MEDIA RELEASE: Cineflix Rights announces new streamers and broadcasters on board Leonard Cohen drama So Long, Marianne

Cineflix Rights has announced presales for highly anticipated drama series So Long, Marianne with ITVX for the UK, Cosmote TV and Star Channel for Greece, and Movies Best HD for Cyprus. Additionally, ARD’s Fabfiction (NDR, SWR, WDR, Germany) has joined as a coproducer alongside the original coproducing partners NRK (Norway) and Bell Media’s Crave (Canada).

So Long, Marianne tells the legendary love story of Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen, and his muse Marianne Ihlen who inspired the titular song. It’s an intimate tale of two lonely people falling in love during a period of their life when they are trying to figure out who they are and their place in the world, while one is becoming one of the most famous singers of all time.

Their story crosses the world, travelling from Norway to Greece, New York and Montreal, with the majority of the series filmed on the picturesque Greek island of Hydra where they lived during the 1960s. There, they joined legendary Australian novelists Charmian Clift and her husband George Johnston, the matriarch and patriarch of a bohemian group of writers, artists, poets, and outcasts who were exploring a new world of free love, drugs, and artistic freedom, but also experiencing the rivalries and jealousy that accompanied their intense, interwoven lives.

Leading the cast are Alex Wolff (The Line, Hereditary, Jumanji) as Leonard, with Thea Sofie Loch Næss (The Last Kingdom, Delete Me, A Storm For Christmas) playing Marianne. Joining them are Anna Torv (The Newsreader, The Last of Us, Mindhunter) as Charmian Clift, Noah Taylor (Preacher, Peaky Blinders, Game of Thrones) as George Johnston, and Peter Stormare (American Gods, Fargo) as Irving Layton.

James Durie, Head of Scripted, Cineflix Rights said: “So Long, Marianne is one of the most iconic love stories of the last century, set in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.  Øystein and the creative team, working with an incredible cast, have delivered an enthralling drama which will captivate audiences everywhere. We’re thrilled to be announcing these presales to ITVX, Cosmote TV, Star Channel and Movies Best HD, and to have ARD’s Fabfiction on board as a coproducer alongside NRK and Crave, as we begin to roll the series out to international buyers.”

So Long, Marianne is developed by Ingeborg Klyve (Exit), Øystein Karlsen (Exit, Dag, Lilyhammer, Whitstable Pearl) and Tony Wood (Irvine Welsh’s Crime, Marcella, The Burning Girls) and written for the screen by Øystein Karlsen and Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole, Kingdom, Headhunters). The series is directed by Øystein Karlsen and Bronwen Hughes (Shantaram, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul). So Long, Marianne is co-produced by Redpoint Productions, Tanweer Productions, and C3 Media.  The series is produced by Ingeborg Klyve and Glenn Lund. The Executive Producers are Ales Ree for NRK, Richard Tulk-Hart and Tony Wood for Buccaneer, Vegard Stenberg Eriksen and Ingeborg Klyve for Redpoint Productions, Dionyssis Samiotis and Nancy Kokolaki for Tanweer Productions, and André Barro and Pablo Salzman for C3 Media. Cineflix Rights is the exclusive worldwide distribution partner.

The presale to ITVX was brokered by Buccaneer and Tanweer Productions negotiated the presales to Cosmote TV, Star Channel, and Movies Best HD. The deal with Fabfiction was negotiated by Nadcon Film.

So Long, Marianne is produced with the support of  the Norwegian Film Institute, Creative Europe MEDIA, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Rogers Cable Network Fund.

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