In a deal signed yesterday, Sony Pictures Classics grabbed North American rights to Israeli first film Broken Wings, which plays in Berlin's Panorama section.

The film, directed by Nir Bergman, is darkly comic but uplifting story of a family coping with the turmoil that follows the accidental death of their patriarch.

Since premiering at the Jerusalem Film Festival last year Broken Wings has collected a hat-full of awards including prizes for best first film at Jerusalem and Tokyo and nine out of eleven awards at the recent Israeli Academy Awards. On Israeli theatrical distribution it also performed to blockbuster standards, garnering over 200,000 admissions. Pathe International picked up the film after Mifed.

Pathe International chief, Alison Thompson said: 'We are delighted to have Sony Classics on board. They were our number one choice. Broken Wings is a film they are very passionate about and we know they will give great distribution to.'

Producer, Assaf Amir said that he and director Bergman are preparing his next film Frou-Frou for an April shoot.