By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Riding a wave of praise from festivals, the surreal horror film LUZ has been picked up for distribution ahead of its opening-night screening at Fantastic Fest this week.
Screen Media announced today that it has acquired all North American rights to LUZ, written and directed by Tilman Singer, with theatrical release planned for the first quarter of 2019. Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt, Nadja Stübiger, Johannes Benecke, Julia Riedler and Lilli Lorenz star; the synopsis: “LUZ begins as a young female cabdriver [Velis, in the title role] drags herself into the brightly lit entrance of a rundown police station. A demonic entity follows her, determined to finally be close to the woman it loves.” You can see our rave for the movie here.
“Every so often there’s a film that really unnerves, and just flat-out scares us,” says Screen Media’s Seth Needle. “LUZ does exactly that. Tilman has made a beautiful but truly terrifying movie that people are going to be talking about for sure.” Adds Justin Timms of sales company Yellow Veil Pictures, “Now more than ever it is important for challenging and independent cinema to be given a platform and shown on the big screen. We’re thrilled to have found the right partner in Screen Media, who fully understand Tilman’s unique vision with LUZ and we look forward to the film being experienced—and inspiring audiences across North America.”
“To see this kind of reaction to our film, visit festivals and now release it in North America is a little bit like shooting a movie itself; tt’s hard to fully grasp,” Singer says. “Producing LUZ, I had no idea where it would go and I am excited for the life that it will have.”
