Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired the North American rights to “Tori and Lokita,” the latest film by two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne to have its world premiere at Cannes. The film was one of the best-reviewed in competition and won the Dardenne Brothers’ 75th Anniversary Prize.
A story of human perseverance, the film is set in contemporary Belgium and follows a young boy Tori (Pablo Schels) and teenage girl Lukita (Julie Mbundu) who travel alone from Africa in setting up their indomitable friendship against the difficult circumstances of exile.
“Tori and Lokita” starring Pablo Shells, Julie Mbondo, Alban Ukaj, Tigman Govarts, Charlotte de Bruyne, Nadij Ouedraogo and Mark Zinga. “Tori and Lokita” was produced by Jean-Pierre, Luc Dardenne, Delphine Thompson and Denis Fried.
Sideshow and Janus Films plan to release the film theatrically across the country. Both companies described the film as an “instant classic” and said it “shows these major directors working at their highest level, focusing with a new intensity on the issues that have plagued our times.”
“The Dardenne brothers have had a profound impact on an entire generation of filmmakers, and we can’t wait to bring this film to an audience, including both fans of Dardenne’s body of work, and younger movie fans who are sure to recognize the brothers as ‘a profound influence on cinema today’,” Sideshow and Janus Films added.
The deal was negotiated by Wild Bunch International and CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers with Janus Films and Sideshow.
Janos handles the rights in all media for an extensive library of more than 1,200 films that includes works by Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergmann, Federico Fellini, Abbas Chiarostami, François Truffaut, Agnes Varda and Yasujiro Uzu, among others.
Sideshow is a new theatrical distribution label that recently partnered with Janus Films to release “Drive My Car” which was nominated for four Oscars and won Best International Feature Film. The two companies have also just collaborated on the acquisition of another critically acclaimed film from Cannes: “EO” by Jerzy Skolimowski, which won the jury prize at the festival.
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