Films Boutique Picks Up Venice Entries ‘January 2’ by Zsofia Szilagyi, ‘Wishing on a Star’ by Peter Kerekes (EXCLUSIVE)

Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has picked up international rights to “January 2” by Zsófia Szilágyi and “Wishing on a Star” by Peter Kerekes ahead of their premieres at the Venice Film Festival.

“January 2” marks Szilágyi’s return to the festival circuit after her debut feature “One Day” premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2018, where the film won the Fipresci award.

“One Day” had a long and wide-ranging international career with premieres in Sydney, New Horizons, Melbourne, Sarajevo (Heart of Sarajevo for best actress), Cineast Luxembourg (grand prix), the Hamptons, Denver, AFI, Cork, Cairo (best actress award), and Cleveland (best film), and it even played in the Berlinale in 2020.

The film was among the feature film selection of the 2018 European Film Awards and nominated for the European Discovery – Prix Fipresci award.

Kerekes returns to Venice after his last feature, “107 Mothers,” won the best screenplay award in the Horizons section in 2021. From then, the film went on to have a successful international career with stops in such leading festivals as San Sebastian, Chicago (best director award), Les Arcs (Crystal award for best film), the Viennale, Tallinn Black Nights, New Horizons (audience award), Cottbus (best film award), Goteborg, Cleveland, Seattle, Transilvania, Taipei, Pune and Edinburgh. The film was nominated at the European Film Awards for the European Discovery – Prix Fipresci award in 2022.

“January 2” is among the Biennale College selection, while “Wishing on a Star” is heading to Venice as part of the Horizons section.

For both filmmakers, the Venice premieres are their second collaborations with Films Boutique.

“January 2” follows Klára, who moves out of the place she shares with her husband. Her friend, Ági, helps her. They make a total of seven trips by car. Although they take the same route there and back every time, each trip is different. “January 2” is a realistic story about a separation from the wife’s perspective with all the challenges she faces following this tough decision.

Documentary “Wishing on a Star” follows Luciana, a Neapolitan astrologer, who has a method to make her clients’ wishes come true. All they need to do is take a trip on their birthday to a precise destination to be reborn under a new sky. Whether it’s Taipei, Beirut or a nearby village, during these birthday journeys, the protagonists will go through unexpected transformations to help them discover what they truly desire.

Gabor Greiner, chief operating officer of Films Boutique, said: “We are very proud to continue our successful collaboration with Zsofi Szilagyi who in her new deeply entertaining venture, just like she did in ‘One Day,’ depicts with freshness and extreme clarity the end of a relationship. Zsofi is clearly one of the most talented Hungarian filmmakers of her generation.

“With his new documentary film, Peter Kerekes continues to display his unique storytelling and esthetic skills, that will allow the audiences to yet again develop an intimate relationship with each character of his film.”