FILM NEWS

International sales for Jonker biopic

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:02

The producers of Black Butterflies, a film based on the tragic life of apartheid-era South African poet Ingrid Jonker, have announced a slew of deals secured by world sales outfit Bavaria Film International.

Black Butterflies was directed by Dutch Oscar-nominated filmmaker Paula van der Oest and stars Carice van Houten (Black Book) in the title role with Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner) as Jonker’s estranged father. Liam Cunningham (The Wind That Shakes The Barley) also stars.

Sales of the film have been made to: US/Canada – Tribeca Enterprises; France – Zootrope Films; Middle East – Shooting Stars; CIS – Carmen Film; Brazil – Imovision; Latin America – HBO; Hong Kong – Edko Films; Columbia – Babilla Cine; Mexico – Cinemas Nueva Era; Switzerland – Frenetic; Scandinavia – Future Film; and Taiwan – Swallow Wings Film.

Further strong interest is coming up from Germany, the UK and other territories.

“Black Butterflies has fulfilled all our expectations and has proven our collaboration with Dutch producers IDTV and their co-producing partners to be a very valuable one. Paula’s direction makes this film stand as an example of high quality filmmaking with ambition while still aiming to reach out to a broad audience,” stated Thorsten Ritter, Head of Bavaria Film International.

The film commenced its international career with the participation in the TriBeCa Film Festival in April this year, winning Best Actress Award for Carice van Houten. Recently the film was awarded three out of four nominations for the Dutch Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress.

Black Butterflies is a production by IDTV Film and Cool Beans in co-production with Comet Film and Spier Films in association with Riba Film International supported by The Netherlands Film Fund, The Cobo Fund, and NTR.

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