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Global Screen has picked up the international distribution rights (excluding Benelux and Latvia) to Ineke Houtman’s “The Book of Everything,” which is adapted from Guus Kuijer’s autobiographical novel.

The Dutch book, which contains scenes of magical realism, has been translated into 14 European languages and Japanese. It was also adapted as a theater play in Australia.

September Film released the film in the Netherlands on Oct. 10. The producer is Jorn Bars at KaapHollandFilm.

Nine-year-old Thomas, along with his rebellious sister and timid mother, is kept down by his strictly religious father. He uses his vivid imagination to escape this oppressive reality to learn that happiness starts when you manage to shed your fears.

Thomas is growing up in Amsterdam in 1961. The gloom of the post-war years is slowly cast off and the hip neighbors have purchased a television set. How different things are at Thomas’ home, where his father (Daan Schuurmans) holds sway.

This year, Latvia is sharing a spotlight with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia at the European Film Market, which has dedicated its 2023 Country in Focus Spotlight to the Baltic nations. It’s a sign of the tremendous strides the country has taken to put itself on the world cinema map, with the screen industries both producing more films and TV series than ever before and luring increasingly ambitious international projects to Northeastern Europe.

Here’s a rundown of some of the top Latvian projects in the pipeline that their producers will be pitching in Berlin:

Blue Blood

Director: Juris Kursietis

Producers: White Picture, Stellar Film, Asterisk*

The follow-up to Kursietis’ Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “Oleg” is the story of a successful couple whose comfortable life is turned upside-down when the husband is implicated in a massive corruption scandal.

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Soviet Milk

Director: Ināra Kolmane

Producers: Jānis Juhņēvičs, Marta Romanova-Jēkabsone...

When the European Film Market kicks off in Berlin on Feb. 16, the three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will share the stage as the EFM’s joint Countries in Focus. The showcase, which is supported by the Estonian Film Institute, the National Film Center of Latvia and the Lithuanian Film Center, will offer a range of events within the framework of the EFM, along with a selection of market premieres and screenings of Baltic films already making waves on the festival circuit. Twelve up-and-coming Baltic producers will also be presented to the international industry during a happy hour on Feb. 17 in the Gropius Bas.

Here’s a selection of Baltic buzz titles that the region’s top producers will be taking to Berlin:

Last Sentinel

Director: Tanel Toom

Producers: Ben Pullen, Ivo Felt, Jörg Bundschuh, Pippa Cross, Matthew James Wilkinson

Kate Bosworth stars in this sci-fi thriller from...

The country's audiovisual agency has earmarked a total of €3,015,000 in production bursaries for four fiction films and three documentaries. The Netherlands Film Fund, the country's film agency, has announced the recipients of its latest round of production grants. On this occasion, a total of €3,015,000 have been earmarked for four new fiction films and three documentaries. The project in receipt of the grant of the biggest magnitude is Ineke Houtman's fiction feature The Book of Everything, penned by Maarten Lebens and Richard Tulloch, and staged by Amsterdam-based outfits Fatt Productions and Kaap Holland. The drama, based on Guus Kuijer's 2004 novel of the same name, follows a boy called Thomas who finds the courage to rebel against his oppressive and overly religious father. Two new fiction flicks will receive a contribution of €650,000 each – namely, Mark de Cloe's drama Forever Yours (an Nl Film & TV production)...