Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
New York, NY – May 27, 2008 – IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to Gomorrah, the highly-acclaimed winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Matteo Garrone, the film is based on Robert Saviano's international best-seller which has sold over one million copies in Italy and has been translated in 33 countries, including America. The film was produced by Domenico Procacci, whose credits include Gabriele Muccino's The Last Kiss and Remember Me My Love, Emmanuele Crialese's Respiro and Rolf de Heer's The Quiet Room, in collaboration with RAI Cinema. IFC Films will release Gomorrah through IFC in Theaters, its day and date distribution platform which makes independent films available to a national audience in theaters and on-demand, simultaneously. The film will also go through IFC Entertainment's exclusive deal with Blockbuster Video. Since its release in Italy 10 days ago, the film has grossed almost eight million dollars.
"Just when we thought we had seen it all, Matteo Garrone has reinvented the Italian Mafia picture with such originality and invention that it seems entirely new," said Jonathan Sehring, President, IFC Entertainment. "We think that this completely fresh take on a well known genre that includes The Godfather Trilogy, The Sopranos and Goodfellas will take American audiences by storm as it did in Cannes. We look forward to getting it out to the widest possible audience."
"We were very impressed by the enthusiasm of the entire IFC team and their appreciation for Matteo's bold and distinctive approach to this story," said Janine Gold, Head of Sales, Fandango Portobello Sales. "We are delighted to have them as Gomorrah's U.S. distributor."
The deal was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Vice President of Acquisitions and Production for IFC Films with Janine Gold, Head of Fandango Portobello Sales in consultation with Steve Saltzman of Loeb and Loeb.
Fandango Portobello Sales has sold Gomorrah in over 25 countries.
In Gomorrah, power, money and blood are the "values" that the residents of the province of Naples and Caserta confront every day. They have practically no choice, and are forced to obey the rules of the "system," the Camorra: an organization that has murdered over 4000 people and infiltrated almost every sector of civilian life. Only a lucky few can even think of leading a "normal" life. Five stories are woven together in this violent scenario, set in a cruel and ostensibly invented world, but one that is deeply rooted in reality.
IFC has been a major presence at the Cannes Film Festival in recent years. The company has acquired back-to-back Palme d'Or winners, including Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days and Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley. IFC also acquired 10 films at last year's festival including Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, which won the Prize of the 60th Anniversary, California Dreamin', which won the Un Certain Regard top prize, as well as the upcoming Catherine Breillat's The Last Mistress. The company also released the three-time award-winner Me and You and Everyone We Know and the prize-winner Nobody Knows in recent years.
About IFC Entertainment
A multi-platform leader in the independent film industry, IFC Entertainment operates a group of companies devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience. IFC Entertainment consists of IFC Films, IFC Productions and the IFC Center. IFC Films is a leading distribution company for independent film. IFC Entertainment's day and date film distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters through IFC Films and simultaneously on cable's On Demand platform and PPV through IFC In Theaters, reaching 50 million homes. IFC Productions is a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects. IFC Center is a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema with luxurious seating and HD digital and 35mm projection that shows art-house films in the heart of New York's Greenwich Village. IFC Entertainment's companies are subsidiaries of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.
Recent and upcoming IFC Films releases include: 2007 Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days , which also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film; Gus Van Sant's critically-acclaimed and award-winning Paranoid Park ; Hou Hsiao Hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon starring Juliette Binoche; and Tom Kalin's Savage Grace starring Julianne Moore. Other acclaimed films include John Dahl's You Kill Me, Susanne Bier's Academy Award-nominated After the Wedding and Ken Loach's 2006 Palme d'Or winner, The Wind that Shakes the Barley.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, LIFESKOOL, SPORTSKOOL, and VOOM HD Networks. Through its IFC Entertainment division, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a theatrical feature film distribution company; IFC in Theaters, a day and date theatrical feature film/VOD initiative; the IFC Center in New York City; IFC Productions, a feature film production company; and IFC Entertainment, which owns and operates a film library. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales division, and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company.