Rainer Grupe Joins Jovera Pictures; Get a Sneak Peek at Their New Film ‘Fly Little Bird’
Jovera Pictures Welcomes Former eOne VP Rainer Grupe to Team
Jovera Pictures has announced the appointment of Rainer Grupe, former Vice President of Film at eOne, to its team. Grupe is recognized for his production work on notable projects like Joaquin Phoenix’s Buffalo Soldiers and for managing global sales for the documentary George Michael: A Different Story.
This strategic hire comes as Jovera Pictures wraps up production on Fly Little Bird, the latest film from writer-director Johannes Boesiger, known for Children of the Open Road. The English-language film features performances by Majinder Virk and rising star Zoë Bleu, who recently appeared in Luc Besson’s Dracula.
The cast of Fly Little Bird also includes Michael Landes, Adam Bakri, Palestinian singer-songwriter Rasha Nahas, the late Mohammed Bakri, Bollywood star Deepti Naval, German actress Adriana Altaras, and Daniel Zuta.
The film centers on an American singer grappling with addiction as she escapes her family’s West Bank settlement, ultimately finding refuge within a Palestinian news agency.
Produced by Eric von Schulhess, Boesiger, Alexa Waugh, and Rula Nasser, the film will have Grupe serving as an executive producer, overseeing distribution, sales, and marketing. Additional executive producers include Toni Piëch, Markus A. Frey, and Ulrich Kohli. Grupe and Waugh will introduce the film to prospective buyers at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin later this week.
Fly Little Bird, inspired by true events, was filmed across the Middle East, India, and London. The soundtrack features music by composer Nitin Sawhney, with performances from Bleu and Nahas.
“It was a great privilege to be able to bring this film to life with an incredibly dedicated team of producers, who also allowed me to put together a cast that suited the story,” Boesiger stated. “This made it possible to find discoveries that lend the story great emotional authenticity and warmth. The seeds of this film were sown long ago, when I was living in the Middle East, India, and London, searching for catharsis for my own experiences. Fly Little Bird has become a film that is as personal as it is honest.”
Grupe expressed his enthusiasm for the project, saying, “I am incredibly proud of this film. It is a music-driven drama that explores heavy themes such as addiction, grief, and identity in a way that feels fresh and natural. With a triple-A music team featuring Nitin Sawhney, Hugh Padgham, and Rasha Nahas, combined with Zoë Bleu’s transformative performance, we have something truly special. This is the ideal project to launch Jovera’s slate.”
