Juno Films acquires Sundance Doc’s ‘Most Beautiful Boy in the World’ – Deadline

Juno Films acquires the US and Canadian rights to the documentary The most beautiful boy in the world, the film by Kristina Lindstom and Kristian Petri will premiere at this year’s World Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival.

Produced by Stockholm-based Mantaray Film by Stina Gardell, the film follows former child star Björn Andrésen who played Tadzio in Thomas Mann’s 1971 film adaptation of Luchino Visconti. Death in Venice. Juno Films will release the film in theaters in May 2021.

The new film follows Andrésen, who shot to international stardom at the age of fifteen due to his iconic look, as he reflects nostalgically on his fame. In 1969, Visconti traveled across Europe in search of the perfect boy to embody absolute beauty in the film, and a year later discovered Andrésen, a shy Swedish teenager whom he brought to international fame from the overnight and led him to spend a short but intense part of his turbulent youth between Venice Lido, London, the Cannes Film Festival and so far away Japan.

In 1971, at the London premiere Death in Venice, the director proclaimed his Tadzio as “the most beautiful boy in the world”. Fifty years after the premiere, Andrésen takes us on a remarkable journey of personal memories, film history, stardust and tragic events in what could be his last attempt for him to put his life back on the road. rails.

“We filmed The most beautiful boy in the world for five years in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris, Budapest, Venice and Tokyo, following in Björn’s footsteps, ”says director Kristian Petri. Co-director Kristina Lindstrom adds: “It’s a story about the obsession with beauty, about desire and sacrifice, about a boy whose life was forever changed when director Luchino Visconti said” the most beautiful boy in the world ”. Who was this boy and what happened to him? This film allows us to listen to the boy’s own story. Him, who has been transformed into an image by others, an icon, a fantasy, who has taken over his young life.

The deal was negotiated by Elizabeth Sheldon, founding partner and general manager of Juno Films. Film Boutique recently announced that it has acquired the worldwide sales rights.