Jonsson's feature debut, which took first prize in Sundance's World Cinema Dramatic Competition and was also awarded for Best Cinematography (Askild Vik Edvardsen), opened Sweden 's Göteborg festival last week and is also screening at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Produced by Jan Blomgren for Bob Film Sweden, the first Swedish contender at Sundance ever will be released domestically on Feb 22 by Nordisk Film Sweden. Jonsson is currently preparing a film based on childhood cinema memories - when he was watching Star Wars, Indiana Jones and The Goonies.
According to sales manager Michael Werner, The King Of Ping Pong will be included in NonStop's slate for the European Film Market at the Berlinale with two new Norwegian acquisitions: Nils Gaup's The Kautokeino Rebellion and Ole Martin Hafsmo's Switch.
Launched at Norway's Tromso Film Festival, The Kautokeino Rebellion - which follows a 1852 Sami uprising against Norwegian authorities in northern Norway - is closing in on 120,000 admissions after two weeks as number one on the domestic charts for Sandrew Metronome Norway.
An actioner dubbed Karate Kid On Snowboard, Hafsmo's first feature targeted at youth audiences, has sold around 200,000 tickets on domestic release, and came in third among local 2007 blockbusters. Both Norwegian films were produced by Jorgen Storm Rosenberg for Metronome-owned Rubicon TV.
Last week (Jan 23) NonStop Sales purchased international rights for Belgian director Arno Dierickx's Dutch drama-thriller, Blood Brothers, adding to the Berlin line-up with Estonian director Ilmar Raag's The Class and the fully-animated Gnomes and Trolls 1 + 2.
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