Protagonist Pictures have revealed deals closed from the European Film Market at Berlinale next month, with Irish co-production ‘Love & Friendship’ selling in over 15 regions.
The film has sold to Italy (Academy 2), Germany (KSM), Poland and Israel (Forum Films), Australia and New Zealand (Transmission), Scandinavia (NonStop Entertainment), Switzerland (Frenetic Films), Portugal (Zon Lusomundo), Former Yugoslavia (Karantanija), Turkey (Movieturk), South Korea (Sookie Pictures), Taiwan (Proview), Asia PTV (Fox), Latin America (California Filmes), Canada (Cinetic Media, brokered by Mongrel Media) and for airlines (Jaguar Distribution).
Deals are also imminent for Spain and China, while producer deals have been struck for France (Sophie Dulac Distribution) and Benelux (Cineart).
Shot in February and March 2015 in Dublin, ‘Love and Friendship’ is an Irish/French/Dutch co-production between Westerly Films, Blinder Films, Chic Films, Revolver Films, Irish Film Board, Arte and the Netherlands Film Fund.
The Irish producer is Katie Holly of Blinder Films and the Line Producer is Cathleen Dore.
Directed by Oscar nominee Whit Stillman (‘Metropolitan’), the film stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny in the lead roles (re-uniting them with Stillman after 1998’s ‘The Last Days of Disco’).
The film is based on Stillman’s adaptation of the Jane Austen’s Lady Susan – a novella that Austen never submitted for publication which describes the schemes of the main character, the widowed Lady Susan (played by Beckinsale), as she seeks a new husband for herself and one for her daughter.
‘Love & Friendship’ made its’ premiere at Sundance earlier this year with The Guardian, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter all praising the film, in particular Kate Beckinsale’s lead performance and Whit Stillman’s direction.
Also of Irish interest on Protagonist’s slate is the sales of Ben Wheatley’s ‘Free Fire’ and Adam Smith’s ‘Trespass Against Us’ which both feature a slew of Irish actors.
UK director Ben Wheatley has recently directed Northern Irish shot film ‘High Rise’, which will be released to Irish cinemas next month. His new film ‘Free Fire’ has sold to France (Metropolitan Filmexport), CIS and Baltics (Volga Film), the Middle East (Front Row Entertainment) and Indonesia (Queen) with a Japan deal imminent.
The film stars recent Oscar winner Brie Larson (from Lenny Abrahamson’s ‘Room’) alongside Armie Hammer and Irish actors Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley, Jack Reynor and Patrick Bergin. The film is set in Boston in 1978 and centres on a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two gangs which turns into a shootout and a game of survival.
Adam Smith’s ‘Trespass Against Us’, starring Brendan Gleeson and Michael Fassbender in the lead roles, tells the story of a man who looks to find a way to escape the criminal ways of his outlaw family. The film has sold in Italy (Videa) and South Korea (Green Narae) in addition to multiple territories closed previously.
