Black Comedy ‘Panic Attack’ Sells to Multiple Territories (EXCLUSIVE)

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outfit New Europe Film Sales has announced multiple sales for Paweł Maślona’s black comedy “Panic Attack,” which had its international premiere this week in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s main competition.

The film, which was a box-office hit in Poland this year, has been sold to Greece (Neo), Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris), Iceland (Bio Paradis), and Central and Eastern Europe (HBO Central Europe). Further deals, including U.K., are under negotiation. The film is also attracting interest from producers looking to remake it for their local markets, according to the sales agency.

“Panic Attack” comprises six stories about ordinary people put in extreme situations, which cause them to experience a panic attack. “We experience a roller coaster of events: a woman meets her two exes during one night, a couple picks the worst seat on an airplane, a young girl risks having her girlfriends expose her as a porn star, a bride gives birth at her own wedding, a teenager gets stoned for the first time while a young man has to beg his weird mother to save his life’s work,” according to a statement.

Naszewski, CEO of New Europe, said: “I’m very happy that the buyers feel that the film’s humor can translate for their local audiences. It’s a brilliant satire that cuts through society with razor-sharp humor. We are already getting many enquiries about remake rights.”

In Karlovy Vary, also presents Ivan Tverdovsky’s political drama “Jumpman” in the main competition and two Sundance favorites, “Pity” by Babis Makridis and “Loveling” by Gustavo Pizzi in the side sections.