EXCLUSIVE: Berlin Film Festival winner Rose, which stars Oscar nominee and European actress-of-the-hour Sandra Hüller, has been picked up by Mubi for all rights in North America, UK, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.
Markus Schleinzer’s black-and-white period critical hit had its world premiere in competition at the Berlinale and won Hüller the festival’s Silver Bear for best leading performance.
Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest actress Hüller, currently on screens opposite Ryan Gosling in box office hit Project Hail Mary, plays a mysterious soldier who appears in a secluded Protestant village amidst the turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War.
The synopsis continues: “Small and quiet, his face disfigured by a scar, this stranger declares himself the heir of a long-abandoned farmstead and produces a document to support his claim to the suspicious villagers. With time, he overcomes their doubts and shows himself to be a hard-working, God-fearing man, becoming part of the community in a quest for acceptance made up of impossible deceit.”
Deadline’s critic Damon Wise described the film as “a remarkable piece of work, one that cements [Hüller’s] reputation as a striking yet surprisingly chameleonic talent with Tilda Swinton’s eye for dark but intellectually rewarding material.”
The versatile Hüller could potentially be back in the awards race again later this year with movies including Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cannes hopeful Fatherland, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Warner Bros film Digger with Tom Cruise.
Rose is an Austrian-German production from Schubert, Row Pictures and Walker + Worm Film, produced by Johannes Schubert, Philipp Worm, Tobias Walker and Karsten Stöter. Mubi has yet to set a release date. Mubi-owned The Match Factory handles sales and has already sold the film to a host of overseas markets.
The film marks the third feature for Schleinzer. His previous films include his debut, Michael (2011), which premiered in Cannes competition, and Angelo (2018), which played in competition at San Sebastian and Toronto.
Schleinzer spent the best part of two decades as one of Europe’s most celebrated casting directors, working with filmmakers including Jessica Hausner, Ulrich Seidl and Michael Haneke. For Haneke’s Golden Globe winner and Oscar-nominated film The White Ribbon, he was responsible not only for casting the child actors but also for directing their performances on set.
Mubi’s recent releases include Oscar winner Sentimental Value, BAFTA winner My Father’s Shadow, Oscar nominee The Secret Agent, Oscar nominated It Was Just An Accident, and Jim Jarmusch’s Golden Lion winner Father Mother Sister Brother. Upcoming are Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, Felix Van Groeningen’s Let Love In, Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter.
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