10/02/2007

Gary Phillips and Mark Vennis of Moviehouse Entertainment, located at the Martin Gropius Bau British stand in Berlin, have just added a little gem to their EFM line-up: the independent US film Sweet Land.

The low budget film by first-time US filmmaker Ali Selim was co-winner of the Audience Award at the last Hamptons Film Festival and has received raving reviews throughout the US press. The epic film about immigrants in 1920s rural Minnesota, featuring long passages of dialogue in Norwegian and German without subtitles, has also conquered US audiences.

US distributor Jejj Lipsky is furthermore planning to widen the release from 100 to 300 screens by March. Moviehouse will start screening the film to international buyers at the next Cannes market.

Moviehouse Entertainment’s most prominent title in Berlin is Stephen Kijak’s documentary film Scott Walker: 30th Century Man, which will have its first screening next Tuesday as part of the Panorama.

Featuring the lead singer of 1960s sensation The Walker Brothers, the documentary is a cinematic account of his life as seen through his own eyes and those of his many fans, including David Bowie (who executive produced the film) and Sting. The film was produced by Mia Bays, Elizabeth Rose and Stephen Kijak and will be released in the UK by Verve Pictures.

Two high profile Irish films will be screening at the EFM: John Boorman’s The Tiger’s Tail, starring Brendan Gleeson and Kim Catrall, and Niall Heery’s Small Engine Repair [+see also:
trailer
film profile], winner of the Best First Feature award at the 2006 Galway Film Festival. The story of friendship between a small engine repair man and an aspiring country and western singer features Iain Glen and Steven Mackintosh.