TVCO Acquires Worldwide Sales to Berlinale Teen Drama ‘The White Fortress’ – EFM (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFrench multi-hyphenate Amanda Sthers (“Holy Lands”) has recruited the U.K.’s Kelly Reilly, Italy’s Pierfrancesco Favino and France’s Jean Reno for English-language romantic drama “Promises,” set in Italy and London, which started shooting in Rome on Monday.Based on Sthers’ novel by the same title, “Promises” turns on an unfulfilled love affair between Alexander, played by Favino — who won best actor at Venice last year for his role in Italian drama

Manori Ravindran International EditorOne of the bright lights of this year’s awards season, BAFTA best actress nominee Bukky Bakray of the film “Rocks” will star in forthcoming BBC One and Netflix drama “You Don’t Know Me.”Produced by Snowed-In Production and co-produced with Netflix, the show has now begun filming in Birmingham.

EXCLUSIVE: Voltage Pictures has taken worldwide rights to American Boogeywoman based on the early life of one of America’s most notorious female serial killers, Aileen Wuornos who’s downfall was chronicled in the Oscar winning movie Monster.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterFollowing Friday’s development news of a Will Forte drama that centers on a grief-stricken man planning his own suicide, one mental health organization is criticizing the concept as “wildly irresponsible and callous.”The show, “Expiration Date,” is described as a “dark suburban soap” in which a man finds a life insurance policy that covers suicide, so long as the individual does not carry out the act within 12 months, and sets about planning out his final year.

Lili Reinhart has set her next feature film project with Netflix. Reinhart will star in dual-timeline drama Plus/Minus withWanuri Kahiu, who was behind the popular Kenyan romance Rafiki, set to direct.

WASHINGTON — A prominent LGBTQ activist from Trinidad and Tobago died in D.C. on March 4.

Naman Ramachandran International sales agency The Open Reel has scored a number of sales at the Berlin European Film Market (EFM).Daniel Sánchez López’s BFI Flare LGBTIQ+ Film Festival selection “Boy Meets Boy,” a German production, has sold to Peccadillo Pictures for the U.K. and Ireland and to Optimale to France and Francophone territories.

Emilio Mayorga Britain’s Taskovski Films has taken international rights to Miguel Ángel Blanca’s “Magaluf Ghost Town,” an auteurist documentary delving into the disorders that touristic excesses have generated in the erstwhile idyllic location of Magaluf in the Balearic islands.Produced by Barcelona’s Boogaloo Films (“Tolyatti Adrift,” “Nobody’s Home”), “Magaluf Ghost Town” is a portrait of a people who “no longer own their destiny,” in the director’s words, during the high tourist season as

Manori Ravindran International EditorBruce Willis, Luke Wilson and Devon Sawa are set to star in rollicking action thriller “Gasoline Alley.” Highland Film Group, which is handling international rights, is presenting the project to buyers at this week’s European Film Market (EFM).“Cosmic Sin” helmer Edward Drake, who reunites with Willis for the film, directs from a script by Tom Sierchio (“The Girl Who Invented Kissing”).

Davide Abbatescianni Rome-based international sales and production company TVCO has sold Dace Pūce’s debut feature “The Pit” to German independent distributor Arsenal Filmverleih.The drama, staged by Latvia’s Marana Production and Finland’s Inland Film Company, is based on a series of true stories published by Jana Egle.The plot follows a 10-year-old boy called Markuss (Damirs Onackis), who must adapt to starting a new life in the Latvian countryside with his strict grandmother (Dace Eversa).

Davide Abbatescianni London-based outfit Taskovski Films has acquired world sales rights to Moumouni Sanou’s first feature “Night Nursery,” which bows in the Forum section of the Berlinale this week.The documentary is set in the district town of Bobo-Dioulasso, near Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, where every night sex workers entrust their children to Mrs. Coda, an elderly woman.

Christopher Vourlias One year ago, as thousands of global film and TV industry reps descended on Berlin for the European Film Market, executives from Nigerian production and distribution powerhouse FilmOne Entertainment had good reason to feel optimistic. The company had recently unveiled a $1 million film fund with China’s Huahua Media and South Africa’s Empire Entertainment, an unprecedented pact for the Nigerian movie industry.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorLeading arthouse outfit The Match Factory is continuing its successful partnership with Laura Bispuri as it boards sales on her latest film, “The Peacock’s Paradise.” The film stars Cannes best actress winner Dominique Sanda and Venice best actress winner Alba Rohrwacher, Bispuri’s long-time collaborator.The Match Factory previously represented the director’s “Sworn Virgin,” which played in Berlinale Competition in 2015, and “Daughter of Mine,” which

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorAlex Pettyfer, whose credits include “I Am Number Four” and “Magic Mike,” is attached to lead director Ricardo de Montreuil’s psychological horror feature “The Lost Ones.”The Exchange is handling the movie’s worldwide sales rights, and will be introducing the title to buyers at the virtual European Film Market, which runs until Friday.The film is the story of a young family on the run from unseen spirits haunting their daughter.

Christopher Vourlias Polish director Paweł Maślona (“Panic Attack”) is prepping a lavish period drama about the American Revolutionary War hero Tadeusz Kościuszko.Produced by Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Hickinbotham for Aurum Film, the production house behind Jan Komasa’s Oscar-nominated “Corpus Christi,” the historical epic — with the working title “Scarborn,” from a script by Michał A. Zielinski — received development funding from the Polish Film Institute.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Multi-hyphenate Roselyn Sanchez (“Grand Hotel,” “Devious Maids”) is set to film her directorial feature debut, “Diario: Mujer y Cafe,” in Puerto Rico this summer, said producer Jolene Rodriguez, president of Broken English Prods.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a first image from The Lady of Heaven, Eli King’s historical drama chronicling two interviewing storylines set centuries apart: A young Iraqi child’s journey amidst a battle-scarred country to learn the power of patience, and the historical tale of Lady Fatima.

Christopher Vourlias Russian SVOD More.tv is unveiling a slate of original series for foreign buyers at the European Film Market.The four series are a sign of the fast-growing streaming service’s rising ambitions since launching in 2019.

Manori Ravindran International EditorEva Green, Mark Strong and Chai Fonacier have boarded “Vivarium” director Lorcan Finnegan’s psychological thriller “Nocebo,” which is now in production in Ireland.The film, which marks the first co-production between Ireland and the Philippines, follows a fashion designer (Green) suffering from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband (Strong) until help arrives in the form of a Filipino carer (Fonacier), who uses traditional

Emilio Mayorga Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has picked up international sales rights to “Matria,” the awaited feature debut of Spain’s Alvaro Gago, a Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance in 2018 for his same-titled short.Produced by Galicia’s Matriuska and Madrid’s Avalon, in co-production with Catalonia’s Ringo Media, “Matria” has been selected for the official lineup at next week’s Berlinale Co-Production Market.Expanding on the short, the feature further develops its