
Trois Couleurs #115, October 2013, p. 130 (as told to Pékola Sonny)
Photo credit : Martial Raysse’s “Re-le bain turc”, mk2 Bibliothèque entrée bnf (2016), copyright mk2
First edition of the Cinéma Paradiso festival in the nave of the Grand Palais
Created by mk2 in the early 2010s, the Paradiso brand aims to create life experiences around cinema. It has become a creative lab mixing up uses of cinema and reinventing the before and after screening time. Called “Cinéma Paradiso” in reference to the film of the same name, the ephemeral cinema in the nave of the Grand Palais in Paris brought together 80,000 people with a unique concept combining cinema, concerts, food and clubbing.
2014
Xavier Dolan, Jury Prize in Cannes and Best Foreign Film César
“Let’s hold on to our dreams because together we can change the world, and the world needs to be changed. Touching people, making them cry, making them laugh, can change their minds. And changing minds changes lives slowly and changing lives means changing the world. Not only politicians and scientists can change it, but artists as well. They’ve been doing it forever. There are no limits to our ambitions except for the ones we build for ourselves and the ones people will build for us. In short, I believe anything is possible if we dream, dare, work and never give up. And this award is the best example.”
Speech by Xavier Dolan in Cannes when accepting the Jury Prize for Mommy in 2014
Photo credit : Antoine-Olivier Pilon inMommy, directeted by Xavier Dolan (2014), copyright Shayne Laverdière
Opening of two screens in the Palais de Tokyo: Madame Cinema (60 seats) and Miss Cinema (25 seats)
“The two luxury private cinemas are located within the Palais de Tokyo. Madame Cinema has seats for two, Martin Szekély’s famous Love Seat™, throughout and the facilities to show 3D films. Miss Cinema has 25 red velvet seats with a footrest, headrest and small table to put your drink on.”
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 233
Photo credits : Jean Imbert Cinema Club at Miss Cinema (2016), copyright @Hlénie
Acquisition of the Spanish CineSur network
Founded by the Sanchez-Ramade dynasty 82 years earlier, CineSur was a family-run group that grew into a conglomerate. Its moves into property and household appliances collapsed with the recession. The holding company was bankrupt and mk2 took over the 9 complexes, 109 screens and 22,000 seats of the cinema arm, which was a major player in Andalusia. To draw the public back into the cinema, which lost popularity amidst the recession, mk2 exported its concepts: original versions with subtitles, workshops for children, seasons and conferences.
in Une autre idée du cinéma, mk2 40 ans après [Cinema that matters, forty years on], published by mk2 Agency, 2015, page 233
2015
Second edition of Cinema Paradiso
Over eleven days, Cinema Paradiso brought together 80,000 people from 7 pm to 6 am under the glass roof of the Grand Palais. mk2 installed two 2,000-seater screens with 22 films (Kill Bill, Jurassic Park, Top Gun, The Big Lebowski, A Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, etc.) available to watch with a wireless headset in a Loveseat™ or on a bed. Table football, dance lessons and bowling lanes were just some of the activities offered to visitors. Complete with its own food court, Cinema Paradiso selected the best of street food and urban dining. Ten metres in the air, mk2 created the first popup gourmet restaurant in a cinema with the chef Jean Imbert. After each screening, the Grand Palais was transformed into a huge nightclub that buzzed throughout the event with 52 hours of clubbing (Cerrone, Kitsuné, Recondite and Yard Party).
Photo Credit: Cinema Paradiso (2015), copyright Victor Malecot for mk2
2016
mk2 renovates its parisian network
The mk2 Odéon Saint-Germain, then the mk2 Quai-de-Loire, the mk2 Parnasse and the Odéon Saint-Michel (former mk2 Hautefeuille) are completely renewed, placing great importance on design and on the luminuosity of the building, on the model of the Quais and the mk2 Bibliothèque. In 2016, mk2 renovates the mk2 Bastille and the mk2 Beaubourg.
mk2 creates mk2 VR, the first permanent venue entirely dedicated to virtual reality
Committed to bringing cinema into dialogue with all forms of art and creation, mk2 opens a new cultural and entertainment venue dedicated to immersive technologies: mk2 VR.
mk2 VR offers an eclectic program of films following the group’s editorial signature (fiction, documentaries, video games, simulations), exclusive content and previews. Designed and operated by mk2 and installed in the state-of-the-art mk2 Bibliothèque cinema, mk2 VR is a high-end venue designed for user comfort, to facilitate the experience and enhance the value of creation.
Opening of the mk2 Bastille (côté Faubourg St-Antoine)
The first cinema in Paris to be fully equipped with laser projectors, the mk2 Bastille (côté Fg St Antoine) has three screens, with 77, 124 and 229 seats, for a total capacity of 430 seats.
2017
Acquisition of the largest cinema in Madrid, the Palacio de Hielo
Three years after the acquisition of the Cine/Sur cinema network (9 cinemas, 110 screens), market leader in Andalusia, mk2 acquires the most important cinema in Madrid. With the purchase of the mk2 Palacio de Hielo, mk2 becomes the third largest exhibitor in Spain with 10 cinemas, 128 screens and 5 million spectators per year.
mk2 announces a turnkey virtual reality solution, the VR Pods
One year after the opening of mk2 VR, the first virtual reality venue in Europe, mk2 is launching the mk2 VR Pod, a turnkey virtual reality solution for professionals. With this new solution, mk2 confirms its position as a European pioneer in immersive technologies and installs VR Pods all around the world: from Brazil to China, Singapore to Norway…
2018
Cold War, The Trouble With You (En Liberté!) and Sir (Monsieur) awarded at Cannes Film Festival
The jury of the 71st edition of the Cannes Film Festival gives the Best Director award to Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski for Cold War, co-produced by mk2. Presented at the Directors’ Fortnight, Pierre Salvadori’s film The Trouble With You (En Liberté!) receives the SACD Prize. The Gan Foundation Diffusion Prize is awarded to the film Sir (Monsieur) by Indian director Rohena Gera, unveiled during the Critics’ Week. mk2 Films accompanied nine films in Selection this year at the Cannes Festival, including five in Competition.
Cold War also won five awards at the European Film Awards including Best Film and Best Director. It was nominated in three categories at the Oscars, in four categories at the BAFTAs and at the César for Best Foreign Film.
Crédits photos : Cold War by Paweł Pawlikowski (2018), copyright Diaphana Distribution
Marin Karmitz receives an honorary Palme d’or
On the occasion of the dinner for the film industry professionals organized by the Cannes Film Festival, a tribute is paid to Marin Karmitz for his life’s work in favor of auteur cinema. His film Blow for Blow (Coup pour coup) (1972) was screened as part of Cannes Classics on the same day.
mk2 inaugurates the mk2 Store
Fifteen years after its opening, mk2 is completely renovating and transforming the mk2 Bibliothèque lobby with the agency of architects and designer Ciguë. At the foot of the BNF, this 700m2 space bathed in natural light offers its visitors an immersion in the cinema. mk2 store is the cinema that comes out of the screen. A cinema experience “to live”. This concept store is divided into a lifestyle boutique, a bookshop with a Bob’s Café coffee shop and a tech section for young and old geeks.
2019
Three awards at Cannes for Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Atlantics and A Brother’s Love
The Cannes Film Festival jury awards the Best Screenplay Prize to Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire and the Grand Prix to Mati Diop’s Atlantics. Monia Chokri’s A Brother’s Love receives the Jury Prize (Un Certain Regard). Feature films accompanied by mk2 Films which contribute to the emergence of new talents, including three award-winning women directors, two of whom are first-time filmmakers. This year, mk2 Films supported seven films at the Cannes Film Festival, including five in Competition for the second consecutive year.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire also won the Screenplay Award at the European Film Awards and the César for Best Photography (10 nominations).
Crédits photos : Portrait of a Lady on Fire by Céline Sciamma (2019), copyright Pyramide Distribution
4.90 euros per seat for under-26s: mk2 commits to young people
mk2 is lowering its rates for under-26s in all its Paris cinemas. These spectators can now access a screening for 4.90 euros on weekdays, excluding public holidays. More than just a new price offer, mk2 wishes to encourage young people’s access to the cinema and culture with this measure. To communicate on this new offer, mk2 called on the BETC agency. The campaign takes a militant tone with a touch of humor unique to mk2, and puts the message at the heart of its communication.
Opening of the mk2 Institut Français Madrid
In association with the Institut Français of Madrid, mk2 opens the mk2 Institut Français Madrid. With this 250-seat cinema, located in the heart of the historic centre of Madrid, mk2 is strengthening its presence in Spain.
mk2 Agency becomes MK2+
To adapt to the new challenges of the next decade, mk2 Agency becomes MK2+. As the mk2 group’s advertising agency and creative studio, MK2+ designs and produces immersive and emotional experiences for brands, agencies, museums, sports clubs, property developers and institutions to generate more engagement from their audiences. The agency wishes to take on new challenges in areas where it is already at the forefront to offer its clients an ever more ambitious augmented experience.
MK2+ and PSG join forces to create PSG Experience
Born from the association of MK2+ and Paris Saint-Germain football club, PSG Experience is an immersive and interactive tour of the Parc des Princes stadium, produced and operated by MK2+. Equipped with the latest immersive technologies, PSG Experience is composed of three main areas: the Stadium Tour, a guided and augmented visit of the Parc des Princes stadium, the History Room, an immersive museum that retraces the history of the club and the VR Arcade with exclusive virtual reality experiences.
First edition of Cinema Paradiso in the Louvre Museum’s Cour Carrée
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Louvre Pyramid, the Cinema Paradiso festival is back and settles in the Louvre, with the majestic Cour Carrée as a backdrop: an open-air cinema for 8 free evenings, with 2,800 seats facing a 24-metre-long screen.
2020
Launch of the mk2 Curiosity streaming platform
mk2 launches mk2 Curiosity, a video-on-demand platform that offers viewers a selection of free contents available for 7 days: feature films, shorts, documentaries, children’s films, bonuses and rare or unreleased interviews. In addition, mk2 Curiosity allows users to rent films from past episodes, articles, videos and podcasts…
Launch of mk2 Institut, a cultural institution for discovery, exchange and debate
mk2 launched mk2 Institut, a series of conferences where artists, authors and researchers encourage debate and exchange to think about the world of today and tomorrow. During the first season, mk2 theatres welcomed 150 events hosted by renowned figures such as Esther Duflo, Erri de Luca, Hélène Cixous, François Sureau.
2021
Opening in Paris of Hotel Paradiso, the first cinema-hotel
As an extension of the ambition of the Paradiso brand, mk2 creates the Hotel Paradiso, a world-unique place that disrupts the codes of the hotel and cinema industries while embodying the values of mk2. Located above the fully renovated mk2 Nation cinema, the 34 rooms and 2 Cinema Suites have been designed to be the best place to watch a film. They are all equipped with a laser video projector, a 3-metre wide screen and can be transformed into a cinema in a few seconds.
Hotel Paradiso also offers a café with terrace, a karaoke room, a cinema lodge and a rooftop with bar and open-air cinema.
Abbas Kiarostami exhibition at the Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou, Marin Karmitz, mk2 and the Kiarostami Foundation joins forces to offer a tribute to this artist: an exceptional and free exhibition “Abbas Kiarostami Les chemins de la liberté” (Abbas Kiarostami’s Paths to Freedom) from 19 May to 26 July 2021, as well as a complete retrospective in the Centre Pompidou’s cinema.
The Cinema Paradiso Louvre festival makes its comeback in the Louvre Museum’s Cour Carrée
After the success of previous editions in the Nave of the Grand Palais (2013, 2015), the Cinéma Paradiso festival will take place for the second time in the heart of the emblematic Cour Carrée of the Louvre Museum. Four free festive evenings dedicated to cinema and music, with concerts before each open-air screening. The Cour Carrée is transformed in a setting inspired by Giuseppe Tornatore’s film Cinema Paradiso, and offers a moment of sharing and celebration with cinema, bistronomy and entertainment.
Two awards at the Cannes Film Festival for The Worst Person In The World and A Chiara
The 74th Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress goes to actress Renate Reinsve for Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person In The World, co-produced by mk2 and supported internationally by mk2 Films. Jonas Carpignano’s A Chiara receives the Europa Cinemas Label for Best European Film at the Directors’ Fortnight. Mk2 Films accompanied nine films in this year’s Selection.
Opening of the mk2 Cine Paz in Madrid
The Cine Paz, a legendary cinema in Madrid opened in 1943, joins the mk2 network, which now has 11 sites in Spain, including 2 in Madrid. mk2 wishes to bring its know-how and values to this 5-screen, 998-seat cinema: to offer a rich cinematographic and cultural programme, to animate a place of life open to all and to reinforce the attractiveness of the young public.
2022
Golden Bear in Berlin for « Alcarràs » by Carla Simón
In her second feature film, the young Spanish moviemaker tackles the complexity of family ties in a farm in Catalonia.
Crédits photos : Alcarràs de Carla Simón (2022), copyright Avalon Distribución Audiovisual
3rd edition of Cinema Paradiso Louvre, completed by two Paradiso Cineclubs in Paris and Porquerolles
Cinéma Paradiso will take place for its 3rd edition in the Cour Carrée of le Louvre. Two cineclubs complete the event: at the Seine Musicale, but also outside of Paris for the first time at the Villa Carmignac, on the island of Porquerolles.
2023
mk2 Curiosity reinvents itself, becoming a new cinema media and a true film club
In March 2023, mk2 Curiosity continues its development by launching new subscription offer giving access to more than 400 world cinema films edited by mk2 programmers, while maintaining its free weekly selections.
A programming without algorithm and against the current offers, which fits on a single page and changes very regularly. The new version of mk2 Curiosity is a temple of cinema lovers and curious people, nourished by the expertise of our journalists and specialized programmers.
AWARDS
Over 800 films in the catalogue, 240 nominations, more than 160 awards, 109 films produced or coproduced. See the awards given to films produced or distributed by mk2.
Awards :
400 BLOWS (THE) (FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT)
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD / OCIC PRIZE 1959
CERTIFIED COPY (ABBAS KIAROSTAMI)
AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS (JULIETTE BINOCHE) / YOUTH PRIZE 2010
CLAY BIRD (THE) (TAREQUE MASUD)
DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT - FIPRESCI PRIZE 2002
CODE UNKNOWN (MICHAEL HANEKE)
ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD 2000
DOGTOOTH (YORGOS LANTHIMOS)
PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD / YOUTH PRIZE 2009
DOUBLE LIFE OF VÉRONIQUE (THE) (KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI)
AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS (IRÈNE JACOB) / FIPRESCI PRIZE / ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD 1991
ELEPHANT (GUS VAN SANT)
PALME D’OR / AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR 2003
FATMA (KHALED GHORBAL)
CICAE PRIZE DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT 2001
FISH TANK (ANDREA ARNOLD)
JURY PRIZE 2009
GARAGE (LENNY ABRAHAMSON)
CICAE PRIZE DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT 2007
HALF A LIFE (ROMAIN GOUPIL)
CAMÉRA D’OR / YOUTH PRIZE 1982
HARMONIUM (KÔJI FUKADA)
JURY PRIZE - UN CERTAIN REGARD 2016
HEARTBEATS (XAVIER DOLAN)
UN CERTAIN REGARD : PRIX REGARD JEUNE 2010
HOWARDS ENDS (JAMES IVORY)
GRAND PRIX 1992
HUNGER (STEVE McQUEEN)
CAMÉRA D’OR / FIPRESCI PRIZE 2008
IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD (XAVIER DOLAN)
GRAND PRIX / ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD 2016
LAST DAYS (GUS VAN SANT)
TECHNICAL GRAND PRIZE 2005
LAURENCE ANYWAYS (XAVIER DOLAN)
UN CERTAIN REGARD - BEST ACTRESS AWARD (SUZANNE CLÉMENT) 2012
LEAP IN THE DARK (A) (MARCO BELLOCCHIO)
AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR (MICHEL PICCOLI) / AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS (ANOUK AIMÉE) 1980
LIBERO (KIM ROSSI STUART)
CICAE PRIZE 2006
MAZEPPA (BARTABAS)
VULCAIN PRIZE FOR AN ARTIST TECHNICIAN 1993
ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW (MIRANDA JULY)
CAMÉRA D’OR / PRIX REGARD JEUNE / SEMAINE DE LA CRITIQUE AWARD 2005
MOMMY (XAVIER DOLAN)
JURY PRIZE 2014
MONEY (ROBERT BRESSON) :
GRAND PRIX DU CINÉMA DE CREATION 1983
MOONLIGHTING (JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI)
AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY 1982
MY AMERICAN UNCLE (ALAIN RESNAIS)
GRAND PRIX / FIPRESCI PRIZE 1980
NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS (THE) (PAOLO & VITTORIO TAVIANI)
GRAND PRIX / ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD 1982
PADRE PADRONE (PAOLO & VITTORIO TAVIANI)
PALME D’OR / FIPRESCI PRIZE 1977
PARANOID PARK (GUS VAN SANT)
CANNES SPECIAL 60TH ANNIVERSARY PRIZE 2007
PIANO TEACHER (THE) (MICHAEL HANEKE)
GRAND PRIX / AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR (BENOÎT MAGIMEL) / AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS (ISABELLE HUPPERT) 2001
PERSONAL SHOPPER (OLIVIER ASSAYAS)
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD 2016
QUARTET (JAMES IVORY)
AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS (ISABELLE ADJANI) 1981
RENDEZ-VOUS (ANDRÉ TÉCHINÉ)
AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR 1985
SECRETS AND LIES (MIKE LEIGH)
PALME D’OR / AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS (BRENDA BLENTHYN) / ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD 1996
SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING (A) (KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI)
JURY PRIZE / FIPRESCI PRIZE 1988
TASTE OF CHERRY (THE) (ABBAS KIAROSTAMI)
PALME D’OR 1997
TAXI BLUES (PAVEL LOUNGINE)
AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR 1990
THOUSAND MONTHS (A) (FAOUZI BENSAÏDI)
UN CERTAIN REGARD - PRIX LE PREMIER REGARD 2003
TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES (A) (BAHMAN GHOBADI)
DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT - CAMÉRA D’OR / YOUTH PRIZE 2000
TOTO THE HEROS (JACO VAN DORMEL)
CAMÉRA D’OR / YOUTH PRIZE 1991
TOUCH OF SIN (A) (JIA ZHANG-KE)
AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY 2013
TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC (THE) (ROBERT BRESSON) :
JURY PRIZE / OCIC PRIZE 1962
WHISKY (JUAN PABLO REBELLA, PABLO STOLL)
PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD / FIPRESCI PRIZE 2003
Awards :
BLOW FOR BLOW (MARIN KARMITZ)
INTERFILM AWARD 1972
BOCCA DEL LUPO (LA) (PIETRO MARCELLO)
CALIGARI AWARD / TEDDY AWARD 2009
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (MIKE LEIGH)
SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS (SALLY HAWKINS) 2008
HEAD-ON (FATIH AKIN)
GOLDEN BEAR / FIPRESCI PRIZE 2004
KARNAVAL (THOMAS VINCENT)
BEST FIRST FILM 1999
LA LEON (SANTIAGO OTHEGUY)
PANORAMA BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY / JURY PRIZE / TEDDY AWARD 2007
LI LIANYING : THE IMPERIAL EUNUCH (ZHUANGZHUANG TIAN)
HONOURABLE MENTIOB 1991
OXHIDE (JIAYIN LIU)
FIPRESCI PRIZE 2005
REVANCHE (GÖTZ SPIELMANN)
BEST EUROPEAN FILM (European Cinema Labels) / CICAE PRIZE 2008
SHAKESPEARE-WALLAH (JAMES IVORY)
SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS (MADHUR JAFFREY) 1965
SMALL CHANGE (FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT)
CRITIC AWARD 1976
TEMPTATION OF ISABELLE (THE) (JACQUES DOILLON)
PRIZE OF PANORAMA1986
THREE COLORS : WHITE (KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI)
SILVER BEAR 1994
Awards :
13 TZAMETI (GELA BABLUANI)
BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM 2005
AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (LOUIS MALLE)
GOLDEN LION 1987
BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT (EMIR KUSTURICA)
BEST DIRECTOR 1998
DARK BLUE ALMOST BLACK (DANIEL SÁNCHEZ ARÉVALO)
BEST EUROPEAN FILM (European Cinema Labels) 2006
DEEP BREATH (DAMIEN ODOUL)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE / FIPRESCI PRIZE 2001
DEEP CRIMSON (ARTURO RIPSTEIN)
BEST SCREENPLAY / BEST MUSIC / BEST ART DIRECTION 1996
FATHERLAND (KEN LOACH)
UNICEF PRIZE 1986
FAVOURITES OF THE MOON (OTAR IOSSELIANI)
JURY PRIZE 1984
I WANT TO GO HOME (ALAIN RESNAIS)
BEST FILM / BEST SCREENPLAY 1988
JUDGEMENT IN STONE (A) (CLAUDE CHABROL)
BEST ACTRESS (ISABELLE HUPPERT, SANDRINE BONNAIRE) 1995
LAST STOP PARADISE (LUCIAN PINTILIE)
GRAND SPECIAL JURY PRIZE 1998
LIFE AND EXTRAORDINARY AZDVENTURES OF THE PRIVATE CHONKIN (JIRI MENZEL)
GOLD MEDAL OF THE SENATE PRESIDENCY 1994
MAURICE (JAMES IVORY)
SILVER LION FOR BEST DIRECTOR / BEST ACTOR (HUGH GRANT ET JAMES WILBY) / GOLDEN OSELLA FOR BEST MUSIC
RASHOMON (AKIRA KUROSAWA)
GOLDEN LION 1951
SHAME (STEVE McQUEEN)
FIPRESCI PRIZE / BEST ACTOR (MICHAEL FASSBENDER)
SILENCE (THE) (MOHSEN MAKHMALBAF)
GOLDEN MEDAL OF THE SENATE PRESIDENCY / PAVENIRE CINEMA AWARD 1998
SOMETHING IN THE AIR (OLIVIER ASSAYAS)
BEST SCREENPLAY AWARD 2012
STORY OF WOMEN (CLAUDE CHABROL)
BEST ACTRESS (ISABELLE HUPPERT) 1988
THREE COLORS: BLUE (KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI)
GOLDEN LION / BEST ACTRESS (JULIETTE BINOCHE) / BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 1993
TOM AT THE FARL (XAVIER DOLAN)
FIPRESCI PRIZE 2013
WIND WILL CARRY US (THE) (ABBAS KIAROSTAMI)
GRAND SPECIAL JURY PRIZE / FIPRESCI PRIZE 1999
Awards :
CARLOS, LE FILM (OLIVIER ASSAYAS)
AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING ACTOR (EDGAR RAMIREZ) 2011
EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF (JEAN-LUC GODARD)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (NATHALIE BAYE) 1981
HALF A LIFE (ROMAIN GOUPIL)
BEST FIRST FILM 1983
INFERNO (SERGE BROMBERG, RUXANDRA MÉDRÉA)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM 2010
IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD (XAVIER DOLAN)
BEST DIRECTOR / BEST EDITING / BEST ACTOR (GASPARD ULLIEL) 2017
JUDGEMENT IN STONE (A) (CLAUDE CHABROL)
BEST ACTRESS (ISABELLE HUPPERT) 1996
LAST METRO (THE) (FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT)
10 AWARDS INCLUDING BEST FILM / BEST DIRECTOR / BEST ACTOR 1981
LIFE IS A LONG QUIET RIVER (ÉTIENNE CHATILIEZ)
BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM / BEST SCREENPLAY / BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (HÉLÈNE VINCENT) / MOST PROMISING ACTRESS (CATHERINE JACOB) 1989
LOVE ON THE RUN (FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT)
BEST MUSIC 1980
MELO (ALAIN RESNAIS)
BEST ACTRESS (SABINE AZÉMA) / BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (PIERRE ARDITI) 1987
MOMMY (XAVIER DOLAN)
BEST FOREIGN FILM 2015
PIANO TEACHER (THE) (MICHAEL HANEKE)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (ANNIE GIRARDOT) 2002
RENDEZ- VOUS (ANDRÉ TÉCHINÉ)
AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING ACTOR (WADECK STANCZAK) 1986
THREE COLORS: BLUE (KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI)
BEST ACTRESS (JULIETTE BINOCHE) / BEST FILM EDITING / BEST MUSIC 1994
THREE COLORS: RED (KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI)
BEST MUSIC 1995
TOTO THE HERO (JACO VAN DORMEL)
BEST FOREIGN FILM 1992
YEAR OF THE JELLYFISH (CHRISTOPHER FRANK)
BEST ACTRESS - SUPPORTING ROLE (CAROLINE CELLIER) 1984
Awards :
BEGINNERS (MIKE MILLS)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER) 2012
FAREWELL TO ARMS (A) (FRANK BORZAGE)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY / BEST SOUND RECORDING 1934
HOWARDS ENDS (JAMES IVORY)
BEST ACTRESS (EMMA THOMPSON) 1993
LIMELIGHT (CHARLES CHAPLIN)
BEST MUSIC 1973
RASHOMON (AKIRA KUROSAWA)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 1952
ROOM WITH A VIEW (A) (JAMES IVORY)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY / BEST ART DIRECTION / BEST COSTUME DESIGN 1987
STAR IS BORN (A) (WILLIAM A. WELLMAN)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 1938
TABU (FRIEDRICH W. MURNAU)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 1931
TEMPEST (SAM TAYLOR)
ACADEMY AWARD FOR PRODUCTION DESIGN 1929
TSOTSI (GAVIN HOOD)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 2006
Awards :
13 TZAMETI (GELA BABLUANI)
JURY PRIZE 2006
GOD HELP THE GIRL (STUART MURDOCK)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD 2014
HÉRITAGE (L’) (GELA & TEMUR BABLUANI)
JURY PRIZE 2007
ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW (MIRANDA JULY)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD 2005
SUNDAY (JONATHAN NOSSITER)
GRAND JURY PRIZE 1997
Marin Karmitz
“He has had the opportunity to work with Rossellini, Beckett, Kieslowski, Duras, Kiarostami and Godard. What did he do with that opportunity? Make films”
Stéphane Paoli
Nathanaël Karmitz
Nathanaël Karmitz joined mk2 in 1997 and has been Chairman of the Board since 2005.
Elisha Karmitz
Elisha Karmitz joined the company in 2006. Since 2014 he has been managing director of the mk2 Group.
Header photo credit: Marin Karmitz, copyright Marin Karmitz collection
Banner photo credit: 44 years of cinema history: Juliette Binoche in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours: Blue (1993), copyright mk2