New York, NY (April 21, 2011) – IFC Midnight announced today that the company has acquired U.S. distribution rights from sales and production outfit XYZ Films for director Dick Maas’ evil Santa film SAINT. The deal includes a theatrical component and was made prior to the movie’s North American premiere in the Cinemania section at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. Maas wrote the screenplay for the picture and produced with Tom de Mol. Starring Huub Stapel, Egbert-Jan Weeber, Caro Lenssen, Bert Luppes and Escha Tanihatu, the Dutch film will premiere tonight at 9:00pm at the AMC Loews Village 7.
An original and delightfully gruesome slasher film, SAINT re-imagines jolly old Saint Nick as a murderous bishop fulfilling a grisly prophecy under the December full moon. Packed with creative yuletide horror, SAINT is a fun chiller that follows local teen Frank (Weeber) as he sets out on a bloody, high-energy battle to save Amsterdam from the wrathful “Sinterklaas†and his minions.
Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: “Dick Maas has created a high-octane, extraordinarily chilling film that is truly unlike anything we’ve seen before. It’s sure to make a huge splash with audiences at the Tribeca Film Festival.â€
The deal for SAINT was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films on behalf of the filmmakers.
Additional Tribeca Film Festival screenings:
* Saturday, April 23, 11:59 p.m. – Clearview Chelsea Cinemas
* Sunday, April 24, 12:00 p.m. – AMC Loews Village 7
* Wednesday, April 27, 11:30 p.m. – AMC Loews Village 7
At Tribeca, XYZ Films is also representing North America rights on the narrative competition film THE LAST RITES OF JOE MAY starring Dennis Farina and written and directed by Joseph Maggio; BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW, the feature film debut of writer and director Panos Cosmatos and featuring a hypnotic analog synthesizer score by Jeremy Schmidt of Sinoia Caves and Black Mountain; RABIES from Israeli filmmakers Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado; and U.S. rights on the feature documentary THE SWELL SEASON.
IFC Midnight is a sister division to Sundance Selects and IFC Films, and is owned and operated by Rainbow Media.
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About IFC MIDNIGHT
Established in 2010 and based in New York City, IFC Midnight is a leading U.S. distributor of genre entertainment including horror, science-fiction, thrillers, erotic art house, action and more. Its unique distribution model makes independent genre films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters as well as on cable’s Video On Demand (VOD) platform, reaching nearly 50 million homes. Some of the company’s successes have included Tom Six’s controversial horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence) and Johnnie To’s Hong Kong revenge thriller Vengeance. Upcoming IFC Midnight releases include Miguel Angel Vivas’ powerful and shocking home invasion flick Kidnapped and Tom Six’s highly anticipated frightfest The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence). IFC Midnight is a sister division to Sundance Selects and IFC Films, and is owned and operated by Rainbow Media.
About XYZ FILMS
XYZ is an LA-based production and sales company founded by Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, and Aram Tertzakian. In addition to handling North American sales at top-tier film festivals, XYZ is also partnered with French international sales outfit, Celluloid Dreams, for international sales. The partnership, launched in May of 2010 as “Celluloid Nightmares,†brings together the pedigree of Celluloid Dreams with the genre savvy of XYZ. XYZ has been a leader in the independent film space since it acquired an ownership stake in leading international film site Twitch (www.twitchfilm.com) and partnered with Twitch founder, Todd Brown, to expand XYZ’s sales initiative.
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