Benicio Del Toro’s “A Perfect Day” proves int’l sales hit

PanARMENIAN.Net - Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s “A Perfect Day”, which stars Benicio Del Toro, Tim Robbins and Olga Kurylenko, is proving to be an international sales hit for WestEnd Films, following its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival, Variety reports.

WestEnd confirmed Monday, June 1 that U.S. rights have been taken by IFC ( Variety exclusively reported that final negotiations were underway), and also revealed that rights have also gone to Australia (Madman), Scandinavia (Smile), Japan (Respect), Italy (Teodora), Turkey (Mars), Hong Kong (Edko) and Bulgaria (A Plus). This is in addition to previously announced sales to France (TF1 DA), Germany (X Verleih), Benelux (September Films), Switzerland (Praesens), Israel (United King), Middle East (ECS), Greece (Spentzos), former Yugoslavia (VTI), Malaysia (Suraya) and South Africa (M-Net). Universal is handling distribution in Spain, and will release the film on Aug. 28.

The movie centers on a group of aid workers as they try to resolve a crisis in an armed conflict zone: Sophie (Melanie Thierry) is a newcomer, she wants to help; Mambru (Del Toro) has seen it all and wants to go home; Katya (Kurylenko) once wanted Mambru; Damir (Fedja Stukan) wants the war to end; and B (Robbins) doesn’t know what he wants. Humor, drama, emotion, routine, danger, hope: it all fits into a perfect day.

The film is produced by Reposado Producciones and Mediapro, and worldwide sales are being handled by WestEnd.

WestEnd is a London-based international sales and feature film financing company, co-founded by Eve Schoukroun, Maya Amsellem, and leading producer and Capitol Films founder Sharon Harel-Cohen. It offers filmmakers a one-stop shop for finance, production and licensing, as well as an extensive network of distribution partners across the industry.

WestEnd’s Cannes lineup also included “Green Room,” a crime thriller by Jeremy Saulnier (“Blue Ruin”), which also premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, “Shepherds and Butchers” by Olivier Schmitz, “Dancer,” a documentary about ballet star Sergei Polunin, directed by Oscar-nominated Steven Cantor and David LaChapelle, “Blackbird” by Benedict Andrews, starring Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn, Kieran Darcy-Smith’s “By Way of Helena,” starring Woody Harrelson and Liam Hemsworth, Oscar-nominated animated feature “Song of the Sea” by Tomm Moore, “The Great Gilly Hopkins” by Stephen Herek, and “Learning to Drive” by Isabel Coixet.