Terracotta takes UK rights to Yang’s Breathless

Featuring brutal gangster violence and prolific use of vulgar language, Breathless is a challenging film about the cyclical nature of domestic violence. The film is Yang Ik-june’s directorial debut in which he also plays the lead, a low-life debt collector.

The deal was struck between Terracotta founder Joey Leung, and Showbox’s senior manager of Sales, Soojin Jung.

Terracotta will release Breathless in January 2010 and is in the process of appointing specialist film PR agency The Associates to assist with the release.

The announcement comes ahead of Yang’s scheduled trip to London to attend the screenings of Breathless at the Korean Film Festival in London and Manchester in November.

The film also took Best Film and Best Male Actor at the Montreal Fantasia Festival, Best Film at the New York Asian Film Festival, and the International Critics Prize at Deauville Festival of Asian Film.

Established in 2008, Terracotta Distribution is part of the Terracotta Entertainment Group, which includes the annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival.

Earlier this year, Terracotta released Yim Phil-sung’s fantasy horror film Hansel And Gretel, and held the Terracotta Far East Film Festival hosting eight UK premieres and one European premiere of Asian films including K.T. Kwak’s An Eye For An Eye and Johnnie To’s Sparrow.

Major Korean investor-distributor Showbox is enjoying a good year with the release of ski jump film Take Off, which has clocked up over eight million admissions and made it into the local all-time top nine. The company will be at Pusan’s Asian Film Market with other box office hits such as Goodbye Mom (aka Aeja) and Running Turtle.