EXCLUSIVE: Venice winner Sacro GRA sells to eight more territories.

Doc & Film International has closed multiple deals on Martin Provost’s recent Toronto world premiere Violette including a US sale to Adopt Films.

Rights have gone to Mongrel/Metropole in Canada, Golem in Spain, Madman in Australia and New Zealand, Kool Distribution in Germany, Immovision in Brazil, Cineplex in Colombia, Folkets Bio in Sweden and Xenix in Switzerland.

Further deals closed with CDI FILMS in Argentina, Swallow Wings in Taiwan, Filmladen in Austria and Cinema Mondo in Finland.

Diaphana will launch the film in France in November, Big Bang in Belgium and Contact in the Netherlands.

Emmanuelle Devos stars in the eponymous role as the bisexual postwar author Violette Leduc, who was born out of wedlock and raised in poverty and went on to become the world renowned writer of The Bastard.

Violette also stars Sandrine Kiberlain as Simone de Bouvoir, Jacques Bonnaffé as Jean Genet, Olivier Py as Maurice Sachs and Olivier Gourmet as Jacques Guérin. Provost co-wrote the screenplay with Marc Abdelnour and René de Ceccatty.

“Violette is pure, sumptuous, classic French cinema,” said Adopt Films president Tim Grady and evp of marketing and distribution Jeff Lipsky, who plan a late May or early June 2014 US release on at least 100 screens.

“We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Adopt Films,” said Daniela Elstner, CEO of Doc & Film International. “Their commitment to the film has been exceptional from the very first moment they saw it in Toronto and we are working together to put up the best strategy for the film in the US.”

Adopt’s slate of upcoming releases includes Jacques Doillon’s Love Battles from Doc & Film International.

Sacro GRA takes off after Venice win

In other Doc & Film news, the company has also been racking up sales on Italian director Gianfranco Rosi’s Rome ring road documentary Sacro GRA following its surprise Golden Lion win in Venice in September.

“It went crazy in Toronto and San Sebastian after the Venice win,” said Elstner.

Sales include to France (Alfama Films), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe Media Company), ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom), Hungary (Cirko Film), Poland (Aurora Film), Japan (Synca) andTaiwanese (Swallow Wings).

Elstner said a handful of other territories were also in the process of being signed.

In Italy, Rosi’s fly-on-the-wall study of characters living or working near Rome’s busy motorway ring road, the Grande Raccordo Anulare, has struck a chord with the cinemagoers.

Released on September 19 by Franco Zuliani’s Milan-based Officine Ubu, the film has grossed an impressive €547,647 to date.

Currently playing on 92 screens, after initially opening on some 70 copies, the documentary clocked the second best screen average in its first weekend on release, after Rush.

The documentary, for which Doc & Film has yet to seal a UK distributor, screens at the BFI London Film Festival next week.

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