Beta Cinema has secured sales to major territories for its slate of content this year , including “One Last Evening” with Filmwelt for Germany and Austria, to September Film for Benelux, Aurora Films for Poland and Discovery for the former Yugoslavian territories. During the conference, Beta Cinema’s sales team will be located at the right hand side of the Mondrian Hotel, 45 Bd de la Croissette. “We are thrilled to announce first deals for ‘One Last Evening’ today,“ states Thorsten Ritter, EVP Acquisitions, Sales & Marketing at Beta Cinema. “Lukas Nathrath not only proofs his outstanding directing talent, but also opens the doors to an interesting world for us, granting us an evening with the open-minded, ambitious, competitive and maybe obsessively self-aware Generation Y. Audiences can look forward to a rewarding evening at the movies.”
“One Last Evening” was lensed by Philip Jestädt and edited by Silke Olthoff. Lucie Bates created the costumes and the songs performed in the film were composed and performed by main actor Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer. Nathrath and Doppelbauer started off the production independently but soon were joined by producer Linus Günther from klinkerfilm. Post-production was enabled with the support of Nordmedia, local sponsoring and the Cinegrell First Look Award. Beta Cinema initially discovered “One Last Evening’s” German up-and coming director Lukas Nathrath in Locarno last year, where the title screened in the work in progress section and took the main prize, the First Look Award.
The title premiered at the Tiger Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and won the Best Director Award at the Max Ophüls Preis film festival. The cast features emerging young German actors Pauline Werner, Nikolai Gemel, Isabelle von Stauffenberg, Valentin Richter, Julius Forster, Nils Rovira-Muñoz, Amelle Schwerk, and Pascal Houdus, along with experienced theatre actress Susanne Dorothea Schneider and Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer, who portrays the main character Clemens. Doppelbauer also co-wrote and co-produced the tragicomedy alongside Lukas Nathrath.
Originally titled “Letzter Abend,” "One Last Evening" begins a young couple’s goodbye-dinner, in the standstill of the pandemic summer. Lisa is an on-the-rise doctor bracing herself for a new position, Clemens is a talented but unsuccessful singer-songwriter crippled by self-doubts. To say goodbye, they host a dinner party in their now empty flat. But good friends cancel — and uninvited guests show up. As the attendees begin to compare each other's achievements, the evening gradually escalates, leading to an emotional breakdown that exposes misunderstandings, rivalries, animosities, and anxieties.
Other titles includes in Beta’s catalog this year are Icelandic thriller “Operation Napoleon," starring Iain Glen and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson sold to Magnolia for North America, Signature Entertainment for UK/Ireland and also added Portugal and Czech Republic to the list of sold territories that already included further key territories like France (Mediawan), Spain and Japan. The title “Napoleon” is directed by Oskar Thor Axelsson and produced by Sagafilm and Splendid Entertainment.
“The Fox,” also showcased at the conference, tells the moving true story about the extraordinary friendship between a young man and a wounded fox cub sold to Greenwich Entertainment in the US, to Jaye Entertainment for South Korea, Proview Ent. for Taiwan, to Lev Cinemas for Israel, to Karma Films for Spain, to Mediaset for Italy and to Juno11 for Hungary. The film is produced by Geissendörfer Pictures with Lotus Film, Giganten Film, 2010 Entertainment in co-production with Film AG in collaboration with SWR, ARTE, BR and ORF. The Norwegian drama “Let The River Flow” about Europe’s last indigenous people’s fight for recognition and basic rights sold to Australia and New Zealand (Palace), Spain (Filmin) and former Yugoslavia (Discovery). The gipping drama directed by Ole Giaever (Out of Nature, The Mountain) took Audience Awards at both the festivals in Tromsø and Göteborg and was a breakout hit at the Norwegian box office. It is based on real events and produced by Mer Film in co-production with Bufo, Zentropa Sweden, Helmet and Knudsen Pictures.
Metropolitain Film (France), Flins & Piniculas (Spain), Plaion Pictures (German speaking territories) and Discovery Film (former Yugoslavia) picked up "Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!" and upcoming Diabolik, Who Are You?, starring Grey’s Anatomy and Marvel’s Avengers’ Giacomo Gianniotti and Monica Bellucci (Matrix, The Apartment) in the lead roles. The films are directed by Antonio and Marco Manetti and produced by Mompracem in co-production with Rai Cinema and Astorina. Kino Lorber had picked up US rights for all three installments during EFM. The company’s Cannes slate also includes German dramedies “Simply Complicated,” and Oskar’s Dress and German Kral’s social comedy “Adiós Buenos Aires.” Pre-sales have kicked off for political thriller “Hammarskjöld,” a working title, with iconic actor Mikael Persbrandt in the lead, “The Offing,” starring Helen Bonham Carter, Gold Berlin Bear winning director Călin Peter Netzer’s “Familiar” and Andreas Dresen’s From “Hilde With Love.”