THINK Adopts 'BROTHER'

THINK Adopts 'BROTHER'

Sets North American date for March 2008

NEW YORK, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- THINKFilm has acquired North American rights to Daniele Luchetti's MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD (MIO FRATELLO E FIGLIO UNICO), which is about to be unveiled at the Toronto International Film Festival in its first major film festival presentation since having its world premiere in the Official Selection in Cannes this past Spring. THINK theatrical division head Mark Urman has set a March 2008 opening date for the film, which THINKFilm International has been representing for worldwide sales since Cannes. THINKFilm International Head of Sales, Eve Schoukroun, along with THINK executives Urman, Randy Manis (Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Business Affairs) and Ben Stambler (Director of Acquisitions) sealed the arrangement with Marco Chimenz, who produced the film with Riccardo Tozzi and Giovanni Stabilini, his partners at Cattleya, their Rome-based film and TV production company.

Already a smash in its native Italy, where it has earned $8.5 million (US), BROTHER reunites Luchetti with longtime collaborators Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, best known as screenwriters of the highly acclaimed "The Best of Youth." Set in a small Italian town in the 60's and 70's, the film tells the story of two brothers who want to change the world -- but in completely different ways. The elder, Manrico (Riccardo Scarmaccio,) is a handsome, charismatic firebrand who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio (Elio Germano,) the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrarian voice by joining the reactionary Fascists. What starts as a typical tale of sibling rivalry becomes the story of the polarizing and paralyzing politics of those turbulent times, and the rift between the brothers is further intensified when Accio realizes that he loves his brother's girlfriend, Francesca (Diane Fleri) who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico's increasingly dangerous ideas.

About the film, Urman says, "MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD is an intensely cinematic, incredibly incisive film about the dreams and the disappointments of the 60's and 70's. Not only is the film set in the exact era of the groundbreaking early classics of Bertolucci and Belocchio, it pays explicit homage to those films, and ultimately matches their beauty, intelligence, and exuberance."

Chimenz of Cattleya says, "We are excited to continue our relationship with THINKFilm in the U.S. after their international division already showed its enthusiasm for MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD when they picked it up for world sales before Cannes. We are quite familiar with THINKFilm's track record in the U.S. for handling films at once stimulating, provocative and entertaining, and we are proud for our company and our film to be associated with them."

Following TIFF, BROTHER will play notable festivals in the U.S. and Canada throughout the fall and winter. THINKFilm will also present Sidney Lumet's eagerly anticipated BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney, at Toronto in its North American premiere, and Paul Schrader's THE WALKER, starring Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Lauren Bacall, which screens as a Gala presentation on September 13th.

MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD ("Mio Fratello E Figlio Unico") is directed by Daniele Luchetti, produced by Riccardo Tozzi, Giovanni Stabilini, Marco Chimenz, co-produced by Fabio Conversi, with a screenplay written by Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli and Daniele Luchetti, cinematography by Claudio Collepiccolo, editing by Mirco Garrone, costume design by Maria Rita Barbera, production design by Francesco Frigeri, and music by Franco Piersanti. The film is based on the book "Il Fasciocomunista" by Antonio Pennacchi.

About THINKFilm

THINKFilm is a privately held production and distribution company founded in September 2001. In the fall of 2006, it was bought by film financier and producer David Bergstein, who is now the company's Chairman. Boasting five Academy Award nominations in as many years, most recently with Ryan Gosling nominated for Best Actor in 2006 for HALF NELSON, and a win for Best Documentary with BORN INTO BROTHELS in 2005, THINKFilm's current and forthcoming releases include: David Sington's IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON on September 7th; Sidney Lumet's BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Marisa Tomei on October 26th; Tony Kaye's LAKE OF FIRE on October 3rd, festival favorite WAR/DANCE from filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine on November 2nd, Paul Schrader's THE WALKER starring Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lauren Bacall on December 7th , and Alex Gibney's award-winning TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, coming out later this year. For more information, please visit http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com/.

    Contact for the film:    Alex Klenert, THINKFilm, (212) 444-7900, aklenert@thinkfilmcompany.com    Tom Piechura, 42West, (212) 277-7555, tom.piechura@42west.net  

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: THINKFilm

CONTACT: Alex Klenert of THINKFilm, +1-212-444-7900,
aklenert@thinkfilmcompany.com; or Tom Piechura of 42West, +1-212-277-7555,
tom.piechura@42west.net, for THINKFilm

Web site: http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment