Paris-based sales company Loco Films has acquired world sales rights to Mari Sanders’ “Stand Up” ahead of its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and is launching sales at the Cannes Market.
The Dutch director’s debut tells the story of Vera, a fun-loving 23-year-old woman whose life is upended when an accident leaves her in a wheelchair. No longer feeling that she fits into her old life, she’s drawn into the world of Xander, a young man who has always lived with disability.
Forced to make a difficult choice, Vera must decide whether to keep fighting to belong to the world she once inhabited, or risk claiming a place in a world she never imagined for herself.
“Stand Up,” which world premieres in Tribeca’s international narrative competition, is produced by Ineke Kanters and Lisette Kelder of Dutch production outfit the Film Kitchen, in co-production with Amanda Livanou and Katerina Tzourou of Greece’s Neda Film and Robert Kievit. It stars Lucia Zemene, Daan Buringa, Kendrick Etmon, Hana Hussein, Guy Clemens and Tamar van den Dop.
Loco Film’s Laurent Danielou described the film as “a powerful and emotional portrait of a young woman reinventing her life in a wheelchair, brought to the screen with sincerity, charm and a fresh perspective on disability representation.”
