Palace Films has picked up all Australasian rights to Rolf de Heer's tenth feature Alexandra's Project and, in what is the largest ever financial commitment to an Australian film by the long-standing distributor, has also signed on as a major investor. Palace founder and manager director Antonio Zeccola will get an executive producer credit as a result.

"This is the natural progression of our close involvement with Australian features to date, and the result of a convergence of factors, most importantly our rapport with and respect for the Fandango team," said Zeccola. "It is a gripping and provocative script, destined to be Rolf's most controversial film since Bad Boy Bubby. Just reading it is like sitting with a ticking bomb - in your underwear."

Zeccola's company has released more than 15 Australian features in the last five years with varying degrees of financial involvement, but has not previously taken an equity position. This project, a psycho-sexual thriller about marriage and sex, is the first under the recently formed Fandango Australia, which consolidates all the Australian operations of Italian producer/distributor Domenico Procacci. Fandango Distribuzione has acquired all rights for Italy.

The predominantly privately financed film has just started shooting at the South Australian Film Corporation studios. Gary Sweet and Helen Buday are in the lead roles and Procacci, De Heer and Julie Ryan are producing. Palace Films, which also owns about 60 quality cinema screens in a joint venture with Village Roadshow, this week releases The Last Kiss produced in Italy by Procacci.