LevelK Boards Danish 3D Animation ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Christopher Vourlias LevelK has boarded the dark comedic drama “The Kidnapping of a President” by Finnish director Samuli Valkama (“No Thank You”), the company announced this week in Helsinki. The film, which is produced by John Lundsten (“Renki”) and Melli Maikkula (“KilJuset”) for Tack Film, is based on the incredible, pulled-from-the-headlines story of the abduction of the first president of Finland.

Sometimes less is more… But not usually when you’re cut a check to turn in a prestigious job!

Naman Ramachandran MetFilm Sales has picked up worldwide rights (excluding U.K.) and will handle international sales on acclaimed documentary “Name Me Lawand” from “Gangs of London” producer Pulse Films. Directed by Edward Lovelace (“The Possibilities Are Endless”), the documentary, filmed over four years, follows Lawand Hamad Amin, who spent his early years in Iraq unable to hear or communicate. His profound deafness meant he could not learn language, and with no access to a deaf education, Lawand grew isolated and trapped inside himself.

EXCLUSIVE: Bridgerton star Claudia Jessie has joined the cast of Jack Thorne’s Netflix series Toxic Town alongside Michael Socha (The Gallows Pole) and Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones).

EXCLUSIVE: Masterpiece has boarded Alice & Jack, the Channel 4 TV series starring Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson.

Naman Ramachandran Blue Finch Films has boarded worldwide sales on horror-thriller, “Last Straw,” set to have its world premiere at the Sitges Film Festival before making its way to Beyond Fest next month. Written by Taylor Sardoni, “Last Straw” pays homage to the pressure cooker genre films of the past and aims to present a raw and unrelenting twist on the home-invasion thriller. The story revolves around a young waitress working the late shift alone at a rural roadside diner.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Portrait Artist of the Year,” the popular U.K. entertainment format that will celebrate its 10th birthday on Sky Arts with Dame Judi Dench on Sept. 30, is set for a Norwegian adaptation to be produced by Nordisk Banijay.

Ellise Shafer SkyShowtime, the European streaming home to releases from Paramount and Universal, has revealed its upcoming film and TV slate through the rest of the year, including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Poker Face.” Just one year since the streaming service’s launch in the Nordics and six months since its rollout in 20 more European markets, SkyShowtime is on track to have 50% of this year’s box office on the platform. “Less than a year since our launch, SkyShowtime boasts an impressive line-up of amazing content,” SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan said in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based genre specialist Reel Suspects has boarded world sales on Turkish director Orçun Behram’s horror The Funeral ahead of its premiere at the Lisbon International Horror Film Festival, better known as MotelX.

Marta Balaga Caution! Kaisa El Ramly’s upcoming feature “Gateways & Dreams” has debuted a trailer, so watch out for moving vehicles. The tragicomic road movie, produced by Helsinki-based Inland Film Company and co-produced by Sweden’s Läsk, focuses on multiple characters stuck in their cars on one summer’s day, as well as one hitchhiker and a very special dog. Following its screenings at Helsinki Int.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London- and Paris-based Film Constellation has boarded sales on 2D family animated feature “Carmen,” a contemporary adaptation of the opera, to be directed by 2023 Annecy Film Festival winner Sébastien Laudenbach. Variety revealed first details of the project last year exclusively.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Vogter,” a psychological thriller directed by Gustav Möller, whose previous film “The Guilty” won the Audience Award at Sundance, has been pre-sold by Les Films du Losange to multiple territories. “Vogter,” which was just completed and is now in post, has been picked up for Germany, Austria, Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Cineart), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris) and Hungary (Vertigo). Les Films du Losange has closed these deals since unveiling the project at Cannes and is negotiating further sales in other key territories.

Naman Ramachandran Germany-based sales agent Patra Spanou Film has acquired rights to “Working Class Goes to Hell,” which will world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness strand. Directed by Mladen Đorđević (“The Life and Death of a Porno Gang”), the film follows a group of ex-workers, who, after losing their loved ones, jobs, and dignity to a tragic factory fire and corrupt privatization, seek hope and justice in the supernatural.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Edouard Bergeon, whose Cesar-nominated debut feature “In the Name of the Land” was a box office hit in 2019, has penned another eco-thriller, “The Green Deal.” The movie, which is partly set in the Indonesian forest, has been boarded by Playtime and will be pitched to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival. “The Green Deal” explores crimes and colliding interests in the exploitation of a palm oil and the production of biofuels.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Edouard Bergeon, whose Cesar-nominated debut feature “In the Name of the Land” was a box office hit in 2019, has penned another eco-thriller, “The Green Deal.” The movie, which is partly set in the Indonesian forest, has been boarded by Playtime and will be pitched to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival. “The Green Deal” explores crimes and colliding interests in the exploitation of a palm oil and the production of biofuels.

Joe Swash has hit back after being dad-shamed on flights with his wife, Stacey Solomon and their five children. He has explained what it is like for him and Stacey when they get onboard a plane with their children. Joe has said that when they get on a plane with the kids, he and Stacey get dirty looks because of their young children.

Mads Mikkelsen has proved time and again a master at playing quiet, rational, and seemingly harmless men who, when pushed, swiftly reveal themselves also to be skilled executioners; their pent-up rage does not bubble up so much as shoot out of them in sudden bursts of ultraviolence. Mikkelsen proves it once more in “The Promised Land,” the new period drama that reunites him with his “A Royal Affair” Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, and premieres in competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival this week.

Marta Balaga Mika Gustafson’s “Paradise Is Burning” – sold by Italy’s Intramovies and previously known as “Sisters” – has debuted a trailer and exclusive first clip ahead of its premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section. Set in Sweden, it sees young sisters Laura, Mira and Steffi trying to get by on their own after their mother leaves. When social services call, Laura comes up with a plan: in order to avoid foster care, she needs to find someone to impersonate their mom.

It’s been 11 years since Mads Mikkelsen starred in Nikolaj Arcel’s Danish period drama A Royal Affair, one of 2012’s most raved about international films which also went on to an Oscar nomination. 

Naman Ramachandran Paris-based sales company Charades has boarded international sales on “Stolen,” the only Indian feature selected at the Venice Film Festival. The film, which will bow within the festival’s Horizons Extra strand, tells the story of the havoc that ensues when opposite worlds collide after two urban young men become embroiled in an impoverished mother’s desperate journey to be reunited with her child. It is described as a “breathtaking action thriller” and the “hidden gem in world cinema” by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera.