Sony Pictures Classics (SPC)has acquired North American rights to Ondrej Trojan's Zelary, the Czech World War II epic which is this year'sCzech Republic entry for the best foreign language film Academy Award.

The deal was struck betweenSPC and Neil Friedman of Menemsha Entertainment who had previously soldTrojan's production Divided We Fallas well as Argentinian hit Son Of The Bride to SPC.

Setagainst the backdrop of Nazi occupation in the Czechoslovakia during World WarII, Zelary is the story of thelove affair between a mountain man (Gyorgy Cserhalmi) and a nurse (AnaGeislerova) devoted to the Resistance who is sent to the mountains to hide fromthe occupiers.

"Zelary is both a great critical and commercial success inthe Czech Republic," said NeilFriedman in a statement. "Menemsha will now begin to introduce Zelary to cinemagoers all over the world outside the CzechRepublic. With our international debut of the film, we are absolutely in thebest hands by being with Sony Pictures Classics."