EXCLUSIVE: Goodfellas is adding a new sports-focused sales label to its growing roster of genre-based companies and themed sales strands.
Bannered OUI MICHEL, the label is launching with documentary Nasty, about controversial Romanian tennis legend Ilie Nastase, which makes its international premiere as a Special Screening in Cannes Official Selection this May.
Directed by Romanian filmmakers Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D. Popescu, the doc focuses on the immediate aftermath of Nastase’s sudden worldwide fame when he won his first U.S. Open in 1972 and made it into the Wimbledon and Davis Cup finals that same year.
As per the official synopsis: “Nasty explores his highs and lows, the controversies that surrounded the 1973 world number one ranked player, and the enduring impact he has had on the world of tennis. Lovable, charming and generous, yet temperamental, arrogant and obscene – Nastase disrupted the sport’s antiquated etiquette with a great sense of showmanship on the court and became its first rebel rock star.”
The doc mixes footage and interviews with friend and former tennis partner Ion Tiriac as well as a host of former tennis champions John McEnroe, Billie Jean King (who won the women’s title at the 1972 U.S. open), Stan Smith, Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker and Yannick Noah.
Giurgiu and Pascariu also produce under the banner of Libra Films.
“Ilie Nastase was the first Iron Curtain athlete ever to make a huge impact on world sport. Lovable, charming and generous but also temperamental and antagonist, he was the rockstar of his time. How not to make a film about such a personality,” says Giurgiu, who also wrote the screenplay.
“We’ve been working on this project for four years and I’m so happy it will premiere internationally in Cannes. I’m sure it will make a splash. It features unseen footage from the 70s and great testimonies from other sport superstars.”
Other titles on the inaugural OUI MICHEL slate include Italian director Nico Marzano’s documentary Napoli 1990, Napoli 2023, capturing the sprit of the Southern Italian city of Naples and its beloved soccer club through the prism of the latter’s victories in the national championship – the Scudetto – in 1990 and 2023.
Goodfellas President Vincent Maraval says the new OUI MICHEL label is born out of his personal love of sports, which is shared by other members of his team, as well as his perceived gap in market for a focused approach to selling sports-themed fare.
The name OUI MICHEL comes from the exclamation “Oui Michel!” of sports commentator Thierry Roland when French soccer star Michel Platini scored a memorable goal from a free kick during a world cup qualifying match between France and Netherlands in 1981.
Acquisitions for the label will be handled by Maraval, Livia Van Der Staay, Eva Diederix, and Antoine Guilhem
Goodfellas (ex-Wild Bunch International) has a long history of handling sports themed fiction features and documentaries. Past sales titles including James Toback’s Tyson, Emir Kusturica’s Maradona by Kusturica and Ronnie Sandahl’s Tiger about Swedish soccer star Martin Bengtsson.
The OUI MICHEL label joins Goodfellas growing roster of labels and sister companies including the genre-focused Wild West and animation focused Gebeka International.
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