Yume handles Quo Vadis, Baby?

by Annika Pham

12/05/2006 - Gabriele Salvatores’ crime thriller Quo Vadis, Baby? and François Ozon’s drama Time to Leave are the two new European titles opening today on UK screens, alongside four US films and a Hong Kong/Chinese action film.

The release of Quo Vadis, Baby? on six screens is being handled by Yume Distribution, who launched on the UK distribution scene last December with another Italian film, Davide Ferrario’s After Midnight [film focus].

Salvatores, whose previous film I’m Not Scared [trailer] was a big critical and commercial success in the UK in 2003, attended a special preview screening of Quo Vadis, Baby? in London with actress Angela Baraldi and producer Maurizzo Totti. According to Yume’s co-Managing Director Chris Oosterom, the film was promoted in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, who used their mailing list to attract the Italian community in London.

Yume Distribution will also handle worldwide sales of the film, which was released in Italy in May 2005, at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Yume, who releases three-four feature films on UK screens every year and one-two titles for the DVD market, will be looking for a handful of new quality titles at Cannes. “We don’t have big backers behind us but want to take our time to build a good catalogue of titles from Japan, Mexico, Italy, anywhere in the world as long as the films are good”, said Oosterom.

Also opening today is the French drama Time to Leave [trailer], released on 17 screens by Artificial Eye. The previous Ozon title handled by the UK arthouse distributor was Under the Sand [trailer].