Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights, excluding North America, to Alex Rivera's Sleep Dealer, which recently scooped several awards at the Sundance Film Festival where it played in competition.

The sci-fi drama won both the Alfred P. Sloan and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Awards at Sundance and will also screen here at Berlin in the Panorama Special section and the European Film Market.

The producers of the film have already sold it to Roadshow for Australia/NZ, Svensk for Scandinavia and Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Set in the near future in a world dominated by a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, the film follows three strangers who risk their lives to connect with each other.

It was produced by Anthony Bregman of Likely Story, whose credits include Thumbsucker and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

The deal for worldwide rights was brokered by Fortissimo co-chairman Michael J. Werner and Andrew Hurwitz of Schreck, Rose, Dapello, Adams & Hurwitz, UTA's Rich Klubeck and producer Bregman.