..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

September 12, 2004

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires "Up and Down"
for North America

The critical favorite is the latest collaboration between
famed Czech director Jan Hrebejk and screenwriter Peter Jarchovsky

New York, September 11 ­ Sony Pictures Classics today announced the acquisition of North American rights to Academy Award Nominated director Jan Hrebejk¹s UP AND DOWN, starring Petr Forman, Emília Vásáryová and Jan Tríska. The film played to packed houses and critical praise during its world premiere at the 2004 Telluride Film Festival and will next be showcased at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. UP AND DOWN will make its debut in the Czech Republic on September 17th.

UP AND DOWN is a bracing, eloquent film that is the fifth collaboration over the last decade by director Jan Hrebejk and screenwriter Petr Jarchovsky. The film is produced by Ondrej Trojan, whose last film ZELARY was the Czech foreign film finalist in the 2003 Academy Awards. In this stunning new Czech drama, UP AND DOWN delivers a vibrant, immediate story on love and cultural identity in a complex new world of fluid borders and deep suspicions.

³Everybody worked together on Jan Hrebejk prior film DIVIDED WE FALL,² says Neil Friedman, president, Menemsha Films. ³We are all ecstatic to be working together again with Sony Pictures Classics on Jan Hrebejk¹s new film UP AND DOWN.²

In a joint statement from Sony Pictures Classics: ³It is a pleasure to be back in business with Jan Hrebejk, Ondrej Trojan and Neil Friedman. Several years ago we released the Oscar Nominee DIVIDED WE FALL. Now Mr. Hrebejk is back with a great movie about the world today that is both a wake-up call and hopeful. As moving as it is witty, in the best Billy Wilder tradition, this movie is a tonic for moviegoers everywhere.²

UP AND DOWN is directed by Jan Hrebejk, executive produced by Ondrej Trojan and Milan Kuchynka, starring Petr Forman, Emília Vásáryová and Jan Tríska, with the screenplay by Petr Jarchovsky and Jan Hrebejk that is based on a story by Jarchovsky, with cinematography by Jan Malír, editing by Vladimír Barák, production design by Milan Bycek, sound by Michal Holubec and music by Ales Brezina.

Sony Pictures Classics Co-President¹s Michael Barker and Tom Bernard and Dylan Leiner, SVP of Acquisition and Productions, negotiated the deal for Sony Pictures Classics, and Neil Friedman, president, Menemsha Films.