MUMBAI: Chaitanya Tamhane's provocative film, Court, which premiered and won two major awards at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, has been acquired by New York based Zeitgeist Films, for US distribution.
Opening to rave reviews, Court won two coveted awards at Venice - the Orizzonti award for Best Film and the Lion of the Future award for a Debut Film. Lauded for its thought-provoking take on India's judicial system, it generated a strong buzz on the festival circuit last year, playing at 19 festivals and winning sixteen awards.
Zeitgeist is renowned for bringing path breaking, auteur-driven films to theatres, and has previously distributed films such as Abbas Kiarostami's Taste Of Cherry, Christopher Nolan's Following, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Three Monkeys and many more.
Zeitgeist Films co-president Nancy Gerstman said, "Anyone who is interested in the constantly changing face of India -- with its fascinating contradictions -- will appreciate Court. We don't use the word 'amazing' too often, but there is no other way to describe this film and the amount of awards it has collected confirms that others feel the same way."
Among its other accolades, Court won best film and best director in the international category, honouring the first film by a director, at the Mumbai Film Festival. This was the first time an Indian film won in this section. From there on, it went on to win a FIPRESCI award at the Vienna International Film Festival, the New Talent award at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, and the Grand Prix at the Auteur Film Festival in Serbia.
The 27 year old debutant writer-director, Chaitanya Tamhane said, “We could not have asked for a better collaborator for our US release. Given the fact that over the past two decades, Zeitgeist has discovered and supported the films of some of my favourite filmmakers, this feels like a true honour."
The young producer, Vivek Gomber, who also stars in the film added, “I am thrilled to have Zeitgeist on board. As filmmakers, we want our work to reach as many audiences as possible, across the world. With such an established, well respected, and fearless distributor supporting us, I feel we are in good hands for our American release.”
A Zoo Entertainment production, Court is slated for an early summer release in India.
