The Paris-based Pretty Pictures has picked French and other country rights to Stig Bjorkman’s Ingrid Bergman, In Her Own Words, which played as a Cannes Classics premiere.
Aiming to broaden its scope beyond French distribution, James Velaise’s Pretty Pictures acquired all rights to the documentary for the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium from Scandinavian sales company TrustNordisk.
“It is vital that in today’s changing world of French distribution that one broadens ones horizons and looks to other territories,” pointed out Velaise. The exec however noted that the idea behind the acquisition wasn’t to start “acting as sales agent but seeing how (they) can best nurture the film in these territories so that the film really gets noticed, as it thoroughly deserves to be.”
As announced yesterday, Rialto Pictures has just nabbed all North American rights to the documentary and will release in November to qualify it an Oscar nomination. Ahead of its U.S. and Canadian premieres, “Ingrid Bergman” will also play at a bunch of festivals including the New York film fest.
“We absolutely fell in love with Stig Björkman’s documentary in Cannes and when all these territories remained open just after Cannes, we had to jump in and do something new for us,” Velaise explained.
An intimate portrait of the Swedish-born Hollywood icon which celebrates the centenary anniversary of her birth, “Ingrid Bergman” features exclusive private footage, notes, letters, diaries and interviews with her children and former colleagues.
The critically-aclaimed documentary is produced by Stina Gardell for Mantaray Film. NonStop Entertainment handles distribution in the Nordics.
