m-appeal has picked up Rosa von Praunheim’s Rent Boys (Die Jungs vom Bahnhof Zoo) ahead of its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama next month.

The new documentary accompanies male prostitutes at Berlin’s Bahnhof Zoo as they ply their trade in bars, sex cinemas and on the street and shows their strong will to survive.

Rent Boys will be released theatrically in Germany by Basis-Film Verleih immediately after the Berlinale with a premiere at Kino International on Feb 23 followed by a cinema tour with von Praunheim making personal appearances. (Basis-Film is also the German distributor for Bela Tarr’s Competition title The Turin Horse).

m-appeal had also handled von Praunheim’s previous documentary New York Memories which had its world premiere in the Panorama a year ago.

In addition, the Berlin-based sales agent has picked up Colombian filmmaker Gabriel Rojas Vera’s debut feature Karen Cries On The Bus (Karen Lllora En Un Bus) which will have its world premiere in the Forum.

The drama about a woman who has to decide between a stable life under her rich husband’s control or an uncertain future in her new-found freedom was one of the projects presented at the Film in Progress (Cine en Construccion) showcase of Latin American cinema during last year’s San Sebastian International Film Festival.