Strand Films picks up North American rights to Trial of Hein, Berlinale’s Teddy Jury Award-winning film, which opened the Perspectives section.
Synopsis:
After 14 years, Hein returns to his island village, but the community doesn’t recognize him and demands a trial to prove his identity.
Props go to Sales Rep: Heretic (prod co: Triangle of Sadness), who also sold the film to France, Germany, and Israel. Here is the trailer.
Shudder acquires three films set to debut at this year’s Overlook Film Festival. All three titles will be released by the streamer by the end of the year. The three films include:
Parasomnia (directed by James Ross II), which follows a young woman tortured by nightmares who begins to suspect that a demonic presence is lurking in her sleep.
Goody, Goody (starring Colleen Foy), which follows expecting parents and a midwife trapped in a house due to a blizzard, who get tangled in sinister circumstances.
New Group (directed by Yûta Shimotsu, trailer), which follows a Japanese high schooler, Ai, as her friends fall into a cult of nightmarish dance of death.
Tidbits:
Vertical picks up The Magic Faraway Tree starring Andrew Garfield alongside Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers, 2023). The children’s book series features trees reaching the clouds and gnomes stealing from elves and chocolate houses (trailer). It’s minted $11M so far in UK theaters alone after less than 2 weeks at the box office. Vertical has set a release date for August 21st.
Abramorama picks up North American Rights for doc American Agitators. The film follows activist Fred Ross, who helped invent modern organizing. He and his son, Fred Ross, Jr. Left a legacy and a set of techniques that are still used today. No word on release date.