Film Movement Takes North American Rights to ‘Alam,’ Trailer Debuts (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to coming-of-age drama Who Are You People, starring Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Devon Sawa (Gasoline Alley), Alyssa Milano (Brazen) and Yeardley Smith (The Simpsons).

EXCLUSIVE: Cohen Media Group has acquired North American distribution rights to June Zero, writer-director Jake Paltrow’s historical drama about the last days of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

EXCLUSIVE: XYZ Films has picked up the North American distribution rights to the supernatural slasher #FLOAT, written and directed by Zac Locke (Black Christmas) and starring newcomer Kate Mayhew.

CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) and Janet Yang Productions announced the second year of the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge for Asian American and Pacific Islander Women and Non-Binary Filmmakers. The Challenge’s sophomore year kicks off with a Nov. 1st premiere, sponsored by AMC Theatres, where the four short films by year one’s winning filmmakers will be unveiled: 

EXCLUSIVE: Film Bridge After Dark has launched worldwide sales on the horror thriller Natty Knocks from director Dwight Little (Halloween 4). The film will be presented to buyers at AFM next month. 

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has picked up North American distribution rights to erotic horror ensemble Alone At Night (previously known as 18 & Over).

EXCLUSIVE: CAA Media Finance has picked up North American sales rights to the folk-thriller Inland, starring Mark Rylance.

EXCLUSIVE: Shout! Studios has acquired all North American rights to the feature documentary Refuge from levelFILM, Katie Couric Media and Artemis Rising Foundation. The multi-platform entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory plans to release the film in theaters and across all major digital platforms early next year.

Belle and Sebastian have announced a 2023 North American tour.The band will be playing across the UK and Europe from November, then heading over to start their US portion of the tour in Mexico on April 24 next year.The tour continues their live dates supporting new album ‘A Bit Of Previous’. The album, which received a four-star review from NME, was previewed by the singles ‘Young And Stupid‘ and ‘Unnecessary Drama’, which were later performed by the band during their NPR Tiny Desk Concert in July.See the band’s North American touring schedule below, and check out the presale here.APRIL24 – Guadalajara, Mexico – Theatre Diana25 – Mexico City, Mexico – Metropolitan Theatre28 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall29 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre30 – Columbus, OH – Athenaeum TheatreMAY02 – Toronto, Ontario – History03 – Ottawa, Ontario – Bronson Centre04 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground05 – Ithaca, NY – State Theatre06 – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall08 – Hudson, NY – Basilica Hudson09 – Jersey City, NJ – White Eagle Hall10 – Richmond, VA – The National12 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern13 – St. Augustine, FL – Backyard at St. Augustine Amphitheatre14 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room15 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Landing17 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn18 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant19 – Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Brewery (Outdoor)Discussing the new album in an interview with NME, Murdoch said that ‘A Bit Of Previous’ allowed the band “to do what we loved, with a concentration that perhaps we’ve never had before.”Last week, Murdoch shared his thoughts on the Conservative Party during an appearance as a panellist on BBC’s Question Time.During the show – which was filmed in Musselburgh and aired yesterday (October 13) in the UK

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen has sold “Munich ’72,” an Israeli documentary series about the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, has sold to Poland’s Canal+, Italian broadcaster La 7, Spain’s Filmin and Slovenia’s RTV. The co-producers, Sipur (formerly Tadmor Entertainment) and Israel’s Channel 8, also announced the executive producing team behind the documentary: Russ McCarroll, Michael Schmidt, Emilio Schenker and Gideon Tadmor for SIPUR; Telepool’s Jan Frouman, Julia Weber and Ulrike Schroder; and HOT Channel 8’s Dari Shay, Rinat Klein and Dorit Hessel. “We saw strong sales momentum for ‘Munich ’72’ heading into Mipcom, and are in advanced negotiations with a number of other buyers that we will be meeting with in Cannes,” Weber, Global Screen’s head of international sales and acquisitions, said. “We expect those deals to be announced very soon.”

Beck will no longer open for Arcade Fire on their North American tour, it’s been reported, with his removal coming less than two weeks before the run is scheduled to begin.Billboard reports that Beck has backed out of the tour, with his role instead being filled by Haitian outfit Boukman Eksperyans. At the time of writing, however, Beck is yet to address his removal from the tour, and has not shared a formal announcement through any of his official channels.The move comes some seven weeks after Arcade Fire’s frontman, Win Butler, was accused of sexual assault by multiple women.

Beck has become the latest artist to drop off the Arcade Fire tour. Today, he withdrew as the opening act after appearing in that capacity on the group’s European leg.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Cargo Film & Releasing has acquired domestic and international rights to director Violet Du Feng’s feature documentary “Hidden Letters.” The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It won Best Documentary and the Audience Award at the Austin Asian American Film Festival. Cargo will premiere the film theatrically starting in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 9. “Hidden Letters” follows two millennial Chinese women connected by their passion for Nushu, a secret female-only language that for centuries has allowed women to communicate privately without men understanding their correspondence.

Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to the psychological horror film Family Dinner, which debuted at Tribeca earlier this year. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese filmmaker, Bi Gan, best-known for his single-take feature “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has seen his “A Short Story” picked up by Kino Lorber for distribution in North America. A fairy tale that follows the relationship between man and cat, the film had its world premiere in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and now has its North American premiere in the Currents section of the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber plans to qualify “A Short Story” for the 96th Academy Awards, showing it theatrically nationwide in early 2023 in tandem with a theatrical re-release of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” “Kino Lorber rarely acquires short films, but Bi Gan has packed more cinematic delight into the fifteen minutes of ‘A Short Story’ than many feature length films deliver in two hours,” said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell. The deal was brokered by Les Films du Losange.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Cecilia Miniucchi’s “Life Upside Down” which stars Emmy-award winning actor Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”), Radha Mitchell (“Pitch Black) and Danny Huston (“21 Grams”). The movie world premiered at Venice in the Giornate degli Autori sidebar. IFC Films will release the film in select theaters and VOD on Jan. 27 and will stream exclusively on AMC+ in April 2023. “‘Life Upside Down’ is a romantic comedy following three couples, connected by friendship, love and work, who are each stuck in their respective homes in Los Angeles during the beginning of lockdown. Finally forced to face their spouses, friends, lovers, and eventually themselves head on, their lives turn slowly but surely upside-down.

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor Moving in parallel with the recent upsurge of film production in Greece, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF), an annual showcase for new works from Greek filmmakers worldwide, plans to expand its activities on an international scale. The fest, now in its 17th year, is launching the Global Greek Film Initiative (GGFI), an umbrella program to advance cultural exchange between Greece, the U.S. and the Greek diaspora, provide opportunities for employment and economic growth within Greece, and serve as the North American hub for Greek film programs and initiatives.  Lia Bozonelis, a Greek-American writer-producer and LAGFF Board Member who conceived the idea of the year-round multifaceted program, said that “Greece is experiencing a hard-won opportunity with the amount of international production pouring in.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Munich-based sales agency Beta Cinema has launched the international trailer (below) for “In a Land That No Longer Exists,” which has its international premiere on Oct. 21 in the competition section of the Rome Film Festival. Aelrun Goette’s feature debut, which was released in Germany on Thursday by Tobis, is inspired by the director’s own experiences in East Germany during the late 80s, when she worked as a model for fashion magazine Sibylle, the so-called “Vogue of the East.” The action takes place in East Berlin in the early summer of 1989, a few months before the fall of the Wall. Eighteen-year-old Suzie is thrown headfirst into the vibrant fashion scene in socialist East Germany when a photograph of her ends up on the cover of Sibylle.

The trailer for season 11 of American Horror Story was just revealed and it’s set in New York City!

SF9 have announced stops in Seoul and North America for their upcoming ‘Live Fantasy #4 Delight’ tour, due to begin this November.South Korean music label FNC Entertainment made the announcement of SF9’s forthcoming tour earlier today (October 5) via social media, where it dropped a list of dates and locations. The ‘Live Fantasy #4 Delight’ tour will kick off with a three-night show in SF9’s home city of Seoul in November, before the group embark on a trek across the US with five shows scheduled in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles across November and December.Venue and other specific show information have yet to be made publicly available by the organisers involved.