Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Bruno Dumont’s “The Empire,” a sci-fi satire starring Anamaria Vartolomei (“Happening”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”), Lyna Khoudri (“The Three Musketeers”) and Fabrice Luchini.
“The Empire” simply world premiered in competitors on the Berlin Film Festival, the place it gained the Silver Bear Jury Prize. The film marks Dumont’s comply with as much as “France,” a darkish comedy starring Léa Seydoux which competed on the Cannes Film Festival.
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical launch later this 12 months, adopted by a house video, instructional and digital launch on all main platforms. The acquisition of “The Empire” marks the sixth time that Kino Lorber has collaborated with Dumont, with earlier releases together with “Li’l Quinquin,” “Coincoin and the Extra-Humans,” “Slack Bay,” “Camille Claudel 1915” and, most just lately, “France.”
The movie is about in a quiet and picturesque fishing village in Northern France, the place a particular child is born — a toddler so distinctive and peculiar that it unleashes a secret warfare between extraterrestrial forces of excellent and evil. In an try to revive their empires, two opposing forces from the depths of outer house, One and Zero, unleash an apocalyptic battle on Earth.
“We’re exhilarated to board Bruno’s latest excursion into the cinematic future,” mentioned Richard Lorber, chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber. “He pulls off new risks in ‘The Empire’ with philosophical wit and visual glee, inventing his own brand of special effects to make for stunts like no other.”
He continued, “Being a cinephile in the Dumont-osphere has never been so much fun, and our whole Kino Lorber gang is going into space training to navigate with the most adventurous auteur working today. We can’t wait to deliver this huge entertainment payload to American audiences, proving anew Bruno’s got the cinematic right stuff.”
The deal for “The Empire” was negotiated by Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell and Alexandre Moreau for Memento International.
“The Empire” has additionally been acquired in France (ARP), Benelux (Cineart), Italy (Academy Two), Sweden (Njuta), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Bulgaria (Beta Film), Hungary (Vertigo), Baltics (Scanorama) and Indonesia (PT Falcon).
Kino Lorber most just lately acquired the queer Sundance hit “Sebastian,” and unveiled the merger of main worldwide sequence streamers MHz Choice and Topic, which Kino acquired final 12 months.
Kino Lorber’s 2023 roster additionally consists of Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” which is
nominated for greatest documentary on the Oscars. The movie was produced by Tessalit Productions in co-production with Red Balloon Film, Ascent Film, Novak Prod, Rosa Filmes and Furyo Films. Producers are Jean Bréhat and Bertrand Faivre. Co-producers are Dorothe Beinemeier, Fabrizio Mosca, Andrea Paris, Matteo Rovere, Ines Vasiljevic, Olivier Dubois, Joaquim Sapinho, Marta Alves and Emma Binet.