Non Stop closes deals on Class and Gnomes

by Annika Pham

11/02/2008 - The Stockholm-based NonStop Sales has announced a series of deals on the Estonian award-winning film The Class [trailer] and the animated film Gnomes & Trolls.

Ilmar Raag’s The Class was sold to Sweden (Folketsbio) and Manga Films (Spain). Prior sales include Poland and Greece.

The English-language Gnomes & Trolls from the Oscar-nominated writers of Toy Story and Garfield was made into two feature films. NonStop presented a 16-minute promo of the first film to world buyers in Berlin.

Deals were closed on Gnomes & Trolls 1 and 2 with Intersonic (Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and Five Stars Distribution (Israel, the CIS). Media Film acquired DVD rights for Slovenia and Croatia. The first feature will be ready in May.

NonStop, represented in Berlin by Judith Toth and Michael Werner, also just picked up the Icelandic film No Network for world distribution. The family film was directed and produced by Ari Kristinsson (Count Me Out) for his production outfit Taka Film Production. Kristinsson is best known as the cinematographer of 14 feature films, including Fridrik Thor Fridriksson’s Children of Nature.

No Network was released over Christmas in Iceland and was one of the top 10 grossing films.

NonStop also signed a deal with the leading Swedish production company Filmlance International on three titles made in 2006: arthouse title The New Man [trailer] by Klaus Härö (Mother of Mine [trailer]) and the thrillers Snapphanar by directing duo Mans Mårlind and Björn Stein and 27 Sekunder Snö, described by Toth as an “Agatha Christie film set in the snow.”

Yesterday, screenings were just starting at the market of Jens Jonsson’s The King of Ping Pong [trailer] and Nils Gaup’s The Kautokeino Rebellion [trailer]. But Toth was very confident as buyers had already demonstrated a “huge” interest.