'Captive,' 'War Witch' kick off sales

MADRID -- Sold by Films Distribution, Brillante Mendoza's "Captive" and Kim Nguyen's "War Witch" rolled off Berlin Competition berths to tie down spirited initial sales. Underscoring the impact of Academy Award nominations, Films Distribution also saw sterling extra sales on Oscar contenders "Monsieur Lazhar" and "A Cat in Paris." A truth-based Philippine hostage crisis starring Isabelle Huppert in a buzzed-about perf as one abductee, "Captive" closed Italy with Nomad Film in a "very good, six-figure deal," said Films Distribution partner Nicolas Brigaud-Robert. Among Eastern European and Latin American deals, "Captive" clinched Poland (AP Manana) and Brazil (Providence Filmes), plus Greece and Switzerland (Trigon-Film). Scandinavia is being signed, said Brigaud-Robert. "Captive" was made by Didier Costet's Swift Prods., Mendoza's longtime producer, at a significantly higher budget than Mendoza's norm. "We managed to get Mendoza to more mainstream distributors: Intentions met reality," said Brigaud-Robert. Winning Rachel Mwanza an actress Silver Bear for her perf as a girl-soldier in a harrowing African civil war, "War Witch" closed Berlin's Competition. It sold France (Happiness Distribution), Imagine (Benelux), Switzerland (Agora Films) and Poland (Against Gravity). A U.S. deal is pending, said Brigaud-Robert. "With 'War Witch' screening so late at Berlin, any sales at all in Berlin is a very good sign," he added. Following multiple earlier major-territory deals, "Lazhar" sold a hefty 14 more territories in Berlin, including U.K. (Soda Pictures), Mexico (Canana), Norway (Europa Film), Denmark (Ost For Paradise) and Korea (Aud). Introduced at 2011's Berlin, "Cat" has step-by-step racked up 30-plus territory deals. Berlin dealings included an HBO Latin America pact, Brigaud Robert said. Films Distribution's Berlin trading was "brisk and definitely above-average," he added, echoing other stronger sales agents with high-profile English-language pics. Adopt Films took U.S. rights to Jean-Marc Vallee's "Cafe de Flore" earlier this week, in an already-announced deal. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com