14/02/2007

Boosted by the fantastic success of the Estonian/Latvian animated children’s film Lotte in Gadgetville [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in Berlin, Sola Media CEO Solveig Langeland said with great pride: “This has been our biggest market ever”.

The animated feature film by Estonian filmmakers Janno Poldma and Heiki Ernits had already been sold to several territories before Berlin, including Germany (to MFA, who plan a 138-screen release on February 29) and France (CQFD), but now some 15 deals have been sealed on the film.

Territories where it will open theatrically include Belgium, Poland (Solopan), Finland (Film Kempaniet), the former Yugoslavia, India, the Middle East and Brazil, and a US deal could follow as soon as an English language version will be available.

The €2m film, produced by Riina Sildos, Kalev Tamm and Vilnis Kalnaellis with support from the MEDIA Programme, was last year’s biggest box office success in Estonia with some 60,000 admissions. Targeting young children from the ages of three and up, the film tells the joyful adventures of the female dog Lotte, who lives somewhere by the seashore. Sildos is already preparing a second feature film based on the popular character.

Meanwhile, the nature documentary The Turtle’s Song, produced by F&ME and Big Wave Productions in the UK, in co-production with Allegro Film in Austria and Matila Rohr Productions in Finland, has been pre-sold to Switzerland and Eastern Europe. The $3m project will be directed by Emmy winner Nick Stringer, who will track the 20-year journey of the giant loggerhead turtle around the world. Shooting will start in April in Florida and delivery is set for November 2007.

The $14.5m period film Bathory: The Legend Had Many Faces [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Juraj Jakubisko has also been sold to the CIS (Central Partnership), the former Yugoslavia (MCF) and Hungary (Budapest Film), as well as to China and Brazil. Featuring Anna Friel as the legendary Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the film will be released in Slovakia next September and in October in the Czech Republic.