DRAFTHOUSE FILMS ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO THE CANNES COMPETTION HIT
Following the triumphant red carpet premiere screening of Alex van Warmerdam’s BORGMAN In Official Selection in Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Fortissimo Films has closed a deal for North American distribution with Drafthouse Films, the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Drafthouse has acquired all rights with a multi-city nationwide theatrical release set for the 1st or 2nd quarter of next year. The deal was handled by Fortissimo’s Executive Vice President, Sales and Acquisitions, Winnie Lau, and Drafthouse’s COO, James Emanuel Shapiro. BORGMAN was the first Dutch film to screen In Competition in Cannes in almost 40 years and Fortissimo holds all rights outside the Benelux and Scandinavia.
The announcement follows numerous previously announced sales completed during the Festival including Portugal (Prisvideo - Edicoes Videograficas S.A.), Russia and the CIS (Russian Report), Turkey (Ozen), Poland (Filmpoint Group), Hungary (Mozi Net), Romania (Independenta Film), Former Yugoslavia (Megacom Film), Czech Republic (Film Distribution Artcam Spol S.R.O.), Estonia (Black Hand), Lithuania (Black Hand) and Latvia (Black Hand) with offers being negotiated for, Korea, UK, Taiwan and Latin America. As previously announced ARP acquired all rights for France prior to the Cannes Film Festival with distribution also secured in Benelux with Cineart and Scandinavia with Angel Film.
On completing the deal Lau commented “We could not be more passionate about BORGMAN and the incredibly talented creative team behind it, led by the visionary Alex van Warmerdam and producing partner Marc van Warmerdam. We are thrilled to find, in Drafthouse Films, a perfect home for the film in North America. We know they are the ideal team to maximize its potential in that market.”
On confirming the acquisition, Drafthouse founder Tim League commented, “Maybe once a year I am deluged after a premiere with texts and emails to the effect of ‘this is such a Drafthouse movie’. BORGMAN is strange, disturbing, hysterical and utterly unique. It is THE quintessential Drafthouse film of Cannes. We cannot wait to share it with audiences in North America.”
BORGMAN features the talent of many of the Dutch auteur’s regular ensemble cast including Annet Malherbe and Eva van de Wijdeven. It was produced by Graniet Film (Netherlands) in coproduction with Belgium Epidemic and Danish Angel Films and is supported by the film funds of the Netherlands, Flanders and Denmark and by Eurimage. The dark fable tells the tale of what happens to a typical but arrogant middle class family when the Devil, embodied in the form of Camiel Borgman (Jan Bijvoet), invades their comfortable sealed off suburban street, unleashing major distortion around their careful façade.
Fortissimo Films has been working with Graniet Films and Alex and Marc van Warmerdam for nearly 20 years and represents all of the director’s films including his classic titles, THE NORTHERNERS, LITTLE TONY, THE DRESS, WAITER and THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK.
Fortissimo Films is an international film, television and home entertainment sales organization specializing in the production, presentation, promotion and distribution of unique, award winning and innovative feature films from independent film makers from all over the world. For more information, please see www.fortissimofilms.com.
Drafthouse Films is the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, is a curated brand of provocative, visionary and artfully unusual films new and old from around the world. Following the earnestly simple motto of “sharing the films we love with widest audience possible,” Drafthouse Films debuted in 2010 with the theatrical release of Four Lions which was named of Time Magazine’s “Top 10 Films Of The Year.” The 2012 release slate includes the acclaimed Best Foreign Language Oscar®) Bullhead, the internationally celebrated Danish comedy Klown (currently slated for a Warner Bros/Todd Phillips produced US remake), Quentin Dupieux’s Sundance 2012 favorite Wrong, the 40th anniversary restoration of landmark Australian thriller Wake In Fright, the Werner Herzog/Errol Morris produced documentary The Act Of Killing and British auteur Ben Wheatley’s psychedelic trip into magic and madness A Field In England. Drafthouse Films distributes films theatrically, through home video, VOD and their direct-to-consumer platforms integrating into the ever-growing Alamo Drafthouse entertainment lifestyle brand, which along with the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas includes: Mondo, the collectible art boutique; Fantastic Fest, the largest international genre film festival in the US; and the pop culture website Badass Digest.