January 27 2012

Revolver Entertainment and Picturehouse Entertainment have joined forces to acquire all UK rights for two of Sundance’s World Premieres: Josh Radnor's hot second feature, Liberal Arts, which has created real buzz, positive reviews and enjoyed standing ovations on its Sundance World Premiere this week and The Imposter (details coming soon).

The writer, director and star's second film boasts a strong cast alongside himself including Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, John Magaro and Elizabeth Reaser. Radner’s previous film, happythankyoumoreplease, won the audience award at Sundance in 2010. Bart Layton’s feature doc debut, The Imposter, was one of the most anticipated films in Sundance. Reviews and audience reaction were exceptionally positive for this powerful film about lies and deception, shot through with multiple twists and turns. Produced by Dimitri Doganis, the film is an A&E IndieFilms, Film4 and Channel 4 presentation of a RAW Production in association with Red Box Films and Passion Pictures. Executive producers on the film are John Battsek (One Day in September, Restrepo) and Simon Chinn (Man on Wire, Project Nim).

This marks the first time that Picturehouse and Revolver have come together to work on acquiring rights. Both companies’ imaginative approach and wealth of experience will combine to maximize the potential of these crowd-pleasing films. A true partnership, both companies will work closely together on each stage of Liberal Arts and The Imposters release in the UK. Picturehouse Entertainment has had great success with their distribution titles to date and years of expertise in helping audiences discover great film in cinemas up and down the country. Revolver is widely acknowledged for its innovative, award-winning marketing. Revolver CEO Justin Marciano commented, “We’re delighted to be expanding our relationship with Lyn, Clare, Sara and all the team at Picturehouse. We’ve been looking to collaborate on a project for some time. This represents the coming together of two great companies to provide an unparalleled proposition for Independent filmmakers. Liberal Arts and The Imposter have both wowed audiences here at Sundance and we couldn’t have hoped for two better films to begin this unique partnership.” Clare Binns, Director Programming and Acquisitions at Picturehouse Entertainment added, “We are really delighted with this new partnership with Revolver – it means that we can go after and acquire these more ambitious titles, and use both teams’ talents to really give them the best possible launch in the UK. We hope this will be a long and fruitful relationship with Revolver.” The rights deal for Liberal Arts was struck between Dave Bishop, Revolver’s Head of Acquisitions, Clare Binns, Picturehouse’s Director Programming and Acquisitions, and Ruzanna Kegeyan, President of Ashok Amritaj’s Hyde Park International, and Jennifer Dana and Jay Cohen of Gersh.

The film is a BCDF Pictures and Tom Sawyer Productions co production. Rights for The Imposter were agreed between Dave Bishop, Revolver’s Head of Acquisitions, Clare Binns, Picturehouse’s Director Programming and Acquisitions and Ben Roberts, CEO Protagonist Pictures. Liberal Arts Newly single, 35, and uninspired by his job, Jesse Fisher worries that his best days are behind him. But no matter how much he buries his head in a book, life keeps pulling Jesse back. When his favorite college professor invites him to campus to speak at his retirement dinner, Jesse jumps at the chance. He is prepared for the nostalgia of the dining halls and dorm rooms, the parties and poetry seminars; what he doesn’t see coming is Zibby—a beautiful, precocious, classical-music-loving sophomore. Zibby awakens scary, exciting, long-dormant feelings of possibility and connection that Jesse thought he had buried forever. 

 The Imposter It’s 1994: a 13-year-old boy disappears from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later, he is found alive, thousands of miles away, in Spain. Disoriented and quivering with fear, he divulges his shocking story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not what it seems. Sure, he has the same tattoos, but he looks decidedly different, and he now speaks with a strange accent. Why doesn't the family seem to notice these glaring inconsistencies? It's only when an investigator starts asking questions that this astounding true story takes an even stranger turn.

Further Information:

Charles McDonald
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020 7736 3445

Rhi Patel
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020 7243 4300
 

Notes to Editors:

December 12 2011: Picturehouse Entertainment, the recently established distribution arm of City Screen/Picturehouse Cinemas, announced today that they have acquired UK rights to Radu Mihaileanu’s Cannes competition title THE SOURCE from EuropaCorp. Picturehouse Entertainment will release the film on June 1 next year. Following his delightful 2009 hit THE CONCERT, director Radu Mihaileanu returns with his most ambitious film to date. Set in a remote African village, THE SOURCE focuses on the plight of women in the small community, forced to fetch water from a high mountain spring in the blazing heat. After a tragedy strikes, feisty young bride Leila (rising star Leila Bekhti) encourages the women to launch a love strike against their husbands – they will get no more sex until the men pipe running water into the village. The ensuing battle of the sexes is by turns funny, moving and ultimately uplifting as Mihaileanu’s film deftly explores issues of women’s place in Muslim society, the collision between old worlds and new, and the universal theme of gender division. Aside from Leila Bekhti, the film stars Hafsia Herzi, Hiam Abbass, and Saleh Bakri. Clare Binns, Director Programming and Acquisitions said, “"Following the success of his first film, The Concert, Mihaileanu brings us this funny and beguiling story about female emancipation in North Africa. I think the film's emotional warmth and beautiful setting will really strike a chord with audiences in the UK." City Screen is the owner and operator of Picturehouse Cinemas, Britain’s largest circuit of independent cinemas. Formed in 1989 to challenge the modern multiplex, City Screen provides cinemas in city centre locations to serve local communities and offer a broader range of films. City Screen now owns and operates 20 cinemas, with their latest, the Hackney Picturehouse, having opened last month. City Screen also programmes for an additional 36 venues independently operated throughout the UK. The company uses over 18 years’ experience in tailoring diverse and commercially successful programmes spanning arthouse and independent features, world cinema and quality mainstream titles as well as short films and touring seasons. City Screen prides itself on being at the forefront of digital cinema and other business and technical developments, such as pioneering a wide variety of live cinecast events, including the screening of theatre from the National Theatre, opera from the New York Metropolitan Opera and Royal Opera House, a live performance by heavy metal giants Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, the Screen Arts Festival plus regular filmmaker Q&As. Sister company Picturehouse Entertainment is a recently established distribution outfit that has enjoyed great success with its releases to date: Jean Becker's My Afternoons with Margueritte, the record-breaking Werner Herzog 3D documentary feature, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and Miranda July’s The Future . Jean-Pierre Améris’ Romantics Anonymous is on release now.