Beta Cinema Boards David Hayman-Led ‘My Neighbor Adolf’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Christopher Vourlias

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Beta Cinema has acquired world sales rights outside Israel and Poland for “My Neighbor Adolf,” the new film by Leon Prudovsky (“Five Hours from Paris”), starring David Hayman (“The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”) and Udo Kier (“The Painted Bird”).

Set in Colombia in the 1960s, the film is centred on Polsky (Hayman), a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor living in the countryside, who suspects that his new neighbor is Adolf Hitler (Kier). When nobody believes him, he sets off on a detective mission to uncover the truth, soon discovering that the only way to prove it is to befriend his mysterious neighbor.

Principal photography began in Colombia on Jan. 28 and will wrap Feb. 28.

The English-language film is produced by Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg and Ygal Mograbi of 2-Team Productions (“Sand Storm,” “Next to Her,” “The Farewell Party”), Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska (“High Life,” “Mr. Jones”) and Staszek Dziedzic of Film Produkcja (“Mr. Jones”), in co-production with Juan Pablo Lasserre, Diego Conejero and Julio Cesar Gaviria of Vandalo Colombia and Moshe Edery of United King Films.

It is supported by Rabinovitch Film Fund, Polish Film Institute and Colombian Film Fund.

“‘My Neighbor Adolf’ is striking that delicate balance between the tragic and the comedic, like Haim and Estee managed so beautifully as producers on our former collaboration, the international hit ‘The Farewell Party,’” said Thorsten Ritter of Beta Cinemas.

“We feel it is important to keep telling stories about the Holocaust and survival and the life thereafter, but in doing so you can be edgy and mindful at the same time; this doesn’t need to be a contradiction. And we feel international distributors are highly anticipating this movie for that very reason.”