Canada’s 2023 Oscars entry for Best International Feature Film, Eternal Spring: The Heist of China’s Airwaves, has inked a worldwide licence deal with Vice.

The Lofty Sky Entertainment-produced animated documentary (pictured) from director-producer Jason Loftus has also landed domestic deals with ARTE France/Germany, Switzerland’s Radio Télévision Suisse, VG Norway, Current Time (Russian-language, European territories), and Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, with more sales announcements to come, according to a news release.

Sideways Film is the international sales agent on the 86-minute film, which is inspired by the art of exiled Chinese comic book illustrator Daxiong. The other producers are Yvan Pinard and Kevin Koo, with Masha Loftus as executive producer. Eternal Spring is set to open theatrically in Canada on Sept. 23 and Film Forum in New York on Oct. 14, followed by global theatrical expansion.

This Place

This Place, the feature debut by Tamil-Toronto director V.T. Nayani, has landed an international sales agent ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Berlin-based Picture Tree International has added the project to its TIFF lineup in a deal brokered by Brigitte Hubmann and Jennifer Price (Film Associates Intl.) on behalf of the production, according to a news release.

The queer love story featuring two young women in Toronto — one Iranian and Kanienʼkehá꞉ka, the other Tamil — is produced by Stephanie Sonny Hooker and was co-written by Nayani, Devery Jacobs and Golshan Abdmoulaie.

Nayani produced while Jacobs also stars and is an executive producer on the project, which was produced by Hometeam Films and Mutuals Pictures, with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada, CBC Films, CFC/Netflix Calling Card Accelerator, Inside Out, station 369 and Aspeth Inc.

Sphere Media

French distributor and drama specialist Oble plans to bring Sphere Media’s Canadian drama Aller Simple/No Return to the international market under a new partnership. The 6 x 60-minute psychological thriller has been the most-watched drama in the history of Bell Media’s Noovo, according to a news release from Oble.

The story of a helicopter crash involving six strangers who were travelling to a reclusive billionaire’s home is produced by Annie Pierard, Bernard Dansereau, Bruno Dube, Josee Vallee and Sylvie Gaudreault. It’s written by the trio behind Sphere Media’s series Epidemie/The Outbreak — Annie Pierard, Bernard Dansereau and Etienne Pierard-Dansereau — and directed by Yan Lanouette Turgeon.

The cast includes Marc Beaupré (Série noire), Eric Bruneau (Coroner), Caroline Dhavernas (Mary Kills People), Nathalie Doummar (Virage), Anick Lemay (L’Échappée), Rémi-Pierre Paquin (C’est comme ça que je t’aime), Anie Pascale (Alertes 2), Luc Picard (Omertà) and Samian (Hochelaga).

Fuse TV

New York-based pay TV channel Fuse TV has acquired U.S. rights to Toronto filmmaker Andrew Chung’s debut feature White Elephant. The film made its debut on the channel on Aug. 30. It was previously acquired in Canada by Hollywood Suite for its on-demand platform and was released in June. White Elephant had its world premiere in 2020 at the Reelworld Film Festival, where it won Outstanding Feature Film.

Photo: Director Jason Loftus with artist and film participant Daxiong. (© 2022 Lofty Sky Pictures)