Dardenne Brothers’ Cannes Prizewinning ‘Tori and Lokita’ Acquired By Sideshow, Janus Films

Elsa Keslassy
·2 min read
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Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for “Tori and Lokita,” the latest film by two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, which world premiered in competition at Cannes. The movie was one of the best reviewed films of the competition and earned the Dardenne brothers the festival’s special 75th Anniversary Prize.

A story of human perseverance, the film is set in contemporary Belgium and follows a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa and pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.

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“Tori and Lokita” stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. “Tori and Lokita” was produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.

Sideshow and Janus Films are planning to release the film theatrically across the country. The two companies described the film as “an immediate classic” and said it “shows these master filmmakers working at their highest level, focused with a newfound intensity on the issues plaguing our time.”

“The Dardenne brothers have had a profound influence on an entire generation of filmmakers, and we cannot wait to bring this film to the public, including both fans of the Dardennes’ body of work, and younger cinephiles who are sure to recognize the brothers’ profound influence on cinema today,” added Sideshow and Janus Films.

The deal was negotiated by Wild Bunch International and CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers with Janus Films and Sideshow.

Janus handles rights in all media to an extensive library of over 1200 films that includes the work of Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Abbas Kiarostami, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, and Yasujiro Ozu.

Sideshow is a new theatrical distribution label which recently partnered with Janus Films on the release of “Drive My Car” which was nominated for four Oscars and won best international feature film. The two companies also just teamed on the acquisition of another critically acclaimed movie out of Cannes: Jerzy Skolimowski’s “EO,” which won the festival’s Jury Prize.

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