M-Appeal signs contracts for Venice competition title “Love”

“Love” (courtesy of Motlys)

M-Appeal has already secured distribution of Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud’s competition title “Love” in key regions at the Venice Film Festival ahead of its world premiere.

The Berlin-based boutique distribution company reported sales to Pyramide for France, Alamode for Germany and Austria, and September Film for the Benelux region.

“Pyramide is delighted to welcome Dag Johan Haugerud to his native France. We were enchanted by ‘Sex’ at first sight when we discovered the film in Berlin this year and we are very confident that it makes sense to include ‘Love’ in our program to capture the vision of humanity expressed by this great Norwegian artist in his Oslo Trilogy,” said Eric Lagasse, CEO of Pyramide Distribution.

Fabien Arséguel, Managing Director of Alamode Film, comments: “After acquiring ‘Sex’ at the last Berlinale, we are delighted to continue our collaboration with M-Appeal on ‘Love’. Like ‘Sex’, ‘Love’ deals with questions of human relationships and sexuality in a very intelligent, natural and, above all, sensitive way. The dialogues are full of humor, the plot full of surprises. It is simply great fun to watch this wonderfully directed and very well produced film and we look forward to presenting the trilogy to a young German audience next spring.”

All contracts include a theatrical release.

“Love” is part of Haugerud’s impressive trilogy – “Sex”, “Love” and “Dreams” – which explores the complexities of human relationships, sexuality and social norms.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to present ‘Love’ to an international audience at the Venice Film Festival. ‘Love’ is a romantic film about different forms of love, care, responsibility and sexuality – all with a summery Oslo as the backdrop. And since so much of the action takes place on the fjord outside Oslo, the film seems to have an atmosphere and character that would fit well in Venice. At least I hope so,” said Haugerud.

Love tells the story of Marianne, a pragmatic doctor, and Tor, a compassionate nurse, both of whom avoid conventional relationships. One evening, after a blind date, Marianne meets Tor on a ferry. Tor often spends his nights there seeking casual encounters with men and sharing his experiences of spontaneous intimacy and meaningful conversations. Intrigued by his perspective, Marianne begins to question societal norms and explore whether such casual intimacy could be an option for her too.

The romantic film is intended to stimulate thought and discussion about sexual freedom and relationships for all genders and encourage viewers to reflect on their own expectations and beliefs.

M-Appeal also oversees the other titles in the trilogy: “Sex”, which premiered in the Panorama section at the Berlinale earlier this year and won three awards, and the recently acquired “Dreams”, the premiere of which will be announced in due course.

To date, “Sex” has been sold to numerous territories, including North America, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Spain, Italy, France, Great Britain and Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, the territories of the former Yugoslavia, Hungary, South Korea and Indonesia.