Egoyan’s Adoration picked up by Sony
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | 1:04 PM ET
CBC News
Sony Pictures has picked up the distribution rights to Atom Egoyan’s
latest film, Adoration, starring Arsinee Khanjian and Scott Speedman.
The movie, set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 22,
centres on a teenager who creates a fake internet identity and pursues a
family secret.
Also starring Rachel Blanchard and Devon Bostick, the film marks the
seventh collaboration between the Toronto filmmaker and producer Robert
Lantos.
Egoyan has previously said the movie was inspired by a true story about
a man who talks his pregnant girlfriend onto an El Al flight, where she
is found with a bomb in her handbag.
"What sort of mind would be able to actually talk a woman who was
pregnant with their child into getting onto that flight? And what about
the child – or a teenager who begins to fantasize that they were that
child?… And they’re trying to deal with that legacy in their own
life," he told CBC Radio’s Q program in April.
The Sony deal covers domestic rights as well as Latin America, Australia
and New Zealand.
Egoyan will be among 19 directors vying for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes
festival, running May 14-25.
Israeli arts prize
In separate news, Egoyan – who was born in Egypt to Armenian parents –
has also captured the Dan David Prize for the arts, a $1 million US
prize to be shared with his fellow winners, author Amos Oz and
playwright Tom Stoppard.
Oz is an Israeli journalist and author who has written extensively about
the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as fictional
stories.
The Czech-born Stoppard, who has made his home in England for many
years, is renowned for his theatrical works including Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Dead, Arcadia and The Real Thing. The 70-year-old
writer’s most recent Broadway production is Rock ‘n’ Roll.
The Dan David Prize, administered by Tel Aviv University in Israel,
centres on contributions to humanity that cover three time dimensions –
past, present and future.
Cited for "superb modernist filmmaking that explores Armenian history
and culture," Egoyan will be honoured with the others on May 19 in
Israel at a ceremony with Israeli President Shimon Peres.