Marianne Jean-Baptiste To Star In ‘In Fabric’; Closing-Night Pic ‘Sheikh Jackson’ Egypt’s Oscar Pic; Dogwoof Bites On ‘Kevyn Aucoin’ – Toronto Briefs

Oscar nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste has been set to star in the ghost thriller In Fabric. Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke Of Burgundy) is directing from his own script a movie that follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person with devastating consequences during winter sale season. Principal photography starts at the end of October in the UK. Andy Starke is producing via his Rook Films banner. The project is co-financed by the BFI with funding from the National Lottery, BBC Films and Head Gear Films. Bankside is kicking off worldwide sales at the now-underway Toronto Film Festival.

Egypt has selected Sheikh Jackson, which is having its world premiere Friday as the closing-night Special Presentation at Toronto, to represent the country in the Oscar foreign-language race. The pic from Amr Salama centers on a young imam and Michael Jackson fan who who is thrown into a tailspin after the King of Pop’s sudden death. Ahmad Alfishawy and Ahmed Malek star. Mohamed Hefzy and Hani Osama are producers and Daniel Ziskind is associate producer.

UK-based sales and distribution outfit Dogwoof has acquired international rights to Kevyn Aucoin: Beauty & The Beast In Me, the Putti Media documentary about the ’90s makeup artist that bowed this summer at Outfest. The pic is selling at Toronto, Mipcom and AFM, and Logo has U.S. TV rights with a September 14 premiere date set. Lori Kaye’s film reveals how Aucoin became the world’s most sought-after makeup artist in the ’90s, with footage featuring Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Cher, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner and more.

Arclight Films has sold the action thriller Triple Threat, toplined by Wolf Warrior 2 star Celina Jade, Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins and Michael Bisping, to multiple major international territories at Toronto. It already had sealed deals for the U.S., UK and Australia with Well Go USA, which will bow the film domestically early next year. New deals include Swen for LatAm, Koch in Germany, Movies Inspired for Italy, Spentzos in Greece, Cinemundo for Portugal, Klockworx for Japan and Korea Screen for South Korea,  Aqua Pinema in Turkey, Viswaas Films for India, Italia Films for Middle East, and Rainfilm for Vietnam and Malaysia. Netflix has taken rights in Hong Kong, Myanmar, Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan.