Bleiberg Launches 'People of the Book' At TIFF Market
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- Bleiberg Entertainment is selling worldwide rights to historical drama "People of the Book" at the TIFF market, presenting first footage to buyers alongside newly revealed cast.
- "People of the Book" is directed by Michael Haussman, adapted by Oscar-nominated Petter Skavlan, and based on Geraldine Brooks' Pulitzer prize-winning novel, tracking a sacred artifact across 500 years through pre- and post-inquisition Spain, 17th-century Venice, Nazi-occupied Bosnia, and a contemporary Iraqi refugee family's escape from ISIS-held Mosul.
- Good Films Studios Spain, a joint venture between Spanish government investment company SETT, Orogen Media, and producer Miriam Segal's Good Films, received €20M and plans to shoot 20 films at Ciudad de la Luz over the next decade at €17M–€25M budgets — this film is its first project.
- Filming recently wrapped in Spain's Valencia region (including Ciudad de la Luz in Alicante) plus Trieste and Venice, Italy, with the film slated for completion by end of year and a 2027 major festival debut.
- The cast includes Ziad Bakri, Rania Ben Fattoum, Ankido Hussen, Luca Ferrini, Giorgia Sinicorni, Pasquale Esposito, and Jose Luis Ferrier, with HODs including Oscar-winning makeup artist Julie Dartnell and DOP Diego Romero.
- SETT also poured €20M into Ítaca Films Madrid to produce 26 film and TV projects worth €419M over the next decade, pointing to a coordinated Spanish strategy to anchor mid-budget international productions at home.
Why it matters: Spain is committing €40M across two production vehicles to build a mid-budget international film pipeline at Ciudad de la Luz, and "People of the Book" — a Pulitzer-adapted, 500-year-spanning epic with worldwide sales attached via Bleiberg — is the proof-of-concept launch aiming for a 2027 festival debut.
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