Ahead of its U.S. premiere at SXSW, “The Queen of My Dreams” has been sold to a flurry of international markets, including in the U.K. and Ireland to Peccadillo Pictures.

Represented globally by LevelK, the colorful drama-comedy world premiered at Toronto and had its international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. “The Queen of My Dreams” will play at SXSW in the Festival Favorites section.

Along with Ireland and the U.K., “The Queen of My Dreams” has secured theatrical distribution deals in Eastern Europe (HBO), Indonesia (PT. Falcon) and Pakistan (Cine Entertainment). Further sales are currently being negotiated. Cineplex Pictures will give the movie a wide release across Canada starting on March 22.

The film revolves around Azra, a Pakistani woman living in Toronto who is worlds apart from her conservative Muslim mother. When her father suddenly dies on a trip home to Pakistan, Azra finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined, from her mother’s youth in Karachi to her own coming-of-age in rural Canada.

Peccadillo Pictures’ Tom Abell said, “We are in love with this beautiful film that so vividly captures two moments in time and are delighted to bring ‘The Queen of My Dreams’ to the U.K. and Ireland”.

Mirza, meanwhile, described the film as a “mother-daughter story, a celebration of the joy, power and resilience of Muslim and South Asian women.”

“It was a dream come true to shoot this film in Pakistan and Canada, and it is the realization of an even bigger dream to now have the chance to share it with audiences around the globe,” said Mirza, a Canadian-born film and TV writer, director and producer, who has been named a White House Champion of Change in Asian American Storytelling.

The Canadian film was produced by Jason Levangie (“Kids vs. Aliens”) and Marc Tetreault (“Suck It Up”) for Shut Up & Color Pictures, and Andria Wilson Mirza for Baby Daal Productions. Financial support comes from Telefilm Canada, Canada Media Fund, Province of Nova Scotia, Screen Nova Scotia, Province of Ontario and Government of Canada. Read the Variety exclusive here.

LevelK has signed key territory deals for Danish family animation Mumbo Jumbo, from prolific Scandinavian production company A. Film Production.

The film has sold to France (Gebeka Films), Middle East (Empire Networks Ltd.), Poland (Vivarto), Benelux (Just4Kids bv), Hungary (ADS Service ltd), Estonia (Estinfilm), Greece (Rosebud.21 S.A), Former Yugoslavia (Demiurg), Bulgaria (Pro Films OOD) and CIS (Silver Box/Russian Report). Further deals are in the works.

The film, currently in pre-production, will be pitched this week at animation industry event Cartoon Movie (March 5-7). Nordisk Film will release the film in Scandinavia in 2025.

3D CGI animation Mumbo Jumbo follows an elephant who magically grows to a giant size; and must go on a dangerous journey to find the scary witch Baba Yaga, who can turn him small again.

The film is directed by Karsten Kiilerich and produced by Anders Mastrup for A. Film Production, the Scandinavian production house behind titles including Niko and the Way to the Stars, Checkered Ninja and The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear.

Backers include the Danish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Den Vestdanske Filmpulje and Nordisk Film Distribution.

Mumbo Jumbo is based on Jakob Martin Strid’s children book

“When the story is presenting such a fabulous gallery of entertaining characters it’s a win-win situation,” said Kiilerich. Read the Screen Daily exclusive here.

The Sundance queer drama “Sebastian,” directed by up-and-coming Finnish-British director Mikko Mäkelä, has been bought by Kino Lorber for U.S. distribution, along with a string of international buyers.

Represented in international markets by LevelK, the film made its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Sebastian” follows Max (Ruaridh Mollica), a 25-year-old freelance writer and aspiring novelist who seems well on his way to success in London’s cultural spheres. Yet by night, he finds a different kind of exhilaration as a sex worker with the pseudonym Sebastian, meeting men via an escorting platform. Max uses his experiences as Sebastian to fuel his stories, and the worthy debut novel that he has been longing to write finally seems within reach. But Max increasingly struggles to remain in control of his double-life, leading him to reckon with whether Sebastian is merely a writer’s tool to achieve first-hand authenticity, or if something more is at stake.

Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical, home video and digital release on all major platforms later in 2024.

In addition to Kino Lorber, the film has been sold by LevelK to Germany (Salzgeber & Co.), France (Optimale Sarl), Brazil (Imovision), Spain (Filmin Spain) and Poland (Tongariro Releasing), with more deals still being negotiated. September Films in Benelux and Cinemanse in the Nordics also picked up the film ahead of the EFM.

“Mikko Mäkelä’s sensual, sophisticated debut offers an engrossing and provocative look at the intersection of sex work, art, identity and authenticity,” said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell. “‘Sebastian’ hardly shies away from frank depictions of sex on screen, but what impressed me most about it at Sundance was that the carnal acts on display were never gratuitous, but rather suffused with intellectual and artistic purpose.”

Over at the French banner Optimale Sarl, head of distribution Cyril Rota described Ruaridh Mollica as the next U.K. star, “reminiscent of a Tom Holland-type.”

“He explores the highly secretive world of male escorting from a unique angle never seen before,” Rota continued. “This debut feature from a promising young Finnish-British director adeptly navigates a highly sensitive subject, portraying the nuances of sexuality in a time when everything seems polarized.”

The cast is completed by Hiftu Quasem (“The Witcher: Blood Origin,” “Killing Eve”), Jonathan Hyde (“Titanic”) and Ingvar Sigurdsson (“A White, White Day”). Read the full Variety exclusive here.

Denmark-based sales outfit LevelK has boarded Charlotte Sieling’s Way Home, ahead of its presentation in the work-in-progress sessions at Goteborg Film Festival today (Thursday, February 1).

Written by Danish filmmaker Sieling with Nagieb Khaja and Jesper Fink based on Khaja’s original idea, Way Homefollows a man smuggled into Syria on a desperate search for his son; the man must sacrifice everything he believes in to be reunited with his child. The film is currently in post-production.

Nikolaj Lie Kaas plays the lead role, and learned Arabic for the part. Lie Kaas recently appeared in Anders Thomas Jensen’s Riders Of Justice; his other credits include Susanne Bier’s Open Hearts, Brothers and A Second Chance, plus Lars von Trier’s 1998 The Idiots.

Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt, Arian Kashef and Besir Zeciri are also on the Way Home cast. It is produced by Signe Leick Jensen and Morten Kaufmann for Denmark’s Toolbox Film, in co-production with Tamtam Film and Hummelfilm. Backers include the Danish Film Institute, Norwegian Film Institute, Nordic Film & TV Fund and Eurimages.

Sieling recently made Margrete – Queen Of North starring Trine Dyrholm, and has directed extensively for TV, including The Killing, Homeland and acclaimed Danish-Swedish series The Bridge. See the Screen Daily exclusive here.