A PL Film has acquired foreign sales rights to Canadian feature Polarized ahead of next week’s European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin.

The Canadian foreign sales and distribution company plans to bring the Manitoba-shot queer drama from Canadian-British writer-director Shamim Sarif to market at EFM, according to a news release.

The feature (pictured) will be at EFM as part of Telefilm Canada’s Perspective Canada initiative, which will hold a market screening to attract international distribution on Feb. 18.

This is the fifth theatrical feature from Sarif (Despite the Falling Snow). It’s produced by Hanan Kattan of Ontario’s SK Enlightenment Films Canada and U.K.-based Enlightenment Productions, and Juliette Hagopian of Winnipeg’s Julijette Inc. Sarif is the director, writer and coproducer.

Polarized received funding from the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm, CBC, Manitoba Film and Music, Creative Europe Media, and regional tax incentives. CBC Films is the commissioning broadcaster.

Canadian actors Holly Deveaux and Maxine Denis star in the love story between two women — one a white farm worker (Deveaux) who gets fired for racism, and the other her Palestinian boss (Denis). Other cast members include Tara Samuel, Adam Hurtig, Hesham Hammoud, Abraham Asto and Baraka Rahmani.

“I like to push the boundaries of the way queer women of colour are portrayed. And with Polarized, I believe it’s one of the first times in cinema that we see Palestinian immigrants onscreen who are successful, driving scientific innovation, and in the case of co-lead character Dalia, also queer,” Sarif said in a statement.

“My wife and producer Hanan Kattan is of Palestinian heritage, and I was raised in a South Asian Muslim family, so these specific immigrant experiences are very familiar to us. We know first-hand the challenges and taboos that continue to exist around being queer in eastern and Muslim cultures.”

Brian Sweet, president of global sales at APL Film, said the story is reminiscent of Lee Isaac Chung’s acclaimed 2020 South Korean immigrant drama Minari and is “the type of film that will please international markets.”

Shamim Sarif is represented by Dave Brown of Echo Lake Entertainment.