World War II Adventure Film ‘War Blade’ Picked Up by 101 Films Intl. (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Autlook Filmsales has sold “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” which won the directing award for Anna Hints in the World Cinema Documentary section at Sundance, to more than 20 territories in North America, Europe and Australia. Deals are confirmed with Neue Visionen in Germany, Trigon in Switzerland, Against Gravity in Poland, Fidalgo in Norway, Ost For Paradise in Denmark, Vedetta in Benelux, Filmtrade in Greece and Cyprus, FilmIn in Spain, Alambique in Portugal, Filmladen in Austria, Pasaka Films in Lithuania, Artcam in Czech Rep. and Slovak Rep., Best Film in Latvia, Mozinet in Hungary, and Madman in Australia and New Zealand. The rights in U.S. have been picked up by Greenwich Entertainment and in Canada by Sherry Media Group. The theatrical release in Estonia is by ACME Film.

Charna Flam Outfest has announced the lineup for its 2023 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Film Festival, which will run from March 24 through April 2. Outfest Fusion will be celebrating its 20th anniversary by showcasing LGBTQIA+ filmmakers and their various films depicting queer and transgender stories. There will be nine features, including two 2023 Sundance documentaries, “Little Richard: I Am Everything” from Lisa Cortés and “The Stroll” from Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker. Cortés documentary explores how Richard “Little Richard” Penniman worked through his struggles with his sexuality, all while he made his mark on rock n’ roll. While Lovell and Drucker follow transgender women of color as they detail the community’s history of sex work in New York City.

“Morning Joe” pushed back against former President Donald Trump on Monday after he told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend that he is the only 2024 candidate who can “prevent, and very easily, World War III” and that he would settle the Russia-Ukraine war in “no longer than one day.” In response to Trump’s claim, Willie Geist pointed out that one “big reason” why Russia has not taken over Ukraine is because of the “strength of NATO” and the United States and Europe’s support of the organization. “His administration officials and people who worked alongside him said he wanted to pull the United States out of NATO, which would’ve effectively made it dissolve,” Geist added.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter When Darren Aronofsky brought his debut feature “Pi” to Sundance Film Festival in 1998, he negotiated for the rights to eventually revert back to himself. Now, 25 years later as the owner of the numbers-inspired psychological thriller, he’s sold the film to A24. As part of the acqusition, A24 has remastered “Pi” (stylized as π) and plans to release the film in theaters and on digital platforms this year. The 8K and Atmos restoration version will play on the big screen on Pi Day, which is March 14, to commemorate its 25th anniversary. “25 years ago, when we were just kids at Sundance, I was inspired by my hero Jim Jarmusch to fight for the rights of the film to return to the filmmakers,” Aronofsky said. “It took almost a quarter of a century, but time flies. In anticipation of this moment, we went back to the original black and white reversal 16mm film and scanned it at 8K. We also turned our original stereo mix into an Atmos experience. Everyone thought we were a little crazy but the film has never looked or sounded better. I am excited to team up with A24 and release this on Pi Day in Imax. I look forward to seeing everyone back in the theater soon.”  

Angelique Jackson Launch Releasing, the independent film distribution and production company, has announced its 2023 development slate following last year’s releases, Lionsgate’s “The Black String,” starring Frankie Muniz, and “The Translator,” which world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Highlights include the action-comedy “Andy Somebody” and two sequels to the animated franchise “Riki Rhino,” which the company will executive produce. “At Launch Releasing, our passion and mandate is really simple – we want to find movies that we love and share them with audiences. When we saw ‘Andy Somebody,’ we instantly fell in love with its underdog story and its quirky comedic characters and we’re looking forward to audiences joining us on this really fun ride,” stated Sheldon Brigman, the company’s CEO. “Whether it’s genre titles such as ‘Mr. Sleep’ or captivating human interest films such as ‘The Translator’ where complex characters make life and death decisions in war torn Syria, Launch Releasing is proud to have curated a diverse and distinct slate.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. film financier Grandave Capital will invest in the documentary “Romano Artioli – The Last Great Dreamer,” about the one-time owner of the Bugatti and Lotus automobile brands, Romano Artioli. In 1952, Artioli, a 20-year-old technician in Italy watched in astonishment as Bugatti ceased production in Molsheim, France. Artioli studied mechanical engineering and went on to repair cars, before eventually setting up an automotive retail and import business. By the mid-1980s, this business became so successful that Artioli was able to begin discussions with the French government about buying the Bugatti brand. In 1987, his dream became a reality.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlinale competition film “Music” opens with gray clouds racing across the face of a Greek mountain as a storm prepares to break. It is a suitably dramatic prelude to the tumultuous events that will unfold, albeit rendered in an understated manner by German director Angela Schanelec, who won the Berlinale best director award in 2019 for “I Was at Home, But.” As the storm lifts, an abandoned baby boy is rescued a paramedic, who names him Jon. Years later, Jon, now a young man, kills another man, accidentally, and ends up in prison. Here, he is tended to by a female guard, Iro, as his eyesight begins to deteriorate. When he is released, the two get married and have a child. But several years later, his wife discovers a terrible secret.

Naman Ramachandran Classic cult film streamer Cultpix has struck a 31-film deal from three immensely popular franchises with Japan’s Kadokawa Daiei Studio at Berlin’s ongoing European Film Market (EFM). The deal includes 20 Zatoichi films, eight Gamera films and three Daimajin films. The deal is for the Nordic countries initially, but the aim is for wider distribution eventually. In addition, timed with Nikkatsu’s 50th anniversary of their “Roman Poruno” films, Cultpix rediscovered six previously virtually unknown Nikkatsu productions, shot in Sweden between 1971-1973, with everything Japanese apart from the actors and the locations. The screenwriter, director and behind-the-camera talent were all flown in from Japan. The films were to emulate the popular “Swedish sin” films of the time, as there was a market need for them in Japan.

American distribution following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Cinema Guild will release the film in theaters following its North American festival premiere later this year. The film tells the story of a a pair of wayward young people who abandon theirnewborn child on a stormy night in the mountains of Greece. Taken in by a family of farmers, Jon grows up without knowing his father or mother. Years later, after a tragic accident, he is sent to prison, where he meets Iro. The two form a connection, expressed through music, that will, by turns, haunt them and uphold them the rest of their days. Freely inspired by the story of Oedipus, Schanelec’s latest is as terrifying as myth and as gentle as a folk song.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency Memento Intl. has unveiled the first clip and poster from Liu Jian’s Berlin competition title “Art College 1994,” which world premieres on Feb. 24. The film is a portrait of youth set on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s. Against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world, a group of college students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become. It is the director’s third animation feature after 2010’s “Piercing I” and “Have a Nice Day,” which premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2017, and quickly built a cult following. “Have a Nice Day” was also honored with the best animated feature award at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Berlin Film Festival has returned to its first fully in person edition since 2020. But this year, the Berlinale has come back with a vengeance, and added something that it wasn’t especially known for in its pre-pandemic days: star power. Indeed, it’s been hard not to bump into a famous person in the German city — almost giving this previously mostly auteur driven gathering a vibe that more closely resembles the latest versions of Sundance or Toronto. Artistic director Carlo Chatrian told Variety Sunday that A-list names help raise awareness for the festival’s core mission – to celebrate movies and encourage audiences to return to theaters.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount has quietly struck a deal for completed action-thriller Assassin Club, starring Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) and Suicide Squad breakout Daniela Melchior.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired the North American rights for suspense sci-fi thriller “I’ll Be Watching” from Iuvit Media Sales at the European Film Market in Berlin. The film has also been picked up by Falcon Films in the Middle East and North Africa, while Dolphin Medien has taken German-speaking territory rights. The film is directed by Erik Bernard (“Free Dead or Alive”), and stars “The 100” stars Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley, along with Bryan Batt (“12 Years a Slave”), David Keith (“An Officer and a Gentleman”), Hannah Fierman (“VHS”), and Seth Michaels (“Red Notice”).

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “A Cielo Abierto,” the latest film from Oscar-nominated Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (“Babel”), is being brought onto Berlin’s European Film Market by Film Factory Entertainment. Produced by Argentina’s K&S Films, whose credits include “Wild Tales,” “The Clan” and “The Summit” — the last by “Argentina, 1985” director Santiago Mitre — “A Cielo Abierto” is directed by Mariana Arriaga and Santiago Arriaga, Guillermo Arriaga’s daughter and son, making their feature film debut.   “A Cielo Abierto” turns on two teen brothers who take a road trip to the Mexico-U.S. border to track down the man responsible for the car accident that caused their father’s death. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Russian documentary filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky and the production team behind his Oscar-shortlisted feature “Gunda” will follow up with the second instalment in his “Empathy Trilogy.” AC Independent will handle the North America sale and Cinephil will be selling international rights. They will be kicking off sales this week at the European Film Market in Berlin. The new film focuses on the health of the oceans and the effects of industrial fisheries. The “Empathy Trilogy,” of which “Gunda” formed the first part, looks at the sentience of non-human animals.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kino Lorber has acquired all rights in the U.S. to “Diabolik,” “Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?” from Beta Cinema at the European Film Market in Berlin. The movies are based on the smash-hit Italian comic-book series about a ruthless master thief, which has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. The stylish crime-comic adaptations are written and directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti. “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Marvel’s Avengers” actor Giacomo Gianniotti stars in “Diabolik — Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?,” and Luca Marinelli (“The Old Guard”) in the first installment, “Diabolik.” Monica Bellucci (“Matrix,” “The Apartment”) stars in the role of Altea, Miriam Leone (“The Invisible Witness,” “Medici”) as Eva Kant, and Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers,” “Nine”) as Inspector Ginko.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AnnaSophia Robb has joined Kathy Bates, John Malkovich, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root and Lewis Pullman in the cast of “Thelma.” The Exchange is selling the film at Berlin’s European Film Market. Robb starred in Hulu’s Emmy-winning series “The Act,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and HBO Max’s “The Carrie Diaries,” and is toplining Netflix’s upcoming “Rebel Ridge.” “Thelma” tells the true story of the 11-year battle by the mother of John Kennedy Toole, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “A Confederacy of Dunces,” to get his novel published after his suicide.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has boarded Berlin Film Festival title “Measures of Men,” which focuses on the genocide committed by the German army against the Ovaherero and Nama tribes in Southwestern Africa. The trailer debuts (below). The film is written and directed by Lars Kraume, whose credits include Berlin’s “The Silent Revolution” and Toronto’s “The People vs. Fritz Bauer.” It stars Leonard Scheicher (“The Silent Revolution,” “Das Boot” TV series), Namibian actor Girley Charlene Jazama and “Toni Erdmann” star Peter Simonischek. The film has its world premiere on Feb. 22 in the Berlinale Special section, and will be released in Germany by Studiocanal in late March.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Writer-director Dustin Guy Defa has shared a first-look clip (below) of his feature comedy drama “The Adults,” which will have its world premiere Saturday at the Berlin Film Festival, with stars Michael Cera, Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis, and Defa in attendance. The film, which is distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures Content Group, will be releasing internationally on July 3 and in the U.S. on July 4. In Berlin, it plays in the Encounters section. “The Adults” follows Eric (Cera) as he returns home for a short visit and finds himself caught between reuniting with his sisters and chasing a victory with his old poker group.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Blue Fox has acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the family adventure movie “School of Magical Animals” from sales agency Global Screen, which has also sold the film’s sequel to several territories. “School of Magical Animals” will be released with 300 copies in the U.S. on March 24 nationwide. James Huntsman of Blue Fox said: “There is a strong appetite for high quality live action family movies and ‘The School of Magical Animals’ delivers on all fronts.” Global Screen has sold the sequel, “School of Magical Animals 2,” which was the most successful local film at the German box office last year with a $21 million gross, to Spain (Flins & Piniculas), Poland (Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty), Denmark (Another World Entertainment), Hungary (ADS Service), CIS and the Baltic States (Investacommerce), and has closed a worldwide airline deal. It will have its market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market on Saturday.