EastWest readies Midsummer Madness and Snow White, the Sequel
by Annika Pham
London-based sales company EastWest Distribution, headed by Steve Walsh, will screen three comedies at the next Berlinale, including Midsummer Madness [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see making of), starring Dominique Pinon and Maria de Medeiros, and Picha’s much awaited adult-oriented animated film Snow White: The Sequel [+see also:
trailer
film profile].
Alexander Hahn’s feature debut, now in the final stages of post-production, is a wild comedy set in Latvia during the shortest night of the year, when the whole country celebrates and just about anything goes. Shot entirely in Latvia over a period of seven weeks, the €2.3m film is a co-production between Austria’s Fischer Film (who put up 80% of the budget), UK’s Steve Walsh Productions, and Latvia’s Kaupo Filma, with support from the Austrian Film Institute, Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, Vienna Film Fund, State of Upper Austria, National Film Centre of Latvia, Ingenious Media and Eurimages.
The slapstick comedy, aimed at a wide audience according to Walsh, will be unveiled at the next Berlinale. Austria’s Constantin will release it next spring and several German distributors are in negotiations.
Another exciting European project just finished last week is Belgian cartoonist-animator Picha’s new animated film Snow White: The Sequel. The co-production – between Y.C. Aligator Film (French-speaking Belgium), DeFamilieJanssen (Flemish-speaking Belgium), Tchin Tchin Production (France), Steve Walsh Productions (UK) and Orange Studio Reklamy (PL) – will be released in France by Rezo Films on a 300 print run next January 31 and later on by Cinéart-Cinélibre in Belgium.
Jean-Paul Rouve and Cecile de France provide key voices in the French version and Stephen Fry is the narrator in the English version. Walsh, who describes the film as a "comedy aimed at the mainstream audience", will start selling the film in Berlin.
The third comedy on East/West Distribution’s line-up, acquired three months ago, is UK title 12 in a Box by UK writer-director John McKenzie. Several deals are pending following the film’s good reception at the latest AFM.
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