Giant Pictures Picks Up US Theatrical, VOD Rights to Oscar-Nominated Documentary ‘A House Made of Splinter’

Exclusive: Giant Pictures announced today that it has acquired the US theatrical and VOD rights to the Oscar-nominated documentary feature A house made of splintersA film that until very recently lacked any American distribution.

Giant Simon Lereng Wilmont’s film, which focuses on children living in Ukrainian shelters, plans to release on February 21 on digital platforms, including Apple TV and Prime Video. It will be released on the big screen in select Alamo Drafthouse theaters beginning in March. PBS documentary series in a separate announcement last month POV has picked up broadcast rights for the film, with plans to premiere it in the summer as part of the program’s 36^m Season.

Wilmont (Distant barking of dogs) bullets A house made of splinters A year ago, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of eastern Ukraine. For years the region was wracked by a Russian-backed separatist movement, putting enormous pressure on Ukrainian citizens, causing unemployment, alcoholism and drug abuse rates to skyrocket. Children abandoned or neglected by their parents are trapped in this desperate quagmire. Courts that took custody of such vulnerable children sent them to temporary orphanage-like institutions where Wilmont made his films.

“A house made of splinters It’s a devastating but hopeful portrait of Ukrainian children caught up in events beyond their control,” said Nick Sava, general manager of Giant Pictures. “Giant Pictures is proud to bring this powerful Academy Award®-nominated documentary by Simon Lehring Wilmont to audiences across the United States”

The deal announced today was negotiated by Giant Pictures’ head of content Madeleine Schumacher and Cinephile’s Olivier Tornaud on behalf of the filmmakers.

Heartbreaking Eva, Sasha and Kolya take center stage in the documentary. “I was drawn to Eva because of the look in her eyes,” Wilmont previously told Deadline. “It was both sad and happy and she was doing these cartwheels all the time. And sometimes it felt like it was her way of letting out her anger, and sometimes it was a celebration of how happy she was.”

As for Sasha, “He seems to be living in his own little world. But unlike many other kids when they arrive, he doesn’t seem unhappy to be there,” the director said. “On the contrary, he’s very curious about what’s going on around him. It seemed.”

Kolya puts on a tough exterior and bends the rules at the shelter. But he sweetly takes care of his younger siblings, kept in the orphanage. “If I was still a boy at 14, that’s the guy I’d hang out with,” Wilmont observed. “You sure are going on an adventure. They may be dangerous at times, but they will always be interesting.”

Monika Hellström produced the film, a Danish production of Final Cut for Real. Signe Byrge Sorensen and Philippa Kawarsky are executive producers. Azad Safarov is the line producer.