Grasshopper Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “The 50,” a documentary from Brenton Gieser centered on some of the nation’s first incarcerated substance abuse counselors.
The film will be released on VOD on April 9, tied to a series of special screenings in Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco. Additional markets will follow as part of Second Chance Month. Following its world premiere at Doc NYC, the film has played at Santa Barbara, Miami, Cleveland and Big Sky Film Festivals.
“Grasshopper is extremely pleased to add ‘The 50’ to our catalog. It was a natural fit. A subject that is both specific, yet universal, we’ll be discussing this documentary long after its release. We look forward to working with Brenton, whose passion for this important subject is palpable, and we’re excited to connect the film with audiences around the country,” Lily Spitz, director of non-theatrical and digital distribution,...
The film will be released on VOD on April 9, tied to a series of special screenings in Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco. Additional markets will follow as part of Second Chance Month. Following its world premiere at Doc NYC, the film has played at Santa Barbara, Miami, Cleveland and Big Sky Film Festivals.
“Grasshopper is extremely pleased to add ‘The 50’ to our catalog. It was a natural fit. A subject that is both specific, yet universal, we’ll be discussing this documentary long after its release. We look forward to working with Brenton, whose passion for this important subject is palpable, and we’re excited to connect the film with audiences around the country,” Lily Spitz, director of non-theatrical and digital distribution,...
- 3/6/2024
- by Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Grasshopper Film and streaming platform Documentary+ have acquired North American rights to the Oscar-shortlisted feature Apolonia, Apolonia, a deal announced as the nomination voting window opens for the 96th Academy Awards.
Grasshopper will release the film theatrically Friday at Dctv’s Firehouse Cinema in New York, “with a launch on Documentary+ following all other traditional windows,” according to a release.
The film directed by Lea Glob documents the life of French painter Apolonia Sokol over a 13-year period, examining her attempt to maintain artistic integrity in an art world — and culture — where patriarchy privileges the male gaze over the female.
Apolonia Sokol
“The result is a moving meditation on friendship, personal and creative fulfillment, and both the liberation and limitations of the female body,” the release noted. “Over the years, both Sokol and Glob see again and again that the road to artistic achievement is not an easy or...
Grasshopper will release the film theatrically Friday at Dctv’s Firehouse Cinema in New York, “with a launch on Documentary+ following all other traditional windows,” according to a release.
The film directed by Lea Glob documents the life of French painter Apolonia Sokol over a 13-year period, examining her attempt to maintain artistic integrity in an art world — and culture — where patriarchy privileges the male gaze over the female.
Apolonia Sokol
“The result is a moving meditation on friendship, personal and creative fulfillment, and both the liberation and limitations of the female body,” the release noted. “Over the years, both Sokol and Glob see again and again that the road to artistic achievement is not an easy or...
- 1/11/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: MTV Documentary Films is making its Oscar-shortlisted documentary The ABCs of Book Banning free to public library patrons across this country on Saturday, in partnership with streaming platform Projectr.
Documentary legend Sheila Nevins makes her directorial debut with the short, which examines the rising tide of book banning efforts around the United States. The film begins with 100-year-old Grace Linn, who appeared before the school board in Martin County, Fl to protest its decision to ban works by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Wicked: Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and dozens of other books. The film features interviews with schoolchildren in Florida and elsewhere discussing what it means to them to have books kept out of their reach.
The ABCs of Book Banning, one of 15 short documentaries remaining in contention for Academy Award nominations, “follows the...
Documentary legend Sheila Nevins makes her directorial debut with the short, which examines the rising tide of book banning efforts around the United States. The film begins with 100-year-old Grace Linn, who appeared before the school board in Martin County, Fl to protest its decision to ban works by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Wicked: Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and dozens of other books. The film features interviews with schoolchildren in Florida and elsewhere discussing what it means to them to have books kept out of their reach.
The ABCs of Book Banning, one of 15 short documentaries remaining in contention for Academy Award nominations, “follows the...
- 1/10/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Paris-based outfit Urban Sales has locked several deals on “Pictures of Ghosts,” the latest film by celebrated Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho ahead of its North American premieres at Toronto and New York film festivals. The movie world premiered at Cannes in the Special Screenings section.
Weaving archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories, the film has sold to the U.S. (Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films), Portugal (Nitrato Filmes) and France (Urban Distribution and Dean Media). “Pictures of Ghosts” will be released simultaneously in Portugal and Brazil on Aug. 24.
Described as a multidimensional journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking, “Pictures of Ghosts” is set in the urban landscape of Recife, located in the Brazilian coastal capital of Pernambuco. Having hosted dreams and progress, these places have also embodied a major transformation on social practices.
The film was produced by Emilie Lesclaux at CinemaScópio Produções and co-produced by...
Weaving archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories, the film has sold to the U.S. (Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films), Portugal (Nitrato Filmes) and France (Urban Distribution and Dean Media). “Pictures of Ghosts” will be released simultaneously in Portugal and Brazil on Aug. 24.
Described as a multidimensional journey through time, sound, architecture and filmmaking, “Pictures of Ghosts” is set in the urban landscape of Recife, located in the Brazilian coastal capital of Pernambuco. Having hosted dreams and progress, these places have also embodied a major transformation on social practices.
The film was produced by Emilie Lesclaux at CinemaScópio Produções and co-produced by...
- 8/16/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes Docs, the Cannes Film Market event dedicated to documentary film, brought together an expert industry panel to discuss the place of creative documentary in the fast-changing audiovisual market, where words like “content” and “format” are increasingly replacing “film” and “language.”
Joining Dae co-founder Brigid O’Shea on stage for the May 21 talk were Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Swiss international doc film fest Visions du Réel (VdR); Edo Choi, associate curator of film at the NYC Museum of the Moving Image; and Ryan Krivoshey, president and founder of distribution company Grasshopper Film.
Kicking off the conversation, the question of what defines a creative doc was thrown up by O’Shea, who joked about the “dirty reputation” of experimental films.
Choi pointed out that while notions such as experimental, avant-garde, cinéma vérité or underground have a particular historic meaning that stems from generic forms born in the 1960s, which are now...
Joining Dae co-founder Brigid O’Shea on stage for the May 21 talk were Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Swiss international doc film fest Visions du Réel (VdR); Edo Choi, associate curator of film at the NYC Museum of the Moving Image; and Ryan Krivoshey, president and founder of distribution company Grasshopper Film.
Kicking off the conversation, the question of what defines a creative doc was thrown up by O’Shea, who joked about the “dirty reputation” of experimental films.
Choi pointed out that while notions such as experimental, avant-garde, cinéma vérité or underground have a particular historic meaning that stems from generic forms born in the 1960s, which are now...
- 5/24/2023
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
In one of the year’s major feats of increased accessibility for world cinema, Projectr has announced the launch of Projectr Edu, a new online streaming service presenting a curated and extensive collection of acclaimed movies, archival restorations, and award-winning documentaries from around the world, at no charge through partnerships with public libraries, universities, and other educational institutions across North America.
Kicking off this educational initiative is a partnership with The New York Public Library, making Projectr Edu’s entire collection available to New Yorkers with a Nypl card. Projectr Edu is the only film streaming platform currently available and partnered with the Nypl.
“With Projectr Edu, we’re delighted to be able to build on the success of Projectr, and open up this incredible and expanded collection of films – many not available anywhere else – to viewers at no charge. We are deeply grateful to The New York Public Library...
Kicking off this educational initiative is a partnership with The New York Public Library, making Projectr Edu’s entire collection available to New Yorkers with a Nypl card. Projectr Edu is the only film streaming platform currently available and partnered with the Nypl.
“With Projectr Edu, we’re delighted to be able to build on the success of Projectr, and open up this incredible and expanded collection of films – many not available anywhere else – to viewers at no charge. We are deeply grateful to The New York Public Library...
- 12/14/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Grasshopper Film has acquired the North American distribution rights to “Rewind & Play,” Alain Gomis’ feature documentary on the late jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.
The film is set to screen at the 60th annual New York Film Festival later this month, and will open in theaters early next year. The doc uses an interview with Monk in France from 1969, which many would now consider to be deeply problematic, as its centrepiece.
In December 1969, Monk arrived in Paris for a concert at the tail end of a European tour. While there, he was invited to appear on a television interview program, where he was to answer questions in an intimate, one-on-one studio stage.
Using newly discovered footage from the recording of the interview, French-Senegalese filmmaker Gomis reveals a troubling dynamic between Monk and his white interviewer, Henri Renaud — who was an avowed admirer of Monk — and how the musician stands his ground...
The film is set to screen at the 60th annual New York Film Festival later this month, and will open in theaters early next year. The doc uses an interview with Monk in France from 1969, which many would now consider to be deeply problematic, as its centrepiece.
In December 1969, Monk arrived in Paris for a concert at the tail end of a European tour. While there, he was invited to appear on a television interview program, where he was to answer questions in an intimate, one-on-one studio stage.
Using newly discovered footage from the recording of the interview, French-Senegalese filmmaker Gomis reveals a troubling dynamic between Monk and his white interviewer, Henri Renaud — who was an avowed admirer of Monk — and how the musician stands his ground...
- 9/28/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Cannes Directors’ Fortnight documentary De Humani Corporis Fabrica has sold to U.S. (Grasshopper Film and Gratitude), Australia & New Zealand (Madman) and Spain (Vitrine Filmes) for Paris-based sales firm Les Films Du Losange.
The film focuses on the goings on at five hospitals in northern Paris. Composed out of 350 hours of footage, filmmakers Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (whose Leviathan was a festival favourite back in 2012) literally go inside the human body via the cameras that accompany surgical tools — through blood vessels, down intestines, along spinal columns — and also chart the experiences of nurses, doctors and other workers in the institutions.
The domestic deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Alice Lesort of Films du Losange. Release is being lined up for late 2022.
Producers are Norte Productions, CG Cinema, Rita Productions and the Sensory Ethnography Lab.
“We are so happy to partner with Grasshopper Film and...
The film focuses on the goings on at five hospitals in northern Paris. Composed out of 350 hours of footage, filmmakers Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (whose Leviathan was a festival favourite back in 2012) literally go inside the human body via the cameras that accompany surgical tools — through blood vessels, down intestines, along spinal columns — and also chart the experiences of nurses, doctors and other workers in the institutions.
The domestic deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Alice Lesort of Films du Losange. Release is being lined up for late 2022.
Producers are Norte Productions, CG Cinema, Rita Productions and the Sensory Ethnography Lab.
“We are so happy to partner with Grasshopper Film and...
- 6/7/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Cannes competition title “Pacifiction,” from “Liberté” director Albert Serra, has been acquired for the U.S. by specialty distributors Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films.
Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”
The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Lately, he’s had to contend with a rumor about the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
Grasshopper and Gratitude will release the movie in theaters in late 2022.
“Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Cécile Guilbert, Matahi Pambrun and Sergi López. It was produced by Serra, Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Montse Triola,...
Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”
The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Lately, he’s had to contend with a rumor about the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
Grasshopper and Gratitude will release the movie in theaters in late 2022.
“Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Cécile Guilbert, Matahi Pambrun and Sergi López. It was produced by Serra, Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Montse Triola,...
- 6/3/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
“The Girlfriend Experience” director Lodge Kerrigan’s 2004 movie “Keane,” starring Damian Lewis and Abigail Breslin, is getting a 4K restoration and a U.S. theatrical release.
Grasshopper Film snapped up distribution rights to the critically acclaimed pic, which is executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and produced by Andrew Fierberg. “Keane” — in 4K — will premiere in cinemas in early 2022, followed by releases on VOD, TV and home video. (The movie received a limited theatrical release in New York back in 2005.)
“Keane” turns on William Keane (Lewis) who is struggling to cope six months after his six-year-old daughter was abducted from New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal while traveling with him. Repeatedly drawn to the site of the abduction, Keane wanders the bus station, compulsively replaying the events of that fateful day as if hoping to change the outcome. When one day he meets a financially strapped woman, Lynn Bedik...
Grasshopper Film snapped up distribution rights to the critically acclaimed pic, which is executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and produced by Andrew Fierberg. “Keane” — in 4K — will premiere in cinemas in early 2022, followed by releases on VOD, TV and home video. (The movie received a limited theatrical release in New York back in 2005.)
“Keane” turns on William Keane (Lewis) who is struggling to cope six months after his six-year-old daughter was abducted from New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal while traveling with him. Repeatedly drawn to the site of the abduction, Keane wanders the bus station, compulsively replaying the events of that fateful day as if hoping to change the outcome. When one day he meets a financially strapped woman, Lynn Bedik...
- 12/14/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Karim Kassem’s ‘Octopus’ won best film in the Envision Competition.
Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa’s Mr Landsbergis has won the €15,000 best film award of the International Competition at International Documentary Film Fesival Amsterdam (IDFA) tonight (Thursday November 25).
The four-hour documentary is about inspirational Lithuanian political leader Vytautas Landsbergis, who led the country to freedom at the end of the Soviet era.The prize comes just six months after Loznitza’s other film of 2021, Babi Yar. Context, won the the Golden Eye Award.
“It is not easy to bring history to life. It is even more difficult to make it thrilling,...
Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa’s Mr Landsbergis has won the €15,000 best film award of the International Competition at International Documentary Film Fesival Amsterdam (IDFA) tonight (Thursday November 25).
The four-hour documentary is about inspirational Lithuanian political leader Vytautas Landsbergis, who led the country to freedom at the end of the Soviet era.The prize comes just six months after Loznitza’s other film of 2021, Babi Yar. Context, won the the Golden Eye Award.
“It is not easy to bring history to life. It is even more difficult to make it thrilling,...
- 11/26/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Karim Kassem’s ‘Octopus’ won best film in the Envision Competition.
Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitza’s Mr Landsbergis has won the €15,000 best film award of the International Competition at International Documentary Film Fesival Amsterdam (IDFA) tonight (Thursday November 25).
The four-hour documentary is about inspirational Lithuanian political leader Vytautas Landsbergis, who led the country to freedom at the end of the Soviet era.The prize comes just six months after Loznitza’s other film of 2021, Babi Yar. Context, won the the Golden Eye Award.
“It is not easy to bring history to life. It is even more difficult to make it thrilling,...
Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitza’s Mr Landsbergis has won the €15,000 best film award of the International Competition at International Documentary Film Fesival Amsterdam (IDFA) tonight (Thursday November 25).
The four-hour documentary is about inspirational Lithuanian political leader Vytautas Landsbergis, who led the country to freedom at the end of the Soviet era.The prize comes just six months after Loznitza’s other film of 2021, Babi Yar. Context, won the the Golden Eye Award.
“It is not easy to bring history to life. It is even more difficult to make it thrilling,...
- 11/25/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Sergei Loznitsa’s extensive documentary “Mr. Landsbergis,” clocking in at 246 minutes and depicting Lithuania’s “singing revolution” when the country finally broke away from the Soviet Union, has won the Best Film award in the International Competition section, as well as €15,000, at documentary film festival IDFA in Amsterdam.
It marks the second 2021 release for the prolific filmmaker, who has already shown “Babi Yar. Context” at Cannes Film Festival in July. The latter film was also noticed at IDFA and granted the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive’s special mention.
“On every level of craft, the winning film represents a monumental achievement that fully explores the role one man, one nation, and one historical moment can play in the still-unfolding story of the global struggle for freedom and self-determination,” argued jurors Arne Birkenstock, Claire Diao, Elena Fortes, Jessica Kiang and Ryan Krivoshey, admitting that...
It marks the second 2021 release for the prolific filmmaker, who has already shown “Babi Yar. Context” at Cannes Film Festival in July. The latter film was also noticed at IDFA and granted the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive’s special mention.
“On every level of craft, the winning film represents a monumental achievement that fully explores the role one man, one nation, and one historical moment can play in the still-unfolding story of the global struggle for freedom and self-determination,” argued jurors Arne Birkenstock, Claire Diao, Elena Fortes, Jessica Kiang and Ryan Krivoshey, admitting that...
- 11/25/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
New York-based distribution company Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films have jointly acquired U.S. distribution rights to Italian director Michelangelo Frammartino’s Venice Special Jury Prize winner “Il Buco,” about a group of speleologists who in 1961 discover Europe’s deepest cave.
The deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Nadine Rothschild of Paris and Berlin-based Coproduction Office on the eve of the U.S. premiere of “Il Buco” at the New York Film Festival.
Gratitude, which is based in Los Angeles and Mumbai, is headed by Anu Rangachar, a producer and the former programmer for the Mumbai Film Festival.
With “Il Buco” Frammartino, whose dialogue-free “Le Quattro Volte” made a global splash in 2010, has segued with another similarly eclectic pic that has no dialogue or music.
His latest work reconstructs the young cave scientists’ journey to explore the depth of the Bifurto Abyss, 700 meters below Earth in the pristine Calabrian hinterland.
The deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Nadine Rothschild of Paris and Berlin-based Coproduction Office on the eve of the U.S. premiere of “Il Buco” at the New York Film Festival.
Gratitude, which is based in Los Angeles and Mumbai, is headed by Anu Rangachar, a producer and the former programmer for the Mumbai Film Festival.
With “Il Buco” Frammartino, whose dialogue-free “Le Quattro Volte” made a global splash in 2010, has segued with another similarly eclectic pic that has no dialogue or music.
His latest work reconstructs the young cave scientists’ journey to explore the depth of the Bifurto Abyss, 700 meters below Earth in the pristine Calabrian hinterland.
- 10/10/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has acquired Marta Popivoda’s “Landscapes of Resistance,” a feature-length documentary about a 97-year-old antifascist fighter that premiered in Rotterdam and will compete this week at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Variety can reveal. The deal covers U.S. non-theatrical and digital distributions rights.
“Landscapes of Resistance” tells the story of Sonja, who was one of the first female partisans in Yugoslavia and a member of the resistance in Auschwitz. For over 10 years, Popivoda and Sonja’s granddaughter, co-writer Ana Vujanović, recorded their conversations with the former resistance fighter. The documentary travels through the landscapes of her revolutionary past, as her memories start to intertwine with the filmmakers’ own confrontation with the rising fascism in Europe today.
“I am a feminist, queer, and antifascist filmmaker,” said Popivoda. “One of the main concerns in my work is the relation between memory and history. Today, for me, it means questioning the...
“Landscapes of Resistance” tells the story of Sonja, who was one of the first female partisans in Yugoslavia and a member of the resistance in Auschwitz. For over 10 years, Popivoda and Sonja’s granddaughter, co-writer Ana Vujanović, recorded their conversations with the former resistance fighter. The documentary travels through the landscapes of her revolutionary past, as her memories start to intertwine with the filmmakers’ own confrontation with the rising fascism in Europe today.
“I am a feminist, queer, and antifascist filmmaker,” said Popivoda. “One of the main concerns in my work is the relation between memory and history. Today, for me, it means questioning the...
- 8/12/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has acquired U.S. rights to Omar El Zohairy’s “Feathers,” which won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, Variety can reveal.
The Egyptian writer-director’s feature debut, which is being repped by the boutique Athens-based production company and sales agent Heretic, has also sold to China (Huanxi Media), Italy (Wanted) and Greece (Cinobo). As previously announced, the film will also be distributed in France by Dulac Distribution.
Set in contemporary Egypt, “Feathers” follows the journey of a woman with three children whose idealist husband is turned into a chicken by a magician in a magic-trick gone awry. An absurd series of coincidences ensues, and a mother whose mundane life has been dedicated to her family must move heaven and earth to bring back her husband and ensure their survival.
“‘Feathers’ started from a very simple idea I had six years ago. It...
The Egyptian writer-director’s feature debut, which is being repped by the boutique Athens-based production company and sales agent Heretic, has also sold to China (Huanxi Media), Italy (Wanted) and Greece (Cinobo). As previously announced, the film will also be distributed in France by Dulac Distribution.
Set in contemporary Egypt, “Feathers” follows the journey of a woman with three children whose idealist husband is turned into a chicken by a magician in a magic-trick gone awry. An absurd series of coincidences ensues, and a mother whose mundane life has been dedicated to her family must move heaven and earth to bring back her husband and ensure their survival.
“‘Feathers’ started from a very simple idea I had six years ago. It...
- 8/2/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films have jointly acquired U.S. distribution rights to Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard selection “Rehana” from sales agent Films Boutique.
The film will open in cinemas in early 2022 followed by digital, home video, and non-theatrical releases.
The deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Julien Razafindranaly of Films Boutique.
The film follows Rehana, played by Azmeri Haque Badhon, an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office, crying. Deeply affected by this event, Rehana’s descends into obsession, seeking retribution, just as she receives a complaint from the school about her six-year-old daughter’s unusual behavior. Her quest...
The film will open in cinemas in early 2022 followed by digital, home video, and non-theatrical releases.
The deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Julien Razafindranaly of Films Boutique.
The film follows Rehana, played by Azmeri Haque Badhon, an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office, crying. Deeply affected by this event, Rehana’s descends into obsession, seeking retribution, just as she receives a complaint from the school about her six-year-old daughter’s unusual behavior. Her quest...
- 7/15/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
New York-based outfit Grasshopper Film has acquired North American rights to Ephraim Asili’s debut feature, “The Inheritance,” following its premiere at Toronto and screening at the New York Film Festival.
Grasshopper Film is planning to have “The Inheritance” open on March 12 in New York at Film at Lincoln Center, as well as in other cities.
The ensemble film takes place almost entirely in a West Philadelphia house, where a community of young people come together to form a collective of Black artists and activists. Shot in 16 mm, the movie interweaves a scripted drama with a documentary recollection of the Philadelphia liberation group Move, which was the victim of a notorious police bombing in 1985.
A Pennsylvania-born filmmaker, Asili has been exploring different facets of the African diaspora for nearly a decade and “The Inheritance” is based on his own experiences in a Black liberationist group.
The film references legacies of the Black Arts Movement,...
Grasshopper Film is planning to have “The Inheritance” open on March 12 in New York at Film at Lincoln Center, as well as in other cities.
The ensemble film takes place almost entirely in a West Philadelphia house, where a community of young people come together to form a collective of Black artists and activists. Shot in 16 mm, the movie interweaves a scripted drama with a documentary recollection of the Philadelphia liberation group Move, which was the victim of a notorious police bombing in 1985.
A Pennsylvania-born filmmaker, Asili has been exploring different facets of the African diaspora for nearly a decade and “The Inheritance” is based on his own experiences in a Black liberationist group.
The film references legacies of the Black Arts Movement,...
- 12/16/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
New York-based distribution company Grasshopper Film has acquired North American rights to Valentyn Vasyanovych’s sci-fi drama “Atlantis,” Ukraine’s official selection for next year’s Academy Awards.
Represented in international markets by Belgian sales group Best Friend Forever, “Atlantis” played at Toronto, Rotterdam and Venice, where it won the best film award in the Horizons Competition. The critically acclaimed film was also selected for New Directors/New Films.
The movie, which is expected to be released theatrically early next year, is set in 2025. Eastern Ukraine in a desert unsuitable for human habitation and water is an expensive commodity brought by trucks. As a wall is being built on the border, Sergiy, a former soldier, is having trouble adapting to this new reality. He meets Katya while on the Black Tulip mission dedicated to exhuming war corpses. Together, they try to return to some sort of normal life in which...
Represented in international markets by Belgian sales group Best Friend Forever, “Atlantis” played at Toronto, Rotterdam and Venice, where it won the best film award in the Horizons Competition. The critically acclaimed film was also selected for New Directors/New Films.
The movie, which is expected to be released theatrically early next year, is set in 2025. Eastern Ukraine in a desert unsuitable for human habitation and water is an expensive commodity brought by trucks. As a wall is being built on the border, Sergiy, a former soldier, is having trouble adapting to this new reality. He meets Katya while on the Black Tulip mission dedicated to exhuming war corpses. Together, they try to return to some sort of normal life in which...
- 11/17/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has secured the U.S. distribution rights to Maɬni-Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore, the Sky Hopinka-directed documentary that had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It’s slated to screen this month as part of Film at Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real festival before heading to theaters in 2021, followed by a VOD and home video release.
The docu explores the origin of the death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, Malni (pronounced: moth-nee) and follows two people as they wander through their surrounding nature, the spirit world, and something much deeper inside. At its center are Sweetwater Sahme and Jordan Mercier, who take separate paths contemplating their afterlife, rebirth, and death.
In addition, the pic features Travis Mercier, Tony Johnson, The Grand Ronde Canoe Family, and The Chinook Nation Canoe Family.
The rights deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey, President/Founder of Grasshopper Film,...
The docu explores the origin of the death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, Malni (pronounced: moth-nee) and follows two people as they wander through their surrounding nature, the spirit world, and something much deeper inside. At its center are Sweetwater Sahme and Jordan Mercier, who take separate paths contemplating their afterlife, rebirth, and death.
In addition, the pic features Travis Mercier, Tony Johnson, The Grand Ronde Canoe Family, and The Chinook Nation Canoe Family.
The rights deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey, President/Founder of Grasshopper Film,...
- 11/14/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has picked up North American distribution rights to Paul Felten and Joe DeNardo’s “Slow Machine,” ahead of the film’s premiere at the 58th annual New York Film Festival this week.
Set to release theatrically next year, the film is billed as a “miniature epic” of paranoia, espionage, subterfuge, music and performance on 16mm. It first bowed at January’s International Film Festival Rotterdam, one of the few physical film fests to take place ahead of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Slow Machine” follows Stephanie, a restless and vibrant actor, who meets a troubled counter-terrorism specialist who’s also an aficionado of experimental theater. Their relationship ends disastrously, and forces Stephanie to the ramshackle home of musician Eleanor Friedberger, where she’s haunted by violent memories of her past life.
“As moviegoers, we’ve seen the ‘Grasshopper Film’ logo in front of some of our favorite new and restored...
Set to release theatrically next year, the film is billed as a “miniature epic” of paranoia, espionage, subterfuge, music and performance on 16mm. It first bowed at January’s International Film Festival Rotterdam, one of the few physical film fests to take place ahead of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Slow Machine” follows Stephanie, a restless and vibrant actor, who meets a troubled counter-terrorism specialist who’s also an aficionado of experimental theater. Their relationship ends disastrously, and forces Stephanie to the ramshackle home of musician Eleanor Friedberger, where she’s haunted by violent memories of her past life.
“As moviegoers, we’ve seen the ‘Grasshopper Film’ logo in front of some of our favorite new and restored...
- 10/8/2020
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has secured the U.S. distribution rights to Iwow: I Walk on Water, a documentary feature from New York-based photographer and filmmaker Khalik Allah, to released in physical and virtual theaters later this year. In Iwow, Allah focuses on longtime muse Frenchie, a 60-something schizophrenic, homeless Haitian man, who he becomes increasingly intertwined with. In parallel, Allah, the filmmaker behind Black Mother, also turns the camera on himself to document a turbulent romantic relationship and grapple with personal notions of spirituality and mortality – all inquiries about which he gathers advice from charismatic confidants including Fab 5 Freddy, members of the Wu-Tang Clan, and, in deeply moving exchanges, his own mother. Allah, who made his debut with the 2015 documentary Field Niggas, said “My objective hasn’t changed, it’s always been to keep it real with myself; to stay true to my vision and to have the courage to express it cinematically.
- 9/15/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has acquired U.S. rights to Camilo Restrepo’s critically acclaimed feature debut, “Los Conductos,” which won the best first film award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
“Los Conductos” — represented in international markets by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever — was expected to have its North American premiere at New Directors/New Films but the festival was canceled due to the coronavirus crisis. The movie world-premiered as part of the Berlinale’s new competitive section Encounters.
Exploring the shattered psyche of a man on the run, “Los Conductos” is a Spanish-language film set in Medellin, Colombia, and loosely based on the true story of Pinky, who freed himself from the grip of a religious sect and gets a job in a T-shirt factory. Misled by his own faith, he tries to to get his life back on track, but is haunted by the violent memories of his past.
“Los Conductos” — represented in international markets by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever — was expected to have its North American premiere at New Directors/New Films but the festival was canceled due to the coronavirus crisis. The movie world-premiered as part of the Berlinale’s new competitive section Encounters.
Exploring the shattered psyche of a man on the run, “Los Conductos” is a Spanish-language film set in Medellin, Colombia, and loosely based on the true story of Pinky, who freed himself from the grip of a religious sect and gets a job in a T-shirt factory. Misled by his own faith, he tries to to get his life back on track, but is haunted by the violent memories of his past.
- 6/23/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The streaming pool just keeps getting deeper. Joining fellow boutique distributors like Kino Lorber, Film Movement, and Cinema Tropical, Grasshopper Film is now making the jump into the streaming world, armed with the brand-new Projectr, a deeply curated platform that already boasts films from auteurs like Bong Joon Ho, Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo, and Pedro Costa.
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
- 6/18/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Thompson on Hollywood
The streaming pool just keeps getting deeper. Joining fellow boutique distributors like Kino Lorber, Film Movement, and Cinema Tropical, Grasshopper Film is now making the jump into the streaming world, armed with the brand-new Projectr, a deeply curated platform that already boasts films from auteurs like Bong Joon Ho, Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo, and Pedro Costa.
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
- 6/18/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Get ready for a Hong summer. On the heels of the announcement that Hong Sangsoo’s Yourself and Yours will finally get a U.S. release this summer, two more favorites from the prolific South Korean director are now arriving. We’re pleased to exclusively reveal that Grasshopper Film have acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Hong’s Hill of Freedom and a new digital restoration of Woman on the Beach. Both films will receive virtual cinema releases this summer, in advance of digital and home-video releases later this year.
A world premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, Hill of Freedom (2014) is one of Hong’s most structurally ambitious works, chronicling a dislocated man’s misadventures in Japan through jumbled chronology. Woman on the Beach (2006) is the story of a film director becoming entangled in romantic affairs, and has often been compared to both Godard’s Contempt...
A world premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, Hill of Freedom (2014) is one of Hong’s most structurally ambitious works, chronicling a dislocated man’s misadventures in Japan through jumbled chronology. Woman on the Beach (2006) is the story of a film director becoming entangled in romantic affairs, and has often been compared to both Godard’s Contempt...
- 5/1/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Comedy Dynamics has acquired Laura Madalinksi’s 2 In The Bush: A Love Story. The feature is slated for release through the Comedy Dynamics network in Fall 2019.
Written by Madalinski and Kelly Haas, the film follows Emily who, after losing her job, arrives home early from work to find her girlfriend in the throes of passion with someone else. In an instant, her entire life is turned upside down. Moving in with her best friend, Emily lands a new gig working for a dominatrix. When she falls for her new boss, and then her boss’s boyfriend, Emily must decide what risks are worth taking for love.
2 In The Bush: A Love Story was an official selection of the 2018 OutFest La, and played at numerous festivals including BFI Flare London Lgbtq+ Film Festival as well as NewFests, New York’s Lgbtq Film Festival.
The acquisition deal for 2 In The Bush was...
Written by Madalinski and Kelly Haas, the film follows Emily who, after losing her job, arrives home early from work to find her girlfriend in the throes of passion with someone else. In an instant, her entire life is turned upside down. Moving in with her best friend, Emily lands a new gig working for a dominatrix. When she falls for her new boss, and then her boss’s boyfriend, Emily must decide what risks are worth taking for love.
2 In The Bush: A Love Story was an official selection of the 2018 OutFest La, and played at numerous festivals including BFI Flare London Lgbtq+ Film Festival as well as NewFests, New York’s Lgbtq Film Festival.
The acquisition deal for 2 In The Bush was...
- 8/28/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Feature to open in theatres in early 2020
Grasshopper Film has acquired Us rights to former Locarno-best director winner Pedro Costa’s Portuguese drama Vitalina Varela ahead of its world premiere at the upcoming edition of the Swiss festival later this week.
The new feature from the director of Horse Money, Colossal Youth and Casa De Lava – all of which Grasshopper founder and president Ryan Krivoshey has distributed in his career – will go on to screen at other festivals throughout autumn, and will open in theatres in early 2020.
Vitalina Varela tells of the eponymous 55-year old Cape Verdean who arrives in...
Grasshopper Film has acquired Us rights to former Locarno-best director winner Pedro Costa’s Portuguese drama Vitalina Varela ahead of its world premiere at the upcoming edition of the Swiss festival later this week.
The new feature from the director of Horse Money, Colossal Youth and Casa De Lava – all of which Grasshopper founder and president Ryan Krivoshey has distributed in his career – will go on to screen at other festivals throughout autumn, and will open in theatres in early 2020.
Vitalina Varela tells of the eponymous 55-year old Cape Verdean who arrives in...
- 8/5/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Paul Harrill’s Sundance ghost story “Light From Light,” starring Jim Gaffigan and Marin Ireland, has been acquired by Grasshopper Film, the distribution company said on Tuesday.
Grasshopper picked up U.S. distribution rights to the film from writer and director Harrill, and they plan to release the film in theaters across the country this fall.
“Light From Light” is described as an achingly beautiful film about two strangers who find solace in one another while investigating a mysterious incident.
Following her lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. There she meets Richard (Gaffigan), a widower who thinks his recently departed wife may still be with him. The investigation that ensues — which eventually includes Shelia’s son, Owen and his classmate Lucy — forces them to reckon with the direction their lives have taken.
Also Read: Sundance Festival Director John...
Grasshopper picked up U.S. distribution rights to the film from writer and director Harrill, and they plan to release the film in theaters across the country this fall.
“Light From Light” is described as an achingly beautiful film about two strangers who find solace in one another while investigating a mysterious incident.
Following her lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. There she meets Richard (Gaffigan), a widower who thinks his recently departed wife may still be with him. The investigation that ensues — which eventually includes Shelia’s son, Owen and his classmate Lucy — forces them to reckon with the direction their lives have taken.
Also Read: Sundance Festival Director John...
- 7/2/2019
- by Trey Williams
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Grasshopper Film has obtained the distribution rights to writer-director Paul Harrill’s, Light from Light, the ghost story drama that premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Planned for a theatrical release across the country this fall, the film stars Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan as two strangers who find solace in one another while investigating a mysterious incident.
Elisabeth Moss produced the pic with Sailor Bear, James M. Johnston, Toby Halbrooks as well as Ten Acre Films’ Kelly Williams and Ley Line Entertainment’s Tim Headington and Theresa Steele.
The synopsis: Following her lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. There she meets Richard (Gaffigan), a widower who thinks his recently departed wife may still be with him. The investigation that ensues — which eventually includes Shelia’s son, Owen and his classmate Lucy — forces them to reckon with...
Elisabeth Moss produced the pic with Sailor Bear, James M. Johnston, Toby Halbrooks as well as Ten Acre Films’ Kelly Williams and Ley Line Entertainment’s Tim Headington and Theresa Steele.
The synopsis: Following her lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. There she meets Richard (Gaffigan), a widower who thinks his recently departed wife may still be with him. The investigation that ensues — which eventually includes Shelia’s son, Owen and his classmate Lucy — forces them to reckon with...
- 7/2/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Grasshopper Film announced today that they have acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the Brett Story-directed documentary The Hottest August. The feature will make its New York premiere at BAMcinemaFest and then open in theaters across the country in the fall. The Hottest August is set to debut on streaming platforms next year.
A complex portrait of a city and its inhabitants, The Hottest August gives a window into the collective consciousness of the present. The film’s point of departure is one city over one month: New York City, including its outer boroughs, during August 2017. It’s a month heavy with the tension of a new President, growing anxiety over everything from rising rents to marching white nationalists, and unrelenting news of either wildfires or hurricanes on every coast. The film pivots on the question of futurity: what does the future look like from where we are standing?...
A complex portrait of a city and its inhabitants, The Hottest August gives a window into the collective consciousness of the present. The film’s point of departure is one city over one month: New York City, including its outer boroughs, during August 2017. It’s a month heavy with the tension of a new President, growing anxiety over everything from rising rents to marching white nationalists, and unrelenting news of either wildfires or hurricanes on every coast. The film pivots on the question of futurity: what does the future look like from where we are standing?...
- 6/12/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Mariano Llinas’ 14-hour prize-winner will get a theatrical run this summer.
Grasshopper Film has acquired Us distribution rights to La Flor, Argentinian director Mariano Llinas’ 14-hour feature that premiered at the Locarno festival and came out a prize-winner at this month’s Rotterdam festival.
Grasshopper plans to open the film theatrically in New York and around the Us this summer, with a release on digital platforms to follow.
A decade in the making, La Flor follows four actresses - Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa, and Laura Paredes - through six episodes, including a monster movie, a musical, a spy...
Grasshopper Film has acquired Us distribution rights to La Flor, Argentinian director Mariano Llinas’ 14-hour feature that premiered at the Locarno festival and came out a prize-winner at this month’s Rotterdam festival.
Grasshopper plans to open the film theatrically in New York and around the Us this summer, with a release on digital platforms to follow.
A decade in the making, La Flor follows four actresses - Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa, and Laura Paredes - through six episodes, including a monster movie, a musical, a spy...
- 2/20/2019
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Following in the footsteps of fellow ballers like Kobe Bryant (Kobe Studios), Lebron James (SpringHill Entertainment), and Stephen Curry (Unanimous Media), NBA All-Star and Dwight Howard is getting into the film business. The Washington Wizards center, via Mansa Productions, has come aboard as an executive producer of Percy, an anti-gmo indie film starring Oscar-winner Christopher Walken, Christina Ricci, and Zach Braff.
Grasshopper + Marks Productions (Brewmaster) has also signed on as exec producers of the film, which is being directed by Clark Johnson.
Written by Hilary Pryor and Garfield L. Miller, the plot follows a small-town Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser (Walken) who challenges a major conglomerate when the company’s genetically modified (Gmo) canola is discovered in the 70-year-old farmer’s crop.
Additional cast includes Roberta Maxwell as Percy’s wife; Adam Beach as Percy’s neighbor, Alton Kelly; Luke Kirby as Percy’s son; Martin Donovan as the conglomerate’s lead lawyer,...
Grasshopper + Marks Productions (Brewmaster) has also signed on as exec producers of the film, which is being directed by Clark Johnson.
Written by Hilary Pryor and Garfield L. Miller, the plot follows a small-town Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser (Walken) who challenges a major conglomerate when the company’s genetically modified (Gmo) canola is discovered in the 70-year-old farmer’s crop.
Additional cast includes Roberta Maxwell as Percy’s wife; Adam Beach as Percy’s neighbor, Alton Kelly; Luke Kirby as Percy’s son; Martin Donovan as the conglomerate’s lead lawyer,...
- 12/7/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Music Box Films has obtained the U.S. rights to Transit, a Christian Petzold directed feature which has its world premiere at this year’s Berlin Film Festival and will head to Tiff next month before it’s theatrical and home releases in 2019. Starring Franz Rogowsk and Paula Beer, the pic is based on Anna Seghers’ WWII novel of the same title. Set in Marseille just after Germany’s invasion, the story follows Georg (Rogowski), a German refugee who takes on the identity of a recently deceased author, Weidel, whose papers he was carrying as he fled Paris. The deal was negotiated by Music Box Films’ William Schopf and Match Factory’s Thania Dimitrakopoulou.
Grasshopper Film has picked up the rights to Independent Spirit Award-nominated documentary film, Distant Constellation, which will bow at the Metrograph in New York City on November 2 before its digital release early 2019. Directed by Boston native Shevaun Mizrahi,...
Grasshopper Film has picked up the rights to Independent Spirit Award-nominated documentary film, Distant Constellation, which will bow at the Metrograph in New York City on November 2 before its digital release early 2019. Directed by Boston native Shevaun Mizrahi,...
- 8/15/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has bought North American distribution rights to “Distant Constellation,” Shevaun Mizrahi’s documentary on the residents of a Turkish retirement home, Variety has learned.
The distributor plans an Oscar-qualifying run, starting with Metrograph in New York City on Nov. 2 before expanding to other markets, followed by a release on VOD and home video in early 2019.
“Distant Constellation,” produced by Shelly Grizim and Deniz Buga, received an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the Truer Than Fiction category this year. It premiered in 2017 at the Locarno Film Festival, where it received a special jury award, and has since won prizes at the Vienna International Film Festival, the Seville Film Festival and the Jeonju International Film Festival.
Mizrahi shot “Distant Constellation” at a government run facility for the elderly in Instanbul, where she had volunteered and formed relationships with the residents. The film portrays residents recounting stories of their youth, including...
The distributor plans an Oscar-qualifying run, starting with Metrograph in New York City on Nov. 2 before expanding to other markets, followed by a release on VOD and home video in early 2019.
“Distant Constellation,” produced by Shelly Grizim and Deniz Buga, received an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the Truer Than Fiction category this year. It premiered in 2017 at the Locarno Film Festival, where it received a special jury award, and has since won prizes at the Vienna International Film Festival, the Seville Film Festival and the Jeonju International Film Festival.
Mizrahi shot “Distant Constellation” at a government run facility for the elderly in Instanbul, where she had volunteered and formed relationships with the residents. The film portrays residents recounting stories of their youth, including...
- 8/15/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Los Angeles-based Unified Pictures has obtained the North American rights to the action/comedy Maximum Impact, directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die) from a script by Ross Lamanna (Rush Hour). Starring Alexander Nevsky (Showdown in Manila), Kelly Hu (The Scorpion King), William Baldwin (The Purge: TV series), Tom Arnold (True Lies), Mark Dacascos (John Wick 3: Parabellum) and Danny Trejo (Machete), the pic will get a theatrical release September 28 before rolling out on digital and DVD platforms October 2. The plot: When the granddaughter of the Us Secretary of the State is kidnapped in Moscow, an agent of the Federal Security Service of Russia (Nevsky) and the Us Secret Service are forced to pull aside their differences and work together to prevent a full-scale international crisis. Nevsky produced the pic via his company Hollywood Storm. Steve Break negotiated the deal on behalf of Unified Pictures along with Nevsky on behalf of the filmmakers.
- 8/1/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Grasshopper Film has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the thriller “The Load,” the debut feature from filmmaker Ognjen Glavonića, Variety has learned exclusively.
“The Load,” which debuted at the Directors Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival in May, centers on a truck driver hired to deliver a mysterious cargo across a dangerous, war-torn landscape. “The Load” will receive a theatrical release next year, followed by home video and VOD.
The story takes place during the Nato bombing of Serbia in 1999. To transport the mysterious load from Kosovo to Belgrade, the central character must drive through unfamiliar territory and try to make his way in a country scarred by war.
Jessica Kiang said in her review for Variety: “It is in the very banality of this day in the life of a Serbian trucker that this impressive new filmmaker illuminates a painful truth that inculpates more of us than...
“The Load,” which debuted at the Directors Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival in May, centers on a truck driver hired to deliver a mysterious cargo across a dangerous, war-torn landscape. “The Load” will receive a theatrical release next year, followed by home video and VOD.
The story takes place during the Nato bombing of Serbia in 1999. To transport the mysterious load from Kosovo to Belgrade, the central character must drive through unfamiliar territory and try to make his way in a country scarred by war.
Jessica Kiang said in her review for Variety: “It is in the very banality of this day in the life of a Serbian trucker that this impressive new filmmaker illuminates a painful truth that inculpates more of us than...
- 7/17/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Wang Bing’s marathon Chinese documentary set for release later this year.
Icarus Films and Grasshopper Film have jointly acquired North American distribution rights to Dead Souls, the eight-hour documentary from Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing that had its premiere in a special screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The film, handed by Doc & Film International, will have a limited North American release later this year. It will also be part of Icarus’ dGenerate Films Collection of films from mainland China.
Dead Souls focuses on the last survivors of the ‘re-education’ camps where political prisoners were held during the...
Icarus Films and Grasshopper Film have jointly acquired North American distribution rights to Dead Souls, the eight-hour documentary from Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing that had its premiere in a special screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The film, handed by Doc & Film International, will have a limited North American release later this year. It will also be part of Icarus’ dGenerate Films Collection of films from mainland China.
Dead Souls focuses on the last survivors of the ‘re-education’ camps where political prisoners were held during the...
- 7/12/2018
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to the Talal Derki-directed documentary Of Fathers and Sons, which picked up the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Award earlier this year at Sundance. The film will be released in theaters in the Fall of 2018 followed by VOD and home video releases are scheduled for early 2019. In the doc, Derki returns to his homeland where he gained the trust of Abu Osama, one of the founders and front members of Al-Nusra, the Syrian arm of Al-Qaeda. He spent two and a half years documenting Osama and his eight young sons who are on the path to becoming Jihadi fighters. Producers are Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, and Tobias Siebert. Richard Lorber and Wendy Lidell of Kino negotiated the deal with Nick Shumaker of UTA, Dan Cogan of Impact Partners and Tobias Siebert from Basis Berlin.
Grasshopper Film has obtained the U.
Grasshopper Film has obtained the U.
- 5/7/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
In today’s film news roundup, a science-fiction Tom Hanks project will arrive in 2020, “Hearts Beat Loud” gets a film festival slot, and “Notes on an Appearance” gets distribution.
Release Dates
Universal Pictures has dated Tom Hanks’ sci-fi story “Bios” for Oct. 2, 2020, along with giving horror-thriller “The Turning” a Feb. 22 launch and canine drama “A Dog’s Journey” for May 17, 2019.
Hanks stars in Amblin Entertainment’s “Bios” as the last man on Earth who builds a robot to keep his beloved dog safe. As the trio embarks upon an epic cross-country journey, the scientist must teach his creation to become “human” enough to take care of its charge… and the beloved pet to accept a new master.
“Bios” is directed by Miguel Sapochnik from a script by Craig Luck and Ivor Powell. Producers are Kevin Misher, as well as ImageMovers’ Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine. Robert Zemeckis, Luck, Sapochnik, and...
Release Dates
Universal Pictures has dated Tom Hanks’ sci-fi story “Bios” for Oct. 2, 2020, along with giving horror-thriller “The Turning” a Feb. 22 launch and canine drama “A Dog’s Journey” for May 17, 2019.
Hanks stars in Amblin Entertainment’s “Bios” as the last man on Earth who builds a robot to keep his beloved dog safe. As the trio embarks upon an epic cross-country journey, the scientist must teach his creation to become “human” enough to take care of its charge… and the beloved pet to accept a new master.
“Bios” is directed by Miguel Sapochnik from a script by Craig Luck and Ivor Powell. Producers are Kevin Misher, as well as ImageMovers’ Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine. Robert Zemeckis, Luck, Sapochnik, and...
- 5/5/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Eighteen debut films eligible for award, worth Bright Future Award, worth €10,000.
Source: Iffr
Impermanence
International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), which runs 24 Jan to 4 Feb, has announced the full line-up of its Bright Future programme, including the titles that will compete for the Bright Future Award.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The competition for the Bright Future Award 2018, worth €10,000, consists of eighteen debut films, including Impermanence by young Chinese filmmaker Zeng Zeng, German film Ella Und Nell by Aline Chukwuedo and Counting Tiles by Lebanese filmmaker Cynthia Choucair.
Other world premieres include Christopher Makoto Yogi’s debut August At Akiko, The Heart by Swedish filmmaker Fanni Metelius and Egyptian film Poisonous Roses by Ahmed Fawzi Saleh, and La Estrella Errante by Spanish filmmaker Alberto Gracia, who won the Fipresci Award with his feature debut The Fifth Gospel Of Kaspar Hauser at Iffr 2013.
Read more: ’Jimmie’, ‘The Death Of Stalin’ to bookend Rotterdam film festival
The jury for the...
Source: Iffr
Impermanence
International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), which runs 24 Jan to 4 Feb, has announced the full line-up of its Bright Future programme, including the titles that will compete for the Bright Future Award.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The competition for the Bright Future Award 2018, worth €10,000, consists of eighteen debut films, including Impermanence by young Chinese filmmaker Zeng Zeng, German film Ella Und Nell by Aline Chukwuedo and Counting Tiles by Lebanese filmmaker Cynthia Choucair.
Other world premieres include Christopher Makoto Yogi’s debut August At Akiko, The Heart by Swedish filmmaker Fanni Metelius and Egyptian film Poisonous Roses by Ahmed Fawzi Saleh, and La Estrella Errante by Spanish filmmaker Alberto Gracia, who won the Fipresci Award with his feature debut The Fifth Gospel Of Kaspar Hauser at Iffr 2013.
Read more: ’Jimmie’, ‘The Death Of Stalin’ to bookend Rotterdam film festival
The jury for the...
- 1/5/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Brazilian fable premiered in Rotterdam.
Grasshopper Film has picked up Us rights from Katásia Films to Araby, the Brazilian feature by Affonso Uchôa and João Dumans.
The Rotterdam premiere and upcoming New Directors / New Films selection will open theatrically in autumn, followed by a VOD and home video release.
Araby centres on a teenager in an industrial town in Brazil who stumbles upon a notebook written by a worker from a nearby aluminium factory.
“A pure gem of a film, ‘Araby’ is a wondrous, assured work that has won over audiences around the world,” Grasshopper founder and president Ryan Krivoshey said.
“We’re extremely excited to be bringing it to the Us.”
Araby premiered in Rotterdam and marks the second collaboration between Uchôa and Dumans after Hidden Tiger in 2014.
Krivoshey, brokered the deal with Vitor Graize of Katásia Films.
Grasshopper Film has picked up Us rights from Katásia Films to Araby, the Brazilian feature by Affonso Uchôa and João Dumans.
The Rotterdam premiere and upcoming New Directors / New Films selection will open theatrically in autumn, followed by a VOD and home video release.
Araby centres on a teenager in an industrial town in Brazil who stumbles upon a notebook written by a worker from a nearby aluminium factory.
“A pure gem of a film, ‘Araby’ is a wondrous, assured work that has won over audiences around the world,” Grasshopper founder and president Ryan Krivoshey said.
“We’re extremely excited to be bringing it to the Us.”
Araby premiered in Rotterdam and marks the second collaboration between Uchôa and Dumans after Hidden Tiger in 2014.
Krivoshey, brokered the deal with Vitor Graize of Katásia Films.
- 5/12/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Grasshopper Film has released the official Us trailer for its upcoming film “Nocturama.” The clip premiered exclusively on The Film Stage on Thursday. The terrorism thriller hails from acclaimed director Bertrand Bonello (“Saint Laurent,” “House of Pleasures”).
Read More: ‘Nocturama’ Is ‘Elephant’ For The The Age Of Isis — Review
Written and directed by Bonello, “Nocturama” follows a group of teens from different backgrounds who plan a series of bombings throughout Paris. The film premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, a mere 1o months after the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Isis in the French capital.
In his review of the film, IndieWire’s David Ehrlich described “Nocturama” as “a vague and intriguingly inert thriller that waits 50 minutes before revealing ‘what they had to do’ and never bothers explaining why they had to do it. It’s hypnotic all the same. Fresh off his emotionally extravagant biopic of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent,...
Read More: ‘Nocturama’ Is ‘Elephant’ For The The Age Of Isis — Review
Written and directed by Bonello, “Nocturama” follows a group of teens from different backgrounds who plan a series of bombings throughout Paris. The film premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, a mere 1o months after the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Isis in the French capital.
In his review of the film, IndieWire’s David Ehrlich described “Nocturama” as “a vague and intriguingly inert thriller that waits 50 minutes before revealing ‘what they had to do’ and never bothers explaining why they had to do it. It’s hypnotic all the same. Fresh off his emotionally extravagant biopic of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent,...
- 5/11/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired the North American rights to the Tribeca Film Festival entry “November.” Directed by Rainer Sarnet, the film is based on Andrus Kivirähk’s novel “Rehepapp,” about about a peasant girl in 19th century Estonia who longs for village boy. The story of requited love takes place in an incredibly complicated, dark landscape where spirits, werewolves, plagues, and the devil himself converge.
Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: The Orchard Picks Up ‘Thelma,’ Samuel Goldwyn Films Buys ‘Gook’ and More
“’November’ is one of the most unique and stunning films to come along in some time,” Oscilloscope president Dan Berger said in a statement. “It’s equal measures beautiful love story and balls-to-wall bonkers-ass folk tale.
– Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired the North American rights to the Tribeca Film Festival entry “November.” Directed by Rainer Sarnet, the film is based on Andrus Kivirähk’s novel “Rehepapp,” about about a peasant girl in 19th century Estonia who longs for village boy. The story of requited love takes place in an incredibly complicated, dark landscape where spirits, werewolves, plagues, and the devil himself converge.
Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: The Orchard Picks Up ‘Thelma,’ Samuel Goldwyn Films Buys ‘Gook’ and More
“’November’ is one of the most unique and stunning films to come along in some time,” Oscilloscope president Dan Berger said in a statement. “It’s equal measures beautiful love story and balls-to-wall bonkers-ass folk tale.
- 4/28/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Documentary about unique theatre group in Tuscany premiered at SXSW.
Grasshopper Film has acquired Us rights to Spettacolo, the follow-up to the 2010 documentary Marwencol from Jeff Malmberg and producer Chris Shellen.
Spettacolo premiered at SXSW and will open theatrically in the autumn followed by VOD and home video release.
The film centres on the 50th anniversary of a unique theatre group in Tuscany whereby villagers depict themselves on stage as a way of working through their issues.
As the village’s aging population and the rise of the Facebook generation threatens the group’s existence,members of Teatro Povero di Monticchiello prepare a performance about the end of the world.
Grasshopper Film founder and president Ryan Krivoshey distributed Marwencol when he was at The Cinema Guild.
“Spettacolo is a wonder,” Krivoshey said. “The story of a tiny Italian village that for the past half-century has created an alternate world to deal with their own.
“Seven years after first...
Grasshopper Film has acquired Us rights to Spettacolo, the follow-up to the 2010 documentary Marwencol from Jeff Malmberg and producer Chris Shellen.
Spettacolo premiered at SXSW and will open theatrically in the autumn followed by VOD and home video release.
The film centres on the 50th anniversary of a unique theatre group in Tuscany whereby villagers depict themselves on stage as a way of working through their issues.
As the village’s aging population and the rise of the Facebook generation threatens the group’s existence,members of Teatro Povero di Monticchiello prepare a performance about the end of the world.
Grasshopper Film founder and president Ryan Krivoshey distributed Marwencol when he was at The Cinema Guild.
“Spettacolo is a wonder,” Krivoshey said. “The story of a tiny Italian village that for the past half-century has created an alternate world to deal with their own.
“Seven years after first...
- 4/27/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– The Orchard has acquired the North American rights to Joachim Trier’s supernatural thriller “Thelma.” Written by Trier and Eskil Vogt and starring Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Ellen Dorrit Petersen and Henrik Rafaelsen, the film follows a young woman who falls in love and discovers that she has terrifying and inexplicable powers.
“Working with Joachim on ‘Louder Than Bombs’ was a wonderful experience and gave us the opportunity to witness, up close, his unmatched visionary talent and passion for the stories he tells,” Paul Davidson, the Orchard’s executive vice president of Film and Television, said in a statement. “Thelma represents the next evolution of his growth as a filmmaker and we couldn’t be more excited...
– The Orchard has acquired the North American rights to Joachim Trier’s supernatural thriller “Thelma.” Written by Trier and Eskil Vogt and starring Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Ellen Dorrit Petersen and Henrik Rafaelsen, the film follows a young woman who falls in love and discovers that she has terrifying and inexplicable powers.
“Working with Joachim on ‘Louder Than Bombs’ was a wonderful experience and gave us the opportunity to witness, up close, his unmatched visionary talent and passion for the stories he tells,” Paul Davidson, the Orchard’s executive vice president of Film and Television, said in a statement. “Thelma represents the next evolution of his growth as a filmmaker and we couldn’t be more excited...
- 4/21/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Fox Searchlight will acquire the U.S., Canada and U.K. rights to to “The Old Man And The Gun,” Deadline reports. Director David Lowery’s drama stars Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek and Danny Glover and begins shooting on April 3.
Based on a true story, the film centers on bank robber and 17-time prison escapee Forrest Tucker (Redford). Affleck plays a detective obsessed with bringing Tucker to justice while Spacek plays Tucker’s love interest. The film is produced by Conde Nast Entertainment Wildwood Enterprises and Identity Films.
Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: Neon Picks Up Errol Morris’ ‘The B-Side,’ FilmRise Gets Two Sundance Premieres and More
– Grasshopper Film has acquired the U.S. rights...
– Fox Searchlight will acquire the U.S., Canada and U.K. rights to to “The Old Man And The Gun,” Deadline reports. Director David Lowery’s drama stars Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek and Danny Glover and begins shooting on April 3.
Based on a true story, the film centers on bank robber and 17-time prison escapee Forrest Tucker (Redford). Affleck plays a detective obsessed with bringing Tucker to justice while Spacek plays Tucker’s love interest. The film is produced by Conde Nast Entertainment Wildwood Enterprises and Identity Films.
Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: Neon Picks Up Errol Morris’ ‘The B-Side,’ FilmRise Gets Two Sundance Premieres and More
– Grasshopper Film has acquired the U.S. rights...
- 3/24/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Exclusive: Grasshopper Film has announced the acquisition of all U.S. distribution rights to “The Human Surge,” the electrifying debut from Argentine filmmaker Eduardo Williams, which was recently awarded the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival from a jury led by Dario Argento. The film will open in theaters next year.
The film follows Buenos Aires resident “Exe, 25 years old, has just lost his job and is not looking for another one. His neighbors and friends seem as odd to him as they always do. Online, he meets Alf, a boy from Mozambique who is also bored with his job and who is about to follow Archie, another boy who has run away into the jungle.
– Exclusive: Grasshopper Film has announced the acquisition of all U.S. distribution rights to “The Human Surge,” the electrifying debut from Argentine filmmaker Eduardo Williams, which was recently awarded the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival from a jury led by Dario Argento. The film will open in theaters next year.
The film follows Buenos Aires resident “Exe, 25 years old, has just lost his job and is not looking for another one. His neighbors and friends seem as odd to him as they always do. Online, he meets Alf, a boy from Mozambique who is also bored with his job and who is about to follow Archie, another boy who has run away into the jungle.
- 11/18/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Film distribution veteran Ryan Krivoshey is taking a page from the success of “An Inconvenient Truth,” advocating for global issues by betting on film as the most potent tool for spreading awareness. The Founder and President of indie distributor Grasshopper Film recently formed a new production company, Grasshopper + Marks Productions, which focuses on producing issue-based films whose stories can inspire major movements.
Read More: Exclusive: Independent Film Vet Ryan Krivoshey Launches New Distribution Company
One of the most innovative aspects of this strategy is how the company plans to find those stories. Krivoshey has partnered with his wife Beata Gutman Krivoshey’s advisory film Grasshopper Global, which builds social purpose campaigns for clients ranging from Disney to the United Nations Foundation, and with Andy Marks’ brand consultancy and production company Marks Entertainment + Media. The plan is to connect companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies with filmmakers to help tell issue-driven stories,...
Read More: Exclusive: Independent Film Vet Ryan Krivoshey Launches New Distribution Company
One of the most innovative aspects of this strategy is how the company plans to find those stories. Krivoshey has partnered with his wife Beata Gutman Krivoshey’s advisory film Grasshopper Global, which builds social purpose campaigns for clients ranging from Disney to the United Nations Foundation, and with Andy Marks’ brand consultancy and production company Marks Entertainment + Media. The plan is to connect companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies with filmmakers to help tell issue-driven stories,...
- 8/3/2016
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Keep up with the revolving door that is the entertainment industry with our weekly Career Moves column that tracks all the comings and goings of the industry leaders that make Hollywood tick. Check out our last edition of Career Moves to find out who went where, when and why.
– The recently launched distribution company Grasshopper Film is moving into production. This week marks the opening of a brand new production company, Grasshopper+Marks Productions, that will join together three industry executives: Ryan Krivoshey, Founder & President of Grasshopper Film, Beata Gutman, Founder & President of Grasshopper Global, and Andy Marks, President of Marks Entertainment + Media.
Grasshopper+Marks will focus on issue-based, artistic storytelling directed by award winning filmmakers from across the world. Emphasizing Content with a Conscience, Grasshopper+Marks will connect brands, non-profits, foundations and movements with filmmakers who will bring their singular vision to each project.
The company already has a...
– The recently launched distribution company Grasshopper Film is moving into production. This week marks the opening of a brand new production company, Grasshopper+Marks Productions, that will join together three industry executives: Ryan Krivoshey, Founder & President of Grasshopper Film, Beata Gutman, Founder & President of Grasshopper Global, and Andy Marks, President of Marks Entertainment + Media.
Grasshopper+Marks will focus on issue-based, artistic storytelling directed by award winning filmmakers from across the world. Emphasizing Content with a Conscience, Grasshopper+Marks will connect brands, non-profits, foundations and movements with filmmakers who will bring their singular vision to each project.
The company already has a...
- 7/29/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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