IFC FILMS ACQUIRES US RIGHTS TO NICOLAS WINDING REFN’S ACTION-ADVENTURE VALHALLA RISING



Film had its World Premiere Friday at the Toronto International Film
Festival as a Special Presentation



Toronto, ON (September 14, 2009) - IFC Films, one of the leading
American distributors for independent and foreign films, announced today at the Toronto International Film Festival it has acquired U.S.
distribution rights to VALHALLA RISING, an action-adventure movie about a Viking warrior. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Friday to strong critical praise.



Directed by the visionary Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn,
VALHALLA RISING is his follow up to the critically acclaimed Bronson.
VALHALLA RISING stars Mads Mikkelsen, whose previous credits include
Casino Royale, and IFC Films’ After the Wedding and Flame and Citron.
This is Mikkelson’s third film with Refn, as they previously worked
together on the first two films in Refn’s Pusher acclaimed mafia movie
trilogy.



The deal for VALHALLA RISING, negotiated by IFC Films acquisitions
topper Arianna Bocco and Carole Baraton from Wild Bunch, is one of the first major acquisitions to be announced out of the 2009 festival. IFC Films won distribution rights following a bidding war.



VALHALLA RISING tells the story of One-Eye, a mute warrior of
supernatural strength, who has been held prisoner by the chieftain Barde for many years . Aided by a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight, One-Eye and Are board a Viking vessel but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his true self. Referencing masters like Akira Kurosawa Sergio Leone, and Andrei Tarkovsky, VALHALLA RISING shows how carnage, once invoked, has no fealty but to itself.



Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment said, “Nicolas Winding
Refn knows film like no other director. He elevates genre to the realm
of art and has established himself as one of the most audacious
filmmakers working in Europe today. VALHALLA RISING is one of the most visceral and exciting films we’ve seen in a long time. We’re absolutely thrilled to be in business with him and reunited with Nimbus Films.”



IFC Films plans to release VALHALLA RISING in 2010 via its IFC In
Theaters program.



Described by TIFF programers as “one of the most daring and audacious directors in Europe,” Nicolas Winding Refn is best known for the Pusher trilogy, which transplanted the gangster film to Copenhagen and gave it a tragic import and epic scale. Born in Copenhagen, Nicolas Winding Refn studied in New York City at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.



He made his feature directing debut with the first Pusher film in 1996.
He has since directed the features Bleeder (99), Fear X (03), Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands (04), Pusher III:I’m the Angel of Death (05), and Bronson (09).