SALES
Chris O’Dowd (“Puffin Rock”), Amy Huberman (“Derry Girls”), Beth McCafferty and Eva Whittaker (“Wolfwalkers”) lead the voice cast of “Puffin Rock and the New Friends,” the film based on the TV series “Puffin Rock.”
Following their collaboration on Oscar nominees “Song of the Sea” and “The Breadwinner,” WestEnd Films is teaming again with Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Northern Ireland’s Dog Ears on the film and is launching sales at Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM), where first footage will be shown to buyers.
“Puffin Rock and the New Friends” sees Oona, Baba, May and Mossy joined by a new characters Isabelle, Phoenix and Marvin. When the last Little Egg of the season disappears under mysterious circumstances, Oona and her new friends race against time to bring the Little Egg home before a big storm hits Puffin Rock and puts the entire island in danger.
The film is directed by Jeremy Purcell (“Joe and Jack”) from a script by “Puffin Rock” head writer Sara Daddy.
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Meanwhile, European Film Promotion‘s Film Sales Support (FSS) scheme is supporting 44 feature films, documentaries and animation films from Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the Ukraine at the EFM. The scheme offers financial incentives to world sales companies to enhance their sales campaigns to buyers overseas.
Films benefiting from the FSS program include “Seneca – On The Creation of Earthquakes” by Robert Schwentke (Germany/Picture Tree International) and “Sica” by Carla Subirana (Spain/Latido Films), both of which are part of Berlinale’s Generation section. “The Properties of the Metals” by Antonio Bigini (Italy/True Colours) and “The Lost Boys” by Zeno Graton (Belgium/Indie Sales) are also supported.
In the Panorama section, films receiving FSS include “Do you love me?” by Tonia Noyabrova (Ukraine, Sweden/Urban Sales), “The Beast in the Jungle” by Patric Chiha (France/Les Films du Losange), “Midwives” by Léa Fehner (France/Pyramide International) and “Opponent” by Milad Alami (Sweden/Indie Sales).
FSS is also being awarded to “White Plastic Sky” by Tibor Bánoczki and Sarolta Szabo (Hungary/Slovak Republic) and “The Klezmer Project” by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann (Austria/Argentina), both of which are represented by Films Boutique and are screening in the Encounters section. Sepideh Farsi’s “The Siren” (France/Luxembourg/Germany) is also receiving support through Bac Films Distribution.
DISTRIBUTION
Entertainment One has acquired international distribution rights, excluding Australia, to “Paper Dolls,” a new series produced by Helium Pictures for Network 10 Australia.
Currently in production in Sydney, the eight-part scripted drama follows the rise and fall of fictional manufactured girl group Harlow, born out of music reality television show “Pop Rush.” The five young women in the group must navigate the dark side of a glamorous industry determined to commodify them.
Emalia (“Australian Gangster”), Naomi Sequeira (“Evermoor Chronicles”), Miah Madden (“Redfern Now”), Courtney Clarke (“Last King of The Cross”) and Courtney Monsma (“Frozen The Musical”) play the five band members.
Based on an original concept created by Belinda Chapple, created and written by Ainslie Clouston with writers David Hannam, Marieke Hardy, Jenna Purcell, Sara Khan and Thomas Wilson-White, “Paper Dolls” is directed by Tenika Smith, Nina Buxton and Erin White, produced by Jessica Carrera and Kerrie Mainwaring, executive produced by Mark Fennessy and Belinda Chapple, with Alexander Pettaras as associate producer.
FIRST LOOKS
“Sam – A Saxon”
Disney+ has released first look images for “Sam – A Saxon,” the streamer’s first original series produced out of Germany, which will premiere on April 26. The series is based on the true story of Samuel “Sam” Njankouo Meffire, East Germany’s first Black police officer and follows him on his journey to find a place to call home and his fight for justice against an overpowering system.
International Emmy Award winner Jörg Winger (“Deutschland83/86/89”), who also serves as showrunner, Sebastian Werninger (both Big Window Productions) and Tyron Ricketts (Panthertainment) are the producers of the seven-part miniseries, which is created by Tyron Ricketts, Jörg Winger and Christoph Silber (“Nordwand”).
Lead directors are Soleen Yusef (“House Without Roof”) and Sarah Blaßkiewitz (“Precious Ivie”), head writers are Jörg Winger and Christoph Silber who co-wrote the scripts with the writers room (Malina Nnendi Nwabuonwo, Toks Körner, Tyron Ricketts, Soleen Yusef and Carolin Würfel). Malick Bauer (“Wir“) plays the title role and the cast also includes Tyron Ricketts, Svenja Jung, Luise von Finckh, Carina Wiese, Paula Essam, Ivy Quainoo, Thorsten Merten, Martin Brambach, Nyamandi Adrian, Aristo Luis and Daniel Klare.
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Elsewhere, director Ram Kamal Mukherjee has revealed the first look of Rukmini Maitra playing Binodiini in Dev Entertainment Ventures and Pramod Films’ Bengali-language film “Binodiini – Ekti Natir Upakhyan” (“Binodiini – Tale of a Theater Artist”), produced by Dev Adhikari and Prateek Chakravorty in association with Assorted Motion Pictures, which began principal photography on Monday. The look was created by costume designer Suchismita Dasgupta, makeup artist Bithika Benia and hair stylist Mousami Chhetri.
The film will be a biopic of Binodini Dasi, also known as Nati Binodini, who had a flourishing career as an theater actor in 19th century Bengal between the ages of 12 and 23 and was known for her innovations, including creating a stage make-up style that blended European and Indian techniques.
The cast also includes Rahul Bose, Kaushik Ganguly, Gautam Halder, Mir, Chandreyee Ghosh and Om Sahani.
