Los Angeles, CA (December 14, 2010) – IFC Midnight, the genre label of IFC Films, announced today that the company has acquired the U.S. rights to Jon Hewitt’s genre thriller "X" from Celluloid Nightmares following the recently-wrapped American Film Market. The film, which is currently in post-production, was written by Hewitt and Belinda McClory, produced by Lizzete Atkins, and stars Viva Bianca, Hanna Mangan, and Rowan Witt.
"X" is a sizzling thriller about love, chance, escape and the oldest profession in the world, as experienced by two beautiful women on one ugly night that will change their lives forever.
Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Films said, "This is indeed a very exciting acquisition for IFC Midnight. ’X’ups the ante on an already impressive list of elevated thrillers from new wave Australian auteurs, and it is an honor to be able to premiere such a quality piece of genre filmmaking."
"’X’ will be in good hands at IFC Midnight," said Celluloid partners. "They have the best distribution resources available to make the film stand out in the ever-crowded US indie film landscape."
The deal for "X" was negotiated by Arianna Bocco for IFC Midnight and Nate Bolotin on behalf of Celluloid Nightmares. Celluloid also sold ’X’ to Revolver Films in the UK, Mongrel Media in Canada, and Senator Entertainment in Germany.
About IFC Films
Established a decade ago, IFC Films – a division of Rainbow Media’s IFC Entertainment – is the leading U.S. distributor of independent and foreign film. Its unique day and date distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them simultaneously in theaters as well as on cable’s On Demand platform and through Pay-Per-View, reaching nearly 50 million homes. IFC Films’ "IFC Midnight" label, launched in 2010, offers the very best in international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Some of the company’s successes over the years have included My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Touching the Void, Me and You and Everyone We Know, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Gomorrah, Che, Summer Hours, In the Loop, Antichrist, The Human Centipede, Cairo Time, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, and Wordplay. IFC Films has worked with established and breakout auteurs, including Steven Soderbergh, Gus Van Sant, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Miranda July, Lars Von Trier, Gaspar Noe, Todd Solondz, Cristian Mungiu, Susanne Bier, Olivier Assayas, Jim McKay, Larry Fessenden, Gregg Araki, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, as well as more recent breakouts such as Andrea Arnold, Mia Hansen Love, Corneliu Porombiou, Joe Swanberg, Barry Jenkins, Lena Dunham, Aaron Katz, Daryl Wein and Abdellatif Kechiche.
About Celluloid Nightmares
Celluloid Nightmares marks a new alliance between Hengameh Panahi’s Paris-based Celluloid Dreams and the Los Angeles-based XYZ Films, founded by partners Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer and Aram Tertzakian. The company is focused on the acquisition and worldwide sales of elevated genre films from around the globe with XYZ partner Todd Brown heading up acquisitions.