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TrustNordisk has unveiled a behind-the-scenes look at Anders Thomas Jensen’s new film, which has been retitled The Last Viking for international territories(previously Back To Reality).

Currently in post-production after shooting last autumn, the film has sold to Starcat Cable Network Co. in Japan. Previously confirmed deals include Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Neue Visionen Filmverleigh Gmbh), Benelux (September Film) and Italy (Plaion). TrustNordisk will be conducting further sales at next week’s European Film Market (February 13-19).

The Last Viking reunites Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas with Jensen; the actors have appeared in all of Jensen’s previous...

TrustNordisk has sold Anders Thomas Jensen’s Back To Reality (working title) to key territories as filming continues on the Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas title.

The film has sold to Italy (Plaion), the Baltics (Estinfilm), Hungary (Vertigo Media), Poland (Best Film), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group), and Singapore (September Film Rights).

Last month Screen reported pre-sales to Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Neue Visionen Filmverleih Gmbh) and Benelux (September Film).

The story follows a bank robber, Anker (Lie Kaas), who is fresh out of jail on his way to collect the loot. The only...

Shoghakat Vardanyan’s “1489,” which follows the director’s family after her brother goes missing while serving in the Armenian army, won documentary festival IDFA’s best film prize Thursday.

The jury of the International Competition section said the film “acts as a piercing light that makes visible the vast hidden interior landscape of grief and creates a tangible presence from unbearable absence.”

The jury added that it was “cinema as a tool of survival — to allow us all to look at the things we would rather not see, and ultimately, an unforgettable example of cinema as an act of love.”

The best directing award went to Mohamed Jabaly for “Life Is Beautiful,” in which the Palestinian filmmaker documents his life in 2014 when he was visiting Norway and was prevented from returning home to Gaza because the border was closed.

“Life Is Beautiful”

The jury members said the film was “a...

This year’s edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will open with the world premiere of “A Picture to Remember” by Olga Chernykh. The film, which received the support of the IDFA Bertha Fund in 2022, is a deeply personal account of the ongoing war in Ukraine and its violent history, seen through the prism of three generations of women.

The full program for the festival’s 36th edition was announced earlier today by IDFA’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia, who stated the festival’s opening film is “both personal and political,” adding that “the director does not shy away from trying to build a cinematic world with fragile elements. The courage and originality of the film’s approach opens up to a much larger worldview.”

Before announcing this year’s full lineup, Nyrabia took a moment to acknowledge the current Israel-Hamas war: “To us, respecting the human...

Olga Chernykh’s A Picture To Remember explores the war in Ukraine through three generations.

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam will open with the world premiere of Ukrainian filmmaker Olga Chernykh’s A Picture To Remember as the festival unveils the line-ups for the international and Envision competitions.

A Picture To Remember explores the war in Ukraine through three generations of women, including the director herself, and is a co-production between Ukraine, France and Germany. The film is screening in Envision and has received backing from the IDFA Bertha Support fund.

The international competition features 11 titles, seven of which are world premieres,...

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam revealed its opening night film and announced competition lineups in two main categories today, completing the program for the upcoming 36th edition of the world’s largest documentary festival.

At a press conference in Amsterdam, A Picture to Remember, directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Olga Chernykh, was announced as IDFA’s opening night film on November 8. The festival, which includes more than 250 films total, runs from Nov. 8-19.

“[A Picture to Remember] presents a deeply personal and essay-style account of the ongoing war in Ukraine and its violent history, seen through the prism of three generations of women: Chernykh herself, her mother, and her grandmother,” IDFA said in a release. “In a bid for connection and intimacy, the filmmaker uses old family films, recordings of conversations, and news reports to bridge the distance between her and her grandmother. The result is a kaleidoscopic and personal film that travels through time fluidly.

‘Back To Reality’ is a dark comedy from writer-director Anders Thomas Jensen.

TrustNordisk has acquired international sales rights to two upcoming features from Denmark’s Zentropa, including a new film from acclaimed comedy filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen.

Jensen’s Back To Reality (working title) is a dark comedy, about a bank robber recently released from jail, who must unlock his traumatised brother’s memory to recover stolen loot.

Zentropa is producing the title, which is at script stage with no cast yet attached; Nordisk Film Distribution will release the film in Scandinavia. Producers are Sisse Graum Jorgensen and Sidsel Hybschmann for Zentropa,...

‘The World To Come’, ‘Riders Of Justice’ also hit cinemas.

M. Night Shyamalan’s ageing thriller Old heads the new openers at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as new releases persist despite concerns over rising Covid-19 cases.

The UK and Ireland reported a combined 41,094 new cases on Thursday, July 22. This is up 565% from 6,180 on May 17, the day cinemas reopened in England.

The vaccine rollout should reduce the spread and potency of the virus, with all UK adults now offered a first dose. However there are still concerns that the third wave will affect box office releases; yesterday Entertainment Film Distributors...

Who knows how it was forged, the ironclad bond between Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen and Mads Mikkelsen, star of countless sex dreams and recent Oscar-winner Another Round. Perhaps they buried a body together. Whatever the reason, we continue to reap the benefits as that actor, who has been central to all of Jensen’s movies (including his 2000 debut Flickering Lights), reunites with his pal/conspirator-in-corpse-disposal to deliver their fifth, and very possibly finest collaboration to date: the witty, weird and wantonly violent Riders of Justice.

Part of the attraction...

In its biggest single showcase, Visions du Réel staged a three-hour showcase on Saturday where directors and producers delivered online presentations of nine doc features in post. Some will undoubtedly hit major festivals in the months to come. Following, bare bones profiles of the nine Wip titles:

“About Everything There Is to Know,” dir: Sofía Velázquez (Peru)

Produced by Carolina Denegri (Cultural Mercado Central)

A group of filmmakers arrive in Santiago de Chuco, a remote village perched high in the Peruvian Andes which was the birthplace of Cesar Vallejo, the most revolutionary of Latin American poets. Their casting for a play, inspired by Vallejo characters, provides the doc feature’s storyline. It also allows Velazquez to depict the village inhabitants and a mix of

“fantasy and reality” that builds as an equal part celebration of Vallejo and more nuanced portrait of Peru, where village life is rapidly eclipsed by emigration to nearby big cities.

Documentary film festival Visions du Réel, which runs April 15-25, has unveiled the 29 projects that will be presented in its industry program, VdR-Industry.

The project will participate in the three key forums in the industry section: VdR-Pitching, VdR-Work in Progress and VdR-Rough Cut Lab. Industry activities will take place from April 14-22, both online and on site in Nyon, Switzerland – if sanitary measures permit.

The VdR-Industry Awards, including three new cash awards, will be granted by an international jury gathering Eurimage’s executive director Roberto Olla, Italian film director Roberto Minervini and Rasha Salti, independent film and visual arts curator, as well as commissioning editor for La Lucarne, Arte France.

“This year’s selection depicts not only the incredible diversity of contemporary documentary filmmaking, but also its ever wider ranging influence,” said Madeline Robert, new head of industry and artistic advisor of Visions du Réel.

VdR-Industry is designed as a springboard for projects,...

TrustNordisk has closed key territory sales on “Riders of Justice,” Anders Thomas Jensen’s dark comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen.

“Riders of Justice” revolves around a military man Markus (Mikkelsen), who returns home to his teenage daughter after his wife dies in a tragic train accident. When a passenger on the wrecked train surfaces with claims of foul play, Markus begins to suspect the accident may have been a carefully orchestrated assassination.

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro, Gustav Lindh and Andrea H. Gadeberg also star. The movie, which won four Danish Film Awards, was produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Sidsel Hybschmann for Zentropa Entertainments3.

Jensen is the screenwriter behind Susanne Bier’s Oscar-winning drama “In a Better World.” His directorial credits include “Men & Chicken,” “Adam’s Apples,” “The Green Butchers” and “Flickering Lights” — all of which star Mikkelsen.

TrustNordisk sold the film to Canada (Mongrel Media), Spain (La Aventura...

Danish black comedy also picked up for Switzerland, Anz and Brazil.

France and Japan are among several new territories to snap up Anders Thomas Jensen’s Riders Of Justice, starring Mads Mikkelsen, from TrustNordisk.

The Danish black comedy has been acquired by France (Snd – Groupe M6), Japan (Klockworx), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Australia and New Zealand (Rialto), and Brazil (Synapse).

Recent deals were closed for the US (Magnet Releasing) and UK (Vertigo Releasing).

The film had its local release in Denmark on November 19, reporting 150,000 admissions on its opening weekend – the biggest in Denmark this year. It also ranked as the biggest...

Danish dark comedy hopes to receive a theatrical release in 2021.

Vertigo Releasing has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Anders Thomas Jensen’s Danish dark comedy Riders Of Justice, starring Mads Mikkelsen, from TrustNordisk.

The distributor is hoping to release the film in spring 2021.

The story centres on military man Markus (Mikkelsen), who returns home to his teenage daughter after his wife dies in a tragic train accident. But when a passenger on the wrecked train surfaces with claims of foul play, Markus begins to suspect the accident may have been a carefully orchestrated assassination.

Alongside Mikkelsen, who was recently...

Danish dark comedy is directed by Anders Thomas Jensen

TrustNordisk has closed the first crop of deals on Danish dark comedy Riders of Justice, directed by Anders Thomas Jensen and starring frequent collaborator Mads Mikkelsen.

The film has sold to Germany and Austria (Splendid); Russia and Cis (Cappella); Benelux (September); Baltics (Estin); Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe); Poland (Best Film); Hungary (Vertigo Media); and Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia (Cinemania Groupicon).

The story centres on military man Markus (Mikkelsen), who returns home to his teenage daughter after his wife dies in a tragic train accident. But...

Produced by Danish outfit Zentropa, shooting on the €5.3m feature began this week.

Mads Mikkelsen is to star in Riders Of Justice, a dark comedy written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, which will be sold internationally by TrustNordisk.

Jensen is perhaps best known as the screenwriter behind Susanne Bier’s Oscar-winning In a Better World but has directed features including Men & Chicken, Adam’s Apples, The Green Butchers and Flickering Lights – all of which starred Mikkelsen.

The cast of his latest feature also includes Nikolaj Lie Kaas, star of the Department Q franchise, Lars Brygmann (That Time Of Year...

Mads Mikkelsen is set to headline the dark comedy “Riders of Justice” written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, the well-known Danish helmer and screenwriter of Susanne Bier’s Oscar-winning “In a Better World.”

Mikkelsen will star in the film alongside Nikolaj Lie Kaas (“The Department Q Series”), Lars Brygmann (“That Time of the Year), Nicolas Bro (“Nymphomaniac”), Gustav Lindh (“Queen of Hearts”), Roland Møller (“Valhalla”) and the newcomer Andrea Heick Gadeberg (“Daniel”).

The story revolves Markus, a deployed military man who has to go home to his teenage daughter, Mathilde, when his wife dies in a tragic train accident. It seems to be plain bad luck – but it turns out that it might have been a carefully orchestrated assassination, which his wife ended up being a random casualty of.

Produced by leading Scandinavian company Zentropa, the €5.3 million movie is represented in international markets by TrustNordisk which is describing the...

“Rotten” doesn’t begin to describe the stench emanating from the state of Denmark in “Men & Chicken,” the latest — and by far most difficult to classify — feature from director Anders Thomas Jensen, best known abroad for his screenwriting collaborations with Oscar winner Susanne Bier. This staggering account of family dysfunction, secret-hoarding and tragedy on the far fringes of Danish society actually hews much closer to Jensen’s previous dark-comedy directorial efforts “Flickering Lights” and “Adam’s Apples,” being a bizarre parable of five ill-mannered and grotesquely disfigured half-brothers brought together by their father’s death. sure to perplex the gonzo-amenable audience most apt to embrace it abroad.

Beginning with the glowing good cheer of a fairy tale, but quick to reveal the sinister social satire that undermines its misleadingly whimsical opening narration, “Men & Chicken” presents two brothers, Elias and Gabriel (David Dencik), who have nothing in common but their generally disheveled appearance,...

The European Film Promotion (EFP) and the San Sebastian International Film Festival (September 18-27) launched a new promotion initiative entitled "European Distributors: Up Next".

Ten independent distributors from Central and Eastern Europe attending the festival discussed the possibilities of theatrical distribution on a European level. Since the majority of European producers do not cross national borders, the meetings in San Sebastian were aimed to create possible platform and networking opportunities to improve the circulation of European productions.

• From Slovenia, Natasa Bucar, project manager of the cultural center Cankarjev Dom, a public institution that organizes many events promoting film, including the Ljubljana International Film Festival has been in art film distribution for the last 15 years. They distribute five to six titles every year to fill the gap in theatrical distribution of European high-profile films in Slovenia. Priority is given to established and not always well-known European and other international filmmakers. Their last distributed titles were Neil Jordan’s ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, Tony Gatlif’s ‘Transylvania’, Bent Hamer’s ‘Factotum’, Dagur Kari’s ‘Dark Horse’, Corneliu Porumboiu’s ‘12:08 East of Bucharest’, Roy Andersson’s ‘You, the Living’, Pascale Ferran’s ‘Lady Chatterley’, Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’ and Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’.

Besides Cankarjev Dom, there are only four arthouse cinemas in Slovenia. They need more along with arthouse cinema networks to enable better film promotion. In Slovenia, like everywhere in Europe, the number of cinema viewers has fallen drastically. Audiences focus on fewer films, the top 20 films take up to almost 50% of the market in Slovenia.

• From Hungary, Rita Linda Potyondi of Cirko Film - Másképp Foundation, the only Hungarian distributor to operate as a non-profit-foundation, they also own one theater in Budapest. Working on a showstring budget, they are guided by personal tastes and focus on international and particularly European ‘difficult’ auteur films with targeted or limited audiences, especially those that explore themes related to discriminated groups: homosexuals, handicapped people, ethnic or religious minorities and victims of family abuse. Their last releases include films by Robert Guédiguian, Bruno Dumont, Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Baltasar Kormakur, Alain Corneau, Bruno Podalydès, Bertrand Bonello, Claire Denis, Ferzan Ozpetek, Catalin Mitulescu and Oskar Roehler. A recent surprise success was Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘Adam's Apples’ which became a sort of cult film. They also did well with Palme d’Or-winner ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’, and ‘Persepolis’, Susanne Bier’s ‘After the Wedding, ‘Red Road’, ‘My Brother Is An Only Child’, ‘A Soap’, ‘Our Daily Bread’. Upcoming are the Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's ‘Lorna’s Silence’, Gustave de Kervern and Benoit Belepine’s ‘Louise Michel’, Nic Balthazar’s ‘Ben X’, Simon Staho’s ‘Heaven’s Heart’, Ole Christian Madsen’s ‘Kira’s Reason’, Josef Fares’ ‘Leo’, Anders Thomas Jensen’s ‘The Green Butchers’ and ‘Flickering Lights’, and Ole Bornedal’s ‘Just Another Love Story’.

• Czech distributor Artcam’s Managing Director Premysl Martinek knows he is fighting an uphill battle. In 2007 combined total admissions for Artcam's films were under 50,000 — 0.4 percent of the national total. By comparison, leading distributor Falcon drew more than 4,000,000 viewers with its films, nearly a third of the market. However Martinek is convinced there is room in the market for small distributors and is interested in the shared challenges, from the opportunities offered by digital distribution and video-on-demand to how to negotiate with producers on minimum guarantees. The main problem is cultivating an audience. “It's very different from in Holland or Germany, where there are audiences for arthouse films,” he says.

Most of Artcam's target market is in Prague, home to roughly 1,000,000 people where European film is largely restricted to a handful of single-screen theatres, while the city's 14 multiplexes focus primarily on Hollywood imports and successful local films.

Artcam has distributed some of the most widely heralded European films of recent years, including Ole Madsen's drama ‘Prague’, ‘Persepolis’ and ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’. The international success of such films has attracted the attention of larger distributors who are now crowding the arena. This year in Cannes when they tried to acquire ‘Waltz with Bashir’, there was greater competition. Martinek says arthouse is an important part of any film culture, and lack of access to European films is hurting Czech cinema because if they lack exposure to the cinema of other countries, from new ways of narration, they cannot develop their own cinema. The Czech Ministry of Education has introduced media studies to secondary school curricula to show young people that film is “not just fun and popcorn. It's also art.”

• Polish distribution company Gutek’s Jakub Duszyński, artistic director and head of programming (along with Roman Gutek) at the Muranow movie theater also programs for the different festivals held at the theatre and for Poland’s largest film event, the Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw. A lawyer by training and a fan of Asian genre films, Duszynski has also set up a distribution company (Blink) specializing in this type of film.

Gutek Film has always been a launching pad for auteur films and has released films by Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmush and Wong Kar-Wai. Every year, they distribute two or three films not aimed solely at auteur film enthusiasts, but also at multiplex audiences. Among such titles are Tom Tykwer’s ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ and ‘Control’. Coming up are Polish features including Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Four Nights With Anna’, Piotr Lazarkiewicz’s ‘0_1_0’ and Katarzyna Adamik’s ‘Boisko bezdomnych’. They distribute almost exclusively European films. The box office is certainly dominated by US films, but by only a few titles which often have, interestingly, something European about them, for example they may be inspired by European literature.

• Slovakia’s Michal Drobny is marketing manager for Slovak distributor Continental Film. Slovakia sees 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 admissions in a year. A successful film for Continental is 10,000 to 15,000 admissions, as compared to one of the Harry Potter films which will have 200,000 admissions.

Continental releases 30 to 40 films a year and, thanks largely to its partnership with Warner Bros, enjoys a market share of 20%–30%. Continental also serve as Slovak distribution partners for Hollywood Classic Entertainment, which often buys rights to European and arthouse titles for several Eastern European territories at once. Continental acquires other titles through direct negotiation with the producers, usually from the Czech Republic. Drobny seldom attends festivals other than Berlin. This year is his first visit to San Sebastian.

Margins are tight for Continental, which is the second or third largest distributor in Slovakia. Continental is also a 30% shareholder in Slovak multiplex chain Cinemax, which owns nine cinemas countrywide. Continental also operated Bratislava's only arthouse cinema until it was turned into a congress hall.

Continental counts on public money for a small portion of its operating budget. The Slovak Ministry of Culture gives support up to a maximum of SKK 160,000 (€5,500) for the distribution of European films which covers the cost of two or three prints. Continental also receives funding through the MEDIA automatic support scheme, typically receiving 40 to 60 cents per admission for European films.

Drobny says this public support is welcome but it's seldom enough to make a real difference to distributors. “A print for a US title costs $300 [€210]. For a European title, the cost is $1,000–1500 [€700–1,000] for the print, plus I still need to pay for the all the marketing materials and the cost of subtitles,” he says. “We can't be surprised that American films are everywhere.”

Not surprisingly few European films secure distribution in Slovakia. Cinemax promotes European and arthouse film through its Artmax program and screens independent films once a week, sometimes for free. Current titles in the selection include ‘Good Bye, Lenin!’, ‘The Secret Life of Words’, ‘The Science of Sleep’, ‘Volver’ and ‘Angel’. In cooperation with the Embassy of Spain, Continental and Cinemax are creating a Spanish Days celebration of Spanish cinema at Cinemax locations in November.

Drobny has hopes that digital cinema will help small distributors, but believes it will be five to ten years before the major studios settle on a common format. Even then, the costs of converting screens will be challenging for the private sector. “To install one 2K digital system costs SKK 3m–4m [€100,000–132,000] and we have 37 screens, so it's a lot of money,” he says. “We'd like to invest but it will take a long time to see a return on that investment.”

• From Romania, Transilvania Film, founded by Tudor Giurgiu and currently run by Stefan Bradea is one of the successful pioneers of arthouse film distribution in Romania. At first they distributed mainly British, German and Scandinavian features but gradually turned to quality Romanian films, genre pictures, even some mainstream American movies. Their eclectic selection is targeted to the highly educated public, basically university graduates under 35. Their latest premiere was ‘Non pensarci’ by Gianni Zanasi, an Italian comedy. Coming up are Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’ and a few Romanian films: Horatiu Malaele’s ‘Silent Wedding’, Adrian Sitaru’s ‘Hooked’ and Anca Damian’s debut, ‘Crossing Dates’. Their most profitable film was Tudor Giurgiu’s ‘Love Sick’ with 20,800 admissions and a box office gross of over €50,000. Other successful features were Neil Burger’s ‘The Illusionist’, with 11,500 admissions, and ‘Paris Je T’Aime’, with 9,715 admissions.

Film distribution business in Romania is rather unstable. There are eight active distributors bringing 150-160 features every year to 40-50 screens around the country. The number of distributors is growing and it is becoming a overserved field.

The Romanian mainstream public has little interest in European arthouse film and there are very few available screens, no arthouse cinemas and a poor DVD and TV arthouse market. And there is competition among distributors.

• Stefan Kitanov is the founder of the most important annual film event in Bulgaria, the Sofia International Film Festival. In 2001 he founded ART FEST Ltd., the company behind Sofia IFF. The same company is one of the key European film distributors in Bulgaria. ART FEST Ltd. has three components: production, distribution and exhibition.

Most recent releases include Fatih Akin’s ‘The Edge of Heaven’, ‘The Palermo Shooting ‘by Wim Wenders and ‘Delta’ by Kornel Mundruczo. The most successful releases were Francois Ozon’s ‘Swimming Pool’ and ‘Crossing the Bridge’ by Fatih Akin with 8,000 to 10,000 admissions.

Such a distribution business is not profitable. Festival audiences like European films but the general audience likes Hollywood films. Festival audiences don’t go to regular cinemas. The general audience goes to regular cinemas, therefore European films don’t go regularly to mainstream cinemas. There need to be events around the distribution of European films so that they be seen, such as a traveling package going to different towns, whether it is with 35mm or video screenings. There are less than 30 towns in Bulgaria with cinemas.

• From Estonia, Katrin Rajaare of Tallinnfilm, a state-owned company that used to produce the majority of Estonian films during the Soviet era has stopped production and sold its studio and now focuses on restoration of its archives. In 2004, Tallinnfilm began operating as an arthouse cinema and a year later started a distribution operation to ensure continuous programming for the cinema. Tallinnfilm acquires the rights to 12-16 films a year, mostly European films, with some titles from Asia and the US. As a state-owned company, Tallinnfilm buys mostly Estonian theatrical rights only. It is the second largest distribution company in Estonia, with a market share of 2.6%. In the Baltic countries, all rights are acquired for smaller films and shared with Lithuania’s Skalvija and Latvia’s Kino Riga. Their biggest hit in 2007 was ‘La Vie en Rose’ with 9,606 paid admissions. This film was number 43 in the 2007 national box office chart. Only US and Estonian films were at the top of the chart. Recent acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ and ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ to be released around Christmas and the beginning of 2009.

There is a small, steady market for arthouse titles in the capital city of Tallinn, but the recent opening of a five-screen miniplex in the second city, Tartu (96,000 inhabitants), has brought hope from the outskirts as well. There are very few towns where you can screen European films, although the cinemas have received public support for technical equipment and should screen arthouse titles, but the reality is that you can’t force cinemas to screen certain films that won’t bring in audiences.

• From Lithuania Skalvija, an exhibitor since 1962 under the name of Planeta became the only arthouse in Lithuania in 1992. It has only one screen and 88 seats and is subsidized by the Vilnius Municipality. Located in the city center; it promotes quality cinema and pays special attention to young audiences and education. Its market share as an exhibitor is 1.11%. Two major multiplex theatres share 70 % of the entire Lithuanian exhibition market. Greta Akcijonaite heads its recent arthouse film distribution activity. Over the last two years they have released 10 films theatrically, and another 5 have been acquired for Lithuania and/or all the Baltic States. As a very small and specialized distributor, Skalvija has a market share of 0.64%. Most recent releases were the Danish film ‘Adam's Apples’, with almost 8,000 admissions and the Spanish film ‘Dark Blue Almost Black’ with over 6000 admissions. Recent acquisitions include Sam Garbarski’s ‘Irina Palm’ (Belgium/UK), Kornel Mundruczo’s ‘Delta’ (Hungary), the Palme d’Or winner ‘The Class’ (France) by Laurent Cantet, Thomas Clay’s ‘Soy Cowboy’ (Thailand/UK), Ruben Östlund’s’ Involuntary’ (Sweden), and Ilmar Raag’s ‘The Class’ (Estonia).

The market share of the European films released theatrically was 25% in 2007 although the share of admissions to European films was only 11%. There is definitely a lack of venues for screening European and quality films.

• Latvia’s Oskars Killo heads Acme Film Sia the leading independent film distributor in Latvia, established in 2004 and owned by Acme, a Lithuanian based company. The rights for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are bought by the mother company in Lithuania. In 2007, Acme Film had 62 theatrical releases and a 25% market share. In 2008, the number of films released will be the same, but the revenue is expected to be higher. In 2008, Acme Film has had such European successes as French films ‘99 Francs’ and ‘Asterix at the Olympic Games’, and Spain’s ‘The Orphanage’. The last European hit was ‘2 Days in Paris’, released on one print on July 4, 2008 and still in release with 12,500 admissions thus far. ‘Cash’ was released on one print on August 1 and has 8,500 admissions so far. The results for ‘2 Days in Paris’ and ‘Cash’ are comparable to recent US releases in Latvia such as ‘The X-Files 2’, and ‘Disaster Movie’. Recent European acquisitions include ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’, ‘Paris’, ‘JCVD’, ‘The Duchess’, ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’, ‘Vinyan’, ‘Ne te retourne pas’ among others.

In 2007, European films had a 18.3% market share, US films a 66% market share, the rest of the world 10.1% and national films a 5.5% market share.