Exclusive: Germany’s Neue Visionen is among the string of buyers that have pre-bought the Norwegian documentary by Hans Lukas Hansen, currently in post-production.

Other distributors that have acquired rights include Kinosmith in Canada (except TV), Cineworx in Switzerland, Cinema Delicatessen in the Netherlands, Filmtrade in Greece, Discovery D.O.O. in ex-Yugoslavia and Swallow Wings in Taiwan.

The Quest for Tonewood had already garnered a lot of interest internationally by attending several industry forums such as Nordic Forum, HotDocs, When East Meets West, IDFAcademy, Sarajevo Film Festival, Doc Norway and the Venice Gap Financing Market.

Coined as a ‘docu-fantasy’ film, Hans Lukas Hansen’s documentary follows violin maker Gaspar Borchardt, on a quest to find magical wood to create the finest violins in the world.

Hans Lukas Hansen told nordicfilmandtvnews.com the topic first caught his attention more than six years ago, as he read articles on why the world's best violins, - built over 300 years ago - are so mythical and secretive. “Why has no one managed to build equally good violins today?’ he asked himself and “why would the world's biggest stars play only these old instruments, which are now traded for $ 7-8 million?”

He continues: “Stradivari's secrets have been a mystery to violin makers around the world for decades. These puzzles and mysteries are known, but when we met the violin maker Gaspar Buchard, the treasure hunt gained momentum for us. Gaspar's clues were so believable that it soon became inevitable not to give this adventure a chance.”

During his six+ years spent next to Buchard, Hansen had to overcome various challenges such as following the violin maker “through active minefields in search of a tree that some say does not even exist”. But the toughest challenge for the director was “to maintain the faith in all the years. Is it possible to even make a movie if there is no treasure at the other end of the rainbow”, questions Hansen.

For him, The Quest for Tonewood should appeal to “every lover of action, adventure, secrets and mysteries”.“In one way,” he adds,” “the film is purely a love story, but it is also a story about the fundamental relationship between culture and nature.”

Producer Benedikte Danielsen said Covid-19 delayed the recording of the music and score and the overall post-production, which affected the original release date. However the filming-mostly done in Northern Italy and Bosnia - was locked in January. “We have been lucky in the sense that we had most of the material in place before the borders closed,” notes the producer.

Seasoned documentary sales agent Anais Claret, co-founder of newly launched Reservoir Docs (formerly Wide House) says she came onboard the film already in 2018 as the subject matter and treatment of the story was “a perfect fit” for her company. For her, “art and culture combined with a cinematic angle and a real character-driven story” was “an adventure” not to be missed.

“Gaspar’ [Buchard]’s story is very unusual indeed: when does a man go on a quest that is not for money but out of love and passion? Never!” she points out.

Commenting on the positive feedback from distributors and pre-sales, Claret said: “Violin has always intrigued an international audience, and we have the clients for it in cinema, TV and VOD.” The film will air on the Norwegian pubcaster NRK, following an event premiere in Norwegian cinemas early 2021.

The Quest for Tonewood was produced by Norsk Fjernsyn, in co-production with Baldr Film in the Netherlands, with support from the Norwegian Film Institute, the Arts Council Norway, the Netherlands Film Fund, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Dextra Musica Foundation, with co-financing from NRK, SVT, DR and YLE.