‘The Last One For the Road’ parks at multiple global distributors ahead of TIFF slot

EXCLUSIVE: International buyers have hopped aboard Francesco Sossai’s debut feature The Last One For The Road which first world premiered at Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard and is en route to TIFF for a Centrepiece screening, with stops at New York Film Festival and Busan.

Paris-based sales outfit Lucky Number has sold the road trip comedy-drama to Bulldog Film Distribution in the UK and Ireland, Ritual Films in Canada, New Story in France, Imagine in Benelux, Belas Artes Grupo in Brazil, Danaos in Greece, Univercom for CIS, A-One Films Baltic for the Baltics, and Demiurg in ex-Yugoslavia. Lucky Red will release the film in Italy on September 25.

The film screens for press and industry at TIFF on September 4 ahead of the North American premiere on September 11. It centres on two broke, bar-hopping fiftysomethings who meet a shy and aimless architecture student and together embark on a chaotic road trip through the Italian countryside.

The Last One For The Road is produced by Italy’s Vivo film with Rai Cinema, and co-produced by Germany’s Maze Films. It stars Filippo Scotti, Sergio Romano and Pierpaolo Capovilla.

Lucky Number founders Ola Byszuk, Olivier Barbier and Lenny Porte told Screen: “It’s fantastic to see the positive response to The Last One For The Road from critics, festival programmers, and distributors who have fallen in love with its endearing characters, offbeat tone, and unique place within the landscape of Italian cinema.”

Lucky Number also heads to TIFF with Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 (Gala) alongside mk2 Films, Gyorgy Palfi’s Hen (Platform), Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki’s Bouchra (Platform), and Gabriel Mascaro’s Berlin Silver Bear grand jury prize-winning The Blue Trail (Centrepiece).

• Will new buyers spark a return to a robust deal flow at TIFF?