Kicking off in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will be a planned international rerelease of the 2002 Brazilian cult crime film City of God by Fernando Meirelles. According to Variety, this will be the first time the film has been theatrically screened in this region.
Front Row Filmed Entertainment, a distributor based out of Dubai has partnered with The Festival Agency, a distributor based out of Paris. The Festival Agency acquired rerelease rights for City of God from Wild Bunch and this is only the beginning of many rereleases that Front Row is planning. In a statement, Front Row said, “The team behind Front Row is committed to rereleasing classics and cult films, especially in Saudi Arabia where these films were not screened theatrically.”
After removing its 35-year-old religion-related ban on moviegoing in 2018, Saudi Arabia has now become the region’s top market for films. Front Row plans on rereleasing City of God to theaters in MENA regions starting on Feb. 22, followed by the films rerelease on Feb. 23 in the UK and Australia. The film will shortly be rereleased in Ireland on Mar. 15.
Gianluca Chakra, Front Row’s CEO said of the film, “The film holds a special place in our hearts; it was our first acquisition…we couldn’t release it theatrically due to language restrictions imposed by cinemas, and also because we couldn’t afford the budget it needed to stand out, so it went straight to DVD.”
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