Strand Releasing has snapped up US rights to Israeli director Eytan Fox's Panorama title, The Bubble, it was confirmed this week. The deal was negotiated between Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing and Pierre Menahem of Scalpel Films. Strand Releasing plans an August opening for the film across the US.

The aim now will be to emulate the success Fox's previous feature Walk On Water achieved in North America, where it grossed more than $2.7 million. (The film posted receipts in excess of $7 million worldwide making it one of the most successful exports in Israeli film history.)

The Bubble , set in Tel Aviv's fashionable Sheinkin Street, follows a group of three young men and a woman whose lives become intertwined in a story that tracks their loves and the complexities of life in Israel today. It deals with the life of those who try to avoid politics and to become part of the global village. They listen to the same music and worship the same cultural icons as their peers in New York and London, but living in Israel their reality is very different from that of young people in the west.

Strand expects The Bubble to follow in the wake of Walk On Water, attracting strong support from Jewish and Gay audiences. This movie marks the third collaboration between Fox and Strand Releasing following on from Yossi and Jagger and Time Off.

Gal Uchovsky, Fox's long-time collaborator, was again producer on The Bubble and also co-wrote the screenplay.

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