Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has swooped to add Venice Biennale College title Blanka to its autumn market slate.
Blanka received its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12) on Saturday (Sept 5).
The feature is an Italian production shot in the Philippines by Japanese director Kohki Hasei, and produced by Flaminio Zadra from Italy.
The story follows 11-year-old Blanka, who survives alone in Manila, begging and stealing from tourists. One day, an absurd idea pops up: if she could buy a mother, she could have a good life. But she has to make countless efforts in order to collect enough money.
An opportunity arises when she meets Peter, a 55-year-old blind street musician, who teaches Blanka how to sing, a skill out of which she can make money.
Blanka was was produced within the Biennale College programme, an advanced training workshop for the development and production of micro-budget (€150,000) audio-visual works.
It also received the support of the Asian Cinema Fund for post-production.
Producer Flaminio Zadra said: “We are extremely pleased and excited by the collaboration with M-Appeal. Their enthusiasm for Blanka was so overwhelming that this is surely the fastest deal I ever finalized. I’m confident that this will be the beginning of a very fruitful partnership.”
Blanka marks the first feature of Japanese director Kohki Hasei, who previously directed documentary W/O and short doc Godog. It is produced by Flaminio Zadra and Alberto Fanni from Dorje Film, an independent film company based in Rome.
The film is produced by Zadra and Alberto Fanni from Dorje Film, an independent film company based in Rome.
Zadra has co-produced films by Fatih Akin (Soul Kitchen) and he was executive producer of The Cut.
No comments yet