Belgrade’s Firefly Productions Boosts Balkan Drama Slate at EFM (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran The producers of Ukrainian animated film “Gulliver Returns” will use earnings from further sales on the film to support their country’s defense.Oleg Khodachuk, producer of the film through the company Gulliver Films, said: “‘Gulliver Returns’ is based on [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s idea and his ideal: that Jonathan Swift’s classic character Gulliver is not a giant in size, but a giant in heart and courage. And in the context of the current invasion of Ukraine by Russia, its story of the small country of Liliput being threatened by the invasion of the imposing Blefuscu army, takes on a new resonance.”The film has already sold to Germany (Telepool), U.K.

Maynard James Keenan has shared a humorous new clip of himself trying to play Jenga behind Tool drummer Danny Carey during one of the band’s recent shows.The band are currently on the North American leg of their world tour, which kicked off last month and is set to visit the UK and Ireland in May.In a clip that was shared over the weekend on Keenan’s personal Instagram page, the frontman is seen crouching down behind Carey’s drum kit during one show in an effort to play a game of Jenga.However, Keenan’s Jenga game is ruined after Carey smashes his giant gong at the back of his drum set, causing the frontman to jokingly yell: “What the fuck! What’s wrong with you?!”A post shared by MJ Keenan (@iamthebriefcase)You can watch a clip of the moment, which Keenan captioned “Danny, you son of a bitch! Tryn ta [sic] Jenga back here, ffs”, in the above post.Tool’s tour continues in Pittsburgh tomorrow (March 1). You can see the dates of their UK and European tour below, and find any remaining tickets here.April23 – Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark25 – Spektrum, Oslo, Norway26 – Avicii Arena, Stockholm, Sweden28 – Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg, Germany29 – Festhalle, Frankfurt, GermanyMay2 – AO Arena, Manchester4 – Resorts World Arena, Birmingham6 – 3Arena, Dublin9 – The O2, London10 – The O2, London12 – AccorHotels Arena, Paris, France13 – Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium15 – Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin, Germany17 – Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany19 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands21 – Tauron Arena, Kraków, Poland23 – O2 Arena, Prague, Czech Republic24 – SportAréna, Budapest, Hungary Tool announced yesterday (February 27) that the vinyl version of their 2019 album ‘Fear Inoculum’ will be released in April.

The European Union is making some big announcements following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Jamie Lang Belgium’s Panenka, producers of recent VRT breakout hit “Two Summers” – which premiered last week to a jaw-dropping 51% market share in its prime-time slot and which will soon be released worldwide by Netflix – will virtually pitch one of their upcoming projects, “This is Not a Murder Mystery,” at Berlin Co-Pro Series.One of 10 such projects set for this event, Co-Pro Series marks the first public pitch for “TINAMM,” with the creative team looking to the right co-production and distribution partner to help realize their murder mystery series. Panenka producer Kristoffel Mertens hosts the virtual Co-Pro pitch with co-creators Paul Baeten and Christophe Dirickx.Baeten is a novelist, essayist and TV screenwriter, whose credits include two seasons of the acclaimed drama series “Over Water” and the aforementioned “Two Summers.” Dirickx has written and produced several feature films, including Cannes players “The Misfortunates” from director Felix van Groeningen and Frank Van Passel’s “Manneken Pis.” International Emmy-nominee Hans Herbots (“The Spiral”) and Matthias Lebeer, a winner of two Golden Lions at Cannes for his work on GT Academy Europe, will direct.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentZDF Enterprises and the U.K.-based Parsonage Productions are developing a new drama, “The Bronte Girls,” a fictional account of the last summer which the three Bronte sisters spent together.The drama is based on the stage play of the same name by New York-based playwright Caroline Franklin (“Last Night at the Carmine”). Franklin will adapt the drama for the small screen with the British writer-director Darcia Martin (“Riches,” “Shakespeare & Hathaway,”Call the Midwife”).The initial series, structured as a six-part drama, will be executive produced by Harvey Myman, Patty Lenahan Ishimoto and Patrick Irwin, who first worked together on A+E Networks’ U..K.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMemento International has closed major sales on Ursula Meier’s Berlin contender “The Line,” and “Boy from Heaven” by Tarik Saleh, the Swedish-Egyptian helmer of “The Nile Hilton Incident.” A religious and political thriller, “Boy From Heaven” is set in Cairo, in a Koranic school following the collapse of a grand imam which marks the start of a ruthless battle for influence.The movie is headlined by Tawfeek Barhom and Fares Fares, who previously starred in “The Nile Hilton Incident.” Saleh’s Stockholm-based outfit Atmo is producing the movie with Memento. Memento International has sold the film to Benelux (Cineart), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Greece (Cinobo), Hungary (Vertigo) and Middle East (Falcon). Other territories in negotiation.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian director and producer Roberto De Paolis, whose 2017 debut “Pure Hearts” launched from Cannes, is stepping up activity of his Young Films shingle and has completed his follow-up feature, “Princess,” about a young African woman who’s a victim of the sex trade.Described by De Paolis as “the unfiltered story of a young Nigerian who prostitutes herself in Ostia, outside Rome, in a seaside pine forest,” “Princess” (first look image above) features Glory Kevin, a real victim of the sex trade, in the title role plus other non-professional actors with similar backgrounds. Rounding out the cast are Lino Musella (“The Young Pope”), Salvatore Striano (“Caesar Must Die”) and Maurizio Lombardi (“The New Pope”).

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian director Matteo Garrone, who was at the 2020 Berlinale with Roberto Benigni-starrer “Pinocchio,” is set to return to the director’s chair in March with coming-of-age adventure drama “Io Capitano,” on which France’s Pathé will be handling international distribution.Garrone’s new pic, whose title translates as “I, Captain,” will be shot in Italy, Morocco and Senegal, marking the first time, Garrone –– a two-time Cannes jury prize-winner, with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012 –– sets a feature film outside of Italy.As is customary with Garrone, story details of “Io Capitano” are being kept under wraps, besides the fact that he wrote the screenplay with regular collaborators Massimo Gaudioso and Andrea Tagliaferri and actor Massimo Ceccherini (“Pinocchio”), who also contributed to the “Pinocchio” screenplay.

EXCLUSIVE: In a hot package for EFM buyers this weekend, Jean-Claude Van Damme will star in What’s My Name? Directed by Jeremy Zag, the film will be produced by Cross Creek’s Tyler Thompson, alongside Zag and Van Damme. Cross Creek is fully financing a film that will reunite the fighting icon in matches against some of his past screen rivals.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDutch-Caribbean teen documentary “Shabu” has debuted an exclusive clip, ahead of its screening at Berlin Film Festival on Monday. Reservoir Docs is handling world sales, except for Netherlands, Belgium and France.The film, directed by Aruban-Dutch filmmaker Shamira Raphaëla, world premiered at IDFA, winning the best youth documentary award, and also played at Rotterdam Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe trailer for Gu∂mundur Arnar Gu∂mundsson’s teen drama “Beautiful Beings” has debuted ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday. The film, which plays in Panorama, is being sold by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFollowing its recent launch in the U.S., Viaplay has acquired domestic rights to Erik Poppe’s “The Emigrants” from REinvent International Sales.Produced by SF Studios, “The Emigrants” is a big-budget epic drama based on Vilhelm Moberg’s story about Swedes who left misery behind for a new life on the other side of the Atlantic in the mid-19th century. The film’s cast includes Lisa Carlehed (“In Your Arms”) and Gustaf Skarsgård (“438 days”), who star opposite Sofia Helin, Lena Strömdahl and Swedish pop sensation Tove Lo.REinvent International Sales has also closed deals for former Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe) and Hungary (Vertigo).Helene Aurø, REinvent sales and marketing director, pointed out that “The Emigrants” will be one of the first films shown by Viaplay’s newly launched US platform.

Jamie Lang One of the hottest titles from Spain at this year’s European Film Market, is Catalan director Carla Simón’s sophomore feature “Alcarrás,” the hotly anticipated follow up to her 2017 debut “Summer 1993.” There, Paris-based MK2 Films will be talking to interested buyers of the recently-finished arthouse entry. To mark the occasion, the sales company has given Variety access to an early clip.A smash hit with critics and festivals alike, Simón’s autobiographical debut “Summer 1993” won the Best First Feature Award and the Generation Kplus Grand Prix jury prize at Berlin in 2017.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAward winning film director and historian Mark Cousins (“The Story of Film: A New Generation”) is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios making a doc titled “March on Rome” that will explore the roots of fascism by analyzing films, photographs, and other documents found in Italian archives.The high-profile documentary — pegged to the centennial of the infamous late October 1922 insurrection by which Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy — will take its cue from the Fascist propaganda film “A Noi” by director Umberto Paradisi, produced in 1923 as an official Fascist party document celebrating the March on Rome.Italian writer and director Tony Saccucci (“The Duce’s Boxer”), who originated the project and did meticulous research for it, serves as a co-writer with Cousins. Saccuci cross-checked Paradisi’s film with other sources of the time to reveal details of the pic that provide a completely new take on the history of those dramatic days, according to the synopsis.

The Last Kingdom is returning for its fifth and final season on Netflix next month.

Komplizen Film, the German indie run by Janine Jackowski, Maren Ade and Jonas Dornbach, has joined The Creatives, an alliance of independent production companies that has a three-year partnership for developing and funding series with Fremantle.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDark comedy-drama “Concerned Citizen,” which has its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, has debuted its trailer. Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal will be selling the film during the European Film Market. The film, a satirical parable on the insidious ways in which privilege can unleash the prejudice within, centers on Ben, who thinks of himself as a liberal and enlightened gay man, living in the perfect apartment with his boyfriend Raz.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School is set to launch a Series Lab with the support of Netflix and VIS Social Impact, ViacomCBS International Studios’ new cause-driven production division. Hagai Levi, the creator of “In Treatment” and “The Affair,” has joined the new program as artistic advisor. For the last decade, the film school has been hosting a popular film lab which was founded by Renen Schorr and has become a major curator of world cinema gems.

Manori Ravindran International Editor88Rising co-founder Jaeson Ma and Anonymous Content executive producer Eric Tu are joining forces to launch EST Studios, an independent finance, production and sales outfit geared towards the Asian marketplace.Launching just ahead of the European Film Market — which officially kicks off Feb. 10 — the company specializes in premium film and episodic content.Ma (pictured, left) will serve as the company chairman and co-CEO, with Tu (right) serving as co-founder and co-CEO.