Vancouver, BC (August 26, 2015) – Soda Pictures has acquired the Canadian rights to Ben Wheatley’s HIGH RISE, which will have its World Premiere in TIFF’s new juried Platform strand. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elizabeth Moss and Jeremy Irons, it is based on JG Ballard’s novel and is produced by Jeremy Thomas. The deal was negotiated between Soda’s MD Eve Gabereau and HanWay’s MD Thorsten Schumacher. Gabereau says she is “thrilled to be part of such an exciting film that is sure to become a cult classic alongside another Ballard adaptation Crash and the William S. Burroughs adaptation Naked Lunch. With Wheatley’s own signature style and an A-list cast, we cannot wait for audiences to dive into it.”
Soda Pictures also announces the acquisition of DISORDER by Alice Winocour, starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Diane Kruger for both the UK and Canada. It screened in Un Certain Regard in Cannes and will be a Gala Presentation at TIFF. Soda’s Acquisitions Manager Frances Harvey led the dealings with Indie Sales’ Nicolas Eschbach. Harvey says that “Schoenaerts delivers another faultless performance in this masterful film and we are very happy to be working with the great team at Indie Sales to bring the film to the UK, Ireland and Canada.”
Also, as part of their artist film label Soda Film + Art (SoFA), they are presenting the conceptual piece INVENTION in the Wavelengths section. An anthology of 12 films by leading visual artist Mark Lewis, it was shot in the Louvre, across São Paulo and in Toronto and is an homage to the City Symphony films of the 1920s, namely Man with a Movie Camera. Soda is both a producer and distributor on the film, while the National Film Board of Canada are co-producers and represent the international rights. Soda’s in-house Production and Development Manager, who is also a co-producer on film, Emily Morgan says “after shooting the films in various iconic and lesser known corners of three cities and showing some of the shorts as part of gallery installations, it’s now exciting to be crossing over into the cinema space with the world premiere at TIFF.”
Soda Pictures also holds UK rights to TIFF films LOUDER THAN BOMBS directed by Joachim Trier (Special Presentation), Icelandic RAMS by Grímur Hákonarson (Contemporary World Cinema), THE HERE AFTER by first-time director Magnus von Horn (Discovery), children’s animation PHANTOM BOY (TIFF Kids), and Guy Maddin’s THE FORBIDDEN ROOM (Wavelengths).
For further press information regarding the above films please contact:
UK – Olivia Jarvis (London office)
olivia@sodapictures.com
+44 207 377 1407
CANADA – Nicola Pender (Vancouver office)
nicola@thunderbird.tv
+1 604 683 3555
About Soda Pictures – A Thunderbird Company
Soda Pictures is an Anglo-Canadian film distributor of art house, independent and world cinema. Established in London in 2002 by Eve Gabereau and Edward Fletcher, the company releases 25+ films a year and has a library of over 300 films from all corners of the world. In September 2014, it was announced that Soda Pictures was acquired by the Canadian production company Thunderbird Films in order to join a greater media group, build a theatrical film division in Canada and expand their existing business in the UK and Ireland. They launched the new venture at Toronto International Film Festival with the World Premiere of Lone Scherfig’s The Riot Club.