Alief Boards ‘Borges and Me,’ Closes Major Market Theatrical Sales (EXCLUSIVE)

France and U.K.-based Alief has boarded as a sales agent “Borges and Me,” a big scene adaptation of U.S. writer Jay Parini novelized memoir of a life-changing encounter with Argentine literary great Jorge Luis Borges. Directed by Marc Turtletaub (“Jules”) and produced by his label Big Beach (“Miss Sunshine”), “Borges and Me” stars Fionn Whitehead (“Dunkirk”), Luis Gnecco (“Neruda”) and Alan Cumming (“Avengers Doomsday”). “Delightfully imbued with poetry, magical realism and melancholy, ‘Borges and Me’ is a charming ride with an outstanding British cast. We are delighted to be representing the film,” said Alief President Brett Walker, announcing the pickup. The Edinburgh Festival world premiere has also closed first major market theatrical deals before the AFM with Icon Distribution (U.K. and Ireland), Rialto Distribution (Australia and New Zealand), German-speaking Europe with MFA Film and Spain, bought by Alfa Pictures across what alien describes as “multiple major markets.” Alief is now in conversations with buyers from Central Europe, MENA, Mexico, Cono Sur countries of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay and Asia, it told Variety on the first day of trading at the American Film Market. Written by Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”), working off an earlier adaptation by “Borges and Me” picks up on Parini (Whitehead) in 1971 as young American graduate student at Scotland’s St. Andrews U. desperate to find his voice as a writer, who is persuaded by mentor Scottish poet and Borges translator Alistair Reid, to chauffeur Borges for a week’s road trip in the Scottish Highlands to meet poet George Mackay Brown (Peter Mullan). Their journey—an improbable road trip in an old Morris Minor—transforms from a reluctant obligation into a profound, life-changing experience, Alief noted. In real-life, Argentina’s Jorge Luis Borges was a towering literary presence. Asked to name the greatest works in Latin America literature, Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa answered “Borges, everything.” Yet Borges wrote famously in a poem that “I have committed the worst of all sins: I have not been happy.” The Borges Parini encounters in 1971 is a 72-years legend making up for lost time: eager, though blind, to grasp the moment, feel it to its fullest. As played by Gnecco, that drivers moments of comedy, but as the film builds in emotion in his second half, delivers a life changing lesson for Parini. “Borges has remained with me every day of my life,” he says in his voiceover narrative. “Oren Moverman pivots between moments of graceful poetry and others of simpler feelgood sentiment. The final balance slightly favors the latter,” Guy Lodge wrote in an upbeat Variety review. Peter Mullan (“My Name Is Joe”), Freya Mavor (“My Policeman,” and Morven Christie (“The Bay) also star. “Borges and Me” is a Big Beach presentation of an Ossian International, Big Beach, Lemming Film, and A Private View production. Alex Polunin, Turtletaub, Michael B. Clark, Tim Foley produce; Stephen Burt, Moverman and Parini executive produce. “It is a thrill to work with Big Beach,” added Alief partner Miguel Govea. “Their gorgeously shot ‘Borges And Me brings to life the book, capturing its essence of time, place, and recollection in a strikingly clear and evocative upbeat road movie that audiences and buyers are connecting with.” Director Marc Turtletaub added: “We are thrilled to be working with Alief for international. Their passion for the film was apparent from the first conversations we had with them. And we love the enthusiasm from the distributors who they have partnered with.” “We fell in love with ‘Borges and Me’ for its warmth, gentle wit and endearing charm. It’s a beautiful story about an unlikely friendship between two very different generations, and how much they come to learn from one another,” said Kelly Roger CEO, Rialto Distribution. “We are very excited to be releasing ‘Borges and Me ‘in the U.K. and Ireland next year and can’t wait to share it with audiences everywhere,” said Spencer Pollard, CEO, Icon Film Distribution, a John Gore Studios company “‘Borges and Me’ is a delightful package -– combining the poetic of Borges with the magic of the Highlands. We trust German arthouse audiences will love it,” added Christian Meinke,foinder of MFA Film Distribution.