Sundance: Clint Bentley’s ‘Jockey’ Nabbed by Films Boutique (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentWim Wenders’ Berlin-based Road Movies has boarded “This Is Music,” a series whose episode directors – New German Cinema leading light Wenders, singer-songwriter David Byrne, “Skam” creator Julie Andem and “Louder Than Bombs” director Joachim Trier – make the title the highest profile project at this year’s Berlinale Co-Pro Series.Norwegian public broadcaster NRK is backing the development of the series, which has also received support from the

Christopher Vourlias Heretic Outreach has acquired world sales rights to “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” from acclaimed Romanian writer-director Radu Jude, which world premieres in competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Variety can reveal.Jude’s latest film is the story of a schoolteacher, Emi (Katia Pascariu), whose life is turned upside down after a sex video shot with her husband is leaked on the internet.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentParis-based Totem Films announced Friday that it is handling sales on Iranian Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam’s Berlin Film Festival competition entry, “Ballad of a White Cow.” Totem Films will bring the drama onto the market at early March’s European Film Market (EFM).The pick-up is sure to draw attention.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“All Eyes Off Me,” Hadas Ben Aroya’s drama which will world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, has been acquired by Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever for international sales. Set to bow in the Panorama section, “All Eyes Off Me” takes place in contemporary Tel Aviv and weaves three stories portraying Tel Aviv’s youth.

New films by Celine Sciamma, Hong Sangsoo, Xavier Beauvois, Radu Jude, and the directorial debut of German actor Daniel Brühl were unveiled as part of the 15 competition titles at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival today. READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021 The festival’s 71st edition will take place in two stages.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentM-Appeal has taken world distribution rights to Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which has its world premiere In Competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentThe Match Factory is taking a strong slate to the European Film Market, including two world premieres: Anne Zohra Berrached’s “Copilot,” which is in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section, and Christian Schwochow’s “Je Suis Karl,” which is in Berlinale Special.

Manori Ravindran International EditorXYZ Films has boarded action thriller “Yakuza Princess,” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Japanese-American singer Masumi. The film will be shopped to buyers at the European Film Market (EFM) in early March.XYZ will sell worldwide rights save Latin America for the English-language feature, directed by Vicente Amorim, whose previous film, “Motorrad,” screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentARRI Media Intl. has signed a deal with Faktura Film to handle the international sales for the Marxist vampire comedy “Bloodsuckers.” The film has been selected to world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Encounters section, which aims to “foster aesthetically and structurally daring works from independent, innovative filmmakers.” Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer.ARRI Media Intl.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentFollowing hard on the heels of the film’s selection for this year’s Berlin Film Festival Encounters section, director Denis Côté has shared a first trailer for his new movie “Social Hygiene,” the latest from the Canadian director who won a Silver Bear for 2013’s “Vic+Flo Saw a Bear.”At first glance, if the trailer is anything to go by, “Social Hygiene” seems at first glance a perfect pandemic movie: characters talking much more than two meters

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the lineup of 20 shorts from 17 countries which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bear awards for short films. The festival said the films “daringly confront the present and rewrite the past,” while imagining “a new tomorrow” in many different ways.

The Berlin Film Festival has announced the first group of films for its 71st edition, unveiling the official lineups for its Retrospective and Generation sections on Monday.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentPicture Tree International has acquired international rights to “Mission Ulja Funk,” which has been selected for Berlin Film Festival’s youth-centric Generation KPlus competition.The film, which is the debut feature of German writer/director Barbara Kronenberg, is about the 12 year old girl Ulja, who sets out on a road trip in a stolen hearse to Eastern Europe to witness the impact of an asteroid she discovered.Kronenberg studied at the Academy

Annika Pham After the BBC’s “Deep Blue,” “Earth” and Terence Malick’s “Voyage of Time,” Berlin-based Sophisticated Films is partnering Finland’s MRP Matila Röhr Productions on their mythological natural history feature “Tale of the Sleeping Giants.” Sophisticated Films’ managing director Sophokles Tasioulis will serve as associate producer, in charge of marketing and sales outside Finland.“Tale of the Sleeping Giant” is the third standalone nature movie produced by MPR Matila Röhr Productions

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic means international film buyers won't be able to travel to Berlin this year for the European Film Market —the 2021 EFM will be a virtual affair—but select distributors will get a chance to watch Berlin titles at their local cinema.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentThe European Film Market, which is being staged as a virtual event from March 1-5, is to arrange screenings of films selected as part of the Berlin Film Festival lineup in movie theaters in four cities around the world.The initiative, running under the banner “EFM Goes Global,” will see physical screenings for distributors in Tokyo for the Asian market, Melbourne for Oceania, São Paulo for South America, and Mexico City for Central America.

The kind of story Sam Peckinpah might have been partial to in his quieter, Junior Bonner mode, Jockey is a little gem about an aging rider whose days on the racing circuit are nearing an end just as a youngster shows up who claims to be his son.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentSony Pictures Classics has acquired all worldwide rights to the film “Jockey,” which will premiere on Sunday in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the Sundance Film Festival.Directed by Clint Bentley and written by Bentley and Greg Kwedar, the film stars Clifton Collins, Jr., Molly Parker, Moises Arias, Logan Cormier and Colleen Hartnett.

Sony Pictures Classics has picked up Clint Bentley’s Jockey on the second night of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, acquiring all worldwide rights to the film.

Ferne McCann has revealed she’s off the market after finding love in lockdown with her new boyfriend.The former TOWIE star has confirmed she’s in a relationship just weeks after she was seen on holiday in South Africa with model Jack Padgett.And although she’s remaining tight-lipped about the identity of the man in her life, Ferne has admitted she’s “very excited” she’s no longer single.She revealed, “I have met someone.