Variety has reported that Yann Gonzalez's sophomore feature film Knife + Heart, starring Vanessa Paradis, has been picked up in the U.S. by Altered Innocence.
Knife + Heart is about as close to a modern giallo flick as you can get. I like Knife + Heart personally. It has all kinds of lurid, sexy and provacative thrills. Shooting it on 35mm helps carry an air of 70s exploitation and independant cinema with it, neatly placing it in the era the story takes place in. In keeping with the giallo theme it is certainly, and vibrantly, violent as well.
The drama debuted in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival and makes its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest this week. Paradis portrays a ’70s gay porn producer whose productions are stalked by a masked killer.Altered Innocence plans a theatrical release for early 2019. This marks the second Gonzalez film to be distributed by Altered Innocence following the Queer Palm winning short film “Islands.”The deal was negotiated between Frank Jaffe from Altered Innocence, and Kinology CEO Grégoire Melin. Jaffe said, “Yann Gonzalez is without a doubt one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. I’m incredibly excited to continue to bring his unique, impassioned form of cinema to U.S. audiences. ‘Knife+Heart’ has the perfect blend of retro slasher sensibilities, queer romantic dynamics, and an incredible original soundtrack by M83 to really broaden U.S. appeal.”
Knife + Heart is scheduled to play at Fantastic Fest this week and will open the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival next month.
The rest of the worldwide rights for Knife + Heart are currently held by Kinology.