ALTITUDE FILM DISTRIBUTION AND PICTUREHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRE UK DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS TO
ALONE IN BERLIN AHEAD OF ITS LAUNCH AT THE BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL
Picturehouse Entertainment and Altitude Film Distribution have acquired the UK distribution rights to Vincent Perez’s Alone in Berlin, which will screen In Competition at the Berlin Film Festival. The deal was negotiated between Altitude Film Entertainment’s Will Clarke and Picturehouse Entertainment’s Clare Binns by FilmWave’s Paul Trijbits and Christian Grass together with Alison Thompson from Cornerstone Films.
Two-time Academy® Award-winner Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks), three-time Golden Globe-nominee and Emmy Award winner Brendan Gleeson (Into The Storm, The Guard), and Golden Globe-nominee Daniel Brühl (Rush) star in Alone In Berlin, a powerfully moving, true-life drama-thriller set in Second World War Berlin, directed by acclaimed actor turned filmmaker Vincent Perez (La Reine Margot), based on the international bestseller Every Man Dies Alone / Alone In Berlin by revered German novelist Hans Fallada.
Alone In Berlin is produced by X Filme’s Academy® Award winning Stefan Arndt (Run Lola Run, Amour) and Uwe Schott (Cloud Atlas), Master Movies’ Marco Pacchioni (Bye Bye Blondie), three-time Academy® Award-nominee James Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) and FilmWave’s Christian Grass and Paul Trijbits (Jane Eyre). Michael Scheel (Inglourious Basterds) is executive producer and Cornerstone Films are handling international sales and distribution.
Will Clarke, founder of Altitude Film Entertainment says, “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment by bringing Alone in Berlin to UK screens. It’s a fascinating story which has been brilliantly and carefully realised by Vincent Pérez with powerhouse performances from Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Brühl.”
Clare Binns, Director of Programming & Acquisition at Picturehouse said, “I am delighted that Picturehouse are once more working with Will Clarke and the team at Altitude on Alone in Berlin. I loved the book and I am thrilled that the screen adaptation has been so movingly and cinematically assembled. We can't wait to bring this extraordinary story to audiences on the big screen.”
FilmWave’s Paul Trijbits and Christian Grass also commented, "We very much look forward to working with the joint venture of Altitude Film Entertainment and Picturehouse Entertainment in bringing Alone in Berlin to UK audiences. This powerful adaption couldn’t be in better hands with the passion Will Clarke and Clare Binns have wholeheartedly demonstrated for the film."
About Altitude Film Entertainment
The Altitude Film Entertainment group comprises Altitude Film Production led by Will Clarke chairman and joint-CEO with Andy Mayson; Altitude Film Sales with Managing Director Mike Runagall; and Altitude Film Distribution with Head of Distribution Hamish Moseley.
Altitude Film Distribution has expanded its slate extensively over the two and half years since its launch. Last year it released the Oscar ® and BAFTA™ nominated and Evening Standard award-winning feature documentary Amy which has not only met with critical acclaim for the filmmakers but has also been a huge success for Altitude grossing over £3.76 million at the UK box office. Altitude has recently announced its acquisition of Maradona for the UK by the filmmakers of Amy. AFD has also released two more of last year’s most highly regarded feature documentary titles in the UK, Palio and My Nazi Legacy, both of which were nominated alongside Amy for Best Documentary at the 2016 Evening Standard Awards. Other releases have included Alberto Rodríguez’s Marshland, Ira Sachs’ Love is Strange and Bharut Nalluri’s Spooks: The Greater Good.
About Picturehouse Entertainment
Picturehouse Entertainment is the distribution arm of Picturehouse Cinemas, the owner and operator of 23 Picturehouse Cinemas and programming agent for a further 42 venues across the UK.
Since its launch in 2010, Picturehouse Entertainment has worked with renowned British directors such as Shane Meadows and Ben Wheatley, and has distributed an eclectic range of theatrical releases, including BAFTA winner The Imposter; award-winning docudrama 20,000 Days On Earth, featuring Nick Cave; 2015 BIFA Award winner Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story Of Dream Alliance; and The Lobster, starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. 2016 will feature Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, starring Patrick Stewart, and the French dramedy Marguerite, based on the true story of singer Florence Foster Jenkins.
Picturehouse Entertainment also distributes high-profile alternative content to cinemas throughout the UK and internationally, such as hit productions from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Bolshoi Ballet and the National Theatre; Monty Python Live (mostly), beamed from the O2 to more than 570 cinemas in the UK and 2,000 worldwide; The Rocky Horror Show Live, broadcast to cinemas globally from London’s West End; and Roger Waters The Wall, a groundbreaking 4k Dolby Atmos capture of the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist of all time. 2015 saw the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s The Winter’s Tale, starring Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh, broadcast to cinemas worldwide, and the season continues in 2016 with Romeo And Juliet. NT Live continues with Les Liaisons Dangereuses featuring Dominic West, and Hangmen starring David Morrissey and Andy Nyman. Glyndebourne returns in 2016 with two new live broadcasts, including Béatrice Et Bénédict, inspired by Much Ado About Nothing; and the new Discover Arts strand continues with Teatro Alla Scala: The Temple Of Wonders and Leonardo Da Vinci: The Genius In Milan.
About FilmWave
FilmWave is the UK based production company, established in 2012 by producers Christian Grass and Paul Trijbits. The company premiered director John Carney’s (Once and Begin Again) new film Sing Street, a co-production with Anthony Bregman’s Likely Story, at this year's Sundance Film Festival, followed by Vincent Perez’s Alone in Berlin starring Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson and Daniel Brühl, which will play in Official Competition at the Berlinale. The company is currently in production on Martin Koolhoven’s Brimstone, starring Guy Pearce and Dakota Fanning - a co-production with N279 and X Filme. Christian Grass was formerly President of International Production & Acquisitions at Universal Pictures International, and before that Executive Vice President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa for 20th Century Fox International. Paul Trijbits most recently executive produced J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy for BBC and HBO, and Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson. He was previously Managing Director of Ruby Films and Head of the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund and his producing credits include Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre and Stephen Frears’s Tamara Drewe.
About Cornerstone Films
Cornerstone Films is a production-finance and sales company recently formed by high profile film executives Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder which represents and curates a diversified slate of films of enduring quality for the international market place, ranging from commercial, wide release movies, to talent-driven films from world-renowned filmmakers. The company is building long-term relationships with global producing partners offering creative and market-place support early in the production process – collaborating closely with both Potboiler Films and X Filme.
Cornerstone’s slate includes Mick Jackson’s Denial, starring Academy Award® Winner Rachel Weisz alongside two-time Academy Award® nominated Tom Wilkinson and BAFTA Award-winning director Joel Hopkins’s Hampstead starring Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson. In addition, the company is handling Asif Kapadia’s Academy® Award nominated Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, and Vincent Perez’s Alone in Berlin starring Emma Thompson, Daniel Brühl, and Brendan Gleeson, which is premiering in Competition at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.