Kino Lorber Acquires All US and Canadian Rights To Leyla Bouzid’s As I Open My Eyes, Before the US Premiere At Tribeca Film Festival

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Friday, 08 April 2016 15:40

Written by Janet Walker

Kino Lorber is announcing the acquisition of all US and Canadian rights to Leyla Bouzid's "impressive debut" (Variety) As I Open My Eyes, just a week prior to the film's US Premiere on April 14, 2016, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
 
Following the film's Tribeca screenings, As I Open My Eyes will play at this year's COLCOA ("City of Light, City of Angels") and is in competition at the San Francisco International Film Festival. The film also won the Europa Cinemas Label prize as best European film in the Venice fest's independently run Venice Days section.
 

This music-filled, French-Tunisian production is set in Tunis, summer 2010, a few months before the Revolution, and depicts the clash between culture and family as seen through the eyes of a young Tunisian woman balancing the traditional expectations of her family with her creative life, as the singer in a politically charged rock band.

Director Leyla Bouzid's feature offers a nuanced portrait of the implications of the Arab Spring on the lives of young people in the region, while also creating a complex story about a young woman using art to transform her reality.
 

Kino Lorber will open the film at New York's Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on September 9, 2016, after the film's US premiere at Tribeca and key festival dates throughout the country. A digital and home media release is set for early 2017. The deal was negotiated between Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber and Hannah Horner, from Doc & Film International.  
 
"Leyla Bouzid has made a powerful and incredibly moving debut with As I Open My Eyes," said Richard Lorber. "We're certain that American audiences will open their eyes to her immense talent and filmmaking skills. Furthermore, we couldn't have asked for a better national platform for the film than the Tribeca Film Festival."
 

"Tradition butts up against progress in Leyla Bouzid's debut feature As I Open My Eyes, a musically-charged French-Tunisian film that follows a young woman in a band as she navigates familial, cultural, and social ideals in contemporary Tunis. Her band—assembled of several friends and one more-than-a-friend—plays a blend of original music and covers at local bars, including men's-only joints. For Farah (Baya Medhaffar), the young woman at the heart of the film, music transcends cultures and languages, and the lengthy musical interludes demonstrate a kind of escapism. But music too is wrapped up in the politics. As I Open My Eyes situates itself at the dawn of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, and Farah's music addresses politics and issues in her home country." (Frederic Boyer, Tribeca Film Festival).
 

Kino Lorber, with a library of more than 1,000 titles, Kino Lorber Inc. has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 30 years, releasing 25 films per year theatrically under its Kino Lorber, Kino Classics, and Alive Mind Cinema banners, including five Academy Award® nominated films in the last seven years.
 
In addition, the company brings over 100 narrative and documentary titles each year to the home entertainment, educational and digital markets with through in-house DVD and Blu-ray distribution and direct sales to all major platforms digital platforms.
  

Images courtesy of Kino Lorber and used with permission