Bleiberg Entertainment to Sell 'People of The Book' at TIFF Market After Spain-Italy Shoot Wraps
Bleiberg Entertainment will bring the historical drama People of The Book to the Toronto International Film Festival market this September, showing first footage to international buyers. The film, directed by Michael Haussman (Edge of the World), has just wrapped principal photography across Spain and Italy. Deadline
The project adapts Geraldine Brooks's 2008 novel of the same name, itself inspired by the real Sarajevo Haggadah — an illuminated Jewish manuscript that survived centuries of exile, Inquisition and war. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Petter Skavlan, whose credits include Kon-Tiki, handled the adaptation. Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel March.
The film follows that sacred artifact across five centuries and several countries: pre- and post-Inquisition Spain, 17th-century Venice, Nazi-occupied Bosnia, and a contemporary thread tracing an Iraqi refugee family's escape from ISIS-held Mosul toward Europe. The cast includes Ziad Bakri, Rania Ben Fattoum, Ankido Hussen, Luca Ferrini, Giorgia Sinicorni, Pasquale Esposito and Jose Luis Ferrier.
Shooting took place in the Valencia region of Spain — including the Ciudad de la Luz studio complex in Alicante — and in the Italian cities of Trieste and Venice. Behind the camera, the heads of department include Oscar-winning make-up artist Julie Dartnell, production designer Edou Hydallgo, costume designer Cristina Sopena and director of photography Diego Romero.
Miriam Segal, whose producing credits include The Infiltrator and War of Words, produces through her Good Films banner. The sales deal was negotiated by Ariel and Ehud Bleiberg for Bleiberg Entertainment and by Segal for Good Films Collective. Ariel Bleiberg, the company's Head of Acquisition and Development, called the project a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the company.
People of The Book carries particular weight for the Spanish production landscape. It is the first project for Good Films Studios Spain, a joint venture between the Spanish government, Canadian-U.S. outfit Orogen Media and Segal's Good Films. Earlier in summer 2026, Spain's investment body SETT (Spanish Society for Technological Transformation) committed a combined €40 million to two production companies: Itaca Films Madrid and Good Films Studios Spain, each receiving €20 million.
Good Films Studios Spain plans to develop, finance, produce and sell mid-sized international productions budgeted between €17 million and €25 million, with a target of 20 films shot at Ciudad de la Luz over the next decade. People of The Book, budgeted at €18 million, is the first of that slate.
The film is projected to be completed by the end of 2026, with the filmmakers aiming for a debut at one of the major international film festivals in 2027. The TIFF market — the industry sidebar of the Toronto festival, where sales agents present films to distributors from around the world — will be the first chance for buyers to see footage.
Bleiberg Entertainment is a Beverly Hills-based production and international sales company founded by producer Ehud Bleiberg. The company will handle worldwide rights for the title.
