MK2 Films

Overview

MK2 Films is a Paris-based sales agent, producer, and distributor founded in 1974 by Marin Karmitz. The company operates across four integrated divisions: international sales, French domestic theatrical distribution, cinema exhibition (20 screens across Paris), and streaming via MK2+. Nathanael Karmitz currently serves as CEO. MK2 represents recent Palme d'Or winners including Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet), It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi), and Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier), alongside a catalog of canonical arthouse cinema that includes the complete works of Celine Sciamma, Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy, Claude Lanzmann's Shoah, and films by Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami, and Chantal Akerman.

For filmmakers whose work is acquired by MK2 for international sales, the company offers buyer relationships across Europe, Asia, and North America built over five decades of market presence. MK2 does not accept open submissions. The company works through established filmmaker relationships, production partnerships, and acquisitions negotiated at major markets including Cannes, Berlin, AFM, and the Unifrance Rendez-Vous.

International Sales and Acquisition Strategy

MK2's sales slate divides into two categories: new productions and curated catalog restorations. On the new production side, the 2025-2026 slate includes Robin Campillo's Enzo (co-produced with Italy's Lucky Red, French release via Ad Vitam), Guillaume Ribot's All I Had Was Nothingness (a documentary on the making of Shoah using unseen footage from Lanzmann's 230 hours of rushes), Hafsia Herzi's La Petite Derniere (adapted from Fatima Daas' novel, co-produced with Arte France Cinema), Lea Mysius' The Birthday Party (starring Monica Bellucci and Hafsia Herzi, produced by Jean-Louis Livi, French release via Le Pacte), and Zaven Najjar's animated feature Allah Is Not Obliged (adapted from Ahmadou Kourouma's novel, produced by Special Touch Studios).

On the catalog side, MK2 has shifted its strategy from passive library management to active global theatrical re-releases. In 2025-2026, the company acquired worldwide rights to newly restored versions of Ang Lee's Pushing Hands, The Wedding Banquet, and Eat Drink Man Woman (restored by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute); Michael Haneke's Funny Games (2007 remake, excluding Germany, Italy, France, US, UK, Spain, and Australia); Xavier Dolan's I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats (from Nancy Grant); and the complete filmography of Celine Sciamma (Water Lilies, Tomboy, Girlhood, joining Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Petite Maman already in the catalog).

MK2 also partnered with Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation to represent worldwide rights (excluding North America) to features restored through the World Cinema Project, including Sergei Parajanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Idrissa Ouedraogo's Yam Daabo, and Dariush Mehrjui's The Postman. Additional catalog acquisitions include Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin (director-approved 4K restoration, premiered at Sundance Classics), Lisa Cholodenko's High Art, Martha Coolidge's Not a Pretty Picture, and Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir (new 4K restoration premiering in 2026).

Friderique Rouault, head of collections at MK2 Films, described the strategy: "We are building coherent, curated bodies of work, strengthening relationships with filmmakers and rights holders, and giving distributors access to collections supported by new marketing assets and the tools to turn them into events."

Cinema Exhibition

MK2 operates a network of arthouse cinemas in Paris that gives the company a direct audience relationship most sales companies lack. The MK2 Bibliothèque, located in the 13th arrondissement, is a 20-screen multiplex with 3,500 seats, split across two buildings. As of September 2025, the second building became the MK2 Bibliothque x Centre Pompidou, housing the four screens that now program the Centre Pompidou's cinema offerings following the Pompidou's renovation closure. Additional MK2 cinemas include MK2 Beaubourg (50 rue Rambuteau, 3rd arrondissement), MK2 Bastille (4 boulevard Beaumarchais, 11th arrondissement), and MK2 Parnasse (11 rue Jules-Chaplain, 6th arrondissement).

These cinemas program MK2's own releases alongside work from other distributors. The exhibition operation provides MK2 with direct box office data, audience feedback, and a physical venue for premieres and retrospective programming that supports the company's catalog re-release strategy.

Catalog Re-Release Performance

MK2's catalog re-release strategy has produced measurable theatrical results. The global centenary reissue of Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush launched at Cannes Classics before expanding to 2,000 screens across 76 territories. The theatrical return of Claude Lanzmann's Shoah demonstrated that nine-hour documentary restorations can generate global theatrical revenue when supported by proper marketing assets. MK2 is preparing new rollout cycles built around Abbas Kiarostami (marking the 30th anniversary of his Palme d'Or-winning Taste of Cherry in 2027), Jacques Demy (The Young Girls of Rochefort), and a global reactivation of Chaplin's filmography as a ready-to-release program.

MK2+ Streaming

MK2 operates MK2+ (formerly MK2 Curiosity), a streaming platform distributing its catalog to subscribers in France and other markets. The platform carries MK2's catalog of arthouse titles alongside new acquisitions, providing an owned streaming window that generates ongoing revenue from the company's rights holdings. MK2+ is not a general-purpose streaming service. It functions as a windowing extension of MK2's catalog business, giving the company a direct-to-consumer revenue stream that supplements its theatrical and sales income.

What Filmmakers Should Know

MK2 Films is not a first-stop distribution partner for emerging filmmakers. The company works with established directors whose output fits its curatorial identity, and its acquisition activity focuses on completed films from filmmakers with festival track records or existing relationships with the MK2 team.

For filmmakers whose work is acquired by MK2 for international sales, the company's depth of buyer relationships across Europe, Asia, and North America provides access to distribution markets that individual filmmakers cannot efficiently navigate independently. MK2's presence at every major market (Cannes, Berlin, AFM, Toronto, the Unifrance Rendez-Vous) and its 50-year track record mean that its titles receive attention from territorial buyers who would not independently evaluate submissions from unknown filmmakers.

MK2's integrated model means that for the right project, a single deal can cover production financing, French theatrical distribution, international sales, cinema exhibition in Paris, and streaming on MK2+. This is a meaningfully different proposition from working with a sales agent who only handles international rights. However, the company's selectivity means that most independent filmmakers will never have a direct relationship with MK2. Access typically comes through a sales agent, producer, or festival premiere that brings the film to MK2's attention.

Filmmakers should also understand MK2's catalog strategy. The company's investment in 4K restorations and global theatrical re-releases means that films entering the MK2 catalog are positioned for long-term theatrical life, not just initial release and digital library placement. For a filmmaker whose work joins the MK2 collection, this means potential re-release campaigns, festival retrospective programming, and ongoing theatrical revenue over years rather than weeks.

Notable Catalog and Representations

MK2's catalog includes Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy (Blue, White, Red) and The Double Life of Veronique; Abbas Kiarostami's major films; Claude Lanzmann's Shoah and five additional Lanzmann titles; the complete filmography of Celine Sciamma; Michael Haneke's Code Unknown, The Piano Teacher, and Funny Games; Chantal Akerman's works; Charlie Chaplin's filmography (global reactivation program); and films by Ang Lee, Xavier Dolan, Gregg Araki, and Ari Folman. Recent sales titles include Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet, Palme d'Or 2023), It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi, Palme d'Or 2025), Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier), Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski), and Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev).

See Also

For how European co-production and distribution structures differ from US independent models, see Distribution Deals Explained. To model the revenue structure of an international sales deal across European theatrical territories, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator. For understanding how catalog restorations and re-releases generate long-tail theatrical revenue, see What Does a Distributor Keep?.