Film Movement Goes for "Maximo Oliveros"

Film Movement announced its acquisition of the North American rights to Filipino director Auraeus Solito's "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros," at the Berlin International Film Festival recently. According to a release, the story is about "the purity of love pitted against the squalor and corruption found in the slums of Manila. Gay, pre-teen Maxi serves as 'mother' to his all-male family of small-time criminals. He cooks and cleans for his father and older brothers, who accept his femininity and adore Maxi as much as he adores them. Their love and trust is threatened by the arrival of Victor, a handsome and unusually honest police officer. Maxi ends up caught between his loyalty to his family and his love for Victor. The distribution deal, which covers all rights in the United States and English-speaking Canada, was negotiated by Adley Gartenstein, Film Movement's director of acquisitions, and Loic Magneron of WIDE Management, the Paris-based world sales agency representing the filmmakers. The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. [Brian Brooks]