KimStim Acquires North American Rights to Locarno Prizewinning ‘The Fever’ (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Gravitas Ventures has secured the distribution rights to the Kerem Sanga-helmed thriller, The Violent Heart, which has its premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Starring Jovan Adepo, Grace Van Patten, Lukas Haas, Mary J. Bilge, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, and Cress Williams, the film is slated for a day-and-date release on February 19.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentVertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Nate Parker’s police brutality drama “American Skin,” which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 and won the Sconfini section’s best film award.Vertical is planning a theatrical and digital release for January 2021, which would make the movie eligible for the Oscars.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Body Brokers, a new crime thriller written and directed by Run with the Hunted helmer John Swab and starring Jack Kilmer and Alice Englert. A release in select theaters nationwide is set for February 19, 2021.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has nabbed the North American rights to Savage State, David Perrault's period western drama. An early 2021 release is planned for the film about a family of French settlers who flee Missouri to return to Paris as the American Civil War breaks out.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentBerlin-based Picture Tree International has picked up global sales rights to Mexican director Raúl López Echeverría’s feature debut, the socially conscious soccer comedy “Domingo,” and will introduce the film, in final postproduction, to buyers at Latin American film market Ventana Sur this week.The film tells the story of Domingo, a man of 55 living in a poor suburb of Guadalajara.

Matt Rife (Wild ‘N Out) and Clare Grant (Changeland) are set to star in psychological thriller The Private Eye, along with Eric Roberts (Runaway Train), Erik Griffin (Workaholics), Denzel Whitaker (Black Panther), Eugenia Kuzmina (The Gentlemen), Elijah Boothe (Luke Cage), Jihad Reeves (All American), King Chip (Shootouts), Lexy Panterra (Boo 2! A Madea Halloween) and newcomer Elliot. Jack Cook directed the pic from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hope Ayiyi, Santino Ramos, and Patrick Roe.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentTopic, the fast-growing streaming service from First Look Media, has acquired North American streaming rights to Anabel Rodriguez Rios’ documentary feature debut, “Once Upon a Time in Venezuela.” The film, which explores the decline of the Venezuelan fishing village of Congo Mirador and, more broadly, the country’s complicated current political and social climate, made its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentParis-based company Alba Films has acquired French distribution rights to Sabrina Van Tassel’s timely social justice documentary “The State of Texas vs. Melissa.”The documentary premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and recently made its U.K.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered at least two people executed, banned fishing at sea and locked down the capital, Pyongyang, as part of frantic efforts to guard against the coronavirus and its economic damage, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers Friday.

The North American rights to The Diaries of Alan Rickman have been sold to Sarah Crichton at Henry Holt and Company, an imprint of Macmillan, it was announced Sunday. The book, which was bought in auction from Natalie Galustian at DHH Literary, will consist of 27 volumes worth of diary entries written by the late actor.The diaries will be edited by Alan Taylor into a single volume.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Kamikaze Dogfight and Gravitas Ventures has acquired the North American rights to distribute action drama, Haymaker. The movie is set to open in theaters and on demand on January 29, 2021.The film, which marks the feature directorial debut of Nick Sasso, follows a retired Muay Thai fighter (Sasso) working as a bouncer, who rescues an alluring transgender performer (Nomi Ruiz) from a nefarious thug, eventually becoming her bodyguard, protector,

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFirst Look Media’s niche streaming service Topic has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the second season of the Nordic thriller “Arctic Circle,” which just started shooting in the icy wilderness of Lapland.Lagardère Studios Distribution, which was recently acquired by Mediawan Group, is handling international sales on the series and participated in its financing.

It’s probably not a good idea to attack uniformed security guards. A guest at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., reportedly assaulted a security guard in a seemingly unprovoked incident on Oct.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNew 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.

Saban Films have snatched rights in North America and U.K. for Under the Stadium Lights (aka Brother's Keeper), a real-life football drama starring Oscar-nominee Laurence Fishburne.

Christopher Vourlias Strand Releasing has acquired North American distribution rights for “Africa,” Israeli director Oren Gerner’s personal story about an aging man learning to reinvent himself, Variety has learned.“Africa” is the story of 68-year-old Meir, a retiree who discovers that after 30 years of planning the annual village celebration, the job has been given to an inexperienced group of local teens instead.