22/09/2006

It has been a successful Toronto Film Festival for the French sales outfit Onoma, whose director Pascal Diot is not shy of exploring original films with "smaller" European countries.

Premiered at the 2006 Cannes Director’s Fortnight, the Hungarian feature White Palms [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Szabolcs Hajdu
film profile] by Szabolcs Hajdu (see Special Report Hungarian blitz on the Croisette) continued its methodical conquest of buyers in Canada, in particular those from Asian countries, who have a special interest in gymnastics, which serves as a backdrop in the film.

Meanwhile, sales deals on White Palms are near completion in France with Epicentre, who are expected to release the film in theatres in the first quarter of 2007. Negotiations are also well underway for Italy, Germany and Canada.

Another jewel in Onoma’s line-up this year is Belle toujours [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by talented Portuguese helmer Manoel de Oliveira – screened out of competition at Venice this month (see article) – has been acquired, among others, by Spain, Japan, Italy, the US and Canada. Further territories with whom sale deals are almost signed and sealed are Germany, the UK, Belgium and Scandinavia, while the feature’s distribution in Portugal and France is a double-act, jointly handled by Filbox and Les Films d'Ici.

Focusing much attention on the highly promising new wave of Hungarian cinema, Pascal Diot is also negotiating sales of Overnight by Ferenc Török (see article November 3, 2005), filming of which wraps up this weekend.

A Hungarian/German co-production headed by Katapult Film and Filmkollektiv GmbH with the support of Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, this third instalment in a trilogy that began with Moscow Square in 2001 and continued with Eastern Sugar in 2004 will deal with the ruthless world of the Bourse.

(Translated from French)