Sony Pictures Classics have pre-bought Unidentified, the new feature from Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda, The Perfect Candidate), acquiring the contemporary Saudi-language thriller film for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide airlines. Writen, directed by Al Mansour, and produced together Brad Niemann (The Perfect Candidate), Unidentified is currently in post-production.
Mila Al Zahrani (The Perfect Candidate) and Shafi Al Harthi (A Woman’s Life) star in the thriller, in which the discovery of a teenage girl’s lifeless body in the desert sparks an investigation. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. Facing a ticking clock that threatens to turn the case cold, Noelle’s determination leads her into a mystery embedded within a society in transition, where women are fighting for greater autonomy.
“I am so excited to reteam with Sony Pictures Classics for the release of my latest film Unidentified,” said Al Mansour in a statement. “SPC championed my very first film Wadjda, about a young girl who wanted to ride a forbidden bicycle, before cinema was even legal in the Kingdom. I couldn’t be happier to be working with them again to tell another female-driven story at an equally exciting time of fundamental change in Saudi Arabia.”
“With Wadjda, Haifaa Al Mansour became one of the world’s most exciting filmmakers,” said Sony Pictures Classics in a statement. “We are thrilled to be releasing her newest film, the mystery-thriller Unidentified, which is exactly the type of compelling movie that’s thriving in the theatrical marketplace right now. It promises to be a major SPC success at the end of the year.”
The deal reunites Sony Pictures Classics with Al Mansour following the success of Wadjda, which was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first feature-length film directed by a Saudi Arabian woman. The film was selected as Saudi Arabia’s entry for best international film at the 86th Academy Awards, marking the country’s first-ever Oscars submission, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award.
Unidentified is an Al Mansour Establishment production, made in association with Rotana Studios, with support from the Daw Program through the Film Commission, KSA.
The deal was negotiated between Sony Pictures Classics, with UTA Independent Film Group and Memento International representing the filmmakers.
