Vision Films Nabs ‘The Scent of Rain & Lightning’; House Of Film Acquires ‘Little Gandhi’ — AFM Briefs
Vision Films has acquired the international sales rights to thriller The Scent of Rain & Lightning, which will be presented at the annual American Film Market in Santa Monica. Blake Robbins directed the film, which stars Maika Monroe (It Follows), Mark Webber (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), Will Patton (Falling Skies), Bonnie Bedelia (Parenthood), Justin Chatwin (Shameless), Aaron Poole (The Void), Logan Miller (Before I Fall), Brad Carter (True Detective) and Maggie Grace (Taken). Based on the novel by Nancy Pickard, the pic centers on a young woman who learns her parents’ killer has been released from jail. She begins questioning the police investigation and uncovers her own family secrets in order to piece together the shocking truth. Jeff Robison and Casey Twenter wrote the screenplay as well as produced the project with Jeff Johnson, Kevin Waller, Dan Koetting, and Grace. Pickard served as exec producer along with Carolyn Paul.
House of Film, LLC, has secured worldwide sales rights to director Sam Kadi’s documentary Little Gandhi, Syria’s first submission in the Motion Picture Academy’s Foreign Language category. It follows the life of Syrian peace activist Ghiyath Matar, who became internationally known as “Little Gandhi” for his initiative in facing down violent government security forces with flowers and bottles of water. His capture, torture and subsequent death at the age of 26 outraged the international community. Making the project was an arduous journey for Kadi who had to direct the doc outside of Syria via Skype and filmmakers had to recruit Syrian activists who risked their lives to help arrange and film the interviews after being trained on basic filmmaking techniques also on Skype. The film, which will be at AFM, has been screened for the U.S. Congress, Canadian Parliament, the United Nations, the British Red Cross, and Amnesty International. HOF President Ava B negotiated the deal with Sam K Production.
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