Maria Montessori Biopic Starring Jasmine Trinca, Leila Bekhti Finds Distribution Nearly Worldwide (EXCLUSIVE)
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Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed a raft of major deals on ‘‘Maria Montessori,” a film starring Italian actress Jasmine Trinca (“Fortunata”) as the famed Italian physician and educator who invented a teaching method that is still being used in many schools bearing her name all over the world.
The film, which marks Léa Todorov’s debut feature, has been acquired for Australia and New Zealand (Palace), the Baltics (Best Film), Benelux (Cinéart), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), Canada (TVA), Denmark, Norway & Sweden (Studio S Entertainment), Latin America (Encripta) and Taiwan (Proview Enterprise Inc).
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Indie Sales had previously sold it to Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Portugal, Russia and CIS, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. The company is expected to pursue sales at the European Film Market.
Trinca stars opposite French actor Leïla Bekhti (“The Restless”), who plays Lili d’Alengy, an emancipated French woman well-known on the Parisian cabaret scene. The two women bonded over their children. Lili d’Alengy struggled to care for her daughter, Tina, who had a disability, and sought help from Maria Montessori, who was just developing a teaching method for children with learning disabilities. Maria, meanwhile, also had a secret — a child born out of wedlock.
“Montessori” will be widely released in France by Ad Vitam across 200 screens on March 13, while German distributor Neue Visionen will roll it out on March 7. Neue Visionen’s CEO Torsten Frehse said the movie was its “biggest releases this spring.”
“220 cinemas have already confirmed and every day more are coming. We believe that the film has a big potential in Germany, it is the first feature about this woman, whose pedagogics are inspiring a great number of kindergartens and schools in Germany,” said Frehse. The executive said Montessori is a source of inspiration for “aspiring teachers and educators, as well as parents, grandparents and special needs teachers.” FilmLaden in Austria will release the film on March 15, while Pathé Switzerland will launch it on 25 screens on March 7.
The film is produced by Grégoire Debailly for France’s Geko, in co-production with Tempesta Film in Italy.
Indie Sales is currently attending the Goteborg Film Festival with “Sidonie in Japan,” a movie starring Isabelle Huppert, who will take place in a masterclass on Wednesday.
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