EXCLUSIVE: Zeitgeist Films picks up Tribeca winner.

The Match Factory has confirmed a US deal for Talya Lavie’s first feature Zero Motivation with Zeitgeist Films.

The sale follows on from the film’s strong reception at Tribeca, where the film won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature and the Nora Ephron Prize.

“We are thrilled to be working with The Match Factory again as we admire their taste in the films they produce and represent” stated co-president Nancy Gerstman of Zeitgeist Films. “We fell in love with Zero Motivation as did the audiences we watched it with at Tribeca.”

Other recent sales of Zero Motivation include FilmsWeLike for Canada and JIFF Distribution for Australia.

The film will be released in Israel in June by Shani Films.

“I am delighted to cooperate again with Nancy and Emily, they are totally motivated to turn the film into a success, as they did with Hannah Arendt,” said Michael Weber,Managing Director of The Match Factory.

Zeitgeist Films previously acquired Margarethe von Trotta’s Hannah Arendt from The Match Factory. The film made over $700,000 at the US box office.

“I am happy and proud to have Zeitgeist on board, and even happier to find out that for them Zero Motivation is the title of a great film and not a distribution motto…” qupped producer Eilon Ratzkovsky of July August Productions.

Billed as a “MASH for the 21st century,” Zero Motivation is a dark comedic portrait of everyday life for young Israeli female soldiers at a remote army base in the Israeli desert during the course of one year. 

Lavie’s film shows the monotony and boredom of their petty office work and highlights the underrated position of women in the army with deadpan humour.

The cast list includes Israeli actress Dana Ivgy known for Keren Yedaya’s Or (Cannes 2004, Golden Camera) and Jaffa (Cannes 2009, Special Screening) for which she received Best Actress prize from The Israeli Film Academy.

The film was produced by Eilon Ratzkovsky (July August Productions), producer of The Band’s Visit, in co-production with France’s Haut Et Court.

The Match Factory has brought Zero Motivation to Cannes, where it will screen twice at the market.

Topics