(Variety) Picture Tree Intl. Nabs ‘Chasing the Line,’ About Skiing Champion Franz Klammer, Debuts Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

Picture Tree Intl. has acquired the rights to “Chasing the Line,” which follows the fortunes of downhill skiing legend Franz Klammer during the 1976 Winter Olympics. Variety has been given exclusive access to the first teaser trailer.

After shooting wrapped in April, the film is now in postproduction. It is scheduled for an Austrian release by Constantin Film Austria for late fall 2021, with PTI representing Germany, Switzerland and international territories.

Directed by Andreas Schmied, “Chasing the Line” stars up-and-coming Austrian actor Julian Waldner as Klammer. Valerie Huber, who will be starring in the upcoming Netflix original series “Kitz,” plays Klammer’s girlfriend and later wife Eva.

Klammer himself advised on the project since its early development.

Author Elisabeth Schmied, who penned the screenplay together with Schmied, said: “We want the story to take moviegoers right up to the starting gate. They should feel the weight that almost crushed Franz pressing down on their own shoulders and share what he felt when he found the inner strength to win the downhill race of the century.”

According to PTI, the film will “apply a mix of videoclip aesthetics, extreme zooms and the use historical anamorphic lenses to revive the spectacular scope and the magnitude of the event and bringing the audience back to the 1970s in a contemporary fashion.”

“Chasing the Line” is produced by EPO-Film and Samsara Film in co-production with Sabotage Films Vienna in association with Servus TV and with the support of the Austrian Film Institute, the Austria Film Industry Support (FISA), the Carinthia Marketing Office, Austrian broadcaster ORF, the Vienna Film Fund, Cine Tirol and the Carinthia Film Commission.

PTI’s lineup also includes the Annecy competition entry “Snotty Boy,” and the Tribeca player “Wuhai,” which releases in China this month. Another upcoming market premiere will be “Contra,” directed by Sönke Wortmann (“How About Adolf”), which is aiming for an October release by Constantin Film in Germany and will screen during the physical Cannes Film Market in July.

Screening at the Cannes pre-market will be Berlinale Generation contender “Mission Ulja Funk,” Mexican soccer comedy “Domingo,” Dutch-Curaçaoan magic tale and New York Children Intl. Film Festival Granz Prize Winner “Bulado,” as well as Danish comedy “Persona Non Grata,” which premiered at the Nordic Competition in Gothenburg as well as the Rotterdam summer edition, and is set for a summer home release by Nordisk Film.

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/picture-tree-franz-klammer-1235001793/