The District! Arrives in North America
FPS magazine reports that film distributor Atopia has acquired the North American rights to The District! (Nyocker!). The 2005 Hungarian feature, directed by Aron Gauder, did quite well on the festival circuit, but has otherwise been difficult to see. Atopia’s limited rollout includes engagements at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin beginning November 16, the Cinematheque in Winnipeg in late November, and Cleveland’s CIA Cinematheque in late January. Additional cities and dates will be listed on the film’s MySpace page.
Having seen the film at the Ottawa International Animation Festival a couple years ago, I’d say that it’s commendable more for what it attempts than what it accomplishes. It’s definitely worth a look though, and in fact, I’m curious to see it again myself as a standalone film instead of in the overwhelming and hectic film festival setting. The trailer is below, but first, the film synopsis:
A group of teens from the wrong side of Budapest’s tracks band together to make themselves rich by traveling back in time, burying a horde of wooly mammoths under the city’s streets, then returning to the present and drilling for oil. As creators of a new oil-producing nation, their scheme draws the attention of Putin (who uses the district’s Russian hookers as spies), Blair and George W. Bush. In the midst of it all, star-crossed teen love is in bloom.