News

Film Movement has announced the acquisition of U.S. distribution rights for Pedro Martin-Calero’s unsettling horror feature debut “The Wailing” (“El llanto”), a standout during its world premiere at last year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.

The announcement was made by Michael Rosenberg, president, Film Movement and Vicente Canales, managing director of Film Factory Entertainment, the film’s sales agent.

The film, a Spain-Argentina co-production, earned Martin-Calero the Silver Shell for best director at San Sebastián and was nominated for the Spanish Academy Goya Award for best new director. It is set for a theatrical release in 2025, followed by digital and home entertainment releases.

In the film, three young women separated by decades and thousands of miles are terrorized by the same ethereal threat that nobody, not even they, can properly see. The entity manifests more like a trick of lighting than anything corporeal. In each case, when the...

Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to Seán Devlin’s docudrama Asog exposing a land grab by developers on the Philippines’ picturesque Sicogon Island in the wake of a devastating super-typhoon.

Mixing fictionalized and documentary elements, the work stars Filipino transgender comedian Rey “Jaya” Aclao, who takes a student on a road trip to a drag competition.

Along the way, they encounter survivors of a destructive typhoon, who are caught between the twin threats of corporate greed and climate change.

Film Movement will give the work a limited theatrical run beginning in the spring, with screenings powered by crowdsourced platforms Gathr and Demand.Film.

Following its theatrical release, Asog will be available for VOD and leading digital outlets beginning April 11, 2025.

Based on true events on Sicogon Island, Asog exposes a corporate land grab that took place in the wake of the 2013 super-typhoon Haiyan by Ayala Land Inc., the Philippines’ oldest corporation and real estate developer,...

Indie distributor Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to “Paying for It,” an indie comedy about an introverted cartoonist who starts sleeping with sex workers that premiered positively in Toronto.

Set in the late ’90s, “Paying for It” is a live-action adaptation of Canadian alternative-cartoonist Chester Brown’s bestselling graphic novel. In the partly autobiographical film, when Chester’s girlfriend announces she wants to explore other romantic options, Brown opts to sleep with sex workers and discovers a new kind of intimacy.

“Paying for It” is directed by multidisciplinary artist Sook-Yin Lee, who was Chester Brown’s real romantic partner when the real-life story took place.

The film – which is executive produced by John Cameron Mitchell and Dan Beirne – stars Beirne, emerging actor Emily Lê (“Riceboy Sleeps”) and acclaimed activist, author and performer Andrea Werhun.

“Paying for It” launched from Toronto’s Platform section in 2024 and was named by...

As far as breakups go, cartoonist Chester Brown (Dan Beirne) faces a relatively soft blow. In the early moments of Sook-Yin Lee’s “Paying For It,” he wakes up next to his then-girlfriend, Sonny (Emily Lê), who announces that she thinks she’s begun to fall in love with another man. She’s looking for acceptance to see “where this goes.” Chester, almost inhumanely agreeable, acquesses.

Continue reading ‘Paying For It’ Review: Director Sook-Yin Lee Explores Monogamy, Relationships & Sexual Freedoms [TIFF] at The Playlist.

Paris-based Loco Films has boarded “Paying For It,” Canadian helmer Sook-Yin Lee (“Octavio is Dead!”)’s adaptation of Chester Brown’s best-selling graphic novel. The movie is world premiering at Toronto Film Festival in the competitive Platform section.

Co-written by Lee and Joanne Sarazen, the live action movie stars Dan Beirne, emerging actor Emily Lê (“Riceboy Sleeps”), and acclaimed activist, author and performer Andrea Werhun.

The film explores the themes of love, sex and non-monogamy for adults. It’s set in the late 90s and revolves around Chester, an introverted cartoonist who starts sleeping with sex workers and discovers a new kind of intimacy after his girlfriend, Sonny, decides to redefine their committed relationship.

“Paying For It” is produced by Matt Code of Wildling Pictures, whose credits include “See for Me,” “Mary Goes Round” and the upcoming “Young Werther;” as well as Sonya Di Rienzo and Aeschylus Poulos of Hawkeye Pictures...