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Sony Pictures Classics Picks Up TIFF's Lebanon and Get Low

by Alex Billington
September 21, 2009

Sony Pictures Classics seems to be the only indie studio buying films this year (read Roger Ebert's article on the state of the indie marketplace). Not only did they pick up A Prophet and The White Ribbon at Cannes, but they just picked up Lebanon and Get Low today following the Toronto Film Festival. SPC announced each separately today. "Lebanon is of those important films that will last forever in the marketplace. We are honored to be bringing Lebanon to the American public," said Sony Pictures Classics. The film is expected to be a big Foreign Language Oscar contender, most likely going head-to-head against SPC's own A Prophet.

I saw Aaron Schneider's Get Low up at TIFF and loved it (read my review). It deserves a good release and I hope SPC is able to find a market for it, since it'll be a bit challenging to market. Lebanon I missed, but I did write about it before the fest. It's the film entirely set inside of a tank and its been getting rave reviews from TIFF. Lebanon also went on to win the Golden Lion in Venice, the top prize at that fest, so this is a pretty big acquisition for Sony Pictures Classics. Steven Zeitchik from THR wrote up an interesting article from TIFF comparing and contrasting Lebanon to Kathryn Bigelow's summer hit The Hurt Locker in numerous ways.

We'll keep you updated on SPC's release plans for Lebanon and Get Low, which will probably hit theaters early next year. In the meantime, check out my Get Low review and Eric Lavallee's thoughts on Lebanon.

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