19/08/2015 - Colonia, Sunset Song and Prejudice are ready for the upcoming festival circuit

Three Luxembourgian co-productions are ready to enter the festival circuit after the summer.

The 40th Toronto International Film Festival (10-20 September) is presenting two films co-produced by Luxembourg-based Iris Productions: Colonia [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Oscar-winning German director Florian Gallenberger and Sunset Song [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terence Davies
film profile] by British director Terence Davies.

Starring Emma Watson and Daniel Brühl, Colonia is a thriller set against the backdrop of the Chilean coup of 1973, which brought General Pinochet to power. A Lufthansa stewardess, recently arrived in Santiago, sees her boyfriend arrested, and he subsequently disappears. Resolved to investigate and bring him back, she ends up joining Colonia Dignidad, a Chilean-based German sect sealed off from the outside world. Iris producer Nicolas Steil has joined Benjamin Herrmann from Berlin-based Majestic Filmverleih to co-produce the project. International sales are managed by Beta Films.

Also travelling to Toronto is Sunset Song, Davies’ return after the critically acclaimed The Deep Blue Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terence Davies
film profile]. The film, which is also vying for the Golden Shell at the 63rd San Sebastian International Film Festival (18-26 September), is an adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s novel about a farming family struggling to eke out a living in north-east Scotland. Iris came on board this co-production with UK companies Hurricane Films and SellOut Pictures. Dutch sales agent Fortissimo Films is handling international sales.

The third title is Antoine Cuypers’ feature debut, Prejudice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoine Cuypers
film profile], which is scheduled to screen at the 30th FIFF Namur (2-9 October). Bernard Michaux, formerly a producer at Lucil Film, whose catalogue merged with that of Samsa Film earlier this year (read more), has co-produced the Nathalie Baye-starring family drama along with Belgium’s Wrong Men and the Netherlands’ CTM Pictures.