Venice Competition Title ‘Love’ Sells to Further European Territories (EXCLUSIVE)

Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Love,” which premiered in Venice competition, and received the film critics’ prize Bisato d’Oro, has sold to additional European territories.

The film will screen in Busan’s World Cinema strand next month.

The film has secured distribution for Greece (One from the Heart), Baltics (Best Film Baltics), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom), Poland (Aurora), and Hungary (Vertigo Media).

The film has already been sold to North America (Strand Releasing), France (Pyramide), U.K. and Ireland (Modern Films), Germany and Austria (Alamode), Italy (Wanted Cinema), Benelux (September Film), Spain (Filmin), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Pilot Film), and Switzerland (Xenix Film).

Lefteris Adamidis, partner and head of acquisitions at One from the Heart, told Variety: “’What the World Needs Now Is Love’ sings Dionne Warwick and we feel that indeed the world urgently needs films like ‘Love’: gentle, compassionate and intelligent.”

“Love” centers on Marianne, a pragmatic doctor, and Tor, a compassionate nurse, who are both avoiding conventional relationships. After Tor tells Marianne about his casual encounters with men, Marianne begins to explore whether this kind of intimacy could also be an option for her.

The film follows Haugerud’s “Sex,” which premiered in Berlinale Panorama earlier this year, about two male friends, both in straight relationships, who start to question expectations about their sexuality in different ways.

The thematically, rather than narratively, linked film trilogy will continue with the forthcoming instalment “Dreams,” about a young woman who falls in love with her female teacher.

Berlin-based sales agent M-Appeal are handling international rights for the trilogy of films.

“We should talk more about physical attraction and all these sensations,” said Haugerud in an interview with Variety. “Once you start having these conversations, it’s already a good start. Communication is a big theme in all these three movies. That’s where the main action is!”

“Love” is produced by Yngve Sæther and Hege Hauff Hvattum for Motlys, and co-produced by the Oslo Filmfond.