Focus Features International has come on board to handle world sales on Lance Daly's festival crowdpleaser Kisses. The film, which won the Best Irish Film Award at the Galway Film Fleadh, screened earlier this month in competition in Locarno and will also show in Toronto.

'The film had freshness and honesty. It's a film that can be discovered and can hopefully become one of the darlings of the film festival circuit,' Alison Thompson, Focus' president international sales & distribution, said of the pick-up.

All territories excluding Ireland (where the film will be released by Element Pictures in November) are available. CAA is representing the film for North America where the rights are still available.

The film is about two kids from a housing estate outside Dublin who venture into the city centre on Christmas Eve, looking for respite from their bleak lives. En route, they have a series of magical experiences.

Kisses is Daly's third feature. It was produced through Dublin-based outfit Fastnet Films and Scandinavian powerhouse Zentropa. Finance came from the Irish Film Board, Zentropa, Film i Vast, TV3, BCI and Section 481. The producer was Macdara Kelleher, managing director of Fastnet Films.

Daly and Kelleher are currently preparing a new feature, Jesus Christ Airlines. This is about an airlift into Biafra by Irish missionaries in the late 1960s. It will be produced through Fastnet and a UK production partner. Daly is currently finishing the screenplay.

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