Atom Egoyan’s ‘Guest of Honor’ Lands at Kino Lorber (Exclusive)

Kino Lorber has picked up the U.S. rights to Atom Egoyan’s Guest of Honor, a family melodrama starring David Thewlis and Laysla De Oliveira (Locke and Key), after its world premiere at Venice.

Lorber plans a late 2020 theatrical release for the soap about a restaurant health inspector and his daughter, a high school music teacher, sifting through their troubled history. Playtime started shopping the U.S. rights to Guest of Honor during the Venice bow, which was followed by festival circuit play in Toronto, Vancouver, London and Busan.

Guest of Honor will also have a U.S. premiere Feb. 13 as part of Telefilm Canada’s Canada Now 2020 series at the IFC Center in New York City. Egoyan is best known for indie movies like The Adjuster, Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter.

His latest film will screen at the Feb. 13-16 Canada Now showcase alongside seven other Canadian indie titles: Marie Clements’ Red Snow; Zacharias Kunuk’s One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk; Sophie Deraspe’s Toronto festival winner Antigone; and Yung Chang’s This is Not a Movie, about legendary war correspondent Robert Fisk.

Also bound for Canada Now is Louise Archambault’s And the Birds Rained Down; Nicole Dorsey’s debut feature Black Conflux; and the U.S. premiere of Monia Chokri’s Cannes prizewinner A Brother’s Love.

“We’re proud to welcome back talent and filmmakers for a fourth year of Canadian discoveries,” said John Vanco, senior vp and general manager of IFC Center in a statement.

The U.S. distribution deal for Guest of Honor was negotiated by Kino Lorber senior vp Wendy Lidell and Nicolas Brigaud-Robert for Playtime.

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