Franco-German production and sales outfit The Co-Production Office snatched an early sale on Noi Albinoi, which is in the main Tiger Awards competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The film was sold to Switzerland's Xenix in the hours immediately following its Rotterdam premiere and other deals are expected to follow later this week at Rotterdam and at next week's European Film Market in Berlin.

The story of an boy who dreams of escaping from his snowy, white prison in Iceland this week the picture also scooped the first prize at the Premier Plans festival of first films in Angers, France. In Angers, Noi Albinoi also collected the award for best music, which was composed by director Dagur Kari.

Structured as an Icelandic-German-UK-French co-production, the film has a strong Rotterdam connection, having been presented at the festival's CineMart projects market in 2001.