Blog

Wonder Project is expanding its investment in international scripted programming with three projects from the U.K. and Ireland. These include the “Leonard and Hungry Paul,” narrated by Julia Roberts, “You & Me,” executive produced by Russell T Davies and “Rewarding,” a new original commission with BBC Northern Ireland.

“The UK and Ireland have an incredible track record of developing distinctive voices and building shows that travel internationally without losing what makes them unique,” said Tristen Tuckfield, head of content acquisition at Wonder Project. “That’s exactly what we’re interested in — stories that are deeply rooted in a specific world but broadly relatable because of the people and relationships at their center.”

“Leonard and Hungry Paul” is the critically acclaimed Northern Irish series narrated by Oscar winner Roberts. Wonder has acquired exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the six-part series from Avalon, which will be branded as a Wonder Project Original. Based on the novel of the same name, the feel-good series follows two board-gaming friends in their thirties who meander through leafy suburban life finding solace in their quiet routines. Unexpected events prompt both men to meet a world that is suddenly wider and full of unfamiliar possibilities.

The series stars Alex Lawther, Laurie Kynaston and “Derry Girls” star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, and premiered on BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer to critical acclaim. “Leonard And Hungry Paul” is a Subotica production for BBC Northern Ireland in association with BBC Comedy, Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland and RTÉ, and a co-production with Avalon.

“Following its critical success in the UK and strong international sales, we’re thrilled to partner with Wonder Project to bring ‘Leonard and Hungry Paul’ to U.S. audiences and continue building the series’ momentum around the world,” said Adam Barth, SVP, scripted & digital distribution at Avalon.

Wonder has also secured exclusive U.S. premiere rights to “You & Me,” the three-part drama from “Happy Prince,” part of ITV Studios, executive produced Davies. Originally produced for ITVX, the series stars Harry Lawtey and Jessica Barden and explores love, loss and the possibility of finding happiness again after a profound tragedy. All three parts of “You & Me” will debut on Wonder on Aug 6.

Rounding out the slate is “Rewarding,” a new six-part comedy series commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland and Wonder Project with support from Northern Ireland Screen. Made by Conker Pictures, part of Banijay UK, the series is set on the frontlines of domiciliary care and follows the messy lives of support workers and their disabled and neurodivergent clients. Banijay Rights handles international distribution for the series.

“Rewarding”  was originally developed as a short pilot episode as part of BBC Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen’s Green Lit scheme — an initiative designed to support and showcase emerging talent in writing, directing, production and acting across Northern Ireland.

“We’re interested in creators who have a deep understanding of the worlds they’re writing about,” said Justin Rosenblatt, head of global TV at Wonder Project. “‘Rewarding’ comes from a place of genuine insight, and that’s what gives the series its humor, specificity and emotional honesty. It’s also what made this partnership with BBC NI such a natural fit. From the beginning, we shared the same creative instincts, vision and ambitions for the series.”

The series features disabled, neurodivergent and learning disabled talent in key roles and draws on Matthew McDevitt’s own experiences in the care system to bring authenticity and nuance to its portrayal of social care. Starring comedian Vittorio Angelone and Hannah McClean, “Rewarding” is expected to premiere on Wonder in late 2026.

“It’s wonderful to see ‘Leonard and Hungry Paul’ and ‘Rewarding,’ both commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland, reaching a wider international audience through Wonder Project,” said Eddie Doyle, head of content commissioning, BBC Northern Ireland.

Paradise City Sales has boarded worldwide sales on Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Gharaei’s latest feature, “Falling House” which is set to world premiere in the Horizons section at the Venice Film Festival.

“Falling House” marks his follow up to “Blockage,” a 2017 drama that portrayed contemporary Iranian society and won best film at Busan before going on to play at Rotterdam and Munich.

CAA Media Finance is handling U.S. rights, while Paradise City Sales represents international sales on “Falling House.”

The film follows a modest family on the outskirts of Tehran who faces the imminent destruction of their home as part of a vast redevelopment project. While Rashid, the father and a prison guard, is being accused of corruption, he discovers that his eldest daughter, Ensi, is secretly planning to leave Iran to become a model. As the bulldozers draw ever closer, the tensions within the household begin to rise.

“The most terrifying structures are the ones that no longer need a tyrant,” said Gharaei. “Their logic has already taken root in the minds of many. They become truly powerful the moment they are no longer recognized as violence. A prison no longer needs walls. It only needs people willing to call it home.”

Written by Mohsen Gharaei and Amir Mohammad Abdi, “Falling House” stars Laleh Marzban, Rima Raminfar, Farhad Aslani and Elena Khakbaz. The film is scored by critically acclaimed composer Max Richter (“Hamnet”), cinematography by Farshad Mohammadi, editing by Evelyn Rack (“Sound of Falling”) and Emad Khodabakhsh, and sound design by Oscar-nominated Ansgar Frerich (“Of Fathers and Sons”).

“Falling House” is produced by Milad Khosravi and Mohsen Gharaei for Seven Springs Pictures (“Divine Comedy”), Oscar-winning producer Odessa Rae for RaeFilm Studios (“The Voice of Hind Rajab”), and Daya Fernández, Amaury Nolasco and Alois Rubenbauer for 3SIX9 Studios. Basis Berlin Filmproduktion (“Of Fathers and Sons”) and Zentropa Germany (“King’s Land”) are co-producing, with Oscar-nominated producer Jon Kilik (“Babel,” “The Hunger Games”) serving as executive producer.

“‘Falling House’ carries a warning we have felt growing for years,” said Khosravi, who is producing for Seven Springs Pictures. He added that the idea for the film “was conceived long ago, and the screenplay was completed before the present madness in our country could have been imagined.” “Yet today the film feels painfully prophetic, reflecting the long-term suffering of ordinary people who have endured decades of oppression and now face the fear and uncertainty brought by the ongoing war,” he continued.

Rae at RaeFilm Studios pointed “Falling House” is not a film about politics, but rather a “film about people living under its weight.” “Every system eventually arrives at someone’s front door. Mohsen captures this with extraordinary restraint,” she added.

Jeanne Loriotti, sales executive at Paradise City Sales, said “Mohsen Gharaei has crafted a compelling, plot-driven story that combines a true sense of urgency with remarkably rich and layered characters.” She said the company was “struck by the film’s mounting tension, its emotional depth, and its remarkable performances, particularly from the female cast.” Mohsen Gharaei is represented by Seven Springs Pictures.

Paradise City Sales’ Venice slate also includes Andrea Pallaoro’s “The Echo Chamber” and Lili Horvát’s “My Notes on Mars,” opening Venice Days.

Fandango Sales has boarded international sales on “The Girl With the Leica,” directed by Alina Marazzi, just announced by the Venice Film Festival as the opening film of its Horizons section.

The film paints a portrait of pioneering photojournalist Gerda Taro, the German-Jewish war photographer, anti-fascist and artist whose legacy has long been overshadowed. Together with her partner, the Hungarian photographer André Friedmann, Taro created the fictional photographer “Robert Capa” — a pseudonym adopted by Friedmann designed to overcome growing political intolerance in Europe and appeal to the American market. As a result, many of the photographs long attributed to Capa were in fact taken by Taro. While covering the Spanish Civil War, she became the first female photojournalist to be killed on the battlefield.

“The Girl With the Leica” re-centers the story firmly on Taro herself — her work, her deeply held political beliefs, and the vibrant circle of admirers, artists and intellectuals drawn to her beauty, intelligence and independence.

The film is set in Paris on July 14, 1937. Taro spends her final day before returning to the Spanish front with Capa, and the close friends with whom she escaped Nazi Germany. As past and present intertwine, the defining moments of her life resurface: her political activism in Leipzig alongside her first love, her years of exile in Paris, her whirlwind romance with Capa, her discovery of photography, and her growing determination to use her Leica as a tool for resistance and freedom.

Raffaella Di Giulio, managing director, international sales and acquisitions for Fandango Sales, commented, “We are delighted to reunite with Vivo Film and to work for the first time with Alina. Through a beautiful and poetic blend of archival footage and fiction, she has crafted a stunning film that lets audiences rediscover a long-forgotten figure: Gerda Taro. We cannot wait to share her story with distributors and audiences alike.”

Producers Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa for Vivo Film and Jonas Dornbach for Komplizen Film added: “Gerda Taro’s story feels even more urgent and relevant today than when we first began developing the project years ago. Through her work, she fought for freedom and never lost sight of the political power of photography, especially in times of war. Alina Marazzi is one of the most distinctive voices in Italian cinema. With this film she takes a remarkable step into fiction while remaining deeply true to what has always defined her work: an exploration of women’s lives, a creative incorporation of archival material, and a constant dialogue between history and the present.”

The film features Emilia Schüle, Aaron Altaras, Luna Wedler, Lucas Englander and Thomas Schubert, along with Sebastian Schneider, Idan Weiss, Lia von Blarer, Hans-Christian Hegewald, Jeremy Mockridge and Joel Basman.

Schüle, who stars as Taro, is best known for playing the lead role in the Canal+ and BBC Series “Marie Antoinette” and TV roles including Netflix’s “Der Parfumeur” and ZDF’s popular “Ku’damm” series. Her film credits include recent Berlinale breakout “The Trial of Hein,” as well as German box-office hits “Wunderschön” and “Wunderschöner.”

“The Girl With the Leica” was lensed by Chilean-Danish cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro, known for his Lars von Trier collaborations including “Melancholia” and “Nymphomaniac,” and integrates images shot by Taro as well as rarely seen archival material into the drama.

The film is freely adapted from Helena Janeczek’s novel “The Girl With the Leica” (2017), recognized in Italy with the Premio Strega — widely regarded as Italy’s most prestigious literary award. The novel also won the Premio Bagutta, one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes, before being translated into several languages, including English, German, French and Spanish, and published in 15 countries.

Marazzi is an acclaimed director working across documentary, fiction and theater, with women’s subjectivity and the imagery of memory at the heart of her work. Her films include “For One More Hour With You” (Un’ora sola ti vorrei), which received a Special Jury Mention at the 2002 Locarno Film Festival; “We Want Roses Too” (Vogliamo anche le rose), presented at Locarno and winner of the FOCAL Award in 2008; and “All About You” (Tutto parla di te), winner of the Tao Due – Caméra d’Or Award at the Rome Film Festival in 2012. She is also co-artistic director of the UnArchive Found Footage Fest.

The screenplay was written by Marazzi and Valia Santella, freely adapted from the novel by Janeczek.

“The Girl With the Leica” is an Italian-German co-production, produced by Marta Donzelli and Gregorio Paonessa for Italy’s Vivo Film with Rai Cinema, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski and Maren Ade for Germany’s Komplizen Film, in co-production with ZDF/ARTE, in association with Beatrice Bordone Bulgari for Eolo Film Productions, in co-production with Film i Väst and Zentropa Sweden, with the support of Eurimages – Council of Europe; MIC – Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo; with the contribution of PR FESR Piemonte 2021 – 2027 Bando Piemonte Film TV Fund; with the support of Film Commission Torino Piemonte; with the support of Avviso pubblico Lazio Cinema International (PR FESR Lazio 2021-2027); with the support of DFFF – Deutscher Filmförderfonds and MDM – Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung; with the support of Creative Europe Media.

The film will be distributed in Italy by BIM Distribuzione with a release date to be announced and released in Germany by Port au Prince.