Odin's Eye picks up two thrillers

Sales agent Odin’s Eye Entertainment (OEE) has acquired worldwide sales rights to two supernatural thrillers made on different sides of the planet: Lemon Tree Passage from Australia, and 2nd Reign of Night from Spain.

Writer/director Antoni Sole’s directorial debut was filmed in Barcelona in English. Sole will get a producing credit too alongside Loris Curci, who has recently also been busy on the US thriller Hidden In The Woods.

2nd Reign of Night tells of an eminent anthropologist, played by Mark Gantt (Hidden In The Woods, The Night Visitor) who, by translating an ancient text, unwittingly resurrects an Egyptian god that plunges the world into eternal darkness. The film is still in post-production and OEE will be screening a promo at EFM.

The writer/director of Lemon Tree Passage is David Campbell and the producer is Jeremy Ervine. The pair sold the advertising agency they jointly owned in order to go into film production.

The privately-financed thriller is inspired by a media report about a stretch of road that locals say is haunted by the ghost of a motorcyclist who died in an accident. In the script a group of teenagers come to deeply regret their decision to test if the ghost exists.

OEE head Michael Favelle sold Middle East & North African rights to Shooting Stars on the eve of EFM and is due to screen the film for the first time there on Feb 8.

“I’ve noticed there seems to be a rise in entrepreneurial and younger Australian filmmakers setting out to make internationally commercial films that usually would not sit within conventional government funding scenarios,” Favelle told Screendaily.

“These tend to be films that perform better overseas than they do at home. That said, we do expect Lemon Tree Passage to perform at a theatrical level here in Australia.”