Beta Film, the German-based international rights and sales arm of the insolvent Kirch Media, has sealed a European distribution deal for twelve feature films from Neuer Markt-listed financier Intertainment.

The deal will see Beta distributing titles such as The Art Of War, starring Wesley Snipes, across TV, video and some theatrical markets across Europe and certain Asian territories. Other titles include The Whole Nine Yards, Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her and Battlefield Earth.

The precise territories and platforms that Beta will handle will vary on a title-by-title basis, depending on the nature of Intertainment's investment and the remaining rights. The deal excludes Germany, where Intertainment has a seperate deal.

"They are perfect for video and television," Beta Film managing director Jens Richter told Screendaily. "The casts have high recognition, and they are easy to market for distributors. All these movies have a lot of value on television."

Many of the titles come from an output deal between Intertainment and Franchise Pictures struck in 2000, the terms of which are the subject of an ongoing legal dispute between the two.

At a brunch on Tuesday (October 8) at TV programmes market MIPCOM in Cannes, Beta Film also unveiled details of an investigative documentary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, made for Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

Other product in Beta's MIPCOM lineup includes adventure mini-series Hunt For The Hidden Relic, from German company Rat Pack, and Sass, a tale of bankrobbing brothers in the 1930s.

Richter stressed Beta's independence from the problems at insolvent Kirch, which filed for bankruptcy in April this year.

"We restructured and rethought our company, so it was more independent from Kirch basically," Richter told Screendaily, "and that the ties to Kirch Media were structured in a way so that we weren't involved in the whole insolvency thing."

"There will be an investor coming into Kirch Media, and Beta will part of the new integrated media holding,"