Yellow Veil Pictures Launches, Buys German Horror Movie ‘Luz’ (EXCLUSIVE)
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Yellow Veil Pictures has bought German horror film “Luz” as part of launching as a new worldwide film sales company focusing exclusively on arthouse genre cinema, Variety has learned exclusively.
The company made the announcement Monday ahead of this week’s opening of the Frontières Co-Production Market at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.
Yellow Veil has been formed by a trio of horror film vets: Ithaca Fantastik founder and festival manager Hugues Barbier, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival founder Justin Timms, and former festivals and non-theatrical assistant director of Visit Films and co-director of the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies Joe Yanick. The three have also brought on the Fantasia Festival’s publicist Kaila Sarah Hier.
“Luz” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year and has screened at BAFICI, Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, and Fantaspoa, where Luana Velis won best actress. It will make its North American debut at the Fantasia International Film Festival in the Camera Lucida competitive section on July 20.
“From the first image, hell even the first sound, in ‘Luz,’ it’s not only Tilman’s incredible talent but also his understanding of horror cinema is cemented. We just fell in love with the movie, and we knew we had to have it. It’s frankly one of the most impressive debuts I’ve ever seen. We couldn’t have found another film to better demonstrate our mission statement,” said Yanick.
“Luz” stars Velis as a young cabdriver who drags herself into a run-down police station while being pursued by a woman (played by Julia Riedler) who is possessed by a demonic entity.
Josh Lobo’s directorial debut “A Man in the Dark” has also joined Yellow Veil’s slate. The film stars AJ Bowen (“You’re Next”), Jocelin Donahue (“House of the Devil”) and Chris Sullivan (“This Is Us”) in a Christmas-set psychological horror movie.
Yellow Veil Pictures has also struck a deal with the “Man Underground” filmmaking team Michael Borowiec and Sam Marine to package and secure financing for their sophomoric effort, “Desert Witch,” which follows a punk singer, who, after being exiled from her community, is thrust into a small town conflict between religious extremists and an alleged coven of witches to which her estranged mother once belonged.
The company has also made a deal with Glass Eye Pix and Hood River Entertainment for the exclusive festival/non-theatrical rights on Jenn Wexler’s punk rock slasher movie, “The Ranger,” out of SXSW’s Midnights program.
“We seek to challenge the limits for commercial viability of arthouse genre and foreign language films for a redefined distribution landscape. These films were often lost in the festival circuit in years past, despite a noticeable growing interest from a more adventurous audience looking for new, exciting films with greater representation,” said Barbier.
(Photo: “A Man in the Dark”)
