FRIDAY, MAY 13 2011
TODAY Martin Scorsese and Lars von Trier
www.ScreenDaily.com Editorial (33) 4 97 06 85 35
Ensler plots PTZ project with Fonda, Washington
Eve Ensler
BY NANCY TARTAGLIONE Perrine Tézé’s PTZ International is packaging the feature directorial debut from The Vagina Monologues creator Eve Ensler. The Other Side, which Ensler is
also writing, will star Jane Fonda and Kerry Washington. Set in New York and Congo, the story is about a Park Avenue psychologist (Fonda) who, after the death of her father, goes to Congo to help rape victims. She is unprepared for the atrocities she witnesses and “all of her walls and constructs begin to cave in”, Ensler told Screen, adding, “Ironically, she
Voltage takes on Bousman’s
becomes an extraordinary thera- pist because she becomes real and present and as lost as the local women, which is what they want — they need someone who has real feelings for them.” Washington’s character is a jour-
nalist who becomes more removed on her journey. Ensler said: “It’s a story of change in relationships, and how we love people.” Regarding her move to feature
directing, Ensler said: “This is a huge leap and of course it’s daunt- ing, but I also feel ready. I’ve been preparing for so many years and the script is so in my heart.” Ensler says she hopes to be fi lm-
ing within a year, while Tézé is putting together fi nancing and will also handle international sales. Jean-Claude Fleury, Gérard Fry-
dman and Juliette Ménager are producing.
AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL Advertising (33) 4 97 06 85 37
Pretty, Fortissimo rep Rasoulof’s Good Bye
Jafar Panahi, has been banned from fi lm-making by the Iranian govern- ment and had to make the fi lm in semi-clandestine conditions. Leyla Zareh, Fereshteh Sadreora-
Mohammad Rasoulof
BY WENDY MITCHELL James Velaise’s Pretty Pictures has acquired world rights to Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof ’s Un Certain Regard last-minute addition Good Bye (Be Omid E Didar), and has teamed with For- tissimo Films on the project. Pretty will handle and release
the fi lm in France, and Fortissimo will handle rest-of-world sales. Velaise negotiated the rights
with Rasoulof ’s production com- pany in Iran, and the Fortissimo deal was negotiated here with Chris Paton, SVP of acquisitions. The director, a collaborator with
fai, Shahab Hosseini and Roya Tey- mourian star in the story of a young female lawyer in Tehran who wants a visa to leave the country. Zareh and other cast members
are expected to attend the offi cial screening on Saturday, but Rasou- lof is banned from leaving Iran. Velaise said: “We are delighted
to have acquired Mohammad Rasoulof ’s wonderfully topical new film, especially after having handled his last film, The White Meadows.” Paton added: “We have long
admired Rasoulof ’s work. With his brave voice and wonderful story- telling, he connects the world with daily life in contemporary Iran.”
C Sky ramps up Arabic film plan
creature feature Nicolas Chartier’s Voltage Pictures has picked up international rights to upcoming creature feature The Barrens from Saw franchise director Darren Bousman. Shooting is scheduled to
begin in August on the project, which is in the vein of The Shining and follows a family whose woodland vacation goes awry when the father starts to believe they are being stalked by a horned beast. Bousman, who directed Saw
II, III and IV, is producing with Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten of The Genre Company. Bill O’Dowd and Nelson Famadas of Dolphin Entertainment serve as executive producers. Voltage has debuted footage
here of thriller Faces In The Crowd starring Milla Jovovich and Julian McMahon, and is also selling Puncture with Chris Evans. Jeremy Kay
BY LIZ SHACKLETON Kuwaiti fi lm-maker Walid Al Awa- di’s C Sky Pictures has signed a three-year development deal with twofour54 Abu Dhabi to develop and produce a slate of Arabic fi lm and TV projects. Twofour54 will contribute seed
Ezra Miller, Tilda Swinton, Lynne Ramsay and John C Reilly at the photo call for yesterday’s screening of We Need To Talk About Kevin. See review, p20
eOne wakes up Sleeping Beauty
BY JEREMY KAY eOne Films International has reported steady interest here on Julia Leigh’s psycho-sexual drama Sleeping Beauty, which premiered in Competition last night. Sales chief Charlotte Mickie
closed a number of sales on the eve of the market, licensing the fi lm to Wild Bunch in Benelux, Seven
Films in Greece, Xenix in Switzer- land and Incognito for the Baltics. Deals also closed with Carmen
Films for the former USSR exclud- ing the Baltics and Lev Cinemas for Israel. ARP Selection previously closed a deal for France, while Transmission will release in Aus- tralia and eOne in Canada. » See review, p24
money and other forms of support to the slate, though the venture, called C Sky Abu Dhabi, is also open to outside fi nancing and dis- tribution partners. The projects will be Middle Eastern-themed with international potential. The fi rst project under the deal
is feature film Tora Bora about a family’s quest to fi nd their son who has run away to Afghanistan to join Al Qaeda. Directed by Al Awadi and starring Saad Al Faraj and Asmahan Tawfi q, the project was filmed as both a feature and TV series in the Gulf, Morocco and Europe. The fi lm will screen in the Cannes market on May 18. Al Awadi said he hopes to pro-
duce around three features and a number of TV series under the deal.
NEWS Dynamic duo Lars von Trier and Martin Scorsese plan their Obstructions » PAGE 6
DIARY Wide awake Rebecca Daly on her spooky debut thriller, The Other Side Of Sleep » PAGE 16
REVIEW Tough talk Lynne Ramsay is back with a strong Competition contender » PAGE 20
SCREENINGS » START PAGE 47
Paramount fights for Rainbow’s CG Gladiators
BY MIKE GOODRIDGE Paramount Pictures will handle North American distribution on Italian CG-animated comedy adventure Not Born To Be Gladia- tors which is being launched for international sales here by its pro- duction company, Rainbow. The $57m (¤40m) fi lm, the fea-
ture directing debut of Rainbow CEO Iginio Straffi , has been in pro- duction for four years. Medusa has Italian rights and a Rainbow team led by Wayne Duband is spear- heading the sales campaign here, including a presentation of five minutes of footage on Saturday. Paramount parent Viacom owns
30% of Rainbow and plans to dis- tribute future Rainbow program- ming on Nickelodeon for TV and features through Paramount. “It’s a big opportunity for big
independents to get a quality 3D CGI-animated comedy on a studio level,” explains Straffi , who enlisted writer Michael Wilson (Ice Age, Shark Tale). “We really wanted the pace, dialogue and set-up of a Hol- lywood-type fi lm.” » See
ScreenDaily.com for full story
» Summit International’s Pompeii is heating up in the market. Deals are in the works with eOne for the UK, Canada and Benelux; Icon for Australia; and Rai in Italy. Paul WS Anderson will direct.
BREAKING NEWS
» Ealing Metro International and Prescience have come on board for Very Good Girls, to star Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen.
DAY 3
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