EXCLUSIVE: Athens-based audiovisual group Tanweer is expanding its business into world sales of local language content, kicking off with an augural slate at the EFM.
The new operation will be headed by Tanweer Senior Vice President Aruzia Khan and executive Eliana Eliopoulos, who will both be on the ground in Berlin.
Until now, Tanweer has been primarily focused on production at home and buying rights for its home territory of Greece as well as satellite arms in Turkey, India and the Middle East.
The inaugural sales slate includes the epic 32-episode historical drama series Red River, recounting the Ottoman persecution of the Greek community living in the region of Pontus in northeastern Anatolia in the early 20th Century.
Directed by veteran Greek director Manousos Manousakis, the show is adapted from Charis Tsirkinidis’s novel of the same name. The $4M production is billed as the most expensive in the history of Greek television.
The slate also features mini-series Smyrna, exploring the events surrounding the Turkish capture of the Greek city of Smyrna in 1922, during the 1919-1922 Greek-Turkish war.
The four-part drama, which was produced by Tanweer Films, is a spin-off of the 2022 film of the same name, which was released in North America by Fathom Events on 700 screens last December.
The international cast includes Daphne Alexander, Mimi Denissi, Rupert Graves, Katerina Geronikolou, Burak Hakki, Susan Hampshire, Leonidas Kakouris, Jane Lapotaire, and Christos Stergioglou.
It is produced by Dionyssis Samiotis, alongside executive producers Joseph Samaan and Mimi Denissi.
Further titles include the romantic-comedy #Gawwezni, which is the first title on the development slate announced last summer between Tanweer and Saudi Arabian content company Arabia Pictures.
British-Egyptian star Amir El-Masry, whose credits include Limbo, Industry, Netflix’s The Crown and Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, plays a man who falls madly in love but cannot act on his feelings due to a spell that has been cast on him.
The feature was released throughout the Middle East and North America last November and has just launched in the UK. It is slated for release in Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria during the first quarter of 2023.
Further titles include Lebanese comedy C-Section about two pregnant women from different social classes, who unwillingly share the same hospital room. It is due to hit UK cinemas this March.
The company is also looking to tie up fresh deals on the 2019 film Eftihia, about Greece’s legendary songwriter Eftyhia Papagiannopoulou.
Produced by Tanweer Films, it is the fifth highest-grossing Greek film of all time.
“We’re very excited to bring the best of local language productions, for audiences worldwide to enjoy,” said Khan.
The post Tanweer Expands Into Local Language World Sales; Inaugural EFM Slate Features Greek TV Hit ‘Red River’ & Egyptian Rom-Com ‘#Gawwezni’ appeared first on Deadline.
