HanWay taking on Bertolucci's Me and You

In Venice, Jeremy Thomas has also confirmed that HanWay will be handling sales on Me and You, the new film from Bernardo Bertolucci. The Italian-made film will be produced by Rome-based Mario Gianini.

“We are selling the film. We are promoting the film, our company HanWay is promoting the film,” said Thomas, who is not expected to produce.

The project is based on a book by Niccolo Ammaniti and centres on a 14-year-old boy who has to deal with his half-sister and her heroin addiction.

Thomas has a long relationship with Bertolucci, starting with 1987 Oscar winner The Last Emperor and most recently with 2003’s The Dreamers.

HanWay has three films in competition in Venice: David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Shame and Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights.

Speaking on the Lido, Thomas has paid tribute to Venice director Marco Muller’s programme this year. “This year, he managed to find a really good selection of movies for us,” the RPC and HanWay boss said. “He (Muller) is a filmmaker, a film producer. He is a film intellectual. He is very knowledgeable of films, especially Asian cinema…maybe it’s the way the dice fell but this year he has found a really good selection of movies.”

“It (Venice) is very expensive but it is quite focused. It is easier to see the films here than in other festivals. It is a very intimate event confirmed with Cannes,” Thomas continued. “People are complaining about the prices (of Venice). It is an ageing festival in the terms of its resources but the movies (in selection this year) are classics.”

With Shame going down exceptionally well in Venice and Telluride (and also en route to Toronto), HanWay is getting a lot of buyer interest on the film, which stars MIchael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.