Film Acquisition Rundown, Week of April 18: Music Box Films Saves ‘Mia Madre,’ Tribeca Market Heats Up and More

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Film Acquisition Rundown to find out what films got new homes and are coming to a theater or streaming platform near you.

– Music Box Films has announced the acquisition of Nanni Moretti’s “Mia Madre,” the beloved filmmaker’s latest feature and the winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. Billed as a “touching and highly personal new film from the Italian master” the film follows “a harried filmmaker [who] tries to juggle the demands of her latest movie with a personal life in shambles. The star of her film, a bombastic American actor (John Turturro) imported for the production, presents nothing but headaches and her crew is close to mutiny. Away from the shoot, Margherita tries to hold her life together as her mother’s illness progresses and her teenage daughter grows ever more distant.” The film was previously picked up by troubled outfit Alchemy. Music Box will release the film in the third quarter of 2016.

– Ahead of its Cannes premiere, Kino Lober has picked up all North American rights to Bruno Dumont’s offbeat romance “Slack Bay,” starring Juliette Binoche, Fabrice Luchini and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi. Of the deal, Richard Lorber of Kino Lorber said, “We have had a long and fruitful relationship with Bruno Dumont beginning with his early films ‘Life of Jesus’ and ‘Humanité’ through his more recent films such as ‘Flanders’ and ‘Camille Claudel 1915.’ And last year we took the leap with him into into laughter with his 4-hour masterwork, ‘L’il Quinquin.’ It’s a profound delight to partner again as we see his devilish humor fully realized in ‘Slack Bay.’ With this comedic tsunami the beaches of Cannes will never be the same.” 
– IFC Midnight has picked up the U.S. rights for Martin Owen’s Slamdance premiere “Let’s Be Evil.” Combining both old school chills and new wave VR thrills, the film follows “three chaperones [who] are hired to supervise an advanced learning program for gifted children, who wear Augmented Reality Glasses to assist in their education. Contained within a secure, underground facility, events quickly spiral out of control.”

– Abramorama has announced their planned upcoming theatrical release for “As I Am: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM,” Kevin
Kerslake’s critically acclaimed documentary about the remarkable life and untimely passing of
legendary DJ and mash-up pioneer DJ AM aka Adam Goldstein. The film is authorized by the estate of DJ AM, Kerslake’s film is a comprehensive and compassionate look at
one of the world’s first truly superstar DJs. The film will open on May 27 at Village East New York and on June 3 at ArcLight Hollywood.

– Robert Kenner’s Tribeca offering “Command and Control,” based on the acclaimed novel be Eric Schlosser, will open theatrically in New York exclusively at the Film Forum on September 14, thanks to American Experience Films and PBS. The feature-length documentary will open in select cities before making its broadcast premiere on PBS. Billed as “the long-hidden story of a deadly 1980 accident at a Titan II missile complex in Damascus, Arkansas,” the film recently made its debut at this month’s Tribeca Film Festival. 

– Paramount Home Media Distribution and Vertical Entertainment announced a planned collaboration to bring Mark Elijah Rosenberg’s “Approaching the Unknown” to theatrical and home viewing audiences. The film stars Mark Strong, Luke Wilson and Sanaa Lathan and follows Strong’s character as he embarks on a one-way solo mission to colonize Mars. Vertical Entertainment will handle U.S. theatrical distribution starting on June 3, day-and-date with Paramount Home Media Distribution’s Digital and On Demand release. 
– POV, American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, has acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to Cecilia Aldarondo’s “Memories of a Penitent Heart,” which recently debuted at Tribeca. Of the documentary, POV Executive Producer Chris White said, “Cecilia’s Aldarondo’s beautiful and evocative film explores the difficulties of not only being Puerto Rican in America, but also what it means to be gay and shunned by your community, family and church. This personal and complex portrait of her uncle, and those who loved him, shows how hard it can be to reconcile religion and sexual identity — and, in this case, demonstrably clouds the line between sinners and saints.”

– Uncork’d Entertainment will release Zack Ward’s “Restoration” on May 3. Starring newcomer Adrian Gaeta, the film co-stars three-time Emmy nominee Emily Roya O’Brien and “follows the story of a young couple who while restoring their first home, are taunted and terrified by a ghostly presence clearly attached to their new dwelling.” It will be available on demand through all major digital and cable TV platforms. 

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