Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding North America, to Julian Schnabel's Berlin, a concert film featuring Lou Reed.

Waterboy's Jon Kilik produced with Tom Sarig and Reed. Executive producers are LM Media Gmbh, Stanley Buchthal and Maja Hoffmann.

Berlin will world premiere at this week's Venice International Film Festival, with a North American premiere to follow in Toronto.

During production, Madman licensed rights for Australia/New Zealand and Scanbox for Scandinavia.

The deal was negotiated between Fortissimo's co-chairman Michael J. Werner and Senior VP Winnie Lau with LM Media's Stanley Buchthal and David Koh.

The film is described as a concert film and a rock opera about two drug addicts. Reed's Berlin album came out in 1973 and Reed never performed the songs liveuntil December 2006. Schnabel not only filmed that five-night performance in Brooklyn, but he designed the sets for the project. Berlin also features short segments (by Lola Schnabel) with French actress Emmanuelle Seigner.

Ellen Kuras served as cinematographer and the album's original producer, Bob Ezrin, served as conductor and music producer along with Hal Willner.

Reed's band was accompanied by an orchestra, guitarist Steve Hunter, and backup singers Sharon Jones and Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons.

Werner said: 'We are truly honored to have been selected to handle Berlin and to have the opportunity to work with all of the great talents behind this film.' Fortissimo is also working on Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary, Shine A Light.

Schnabel's latest film was the 2007 Cannes award winner The Diving Bell & The Butterfly.

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