Curated global streaming service and theatrical distributor MUBI have acquired UK and Irish rights to Ben Sharrock’s idiosyncratic and timely cross-cultural satire LIMBO.
LIMBO is an offbeat observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish island where a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims. It centres on Omar, a young Syrian musician who is burdened by the weight of his grandfather’s oud, which he has carried all the way from his homeland.
The film blends drama with absurdist humour in a combination which created critical acclaim for Sharrock’s debut feature PIKADERO, a film that was awarded the prestigious Michael Powell Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Reflecting the complexity of the refugee experience has been a long-held passion for the Scottish writer-director, who spent time working for an NGO in refugee camps in southern Algeria, and living in Damascus in 2009 shortly before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. There, he formed a network of friends whose personal stories inspired the film.
LIMBO, which was part of the Cannes 2020 selection this year, will receive its World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, and European premiere at San Sebastian International Film Festival later this month.
Kevin Chan, MUBI, said: "LIMBO is a wonder and we are thrilled to be able to work with Ben and Irune on bringing it to UK and Irish audiences. Right now in these increasingly fractured times we live in, we need to tell stories which find common ground in shared cultural experiences and LIMBO in its own warm, witty way does exactly that.”
About Ben Sharrock
Ben Sharrock is a writer-director from Edinburgh. He studied film at Screen Academy Scotland and Arabic in Damascus, later living in San Sebastian, Spain. His short films include Patata Tortilla (15), which won two BAFTA New Talent awards. His debut feature, Pikadero (15), won numerous awards including best feature at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and best European feature at Brussels. Limbo (20) is his second feature film.
About MUBI
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