Munich-based sales agent Telepool has sold Feo Aladag’s feature debut When We Leave (Die Fremde) to the US and Canada.

The Chicago-based distributor Olive Films picked up US rights for the winner of the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, while Canadian rights were secured by Toronto’s Mongrel Media.

Both distributors are planning a release in the first quarter of 2011 for the story of a young woman of Turkish descent fighting to live an independent life in Germany in the face of her family’s opposition.

When We Leave premiered in the Panorama section of last February’s Berlinale and has already won numerous prizes, including the German Film Awards this year for Best Feature and Best Actress for Sibel Kekilli.

One of the three finalists for the European Parliament’s LUX Film Prize 2010, the film was being screened in Venice this week as part of the Venice Days  sidebar. There will be a second screening at the Parliament’s premises in Brussels from 26 October to 19 November. Members of the European Parliament will then vote for the winning film and the LUX Film Prize 2010 will be presented by the Parliament President in Strasbourg on 24 November.

Topics