STARRING TUPPENCE MIDDLETON, HANNAH GROSS AND LEGENDARY FILMMAKER DAVID CRONENBERG
NEW YORK, NY (NOVEMBER 6, 2019) – IFC Midnight is acquiring U.S. rights to DISAPPEARANCE AT CLIFTON HILL (formerly CLIFTON HILL) directed by Albert Shin (IN HER PLACE) and co-written with newcomer James Schultz. The film stars Tuppence Middleton (DOWNTON ABBEY, THE CURRENT WAR) Hannah Gross (THE MOUNTAIN, “Mindhunter”), David Cronenberg (CRASH, NAKED LUNCH), Eric Johnson (FIFTY SHADES FREED, “The Knick”), and Marie-Josée Croze (MAELSTROM, ARARAT). Produced by Kevin Krikst and Fraser Ash of award-winning production company Rhombus Media, and executive produced by Rhombus’ Niv Fichman, with Adrian Love and Omar Chalabi of Elevation Pictures.
This is the third feature from Albert Shin, who’s IN HER PLACE was named to TIFF’s 2014 Canada’s Top Ten. DISAPPEARANCE AT CLIFTON HILL had its World Premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, and IFC Midnight will release the film on February 28th, 2020.
When Abby (Tuppence Middleton) returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls after her mother dies, she becomes obsessed with a fragmented memory from her childhood — a kidnapping she believes she was witness to. She is reunited with her estranged younger sister, Laure (Hannah Gross), and they attempt to settle their mother’s estate involving the sale of the family motel, but Abby’s compulsive desire to reconcile her past grows increasingly out of control.
The key to the case lies somewhere in the heart of Clifton Hill – Niagara Falls’ answer to the Vegas strip – a place where reality and fantasy blend together and nothing is as it seems. But after the lights go out and the Ferris wheel stops turning, Abby learns that truth is always stranger than fiction.
Arianna Bocco EVP of Acquisitions and Productions of IFC Films said, “This is exactly the kind of suspenseful drama with a compelling atmosphere that audiences will be drawn to. We’re thrilled to be working with such a talented and committed team of filmmakers to bring this film to the U.S.”
Director Albert Shin added, “Niagara Falls is a weird and wonderful place and I’m incredibly excited to partner with IFC Midnight, which has always been a home for weird and wonderful films.”
DISAPPEARANCE AT CLIFTON HILL received financial support from CBC Films through its diverse Canadian filmmaker fund, and is produced with the participation, Telefilm Canada and Ontario Creates. Elevation Pictures will distribute the film in Canada.
The deal was negotiated by Arianna Bocco and Aijah Keith of IFC Films with WTFilms on behalf of the filmmakers.
ABOUT IFC MIDNIGHT
Established in 2000 and based in New York City, IFC Films is a leading U.S. distributor of independent film. Its unique distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters as well as on cable’s Video On Demand (VOD) platform, reaching nearly 50 million homes.
Upcoming releases include Jennifer Reeder’s KNIVES AND SKIN and Malgorzata Szumowska’s THE OTHER LAMB. Some of the company’s successes have included Andy Nyman’s critical darling GHOST STORIES, André Øvredal’s box-office success THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, Peter Strickland’s modern giallo BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, Duncan Skiles’ THE CLOVEHITCH KILLER, Lucile Hadžihalilović’s EVOLUTION, Johnnie To’s Hong Kong revenge thriller VENGEANCE, Sean Byrne’s THE DEVIL’S CANDY, John McNaughton’s THE HARVEST, and the award-winning and cultural phenomenon THE BABADOOK. IFC Midnight is a sister label to IFC Films, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.
ABOUT RHOMBUS MEDIA
Rhombus Media is a Toronto-based production company that over the past 40 years released some 200 feature films and television projects receiving literally hundreds of awards, including numerous Genies, Geminis, Canadian Screen Awards, several Emmys and an Oscar. Some of the company’s more notable films are Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, The Red Violin, Clean, Last Night, Blindness, Into The Forest, Hobo With A Shotgun, Antiviral, Enemy, and Closet Monster. Rhombus recently premiered Albert Shin’s Clifton Hill, starring Tuppence Middleton, Hannah Gross and David Cronenberg, at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, and is currently in post-production on Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor, starring Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Sean Bean and Jennifer Jason Leigh, which is slated for release next year.
For television, Rhombus is currently in production on Andrew Haigh’s The North Water, starring Jack O’Connell and Colin Farrell, produced for BBC Two in the UK and Super Channel and CBC in Canada. Previous series include the critically acclaimed Michael: Every Day (formerly Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays) for CBC, as well as the the International Emmy award nominated series Sensitive Skin for HBO Canada, starring Kim Cattrall and Don McKellar. The company also produced the internationally celebrated Slings & Arrows, an 18-part multi-award-winning series broadcast on TMN and Movie Central in Canada, the Sundance Channel in the US and a number of networks around the world. Other notable television projects include Le Dortoir, Pictures on the Edge, and Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired By Bach.