Marco Perego is the first producer to have three films premiere in Cannes' main competition in one year
NEED TO KNOW
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His films include Minotaur, Fjord, and Paper Tiger, plus Butterfly Jam in the Directors' Fortnight section
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Perego, a former soccer player and painter, debuted as a writer-director with 2023's The Absence of Eden starring Zoe Saldaña
Fans may knowMarco PeregoasZoe Saldaña's husband, but the Italian artist is making an impression as he embarks on a new career path as a film producer.
Perego, who has beenmarriedto Saldaña, 47, since 2013, is going down inCannes Film Festivalhistory as the first producer to ever have three movies premiere in the festival's main competition, perThe Hollywood Reporter. AsTHRnoted in a report on Thursday, May 14, those three movies are among the most anticipated films opening at this year's festival, includingMinotaur, from Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, Sebastian Stan's new movieFjordandPaper Tiger, which stars Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller and Adam Driver.
The outlet also noted that Perego is a producer on Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough and Harry Melling's new movieButterfly Jam, which premiered separately in the Directors' Fortnight section at Cannes this year.
Perego is a former soccer player and a painter. He made his debut as a writer-director with the 2023 movieThe Absence of Eden, which starred Saldaña, 47.
The coupleshare three sons: twins Cy and Bowie, 11, and Zen, 9.
"Growing up in a small place in Italy, my father and my mother showed me films all the time. I was very curious — it can be a great voice for all these different places around the world, where you can talk about social commentary, or just tell a story about the human condition," Perego toldTHR, when asked how he achieved the Cannes producing record. "The first question I asked myself was: Where is the space to support that? We set up a company called Leaf Entertainment. I asked my partner Michael [Cerenzie], 'What do you think about starting to really produce auteurs?' I was very lucky to be part of this very strong community of all these great filmmakers."
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"There is a necessity culturally to really help and protect the voice of these great auteurs, now more than ever," he added.
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Saldaña and Perego began dating in 2013 and married that same year. Perego eventook Saldaña's last namewhen they married, and the couple consider themselvespartners in love, life and art.
Saldaña notably shouted out Perego when she won a BAFTA Award in February 2025 for her performance in the movieEmilia Pérez. "My husband, you are God's favorite and I hate it — but you are so beautiful!" she said at the time.
TheOscar-winning actressmost recently appeared on the big screen when she reprised her role in theAvatarfranchise as Neytiri in last year'sFire and Ash. Aside from Perego's work as a producer, he is working on a new movie as a director titledPetrichorthat stars Isabella Rossellini and Valeria Golino, whichDeadlinereported in February.
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