15/08/2003

Bavaria Film International is doing some excellent business at the Locarno Market. Talks are ongoing with a number of territories interested in buying Miracle in Bern while another Bavaria title, Kim Ki-Duk’s beautiful Korean feature, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… And Spring, a hit with festivalgoers and co-produced by local slates, Korean Pictures and LJ Films, in partnership with Germany’s Pandora Filmproduktion, is attracting international buyers in droves.
The Asian film is a poetic portrayal of the seasons in the life of a young Buddhist monk. The title was pre-bought by France (Pretty Picture), Switzerland (FilmKopy), Germany (Pandora), Benelux (Afilm) and Scandinavia while Israeli distributor, United King Films, picked the title up in Locarno. Talks are still underway with Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain.
The money is on this film winning the Locarno film festival and that is the likely reason why it has been snatched up like hot cakes. After yesterday’s screening, the young director was acclaimed with a standing ovation.

No deals have been signed with regards to Martin Rejtman’s third feature film, Los Guantes Magicos, which screened in competition and was produced by Argentina’s Rizoma Film in partnership with Germany’s Pandora. Bavaria are talking to distributors from Benelux, Italy and Switzerland.
“The decisive factor regarding the sale of these titles will be whether they win anything in Locarno and the reviews,” declared Bavaria’s head of sales, Michael Weber, n an interview with Cineuropa. “Although I must say that our progress up until now has been very encouraging.”