Director hawks Palme d’Or to fund new movie
Green is the color for Abdellatif Kechiche, currently hocking the Palme d’Or snapped up at 2013’s Cannes Film Festival for explicit lesbian drama Blue Is the Warmest Color. Production on the Tunisian director’s most recent project, Mektoub, My Love, was halted due to funding issues. A statement issued to The Hollywood Reporter stated:
“In order to raise the necessary funds for the completion of post-production without further delays, the French production and distribution company Quat’Sous is auctioning film memorabilia related to Kechiche’s work. Items to be offered range from the Palme d’Or (Cannes Film Festival 2013) to the oil paintings that played a central role in Blue Is the Warmest Color.”
That unusual 2017 appeal sits inside a longer story. The Palme d’Or itself became shorthand for the financial scramble that followed the release of the first Mektoub installment and the shelving of the second. Years later the trilogy reached daylight in a different decade, under different financing, and with the director facing new personal obstacles.
Resolution of the Mektoub Trilogy
The funding crisis that prompted the 2017 auction eventually eased through other channels. Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due completed post-production after more than six years in limbo and received its world premiere in competition at the Locarno Film Festival on August 9, 2025. The 139-minute film opened theatrically in France on December 3, 2025, distributed by Pathé. The final chapter closed a trilogy whose middle entry, Intermezzo, remained unreleased after a contentious Cannes screening in 2019.
Reception and Festival Journey of Canto Due
Canto Due earned a nomination for the Golden Leopard at Locarno. Early French press coverage noted a lighter tone than the earlier entries, with some reviewers calling the film more diverting and less punishing in its long takes. The nomination placed the picture alongside newer competition titles, a modest but notable re-entry for Kechiche after years away from major festival circuits.
Director’s Health and Recent Public Appearances
Kechiche did not attend the Locarno premiere. Reports indicated he was recovering from a stroke that affected his speech. Main cast members and the producer handled the post-screening Q&A, answering questions about the extended post-production and the decision to bring the trilogy to completion despite earlier setbacks. The absence underscored how personal health issues can still shape the public rollout of a long-gestating project.
Legacy of the 2017 Auction Appeal
The proposed sale of the Palme d’Or and related memorabilia generated headlines but left no verified public record of the items changing hands. Subsequent financing for Canto Due appears to have come through separate arrangements once Pathé became involved. The episode remains a striking footnote: an established auteur willing to part with his highest-profile trophy to keep a film alive, only for the work to surface years later by more conventional routes.
The arc from the 2017 statement to the 2025 Locarno screening shows how festival prestige, personal health, and shifting production partners can stretch a single project across nearly a decade. Kechiche’s Palme d’Or, whether sold or retained, still functions as a symbol of the high stakes attached to completing ambitious, controversial work on an independent scale.
