Wide sells Oliver Sherman for US; Eye on Films network expanding

Wide Management has sold Oliver Sherman to Palisades Tartan for the US.

Also, Wide’s indie distribution collective Eye On Films (EoF) has recently added two new titles to its sales slate with Anne Emond’s Nuit #1 and Tawfik Abu Wael’s Last Days in Jerusalem, bringing the number of features on its label to nine.

In the past weks EoF has announced a slew of deals on titles in the label, including US deals for Nuit #1 with Adopt Film, Mourning with Global Film Initiative and The First Rasta for ArtMattan Productions. More are expected.

Nadav Lapid’s Locarno Special Jury Prize winner Policeman gets distribution in France and Spain through Bodega Films and Aquelarre Servicios Cinematograficos, respectively. The Spanish outfit also acquired Polish drama Fear Of Falling and Neue Visionen picked up The First Rasta for Germany.

The expanding EoF brand now includes 29 distributors and 39 film festivals worldwide.

The Wide Management offshoot will host a meeting for its members in Brussels in December during which it will screen films in the label as well as host a workshop for industry about distribution of non-European titles in Europe and EoF support.

Backed by MEDIA Mundus, EoF provides distributors with grants for the release of a title from the EoF label and partners with festivals for screenings. The Seville International Film Festival (Nov 4-11) will be the first festival to screen the entire label.

After launching EoF at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Wide Management General Manager Loic Magneron is hopeful that the label will increase to 12 by the end of the year. Magneron is also negotiating distribution deals with broadcasters and online platforms.

“As we have almost 70 partners, we hope that next year we can amass 16-24 films and can become not only a network but a brand. Most of our partners have done more than we expected to date. And it’s important to remember that we are not only providing money from Europe but that we are a global service. We are really succeeding in what we set out to achieve: a synergy between all the elements in the industry,” Magneron told Screen.