“The Novelist’s Film,” which Wednesday earned Korean director Hong Sang-soo the Grand Jury Prize in Berlin, has scored multiple rights deals.
With Seoul-based Finecut handling the rights sales, the film was licensed to Ama Films for Greece and Cyprus, Mimosa Films for Japan, L’Atalante Cinema for Spain, Arizona Films Distribution for France and to The Cinema Guild for the U.S.
Finecut also did European Film Market business with “Contorted,” an unorthodox horror about a family tragedy. It pre-sold the title to Thailand’s Sahamongkol Films and to Indonesia’s PT. Prima Cinema Multimedia).
“Heaven: To The Land Of Happiness,” was licensed by Finecut to Little Monster Films for Australia and, New Zealand, to Twin for Japan, Viva Networks for The Philippines, and to Long Shong for Taiwan. The film is directed by Im Sang-soo and was part of the official selection for Cannes in 2020, when the festival did not take place, and was also the opening film of the 2021 Busan festival.
“Hong Sangsoo is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers [..] ‘The Novelist’s film’ revisits some of his usual themes, although this time they are treated differently–from the point of view of the female protagonists. The result is magical, and we are very excited about it,” said Ramiro Ledo, CEO of L’Atalante Cinema. The director has appeared in three successive editions of the Berlin Film Festival, with “The Woman Who Ran” in 2020 and “Introduction in 2021.
“Contorted” is based on the novel “The Contorted House” which won the .’Safehouse Horror Competition Prize.’ The film adaptation stars Seo Young-hee (“Bedevilled”) and Kim Min-jae (“Peninsula”).