Sideshow and Janus Films Acquire North American Rights to THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS
The film had its world premiere this year at the Cannes Film Festival.
By: Michael Major Jul. 12, 2022
Sideshow and Janus Films announced TODAY that they have acquired North American rights for THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS, an epic tale of friendship told over the span of a lifetime set in the Italian Alpine valley of Aosta.
The film is written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch. It is produced by Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa for Wildside, a Fremantle Company, co-produced with Belgium's Rufus and Menuetto, France Pyramide Pictures and Vision Distribution and produced in collaboration with the U.K.'s Elastic and with Sky.
Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi star in the film along with Filippo Timi, Elena Lietti, and Elisabetta Mazzullo. The film, which is based on Paolo Cognetti's award-winning novel of the same name, had its world premiere this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. Sideshow and Janus Films are planning a theatrical release at the end of the year.
THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS is the story of a friendship. Of children becoming men who try to erase the footprints of their fathers, but who, through the twists and turns they take, always end up returning home. Pietro is a boy from the city, Bruno is the last child of a forgotten mountain village.
Over the years Bruno remains faithful to his mountain, while Pietro is THE ONE who comes and goes. Their encounters introduce them to love and loss, reminding them of their origins, letting their destinies unfold, as Pietro and Bruno discover what it means to be true friends for life.
"We are thrilled with this news," says directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch. "We admire Sideshow / Janus Films for their exquisite taste and talent to bring the world's most special films to a broad audience. We feel we have found the perfect home for our film and know this story will breathe air into the lives of people around the world."
Sideshow and Janus Films said: "We fell in love with THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS, a sweeping, deeply moving film about friendship filled with heart and featuring tremendous performances by Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi. We are thrilled to collaborate with Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Mario Giannani and Lorenzo Gangarossa to bring this special film to North America."
The deal was negotiated by CAA Media Finance and Vision Distribution on behalf of the filmmakers with Janus Films and Sideshow.
Founded in 1956, Janus Films was the first theatrical distribution company dedicated to bringing international art-house films to U.S. audiences. Janus handles rights in all media to an extensive library that includes the work of Michelangelo Antonioni, Věra Chytilová, Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Abbas Kiarostami, Akira Kurosawa, Ousmane Sembène, Andrei Tarkovsky, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, and Yasujiro Ozu.
Sideshow is a theatrical distribution label founded to release visionary films. Sideshow recently partnered with Janus Films on the release of DRIVE MY CAR, which was nominated for four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film, which it won.
Their upcoming releases include: Shaunak Sen's ALL THAT BREATHES, the first documentary to win the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Cannes L'Œil d'Or for Best Documentary; Jerzy Skolimowski's EO, which shared the Jury Prize at Cannes with THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS; and Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne's TORI AND LOKITA, which won the 75th Anniversary Prize at Cannes.
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