As part of an ongoing internationalisation of its activities, the Oscar-winning German production outfit MTM Medien & Television München (Nowhere In Africa) has joined forces with the Los Angeles-based Key Entertainment to acquire the film rights to Indian writer Shashi Tharoor 's best-selling novel Riot: A Love Story.

The tragic love story between a young American female student and a district magistrate in provincial India was described by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel on its publication as "a remarkable tale about violence and hope in a land that has known both; it confirms Shashi Tharoor as a major voice in contemporary literature."

The production credits of Matthias Emcke's Key Entertainment include Melanie Mayron's Slap Her, She's French and Paul Verhoeven's action thriller Solace.