Totem lands Oasis sales rights ahead of Venice premiere
Totem has acquired international sales rights to Oasis, writer-director Jannis Lenz's drama exploring fear, exclusion and violence, ahead of its Venice Film Festival world premiere in the Horizons competition. The 8216oasis8217 exploring fear exclusion story follows school outcasts after a viral threat video sparks escalating violence, as Totem expands its sales slate while shifting toward production.
Key Takeaways
- Totem has picked up international sales rights for Jannis Lenz's Oasis ahead of its Venice world premiere.
- The film screens in the Horizons competition section at the Venice Film Festival.
- Oasis centers on school outcasts seeking refuge after a viral threat video fuels violence.
- Totem is adding the title while shifting its primary focus toward production.
- The cast includes Florian Geißelmann, Godehard Giese, Anton Petzold and Mathilda Smith.
For festival and platform watchers tracking new European drama, the deal lands at a useful moment: a Venice Horizons bow can sharpen buyer interest, and sales representation helps the film travel beyond the red carpet. Follow more premiere and platform news in our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
What happened with Oasis and Totem?
According to Variety, Totem has secured international sales rights to Oasis by writer-director Jannis Lenz. The drama will have its world premiere in the Horizons competition at the Venice Film Festival.
The pickup adds Oasis to Totem's sales slate as the company shifts its primary focus to production. That dual signal—sales support plus a production-led strategy—helps explain why the announcement matters ahead of the premiere.
What is Oasis about?
Oasis is set around a school where a viral video of a student threatening classmates surfaces online. The fallout spirals into escalating violence.
Crushed by pressure from teachers and parents, three outcasts take refuge in a nearby forest. There, play hardens into ritual and pain becomes an escape, until old wounds surface and the boundaries between them are redrawn.
Producer Markus Katsch of Zeitgeist said Oasis captures the fragility of adolescence with great precision, exploring fear, exclusion and violence through a deeply human perspective.
Why did Totem champion the film?
Totem CEO Bérénice Vincent called Lenz a hugely promising talent with rare assurance behind the camera. She said the film impressed the company by exposing the contradiction between the violence that has been normalized and the violence people condemn.
Vincent added that the world as it stands proves that point every day—an argument that frames Oasis as timely festival fare rather than a quiet specialty title.
Who made Oasis and who stars in it?
Lenz is a Vienna Film Academy graduate mentored by Jessica Hausner. He has worked as an assistant to Michael Haneke and is a Berlinale Talents alumnus. His short Wannabe (2017) won the Prix Clermont-Ferrand and was nominated for the European Film Award. His graduation film Soldat Ahmet (2021) premiered at Visions du Réel and won several international awards.
The cast features newcomer Florian Geißelmann (Sound of Falling) and Godehard Giese (Rose), plus upcoming German actors Anton Petzold and Mathilda Smith.
Oasis is produced by Germany's Zeitgeist Filmproduktion FFM and co-produced by Austria's Wega Film and Germany's Third Picture, in collaboration with We Fade to Grey, Ocean Pictures Filmproduktion and Totem Films. Public film funds in Germany and Austria are among its backers.