The Toronto Film Festival's People's Choice Award winner, Nadine Labaki's "Where Do We Go Now?," has found a place to go in the United States: Sony Pictures Classics, which on Wednesday announced that it had acquired all U.S. rights to the film about Lebanese women trying to defuse the tensions between Muslims and Christians in their small village.
The film has already been announced as Lebanon's entry into the Oscar Best Foreign-Language Film competition.
“Nadine Labacki has made a warm, human film that is both perfect for this moment in time and will satisfy audiences across the country," said SPC co-chiefs Michael Barker and Tom Bernard in a press release announcing the acquisition. "We couldn't be happier about distributing 'Where Do We Go Now?' and to be working again with our good friends at Pathé International."
The announcement came on the heels of the news that another SPC title, Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In," was passed over by the Spanish Film Academy as that country's entry into this year's Oscar race.
SPC often has multiple entries in that category, and this year had already acquired submissions from Poland ("In Darkness"), Israel ("Footnote") and Iran ("A Separation").
The company celebrated its 20th anniversary with several parties and screenings in Toronto, but until now had not made any acquisitions from the festival's extensive slate of films searching for distribution.
SPC did not announce release plans for "Where Do We Go Now?"
