Whee! TLA To Release In China They Eat Dogs and Old Men In New Cars!

Golly, I'm giddy like a school girl on prom night and it's all thanks to the fine folk at TLA who have just announced that they've acquired In China They Eat Dogs and Old Men In New Cars for North American distribution. Why should you care? Well, chances are you're never really going to, not as much as I do anyway. So why do I care? Well, before I got on to my current Japanese film fixation I was pretty locked on to Denmark. Lars Von Trier was largely responsible for getting me there but screen writer and sometime director Tomas Anders Jensen is what kept me there and both of these films are Jensen creations.

As writers go Jensen is pretty much money in the bank. He's versatile, prolific and immensely talented. He was a huge figure in the Dogme movement penning two of the first four Dogme films (Mifune and The King is Alive) as well as one later acknowledged as one of the finest in the movement (Open Hearts). His darker-than-dark comedies Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself and The Green Butchers are two of my favorite films of the last year. I was so impressed by Wilbur at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival that I actually went and tracked down someone in Denmark who would direct ship me a copy of The Green Butchers to get around Denmark's export laws (thanks Mack!) and it was absolutely worth the effort.

These two films - neither of which I've yet seen but I've read a lot of good things about both - are a pair of bleak crime comedies revolving around low-end thug Harald. It appears that the In China They Eat Dogs website has died an ignoble death but the Danish site for Old Men In New Cars is up and running here and there is a trailer included. And, yes, that is the girl from High Fidelity. One of the guys from The Idiots, too, but High Fidelity girl is definitely the more appealing of the two to look at.

Read on for the complete press release, which includes detailed summaries of both films.

ON ITS FIRST DAY AT THE 2004 MIFED, TLA RELEASING INKS ITS FIRST DEAL, ACQUIRING TWO DANISH ACTON-COMEDIES:

IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS

OLD MEN IN NEW CARS

(Philadelphia PA/Milan, Italy – October 12, 2004) Only one day after arriving at the 2004 MIFED, TLA Releasing has already made its first deal, acquiring the U.S. home entertainment and television rights to a pair of action-comedies from Denmark, IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS and its prequel OLD MEN IN NEW CARS, both written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Lasse Spang Olsen.

In these two films a new genre was created for Danish cinema: the black comedy gangster film. Both films follow the hysterically hapless, blood-soaked trail of the slightly psychopathic criminal, Harald (Kim Bodnia). He first appears in IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS (I Kina spiser de hunde) (Denmark, 1999, 91 minutes). Harald’s brother Arvid is a decent man who accidentally foils a bank robbery. When he discovers the reason for the robbery, he decides to raise the money himself and enlists Harald’s help. Harald’s philosophy is that while some things may be wrong to some people, they’re perfectly acceptable for others, hence the title of the film.

OLD MEN IN NEW CARS (Gamle maend i nye biler) (Denmark, 2002, 94 minutes) is a prequel to CHINA. Just released from prison, Harald is ready to get back to “work,” but his dying surrogate father begs him to find his long-lost son before it’s too late. Unfortunately, the son is an imprisoned serial killer, so Harald, with his two henchmen-turned chefs in tow, finds a way to get the thug out. With a full-fledged gang now behind him, Harald can begin the crime spree he’s always dreamed of.

While the two films form a pair, each was owned by different companies, so to bring them together for U.S. distribution, TLA’s Director of Acquisitions Richard Wolff dealt with separate negotiations. “We wanted to bring these two remarkable films together to American audiences,” he said, “so they could meet Harald, an irresistible bad guy you can’t help but love. I appreciate all the cooperation we received in making these deals possible.”

For IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS, Wolff worked with Michael Werner, Sales Director of Non Stop Sales. “We are thrilled that this groundbreaking film in Danish cinema is finally reaching the American shores,” said Werner, “and we couldn’t have a better partner than TLA. Their enthusiasm for IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS gives us the confidence that it will have a strong release in the United States.”

For OLD MEN IN NEW CARS, Wolff worked with Sanne Arloe, Sales Executive at Nordisk Film International Sales. "I am very excited to be working with TLA Releasing whom I am sure will give OLD MEN IN NEW CARS a well deserved release in the States,” said Arlo. “I hope this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful business relationship between our two companies."

TLA Releasing expects to release each film individually in the spring and summer of 2005. Internationally known for its focuses on gay themes (LATTER DAYS, THE TRIP) and Spanish and Latino cinema (KM. O THE MAN WHO COPIED), TLA Releasing has also carved out a niche in the horror-crime-suspense genres, with such films as the Netherlands’ GODFORSAKEN, Poland’s THE DEBT and Japan’s SUICIDE CLUB. IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS and OLD MEN IN NEW CARS are the second and third TLA Releasing titles from Denmark; in 2005 it will re-release the 1978 gay classic YOU ARE NOT ALONE. For more information, visit www.tlareleasing.com.