Bleecker Street announced today that they have acquired the U.S. rights to TIFF standout “One Life,” starring Academy Award-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, alongside Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, with Academy Award-nominated Jonathan Pryce and two-time Academy Award-nominee Helena Bonham Carter. Directed by James Hawes (“Black Mirror,” “Slow Horses”) and written by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, the film is a See-Saw Films production, See-Saw developed the film alongside BBC Film. Bleecker Street is planning a 2024 theatrical release.

Based on the book “If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton” by Barbara Winton, “One Life” tells the incredible, emotional true story of Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton (Flynn), a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938. In a race against time, Winton convinces Trevor Chadwick (Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue as many children as possible before Nazi occupation closes the borders. Fifty years later, Nicky (Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England. It’s not until the BBC show “That’s Life!” re-introduces him to some of those he helped rescue that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he carried – all the while skyrocketing from anonymity to a national hero.

Described by Variety as “as an urgent reminder of the importance of individual action at a time when the world refugee crisis is at a scale not seen since the Second World War,” “One Life” had its world premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival. Vanity Fair proclaimed it one of the best movies from the fall film festivals, noting “its final 20 minutes are a knockout, sending audiences out of the screening feeling awed and inspired.” The film will screen next at the BFI London Film Festival later this week.

“One Life” was made with the support of BBC Film, and is a BBC Film and MBK Productions presentation, in association with Cross City Films, FilmNation Entertainment, and Lipsync. Producers are Joanna Laurie, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Guy Heeley. Simon Gillis, Eva Yates, Barbara Winton, Maria Logan, Anne Sheehan, Peter Hampden executive produced. Kent Sanderson and Avy Eschenasy negotiated the deal on behalf of Bleecker Street with CAA Media Finance and Simon Gillis on behalf of See-Saw Films and Cross City Films. FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales.

Also out of TIFF, Bleecker Street acquired the U.S. rights to British comedy “Fackham Hall” starring Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, and Emma Laird, which will begin principal photography in early 2024; and the UK rights to Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, “The Boy and the Heron,” alongside Elysian Film Group and Anonymous Content. Bleecker’s upcoming highly-anticipated release slate features Meg Ryan’s “What Happens Later,” starring Ryan alongside David Duchovny, releasing on November 3; Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson’s “Waitress: The Musical,” which is set for a December 7 release with Fathom Events; “The Origin,” a Stone Age-set thriller which recently had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest; and Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s space station-set thriller “I.S.S.,” which recently debuted at the 2023 Tribeca Festival to acclaim. Recently released titles include: Guy Nattiv’s “Golda” starring Helen Mirren which is currently in theaters; Marc Turtletaub’s sci-fi comedy, “Jules” starring Sir Ben Kingsley; Laurel Parmet’s feature directorial debut and Sundance Film Festival breakout “The Starling Girl;” and Alice Troughton’s “The Lesson” with Daryl McCormack, Richard E. Grant, and Julie Delpy.

About Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is an independently financed studio based in New York City that was founded in August 2014 by Andrew Karpen. Bleecker has released more than 60 films and has established itself as a trusted label and champion of original cinema, curating an impressive and lauded slate that extends across all genres. Notable Bleecker releases include Steven Soderbergh’s “Logan Lucky;” Debra Granik’s :Leave No Trace;: the Oscar-nominated “Captain Fantastic” and “Trumbo;” Independent Spirit Award winner “Mass;” Germany’s 2021 entry for Best International Film, “I’m Your Man;” Most recently, Bleecker Street has released Guy Nattiv’s Golda starring Helen Mirren, Marc Turtletaub’s Jules starring Ben Kingsley, and “Breaking,” “A Love Song,” “Emily,” “The Starling Girl,” and “The Lesson,” acclaimed feature debuts from directors Abi Damaris Corbin, Max Walker-Silverman, Frances O’Connor, Laurel Parmet and Alice Troughton, respectively.

Bleecker’s upcoming slate includes: Meg Ryan’s “What Happens Later” in which she also stars alongside David Duchovny releasing November 3rd, Andrew Cumming’s stone age-set thriller, “The Origin,” and Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s sci-fi thriller, “I.S.S.” starring Ariana DeBose. The company is also prepping the feel-good comedy “The Fabulous Four” from acclaimed filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse, starring Bette Midler and Susan Sarandon. “The Return,” based on Homer’s ancient classic “The Odyssey” and directed by Academy Award nominee Uberto Pasolini and starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, as well as the next film from legendary auteur Mike Leigh are in post-production.

About See-Saw Films
See-Saw Films is a world leading independent television and film production house, founded in 2008 by Academy Award, BAFTA and Emmy winning producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, with offices in London and Sydney.

See-Saw’s films include Jane Campion’s “The Power Of The Dog,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, won the Best Director Academy Award (and was nominated for a further 11 awards), and won Best Director and Best Film BAFTAs (and was nominated for a further 6 awards). See-Saw produced six-time Academy Award nominated and two-time BAFTA winning Lion, starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, and in 2011 won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture for The King’s Speech which swept up an additional 3 awards from 12 nominations, as well as picking up 7 BAFTAs from 14 nominations.

Recent film projects include Florian Zeller’s “The Son” starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins; Thomas M. Wright’s “The Stranger,” starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris; and John Madden’s “Operation Mincemeat,” written by Michelle Ashford, starring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald. Upcoming film projects include Garth Davis’ Foe, written by Iain Reid and Garth Davis, starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre; David Michôd’s “Wizards!,” starring Pete Davidson, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Scott and Franz Rogowski; Kitty Green’s “The Royal Hotel,” written by Kitty Green and Oscar Redding, starring Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick, Hugo Weaving and Toby Wallace; and “One Life” directed by James Hawes, written by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, starring Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter and Jonathan Pryce.

See-Saw’s recent television output includes two seasons of “Slow Horses” for Apple TV+, written by Will Smith, adapted from the novels by Mick Herron and starring Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden and Kristin Scott Thomas; the third season of “Slow Horses” will air in December 2023, with a further season currently in production; “The Essex Serpent” for Apple TV+, written by Anna Symon, directed by Clio Barnard and starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston; and “Heartstopper” for Netflix adapted by Alice Oseman from her bestselling book series, directed by Euros Lyn, which has been nominated for 9 Emmys, the second season was released in August this year with a third season currently in production.

See-Saw’s first television series was the multi award-winning first season of Jane Campion’s “Top Of The Lake.” Campion returned with “Top Of The Lake: China Girl” starring Elisabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe. “State of the Union,” written by Nick Hornby, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 and won three Emmy Awards. The second season of “State of the Union” was released in 2022 and stars Brendan Gleeson and Patricia Clarkson, who both received Emmy nominations for their roles and which Patricia Clarkson went on to win. Other past series include “The North Water” for BBC Two, written and directed by Andrew Haigh, starring Colin Farrell, Jack O’Connell and Stephen Graham; and “Firebite” for AMC+, written by Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher, directed by Warwick Thornton, Brendan Fletcher and Tony Krawitz, starring Yael Stone, Rob Collins, Callan Mulvey, and Shantae Barnes-Cowan.

See-Saw has an in-house sales arm Cross City Films, which handles international sales of its titles in select territories.

See-Saw has two joint venture production companies: I Am That – with creator/director Garth Davis (“Lion”), and Picking Scabs – with writer/showrunner Samantha Strauss (“The End”).

See-Saw has also invested in Tom Winchester’s TV company, Pure Fiction alongside talent agency Hamilton Hodell.