EXCLUSIVE: Early in the market, new partners Celluloid Dreams and uConnect have picked up James Napier Robertson’s Genesis, currently shooting in New Zealand and starring Cliff Curtis.
The film tells the story of Genesis Potini, a Maori and former speed-chess champion afflicted with mental illness, who struggles against the odds to help the chess club he formed to succeed and enable the street kids who have joined it to build a positive future for themselves.
The screenplay was inspired by Jim Marbrook’s 2007 documentary The Dark Horse.
Written and directed by James Napier Robertson [pictured], Genesis also stars Kirk Torrance and Boy star James Rolleston. The film is produced by Tom Hern for Four Knights Film, Hern and Napier Robertson’s production company.
Genesis will be released in New Zealand by Transmission Films with a scheduled release planned for the first half of 2014.
The film is a Four Knights Film supported by the New Zealand Film Commission, Arama Pictures, Southern Lights Film, NZ On Air and the New Zealand Government’s Screen Production Incentive Fund with financing by Fulcrum Media Finance. Celluloid Dreams/uConnect will handle international sales.
Here at the market, uConnect/Celluloid partnership is handling such new films as Guiseppe Tornatore’s The Best Offer, Takashi Miike’s Cannes entry Shield Of Straw and Un Certain Regard title Katrin Gibbe’s Nothing Bad Can Happen.
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