EXCLUSIVE: Sergei Loznitsa’s drama Two Prosecutors, set against the backdrop of Stalin’s Great Terror, has chalked up a fresh round of deals following its well-received world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Paris-based Coproduction Office has sealed new sales to Spain (Wanda Vision, Filmin), the Nordics and Iceland (Edge Entertainment), Poland (Aurora Films), Greece (Filmtrade) Turkey (Bir Film), Australia and New Zealand (Sharmill Films), Japan (Longride Inc.), Taiwan (Andrews Film), Hong Kong (Edko), India (Impact), Indonesia (Falcon Pictures), Brazil (Retrato Filmes), and Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay (Zeta Films).
Previously announced deals include to Italy (Lucky Red), Portugal (Alambique), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Hungary (Vertigo), Eastern Europe (HBO Europe), Estonia (Filmstop), ex-Yugoslavia, Israel (Lev) and Middle East (Falcon Films).
The film was pre-acquired by Pyramide Distribution for France, which has set a September release, and Progress Film for Germany.
Adapted from the eponymous novel by physicist and Gulag survivor Georgy Demidov, the film is set in the Soviet Union’s era of Great Terror, or Great Purge, in the late 1930s, in which Joseph Stalin consolidated his power by either killing or incarcerating political opponents in harsh labor camps.
The film focuses on a young prosecutor who sets out to challenge a system during this period after discovering a letter from a prisoner who is a desperate plea for help.
MyRumors critic Damon Wise noted the contemporary resonance of the story, calling the film “a bleak warning from history’ in his review, adding it held “relevance to every country wrestling with authoritarian political parties right now.”
The film is produced by Kevin Chneiweiss for France’s SBS Productions, alongside Loznitsa’s Netherlands-based banner Atoms & Void.
Additional producers include Germany’s Looks Film, Latvia’s White Picture, Romania’s Avanpost Media, and Lithuania’s Studio Uljana Kim. SBS International is handling rights for the U.S. and U.K.
Loznitsa, who is best known for his politically charged documentaries and strong fictional narratives, most recently presented his documentary The Invasion in the Special Screening Section at Cannes 2024.
His past feature credits include My Joy (Cannes Competition 2010), In the Fog (Cannes Competition 2022), A Gentle Creature (Cannes Competition 2017) and Donbass (Best Director, Cannes Un Certain Regard 2018).