Beta Cinema is to handle international sales on two Italian films - Marco Pontecorvo's Pa-Ra-Da, the opening film of the Horizons sidebar, and Uberto Pasolini's Venice Days title Machan - which are having their world premieres at next week's Venice Film Festival.

Pa-Ra-Da, DoP Pontecorvo's feature film debut, tells the true story of the Franco-Algerian clown Miloud Oukili who set up a circus in Bucharest for Romanian street children. The film will be released theatrically in Italy by 01 Distribution in September.

Meanwhile, Machan is the directorial debut by The Full Monty producer Pasolini about a group of young Sri Lankans forming their country's sole handball team to be invited to a tournament in Germany. The film will be released in Germany by Fox Searchlight and by Mikado Film in Italy.

oth titles will have their international premieres at the subsequent Toronto Film Festival in the Vanguard and Contemporary World Cinema sections, respectively.

Beta Cinema will also be having Special Presentations in Toronto of another two of its current lineup: the world premiere o f Max Färberböck's A Woman In Berlin, with Nina Hoss, and Paolo Sorrentino's prize-winner Il Divo. In addition, Toronto's Contemporary World Cinema programme will be featuring Hans Steinbichler's My Brother, My Bride And I, which had its world premiere at the Munich Film Festival in June.

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