Strand to distribute Berlin film fest winner

Strand Releasing, helmed by out copresident Marcus Hu, has acquired U.S. rights to Fatih Akin's Head On, which this year became the first German entry in nearly 20 years to win the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Gegen Die Wand (Head On) was directed by 30-year-old filmmaker Akin, who was born to Turkish parents in Hamburg, Germany. Described in Daily Variety as a gritty contemporary love story, the drama tells the story of a "culturally alienated Turkish-German couple in Hamburg, each of whom has their own reasons for entering into a marriage of convenience that radically changes their lives."