International sales house Totem Films has closed distribution deals in multiple territories for “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” which had its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. The company also closed a deal for France for another Directors’ Fortnight film, “A Song Sung Blue.”
“Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” was sold to France (Capricci), U.K. (New Wave), Benelux (Vedette), Sweden (Folkets Bio), Greece (Ama Films), Czech Republic (Artcam), and Germany (Eksystent). More deals are in negotiation. The distributor in Switzerland is Frenetic.
The film, directed by Elene Navierani, centers on Etero, a 48-year-old woman living in a small village in Georgia. Etero never wanted a husband and cherishes her freedom as much as her cakes. But her choice to live alone is the cause of much gossip among her fellow villagers.
Unexpectedly, she finds herself passionately falling for a man, and is suddenly faced with the decision to pursue a relationship or continue a life of independence. She must grapple with her feelings and decide how to find her own path to happiness.
The film was produced by Thomas Reichlin, Ketie Danelia and Bettina Brokemper for Alva Film in Switzerland and Takes Film in Georgia.
“A Song Sung Blue,” directed by Zihan Geng, has been picked up in France by Bodega, with more deals in negotiation.
The film follows Xian, who will always remember the loneliest and bluest of summers when she was 15. After her mother has to go abroad for work, Xian is thrown into the care of her father, a free-spirited photographer, who she has barely seen since her parents’ divorce. He’s struggling financially and is fooling around with his assistant, who has an 18-year-old daughter, Mingmei. Soon, Mingmei appears like a ray of shining light to Xian. During this restless summer, the conflict between the innocence and the impulses of youth will leave an indelible mark on Liu.
The film was produced by The Seventh Art Pictures and Jane Zheng in China.
Totem Films’ sales slate also includes “Dead Girls Dancing” by Anna Roller, which is represented by WME in North America. The film will premiere at the Tribeca and Munich film festivals in June.
The film centers on a road trip across Italy. Recent high school graduates Ira, Malin and Ka pick up the intriguing backpacker Zoe. As the four teens stumble across an abandoned village, they start to experiment with the limits of their newly found freedom, away from the expectations of their parents and teachers.
Ernst De Geer’s “The Hypnosis,” another one of Totem’s titles, has been selected to run in the Crystal Globes Competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
The satire follows André and Vera, a young entrepreneurial couple, who get the opportunity to pitch their female health app at a prestigious competition. Before going there, Vera tries hypnotherapy to quit smoking. From this point, her attitude changes and André starts to behave unexpectedly.
