Berlinale Competition Titles ‘Dying’ and ‘Architecton’ Score Multiple Deals With the Match Factory

Bruno Fernandes has heaped praise on Marco Reus following Borussia Dortmund's win over PSV Eindhoven. The 34-year-old midfielder fired his side into the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday night with a brilliant effort in stoppage time.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief This month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival will showcase over 190 films from 62 countries and regions, including five world premieres, and 64 Asian premieres. Running 12 days (March 28 – April 8), the festival will open with the Asian premiere of local director Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,” which won the Teddy Award at the recent Berlin festival.

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based distributor Metrograph Pictures has acquired North American rights to French director Jérémy Clapin’s sci-fi drama Meanwhile on Earth following its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section last month.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Seriesmakers, a joint initiative of Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV festival, and European film-TV powerhouse Beta Group, has revealed the 10 top-notch project lineup of the second edition of its novel and high-powered mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut. This year’s Seriesmakers features in development drama series from Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald (“George Blake”), behind “The Last King Of Scotland,” and from Finnish director Mikko Myllylahti, who burst onto the scene co-writing with Juho Kuosmanen the latter’s “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Makki,” a 2016 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Nina,” the new feature written and directed by Andrea Jaurrieta (“Ana by Day”) that bows at this week’s Málaga Film Festival as one of its higher profile titles in main competition. Loosely based on the play of the same name by José Ramón Fernández, which borrows elements of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” “Nina” tells the story of a woman, an actress, who returns to her home town on Spain’s rugged northern coast seeking to take revenge on a celebrated writer.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent A rare flagship indie producer left on the French market, Bruno Nahon‘s Paris-based company Unité is preparing to conquer international audiences with “Rematch,” a period psychological thriller chronicling the historical battle between world chess champion Garry Kasparov (Christian Cooke, “That Dirty Black Bag”), and IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997. The sprawling show, directed by Yan England (“The Red Band Society”) and co-created with Nahon and André Gulluni (“Sam”), was commissioned by Arte in France and has already been sold by Federation Studios to major outlets around the world, including HBO Europe for Spain, Portugal, the Nordics, Iceland, Baltics, Central Europe, Greece and the Netherlands.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has closed a raft of pre-sales deals on “Ploey 2 – The Legend of the Winds,” which was presented to international buyers for the first time at the European Film Market this month. The Playmaker screened an exclusive first-look teaser at its booth in Berlin as well as a promo for attending buyers.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor That’s all, Oscar folks! In just 12 days, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will crack open 23 illustrious envelopes to unveil the victors of this year’s 96th Oscars. It’s a night where predictability usually reigns supreme, but hey, there’s always room for a curveball or two. During the past six days of intense voting, Variety has been on the scene, chatting it up with over 50 AMPAS members to get the lowdown on which movies and performances have been getting the thumbs-up on their ballots.

Thania Garcia Los Angeles-based duo the Driver Era is hitting the road for a 17-city tour across North America. With over three albums to date, brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch will again begin touring on April 2 in Pittsburgh’s Roxian Theatre and hit venues in New York, New Jersey, Quebec and more before wrapping in Toronto on May 8.

The Match Factory has locked multi-territory deals on Berlinale titles Architecton by Victor Kossakovsky and Dying by Matthias Glasner, which picked up the festival’s Silver Bear for Best Screenplay.

Alex Ritman “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that recently bowed in competition at the Berlinale, has been acquired for most international territories. HanWay Films has closed sales for France (Originals Factory), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Spain (Avalon), Italy (Teodora Film), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Scandinavia (Mis.

Dahomey,” a highlight of this year’s Berlinale competition and directed by Cannes prizewinner Mati Diop (“Atlantics”), for North America, Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey and India. The feature film is represented in international markets by Films du Losange, which negotiated the deal with Mubi. “Dahomey” marks the sophomore outing of Diop, a French-Senegalese talent who is considered one of the leading figures in international arthouse cinema and of a new wave in African and diasporic cinema.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Hong Kong director Ray Yeung ‘s “All Shall Be Well” has sold in several key markets following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Represented in international markets by Films Boutique, “All Shall Be Well” is playing in the Panorama section at the Berlinale and is eligible for the Teddy Award.

Carey Mulligan and Adam Sandler are hitting the red carpet at the 2024 Berlinale International Film Festival.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario’s directorial debut “Gloria!” has scored a slew international sales ahead of its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival competition. RAI Cinema International Distribution has sealed deals to nine territories on Vicario’s vibrant musical comedy set in a late 18th century Venetian female orphanage where a young rebel named Teresa leads a group of performers to challenge classical canons and invent a precursor to pop music.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Playtime has had a busy EFM, where it’s locked a raft of major deals on “The Devil’s Bath,” a period psychological thriller in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “The Devil’s Bath” is directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind “Goodnight Mommy.” Set in rural Austria in 1750, “The Devil’s Bath” stars Anja Plaschg, the up-and-coming singer and composer known as Soap & Skin. Plaschg plays Agnes, a young married woman who feels oppressed in her husband’s world, which is devoid of emotions and limited to chores and expectations.

Christopher Vourlias Greek filmmaker Yorgos Zois, who’s set to bow his sophomore feature, “Arcadia,” in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival Feb. 18, is developing his first TV series. “Play” follows a lone cinephile who joins a mysterious group of strangers that reenact scenes from movies in real life.

Saoirse Ronan is hitting the red carpet at the 2024 Berlinale International Film Festival.

Emiliano De Pablos Pink Parrot Media, the Montreal and Madrid-based international sales house, has revealed a flurry of deals for the German-Canadian CG animated fantasy feature “Elli and Her Monster Team!,” which is making its market premiere at the EFM. Underlining the appetite for toon family features by European distributors, the film has been sold to Just Entertainment in Benelux, Bim Distribuzione in Italy, NOS Lusomundo in Portugal, Flins&Piniculas in Spain and GPI for Baltics. “Elli” has also been acquired by Pro Films in Bulgaria, Rocket Releasing for CIS, Forum (Czech Republic/Slovak), MCF Megacom Film (Former Yugoslavia), Cinetel (Hungary), Forum for Poland, Romania and Israel, and Front Row in the Middle East.