North American distributor BFS Entertainment & Multimedia Limited will move into theatrical distribution with its acquisition of Tom Collins' Kings.

The film, partly in the Irish language and the Irish submission for Foreign-Language Oscar consideration. The big-screen adaptation of Jimmy Murphy's play The Kings Of The Kilburn High Road stars Colm Meaney in the story of a group of Irish men who emigrated to London but return to their hometown after 25 years for a friend's funeral. The ensemble cast also includes Donal O'Kelly, Brendan Conroy, Donncha Crowley, Barry Barnes and Sean O Tarpaigh.

BFS was set up in the early 1980s and has recently concentrated on DVD releases. Denis Donnelly, CEO of BFS, said: 'We are very excited about Kings and see it as the ideal candidate for our expansion into theatrical distribution where our niche distribution expertise will provide the focused attention that is so often required. We intend to handle the theatrical market with Panorama Entertainment in New York, a leading independent film theatrical distribution company who have worked with us previously on other projects'

London-based sales company High Point Films finalised the deal after negotating at AFM.

High Point's Carey Fitzgerald said: 'Kings is a unique film which needs a special kind of approach. We have worked with BFS for many years, most recently on James Threapleton's 'Extraordinary Rendition' and found them to be leaders in the North American DVD market. We are confident that their move into theatrical will prove just as successful.'

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