Kino Lorber Nabs U.S., Canadian Rights for Hubert Sauper Cuba Doc ‘Epicentro’
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Kino Lorber has picked up U.S. and English-speaking Canadian distribution rights for Hubert Sauper’s award-winning documentary “Epicentro.” Described as an “immersive and metaphorical portrait of post-colonial Cuba,” the pic won the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Sauper previously directed the 2006 Oscar-nominated “Darwin’s Nightmare” and 2014’s “We Come as Friends.”
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Among Epicentro’s producers are Daniel and Martin Marquet, Paolo Calamita and Gabriele Kranzelbinder. Executive producers include Dan Cogan and Jenny Raskin of Impact Partners, Michael Donaldson and Vincent Maraval.
In “Epicentro,” Sauper explores a century of interventionism and myth-making and the people of Havana – particularly its children – as he examines the effects of time, imperialism and cinema itself.
“The film is an immersive and metaphorical portrait of post-colonial, ‘utopian’ Cuba, where the 1898 explosion of the USS Maine still resonates,” Kino Lorber states. It was a big bang that ended Spanish colonial dominance in the Americas and ushered in the era of the American Empire. “At the same time and place, a powerful tool of conquest was born: cinema as propaganda.”
Epicentro was negotiated by Kino Lorber president Richard Lorber and Wendy Lidell, senior VP of theatrical distribution and acquisitions, negotiated the deal with Eva Diederix, head of international sales of Wild Bunch, and CAA Media Finance.
“Hubert Sauper has created a work of pure cinema,” said Lidell. “As always, his warm rapport with his subjects makes for compelling personal storytelling. ‘Epicentro’ is a history lesson disguised as a crowd pleaser… with Oona Chaplin singing to boot. We look forward to invading America with Sauper’s Cuba.”
“Epicentro” is set to hit theaters this fall, followed by a DVD release and streaming premiere on KinoNow.com.
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