Global Screen Picks Up Elevated Genre Thriller ‘You’re Not Me’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Zachary Levi will star in the Christmas film “Teddy’s Christmas” as the voice of the main character Teddy. The film about a Teddy Bear and a little girl will have its U.S. theatrical release in time for this year’s holiday season, following its release in several European countries. Levi is best known for his portrayal of the superhero Shazam in “Shazam!” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” and for his voice actor role in Disney’s “Tangled.” “Teddy’s Christmas” will be released by Capelight Pictures and Blue Fox Entertainment in the U.S.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor GFM Animation, Larry Kasanoff’s Threshold Entertainment and Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment have teamed to produce animated feature film “X Factor in the Jungle.” The movie is based on Cowell’s singing competition TV show “The X Factor,” which has run for 20 years with 178 international adaptations. In the movie, a karaoke machine is tossed overboard from a sinking boat and lands in a jungle. It is seized by a mouse, who is then challenged by both a jaguar and rhino, who each want it. A sing-off ensues to determine who will have it, and this attracts a huge audience of animals and creatures who demand a song contest open to all.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The U.K. distribution rights for black comedy “Sometimes I Think About Dying,” which stars Daisy Ridley, have been acquired by Vertigo Releasing. The film, which world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section, is being sold by New Europe Film Sales. Oscilloscope is distributing the film in North America, Imagine in the Benelux, and Filmarti in Turkey, as previously announced. The film, directed by Rachel Lambert, centers on Fran, who likes to think about dying. It brings sensation to her quiet life. When she makes the new guy at work laugh, it leads to more: a date, a slice of pie, a conversation, a spark. The only thing standing in their way is Fran herself.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has closed two multi-territory deals for Bulgarian gay summer-romance film “Liuben,” directed by Venci Kostov. The film has been acquired by TLA Entertainment for North America, France, U.K. and Ireland, and Cinemien for Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and Sweden. “Liuben,” which has its world premiere at Guadalajara Intl. Film Festival in June, is the first openly gay film from Bulgaria. Roma actors, who are usually absent from Bulgarian cinema, play lead roles in the film.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Shellac has boarded “La Mer et ses vagues” as both the international sales agency and the French distributor, ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the ACID sidebar in Cannes. The Lebanese film, directed by Liana and Renaud, follows the young Najwa and the musician Mansour as they cross the Lebanese border and reach Beirut on a full moon night. They follow the trail of smugglers hoping to join a woman, Haifa, on the other side of the sea. A few streets away, Selim, the old lighthouse keeper, tries to repair the electricity in his neighborhood. The cast is led by Mays Mustafa, Roger Assaf, Mohammed Al Ammari and Hanane Hajj-Ali. The producer is Mathieu Mullier-Griffiths for Kafard Films. The co-producer is Monkey Business Virals.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sabina Smitham has joined Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin’s Blueprint Pictures, the producer of “Banshees of Inisherin,” as head of development. Reporting to head of film, Ben Knight, the new role will see Smitham manage the company’s development team and take the lead on expanding the company’s development slate. Smitham, an alumnus of the U.K.’s prestigious National Film and Television School’s master in producing program, joins from Disney+, where she oversaw the development of a range of projects for the Europe, Middle East and Africa Original Productions team. Prior to Disney she was a development producer at Faye Ward’s Fable Pictures.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen has closed further presales for “Lassie — A New Adventure,” the sequel featuring the most famous dog in the history of cinema. The film, directed by Hanno Olderdissen, has sold to A Contracorriente for Spain; ADS Service for Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Moldavia; Turkey’s Bir Film; GPI for the Baltic states; Bulgaria’s Pro Films; Karantanija for ex-Yugoslavia; and Greece’s Zinos Panagiotidis. Poland and Benelux are in negotiation. Sales were previously concluded with Lucky Red (Italy), AB Svensk Filmindustri (Scandinavia) and Film House (Israel).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor 101 Films Intl. has acquired international rights to psychological thriller “Angel Baby,” and will launch sales at Cannes. The film stars Isabel Cueva (“Aztec Warrior,” “The Lady Killers”), Daniel Roebuck (“The Fugitive,” “U.S Marshalls”) and Rebecca de Mornay (“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”). Quiver Distribution has taken North American sales rights. Actor Douglas Tait (“Hellboy,” “Teen Wolf”) makes his directorial debut, and also stars in the film. The screenplay is written by Elisa Manzini (“I’ll Be Waiting”) and Rebecca Stahl (“Everything in Between”). Dan Thiel, Whitney Anderson and Chris Browning round out the cast.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has released the trailer (below) for Swiss director Maxime Rappaz’s debut feature “Let Me Go,” which will open the Cannes ACID sidebar on Wednesday. Set in a remote town in the Swiss mountains, the film features French actress Jeanne Balibar in the lead role. She plays the character of Claudine, a mother who has devoted her life to taking care of her son, sacrificing her own needs and desires. An unexpected love affair causes Claudine’s carefully controlled world to unravel, “reviving in her an intense thirst for freedom and, at the same time, a painful questioning about her future,” Rappaz says.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen has racked up presales to multiple territories for the animated family adventure movie “Niko — Beyond the Northern Lights,” the third in the box office hit franchise about a flying reindeer. The sales agency will be showing a first scene to buyers at Cannes Film Market. The animated movie has been picked up Kino Swiat for Poland, Bluelabel for South Korea, Just4Kids for the Benelux, GPI for the Baltic states, Karantanija for ex-Yugoslavia, Zinos Panagiotidis for Greece, Bad Unicorn for Romania, Bohemia Motion Pictures for Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Pro Film for Bulgaria and Bir Film for Turkey.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has released the first-look trailer (below) for the suspense filled drama “Power Alley,” from Brazilian director Lillah Halla, ahead of its world premiere in Cannes’ Critics’ Week sidebar. The gripping drama is set in Brazil, where abortion is illegal. Talented volleyball player Sofia (Ayomi Domenica Dias) discovers she is pregnant at a crucial moment, jeopardizing her career plans. Intent on deciding her own fate, Sophia tries everything possible to get an illegal abortion, but has to contend with an increasingly sinister fundamentalist group determined to stop her — but Sophia, her team and all those who love her, refuse to give up.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor MAD Solutions has acquired the distribution rights to “Concrete Valley” for multiple territories. The film focuses on a Syrian family living in Toronto. The film, from Canadian-French filmmaker Antoine Bourges, premiered at Toronto Film Festival, before travelling to Berlinale, and it just screened at Jeonju. The deal covers the following territories: UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, South of Sudan and Comoro Island. The writers are Bourges and Teyama Alkamli. The producer is Shehrezade Mian at Markhor Pictures.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given access to an exclusive clip from “Anselm,” the 3D documentary from the three-time Academy Award nominated director Wim Wenders. The film will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival as a Special Screening. HanWay Films is handling world sales. It will be released by Les Films du Losange in France and DCM in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following the completion of its first feature film, Aylin Tezel’s “Falling Into Place” – which Global Screen has just acquired for sale at Cannes – Glasgow-based emerging indie Compact Pictures has optioned “The Pharmacist” for development. The novel, the debut by Scots-Egyptian author Rachelle Atalla, was chosen as a Sunday Times Book of the Week and nominated for the Scottish National Book Award. Laura McBride from Compact Pictures originally identified the book as a perfect story for the company. The project is moving into development with Atalla attached to adapt for the screen, with Compact hoping to secure interest in the film during its first outing to next week’s Cannes Film Market.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The trailer for Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir’s Cannes entry “The Mother of All Lies” debuts here (below). The documentary hybrid, about the lies that pervaded El Moudir’s childhood in Casablanca, has its premiere in Un Certain Regard on May 24. World sales are being handled by Autlook Filmsales. The film starts with El Moudir wanting to know why she has only one photograph from her childhood, and why the girl in the picture isn’t even her. To get to the truth, El Moudir and her father build a miniature set that recreates their neighborhood, and bring the whole family to the soundstage where it is built.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Grandave Intl. has acquired worldwide sales rights for the drama mystery feature “Wild Berries,” starring Shahab Hosseini, best actor award winner at Cannes for “The Salesman,” and Sepideh Moafi, whose credits include “The Killing of Two Lovers” and “The L Word: Generation Q.” In addition to his Cannes award, Hosseini received the Berlinale acting prize for his role in “A Separation.” Moafi stars in the Golden Globe nominated Apple TV+ series “Black Bird,” and the FX series “Class of 09.” Grandave Intl. will be introducing “Wild Berries” to buyers at the Cannes Film Market, May 16-27.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has picked up global sales rights to “Gina” (working title), by Ulrike Kofler, which follows her Netflix debut “What We Wanted.” “Gina” tells the story of a 9-year-old girl longing for a home and family while having to take care of her younger siblings and mother, who is too overwhelmed to take care of herself, let alone her children. The film, produced by Film AG, is the second feature by Kofler, who is a long-time editor for Austrian director Marie Kreutzer. Kofler’s editing work includes “Corsage,” which won best film at the London Film Festival and three nominations for the European Film Awards in 2022, “The Ground Beneath My Feet” (Berlinale Competition, 2019), and Josef Hader’s “Wild Mouse” (Berlinale Competition, 2019).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has closed a deal for German distribution rights for “Let Me Go” with Alamode Film, ahead of the film’s world premiere as the opening film of Cannes ACID sidebar next week. “Let Me Go” (Laissez-Moi), the debut feature by Swiss director Maxime Rappaz, is set in a remote Swiss mountain village, where Claudine (Jeanne Balibar) lives a life dedicated to taking care of her son. Every Tuesday, however, she has an afternoon to herself and goes to a nearby hotel to meet men passing through. She pursues her desires in a carefully controlled way, so as not to interfere with her life, but when she meets Michael (Thomas Sarbacher) everything changes.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London- and Paris-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation is launching sales on “Return to Reason,” the newly restored 4K version of an assembly of Man Ray’s four cult classic silent films, paired with an original soundtrack by Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan’s SQÜRL. The film, which is produced by Marieke Tricoire at Womanray and Julie Viez at Cinenovo, will premiere in Cannes’ Official Selection as part of the Cannes Classics sidebar. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Man Ray’s first film in 1923, “Return to Reason” is the first 4K restoration of Man Ray’s four surrealist and dreamlike short films, known as the first surrealist films, now accompanied by an exclusive soundtrack composed and performed by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and musician Carter Logan’s band SQÜRL.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker Munich has signed with producer Ulysses Films to handle international sales for its upcoming family animation project “Pirate Mo & the Legend of the Red Ruby,” which has a planned release of early 2026. Ulysses produced animation box-office hits such as “The Amazing Maurice,” “Niko & the Way to the Stars,” “Rabbit Academy – Mission Eggpossible” and “Tad, the Lost Explorer.” The script for “Pirate Mo,” which is based on Kirsten Boie’s bestselling novel, was written by Richie Conroy, and the director is Florian Westermann, co-director of “The Amazing Maurice.”