Bendita Film Sales Acquires Lithuanian Locarno Competition Player ‘Toxic’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comJamie Lang Bendita Film Sales has picked up international rights to Saulė Bliuvaitė’s debut feature “Toxic,” selected to screen in Locarno’s International Competition this summer.
On the occasion of today’s Locarno lineup announcement, Bendita has given Variety exclusive access to the Lithuanian film’s first trailer, seen above.
Set in a grim industrial village, “Toxic” tells the story of 13-year-old Maria, who lives with her grandmother after being abandoned by her mother.
During a violent interaction in the street, Maria meets Kristina, another girl her age who dreams of becoming a model. Hoping to get closer to Kristina, Maria enrolls in a mysterious and cult-like modeling school where young girls are preparing for the area’s biggest casting event. “As I myself grew up in a bleak industrial area, I was living with the thought of escaping – not just from my surroundings, but also from my body,” director Saulė Bliuvaitė said of the film’s origins. “I was very thin, trying to enroll in modeling agencies around my town, but I was constantly told some parts of my body were too big to fit the standard.
Read more on variety.com