Breaking News : Variety // Reel Suspects Nabs Worldwide Sales Rights to Drama-Thriller ‘Leviano’ (EXCLUSIVE)

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Rights to Drama-Thriller ‘Leviano’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Emiliano De Pablos

COURTESY OF REEL SUSPECTS

Portuguese-Canadian Justin Amorim’s feature debut makes its market premiere at Cannes

Matteo Lovadina’s Paris-based Reel Suspects has acquired worldwide sales rights to Portuguese drama-thriller “Leviano,” the feature debut of Portuguese-Canadian director Justin Amorim.

The film market premieres at the Cannes Film Market in a screening on Saturday, May 20.

Set up at Portugal’s Promenade Productions, “Leviano” tells the story of three sisters whose life is turned upside down after their mother mysteriously goes missing during her 50th birthday party.

The sisters join forces with two brothers that discovered that the sisters’ brother also went missing on that same night. All they embark on a journey of self-discovery towards the unknown.

The cast includes Portuguese film and TV actors Diana Marques Guerra (“Filha do Mar”), Anabela Teixeira (“Florbela”), Ruben Rua (“A Unica Mulher”) and Joao Mota (“Coração d’Ouro”).

Film’s characters are based on women the 23-year-old writer-director Amorim has met in his own life, according to Matteo Lovadina.

“Justin captures the hidden side behind the mirror, standing out as a potential prominent portrait specialist of his generation,” added Lovaina, who considers “Leviano” “a universal story that translates effortlessly in every country.”

“Buyers and festival directors should appreciate the homage to films like Sophia Coppola’s ‘The Bling Ring’ and Harmony Korine’s ‘Spring Breakers,’ Lovaina added.

At the Cannes Film Market, Reel Suspects, one of France’s few upscale foreign-language genre specialists, is kicking off sales to psychological thriller “Firstborn,” the awaited film by Armenian helmer Aik Karapetian, who caught attention with (“The Man in the Orange Jacket”); Italian Andrea de Sica’s feature debut “Children of the Night,” a RAI Cinema co-production; and Yu-Lin Wang’s LGBT drama “Alifu, the Princess.”

Reel Suspects is also initiating pre-sales on “Malila,” a drama project by Thai director Anucha Boonyawatana (“The Blue Hour”), and Antichrist re-born film “Piargy,” by first-time helmer Ivo Trajkov.

Further titles handled by the French sales agent include Spanish director Sadrac González-Perellón’s sci-fi thriller “Black Hollow Cage” and Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s “Sexy Durga,” winner of Rotterdam’s 2017 Hivos Tiger Award.

Breaking News : Cineuropa // Firstborn lands on Reel Suspects’ slate

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Firstborn lands on Reel Suspects’ slate

by Fabien Lemercier

– At Cannes, the French company will be kicking off sales for the new film by Aik Karapetian, following the acclaimed The Man in the Orange Jacket

Firstborn by Aik Karapetian

Concentrating mainly on European genre film and emerging talents, Paris-based company Reel Suspects, managed by Matteo Lovadina, has just added the Latvian psychological thriller Firstborn by Aik Karapetian to its line-up; the movie will be premiered at the Film Market of the 70th Cannes Film Festival (17-28 May).

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Firstborn is the third feature by the filmmaker, who is of Armenian heritage but is Latvian by adoption, following People Out There [+] (revealed at Karlovy Vary in 2012 in the East of the West section) and the highly original horror film The Man in the Orange Jacket [+], which enjoyed a solid international festival run in 2014, passing through such gatherings as the Fantastic Fest in Austin, the London Film Festival, Black Nights in Tallinn, Turin and Les Arcs.

Written by the director, the story revolves around a middle-aged intellectual who commits an act of unintentional homicide whilst trying to regain his dignity in the eyes of his wife, but soon after, it occurs to him that there is a strange connection between the victim, the sudden pregnancy of his wife and the mysterious blackmailer who tries to force him to do yet another awful thing.

The lead roles have been entrusted to Kaspars Znotiņš, Maija Doveika and Kaspars Zāle. Firstborn was produced by Roberts Vinovskis for Locomotive Productions.

Matteo Lovadina said he was “very happy to work on Aik Karapetian’s third feature. Festivals and buyers have high expectations for his new opus, which should be able to travel quite easily because it’s an outstanding film that skilfully blends genres, bringing together elements of a thriller and a suspenseful drama, which will have an effect on everyone.”

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