LOS ANGELES — October 23, 2000 – IFC Films has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s new comedy, Together, which had a sensational debut at the recent Venice Film Festival, it was announced today by Bob Berney, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Distribution of IFC Films.
IFC Films is planning a Spring release for Together, the second film from internationally hailed director Moodysson, whose Fucking Amal (aka Show Me Love) took the critics by storm last year and was nominated for a European Film Academy Award.
"Together is a wonderfully hopeful film with carefully drawn characters that audiences will fall in love with," says Berney. "Set in the ’70s, the period style and soundtrack, including ABBA’s ‘SOS,’ ensure that the film will have broad appeal to a wide audience."
Together, which takes place in a commune affectionately blends the hypocrisy of the hippie movement with a sense of idealism and solidarity that has since been lost, resulting in a comedy with universal appeal.
"We are proud to be associated with Lukas Moodysson and Lars Jonsson and are delighted to bring this Swedish hit to American audiences," adds Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment. "We look forward to creating strong filmmaker partnerships like this one as we establish our distribution company."
Sehring and Berney initiated the acquisition following a special screening during the Toronto Film Festival. Annakarin Strom and Thomas Mai of Trust Film Sales were the sales agents.
Together, which features an ensemble cast, was written and directed by Moodysson and produced by Lars Jonsson. The film is a production of Memfis Film AB in co-production with Zentropa Entertainment, Film iVäst, SVT Drama Göteborg, Key Films Roma, Nordic Film-och TV fund with support from Swedish Film Institute/Mats Arehn, Danish Film Institute/Mikael Olsen, in cooperation with TV1000.
IFC Films is a new theatrical film distribution company under The Independent Film Channel’s IFC Entertainment Division, a division of Bravo Networks. IFC Entertainment also consists of IFC Productions, a feature film production company, Next Wave Films, a finishing fund company and IFC Originals, which produces original programming for the network.
Contact:
Melissa Hufjay
Rogers & Cowan
(310) 201-8894
mhufjay@shandwick.com
Vicky Eguia
Rogers & Cowan
(310) 201-8889
veguia@shandwick.com
Kim Becker
IFC Entertainment
(516) 803-4543
kbecker@rainbowmedia.com