Netherlands-Hong Kong-based sales outfit, Fortissimo Film Sales has struck an output deal with Benelux distributor A-Films and picked up a new Dutch picture which it expects to sell worldwide.

The first Fortissimo titles acquired by San Fu Maltha and Pim Hermeling's A-Film Distribution/Fu Works under the new output deal are Wong Kar-Wai's Cannes tipped 2046, the Venice Film Festival's San Marco prize-winner Springtime In A Small Town, Oxide and Danny Pang's The Eye, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Mon-Rak Transistor, Deepa Mehta's Bollywood-Hollywood, Chang Tso-Chi's The Best Of Times and Tsui Hark's Xanda - Ultimate Fighting. Belgian rights to the films under the output arrangement will be sub-distributed by Belgium's leading indie distributor, Eliane Dubois's Cineart/Cinelibre.

Output deals at the art-house end of the market are rare, but the two have worked together frequently in the past. "I believe their taste in films is well-suited to our market," said Maltha. Fortissimo's Michael J Werner, co-chairman of Fortissimo, said: "Having collaborated with San Fu and Pim on many previous Fortissimo titles, we felt the time was right to cement this relationship."

Fortissimo picked up world rights to Yes Sister! No Sister! (Ja Zuster, Nee Zuster), a kitsch song and dance film that has been a massive hit in The Netherlands The film is a adaptation of a 1966 TV series about the bawdy life in a boarding house. Released on 120 prints by Warner Bros it has been seen by over 400,000 Dutch spectators. It is directed by Pieter Kramer, a well known-TV director, whose previous feature credits include Theo And Thea. Production was through Bernie Bos' Bos Bros on a Euros6m budget. Early sales included one to Pony Canyon for Japan.