Berlin Winner ‘Touch Me Not’ Bought by Kino Lorber for North America

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Kino Lorber has acquired all North American rights to Adina Pintilie’s drama “Touch Me Not,” which won the Golden Bear and best first feature prizes at the Berlin Film Festival.

“” will have its North American premiere next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, in its Discovery showcase for rising global directors. The film centers on Romanian filmmaker Pintilie and characters she documents who together venture into a deep, personal soul-searching into how to achieve real human intimacy.

Jay Weissberg said in his Berlin review for Variety, “Seamlessly blending fiction with reality, Pintilie invents a story about an Englishwoman grappling with intimacy issues and weaves in real people guiding her toward being comfortable with her body and the bodies of others.”

The film will be rolled out in theaters in January, followed by VOD and home video release. The deal was was negotiated by Kino Lorber’s Wendy Lidell and Doc & Film CEO, Daniela Eistner.

“’Touch Me Not’ pushes the envelope in every direction,” said Lidell, “erasing the line between fiction and documentary, and looking deeply into a place films rarely look so honestly:  our most fundamental experiences of intimacy and sexuality in all its forms. Audiences will find their lives changed by Touch Me Not.”