Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Alex Camilleri’s feature debut, Luzzu which world-premiered at Sundance where it won the Special Jury Award for its lead actor, Jesmark Scicluna.
The movie is being sold by Memento International. Kino Lorber will be releasing the film later this year. Other territories sold by Memento include the U.K. (Peccadillo), France (Epicentre), China (Hugoeast), Spain (Wanda), Scandinavia (Edge), Portugal (Legendmain), Greece (Weirdwave), former Yugoslavia (Kino Mediteran) and Eastern Europe (HBO).
Penned, directed and edited by Camilleri, Luzzu revolves around Jesmark, a struggling fisherman on the island of Malta who is forced to risk everything by entering the world of black market fishing in order to provide for his wife and newborn baby.
Luzzu was the first Maltese feature to compete in a major international festival. The film was praised by critics for the poignant performances of non-actors and professionals in lead roles. The movie is produced by Rebecca Anastasi, Ramin Bahrani, Camilleri and Pellikola’s Oliver Mallia.