Pretty Pictures Acquires All Rights to Cannes Classics’ ‘Ingrid Bergman’ Docu (EXCLUSIVE)
After picking up French rights to Stig Björkman’s “Ingrid Bergman, In Her Own Words” ahead of its Cannes Classics premiere, Paris-based Pretty Pictures has now acquired international sales rights for multiple territories.
Aiming to broaden its scope beyond French distribution, James Velaise’s Pretty Pictures acquired all rights to the documentary for the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium from Scandinavian sales company TrustNordisk.
“It is vital that in today’s changing world of French distribution that one broadens ones horizons and looks to other territories,” pointed out Velaise. The exec noted, however, that the idea behind the acquisition wasn’t to start “acting as sales agent but seeing how (they) can best nurture the film in these territories so that the film really gets noticed, as it thoroughly deserves to be.”
As announced yesterday, Rialto Pictures has just nabbed all North American rights to the documentary and will release it in November to qualify the film for an Oscar nomination. Ahead of its U.S. and Canadian premieres, “Ingrid Bergman” will also play at a bunch of festivals including the New York film fest.
“We absolutely fell in love with Stig Björkman’s documentary in Cannes, and when all these territories remained open just after Cannes, we had to jump in and do something new for us,” Velaise explained.
An intimate portrait of the Swedish-born Hollywood icon that celebrates the centenary anniversary of her birth, “Ingrid Bergman” features exclusive private footage, notes, letters, diaries and interviews with her children and former colleagues.
The critically acclaimed documentary is produced by Stina Gardell for Mantaray Film. NonStop Entertainment handles distribution in the Nordics.
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