Biz Buzz: Distribution Deals Heat Up

BEFORE I FORGET

Sunday, September 9-----Sales of Toronto International Film Festival titles are heating up, generating much excitement and hopes for other announcements in the days to come. BEFORE I FORGET (Avant Que J'Oublie), the newest film from French director Jacques Nolot, has been acquired by Strand Releasing, the specialty arthouse distributor. The film is screening in the Contemporary World Cinema section here, after world premiering at the Cannes Film Festival at the Directors Fortnight. In the film, director Nolot stars as an aging writer who indulges in anti-depressants, male hustlers and other stimuli to shock him out of his writer's block. The film is the newest example of the current trend of in-your-face French filmmaking that is not afraid to alienate and shock its audiences.

US/Canadian distribution THINKFilm has acquired U.S. rights to THEN SHE FOUND ME, the directorial debut of Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt, which debuted on Friday evening. Hunt co-stars with Bette Midler, Colin Firth, and Matthew Broderick in this adaptation from a novel by Elinor Lipman. The film tells the funny and moving story of one woman's very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Nearing 40, April is a schoolteacher in New York, who wants to have a baby of her own. A snag in her plans presents itself when her sweet but immature husband Ben (Matthew Broderick) announces one night that their marriage was a mistake, leaving April devastated and bewildered. With her life in disarray, she sets out to find her biological mother, an eccentric talk show host played by Bette Midler and embarks on a relationship with Frank (Colin Firth), the father of one of her students,

While it may not make its bow until next year's Festival, a major pre-buy announcement has been made by Miramax Films. The company has bought U.S. rights to the latest film from Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (CITY OF GOD). Titled BLINDNESS, the film has been shooting in Meirelles' native Brazil and was adapted from the acclaimed novel by Jose Saramago. The film, written by celebrated Canadian writer/actor/director Don McKellar, is the story of a sudden plague of blindness that devastates a city, and a small group who band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine. BLINDNESS features a stellar cast, including Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal.

Sandy Mandelberger, Toronto FF Dailies Editor