Arthouse distributor Menemsha Films picks up “To Life!” drama

PanARMENIAN.Net - Arthouse distributor Menemsha Films has picked up all rights in North American to drama “To Life!”, which follows the relationship between an aging Jewish cabaret singer and a young man on the run. Pic will be given a theatrical release this fall, Variety reports.

Sales company Global Screen has also licensed the pic to JIFF Distribution for Australia and New Zealand, Tele Cine for Brazil and Suraya for South-East Asia.

In the film, the singer, who is sarcastic but warm-hearted, forms an intense bond with the young man. They give each other a reason to live, despite their great age difference and their different experiences in life.

In the subtle yet intense interplay between the actors, Hannelore Elsner (“No Place To Go,” “Cherryblossoms”), the grande dame of German cinema, and versatile young star Max Riemelt (soon to be seen in a lead role in new Netflix original series “Sense 8,” also known for “The Wave,” “Napola,” “Before the Fall”), director Uwe Janson weaves a tale that shifts between World War II, the post-war generation and today.

It features renditions of Jewish music classics that have been re-recorded and newly interpreted for the film, and “suffuse the film with the palpable feel of a culture of defiance and life.”

The pic, which world premiered at the Montreal Film Festival in August, is produced by CCC Filmkunst, and co-produced by MZ-Film and ZDF.