Icarus Films has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to director Lana Daher’s feature debut documentary Do You Love Me ahead of its U.S. premiere at SXSW in March. Lightdox handles worldwide sales. The trailer will be premiered below.
In a separate distribution deal, Rapid Eye Movies has acquired rights in Germany and Austria, with plans for a spring theatrical release. The company plans to show the film to exhibitors at the European Film Market in Berlin.
“We are delighted and excited to be releasing Lana Daher’s beautiful, innovative and deeply moving film ‘Do You Love Me’ in German cinemas this spring,” said Stephen Hall of Rapid Eye Movies.
Comprised entirely of archival footage, “Do You Love Me” is “a playful and deeply personal journey through Lebanon’s audiovisual memory, spanning more than 70 years of film, television, home videos and photographs,” Lightdoc said. “Constructed as a love letter to Beirut, the film explores the country’s collective psyche, shaped by joy and intimacy, destruction and loss, in a country without a national archive, where images become acts of preservation, resistance, and rebirth.”
The film had its world premiere at Venice Days and has since been screened at major international film festivals including IDFA, Docrisbois, Cairo Film Festival, Marrakech Film Festival, and Hamburg Film Festival.
Upcoming screenings include the Gothenburg Film Festival, DocPoint, Antenna Documentary Film Festival, and SXSW, where the film will make its U.S. debut.
