Golden Bear Winner ‘Yellow Letters’ Sells to Further Distributors

Ilker Çatak’s political drama “Yellow Letters,” which won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, has sold to further territories, including the U.K., where it was acquired by Curzon Film.

Çatak’s last film, Oscar nominated “The Teachers’ Lounge,” was also distributed in the U.K. by Curzon.

“Yellow Letters,” which follows an artist couple facing political repression in Turkey, has nine nominations, including best film, director and screenplay, at the German Film Awards, also known as the Lolas.

International sales are handled by Brussels-based Be For Films.

The latest sales include to Rialto Distribution for Australia and New Zealand, Beta Film for Bulgaria, Films We Like for Canada, Angel Distribution for Denmark, Cinema Mondo for Finland, First Distributors for Hong Kong, Falcon for Indonesia, Picture Works for India, Nachshon Film for Israel, JinJin Pictures for Korea, Moving Turtle for Middle East, Swallow Wings for Taiwan and Curzon Film for the U.K.

Deals for the U.S. and Japan are in discussion.

Louisa Dent at Curzon said: “We had the pleasure of working with Ilker on the Oscar-nominated ‘The Teachers’ Lounge,’ and we are delighted to team up again with him on ‘Yellow Letters,’ a film which has the rare ability to make its social commentary and moral quandary feel incredibly naturalistic, timely and universal. A most deserving Golden Bear winner, we are honored to bring it to audiences in the U.K. and Ireland.”

The film is produced by Ingo Fliess of If… Productions, in co-production with Haut et Court in France and Limanfilm in Turkey.

The film pre-sold to Benelux (Cineart), France (Haut et Court), Germany (Alamode), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Sweden (Lucky Dogs), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), the Baltics (Aone), Croatia (Kino Mediteran), Hungary (Mozinet), Poland (Aurora), Serbia (Five Stars), Slovenia (Demiurg), Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic), Greece (Cinobo), Norway (As Fidalgo), Portugal (Alambique) and Turkey (Bir Film).