Sony Classics Gets "O'Horten"

North American rights to Bent Hamer's "O'Horten" have been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Described as "a bittersweet tale of train engineer Odd Horten, retiring after 40 years of traveling a very stable rail and now, uneasily, having to adapt to his new life as a pensioner," the film debuted in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes and will have its North American premiere at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, with an early '09 release on tap. Michael Weber from The Match Factory made the deal with Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Dylan Leiner from Sony Pictures Classics. "We are excited to be working on "O'Horten" and with Bent Hamer, a filmmaker we have long watched and have been eager to forge a relationship with," said Sony Pictures Classics, in a statement. "Bent has a wonderfully skewed view of the human condition and, "O'Horten" gives us that somewhat absurdist vision with great warmth, a little melancholy and universal understanding." [Eugene Hernandez]