Bavaria Film International has closed a series of all-rights deals for Baran bo Odar’s debut feature The Silence (Das letzte Schweigen).

Following its international premiere as an open-air screening on Locarno’s Piazza Grande last month,The Silencewas sold to the new French distributor DistriB Films headed by SND’s former Head of Distribution Matthieu Bardel. A two-prong release in both arthouse and commercial cinemas with a French dubbed version is planned.

The adaptation of Jan Costin Wagner’s bestseller of the same name has also been sold to Spain’s Karma Film, the Brunbro Entertainment Group for Benelux as well as Colombia’s Babilla Cine and Turkey’s FILMART Film.

The suspenseful crime drama had its world premiere at Filmfest München and had been one of the titles selected to screen at the German Films Previews in Hamburg in July. NFP marketing & distribution released The Silence in German cinemas on Aug 19 and has posted over € 132,000 box-office takings to date.

Meanwhile, Berlin-based licence trader Eastern European Acquisition Pool (EEAP) has taken on the distribution rights for Central and East European territories for Til Schweiger’s latest romantic comedy Kokowääh which wrapped principal photography last week.

Following the success of Schweiger’s hit films Rabbit Without Ears (Keinohrhasen) and Rabbit Without Ears 2 (Zweiohrküken) in Russian cinemas, EEAP expects Kokowääh to be released there in the first half of 2011.

EEAP has handled the rights for Central and Eastern Europe to all of the films from Schweiger and Tom Zickler’s Berlin-based production outfit Barefoot Films since the first film, the romantic comedy Barefoot (Barfuß).

The film’s co-producer Warner Bros. Pictures Germany will bring Kokowääh into German cinemas next February.

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