Berlin

Protagonist Pictures is launching international sales on the 2018 Sundance hit The Kindergarten Teacher at the upcoming European Film Market, it was announced today by CEO Dave Bishop. Critically acclaimed writer-director Sara Colangelo (Little Accidents) took home The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic at the recent festival for the tense psychological drama which stars the Academy Award nominated Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary, The Dark Knight) and the Golden Globe winning Gael Garcia Bernal (“Mozart in the Jungle”, The Motorcycle Diaries).

The Kindergarten Teacher is produced by Talia Kleinhendler and Osnat Handelsman Keren (The Women’s Balcony, The Farewell Party) through their Pie Films, Trudie Styler (Moon, Girl Most Likely) and Celine Rattray under their Maven Films banner, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The film was financed and co-produced by Pia Pressure, Farcaster Films, Imagination Park Entertainment, Manhattan Productions and PaperChase Films.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a Staten Island kindergarten teacher who, when she discovers what may be a gifted five-year-old in her class, becomes fascinated and obsessed with the child, spiraling downward on a dangerous and desperate path in order to nurture his talent.

Protagonist is handling international sales for the film that will imminently announce its domestic US distribution. Protagonist will screen The Kindergarten Teacher to buyers at the European Film Market.

Bishop stated, “With some of best reviews coming out of Sundance, and as the winner of one of the top prizes, The Kindergarten Teacher was a film we absolutely wanted to represent. It’s a prime piece for audiences looking for complex, dangerous and rich storytelling and we are delighted to be bringing Sara and Maggie’s undeniable talents to the market and to help deliver this award-winning film to audiences.”

Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe winner Maggie Gyllenhaal’s breakout performance in the 2002 cult classic Secretary cemented her status as one of her generation’s most fearless and talented actors. In 2010 she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart. In 2015 she won a Golden Globe for her role in “The Honourable Woman.” She starred as Rachel Dawes in the Warner Bros. box office hit The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan. Gyllenhaal most recently produced and starred in David Simon’s HBO drama “The Deuce”, which has been picked up for a second season.

Sara Colangelo is a New York based writer and director whose short films have screened at festivals around the world, including U.S. festivals such as Sundance, Tribeca, and SXSW. Colangelo’s debut feature, Little Accidents, had its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Inspired by her short film of the same title, it explores tragedy and redemption in a modern-day American coal mining town. During its development, Colangelo was invited to the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs and received support from the Annenberg Institute, the San Francisco Film Society, IFP, and Indian Paintbrush. The film stars Boyd Holbrook, Elizabeth Banks, Chloe Sevigny, Josh Lucas, and Jacob Lofland. It was theatrically released in over fifteen U.S. cities and was subsequently nominated for a 2015 Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best First Screenplay.

The Kindergarten Teacher is a remake of the critically acclaimed Israeli film by the same name, written and directed by Nadav Lapid.

Gyllenhaal is repped by WME and MGMT Entertainment. Colangelo is repped by WME. 

ABOUT PROTAGONIST PICTURES

Protagonist Pictures is an international finance, production and sales company which has a proven track record in outstanding films and commercial successes. Based in the UK, the company handles films from around the world, always maintaining a strong focus on filmmakers with exceptional vision and storytelling skills.

Protagonist’s current successes on release around the world include The Florida Project from Sean Baker distributed in the US by A24, William Oldroyd’s BAFTA nominated Lady Macbeth, Francis Lee’s BAFTA nominated God’s Own Country, 2017 Un Certain Regard Grand Jury Prize winner April’s Daughter from writer/director/producer Michel Franco, Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire with its ensemble cast of Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Sharlto Copley and Jack Reynor, and  Charlie McDowell’s The Discovery with Rooney Mara, Jason Segel and Robert Redford. Other titles include the 2017 Directors’ Fortnight Art Cinema Award Winner The Rider from Chloé Zhao to be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Official Selections Beast, from writer/director Michael Pearce and Clio Barnard’s Dark River starring Ruth Wilson, as well as Richard Loncraine’s Finding Your Feet to be released in the US by 30WEST/Roadside Attractions.

Currently in post-production are Vita & Virginia starring Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki, Kristoffer Nyholm’s Keepers, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, which will be distributed in the US by Amazon Studios, The Souvenir from Executive Producer Martin Scorsese directed by Joanna Hogg, zombie comedy Little Monsters starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o and Josh Gad, and Juan Cabral’s Two/One starring Boyd Holbrook and Beau Bridges.

In pre-production are Paramour, directed by Alexandra-Therese Keining and starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Gypsy Boy starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Off Season starring Jon Hamm from the producers of Baby Driver and The Shape of Water and Hope Gap starring Annette Bening and Bill Nighy.