Kino Takes U.S. Rights to "Lady Chatterley" and "Crossing the Line" in Berlin

U.S. rights to Pascale Ferran's "Lady Chatterley" and Daniel Gordon's doc "Crossing the Line" have been picked up by Kino International, the company announced Wednesday from the Berlin International Film Festival. Ferran's film is described by Kino as a "lushly sensual new take on D.H. Lawrence's landmark novels of the passionate, tragic love affair between an unfulfilled aristocratic wife and a rural gamekeeper. Kino president Donald Krim negotiated the deal with Francois Yon of sales agent Films Distribution. A summer release is planned. In "Crossing the Line," Gordon profiles a small group of American soldiers that defected to the North Korea, and focusing on the life story of Joseph Dresnok with one on one interviews--a lowly American GI who in 1962 walked across the heavily fortified DMZ. Krim sealed the US license in Berlin with producer Paul Yi of E Pictures, on the heels of the film's international premieres in Pusan and Sundance. An early fall US release is scheduled. Read Dennis Lim's take on "Lady Chatterly" from Berlin in indieWIRE.com. [Brian Brooks]