IFC Films Buys Jessie Buckley’s ‘Hot Milk’ From HanWay, MUBI Strikes Multi-Territory Deal (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Manori Ravindran International EditorIFC Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights from HanWay Films on Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s “Hot Milk,” starring Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley, Fiona Shaw and Vicky Krieps.Streaming service MUBI has also agreed a multi-territory deal for the film in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Latin America and Turkey.

Meanwhile, HanWay has also sold the pic into Metropolitan Films (France), The Searchers (Benelux), Scanbox (Scandinavia), M2 (Eastern Europe), A-One (Baltics), Front Row (Middle East) and Shaw (Singapore).The film marks the directorial debut for acclaimed screenwriter Lenkiewicz, whose writing credits include Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winning “Ida,” Keira Knightley-led biopic “Colette” and the forthcoming Harvey Weinstein drama “She Said.” “Hot Milk” is based on the bestselling novel by Deborah Levy and centers on the relationship between single mother Rose (Shaw) and her daughter Sofia (Buckley), who travel to southern Spain in order to see a medical consultant that might yield answers to Rose’s mystery illness that’s put her in a wheelchair.But in the sultry atmosphere of a sun-bleached town, Sofia, who has been trapped by her mother’s illness all her life, finally starts to shed her inhibitions, enticed by the persuasive charms of enigmatic traveller Ingrid (Krieps).

Sofia’s increased freedom becomes too much for her controlling mother, and their relationship simmers with pent-up resentments and bitterness, threatening to tear the fragile threads that hold them together, and leading them to a dramatic conclusion.Buckley was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar earlier this year for her performance in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” based on the Elena Ferrante.