Bendita Acquires Ann Oren's Locarno Film 'Objet A'
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- Bendita Film Sales acquired international rights to writer-director Ann Oren's second feature Objet A ahead of its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival's main International Competition in August.
- Objet A follows visionary hand surgeons Ingeborg and Adam — whose bond of love, control and fixations is unsettled when an enigmatic figure named Gaia enters their lives.
- The cast reunites Piaffe star Simone Bucio alongside Aenne Schwarz, Louis Hofmann, Georg Friedrich and Sofia Kokkali.
- Objet A is one of 17 films competing for the Golden Leopard in Locarno's main International Competition, unveiled by the festival on Thursday.
- The film is Oren's follow-up to her 2022 debut Piaffe, which also premiered in Locarno's competition, won the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival, and earned a Best Debut from the German Film Critics' Association.
- Schuldenberg Films leads production in Berlin with co-producers Tarantula, asterisk* and ERT, with funding from Film Fund Luxembourg, the German Federal Film Fund, Creative Europe Media and other European backers.
Why it matters: Bendita locked in international rights months before Locarno, positioning the company to sell Objet A to global buyers the moment it screens — a competitive advantage in a Locarno market where early positioning often determines a specialty film's festival trajectory. The deal extends Bendita's relationship with Oren after Piaffe's path from Locarno through Oscilloscope's North American release.
