Loco Films Acquires Tribeca-Bound Disability Drama ‘Stand Up,’ Launches Sales in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)

Paris-based sales company Loco Films has acquired world sales rights to Mari Sanders’ “Stand Up” ahead of its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and is launching sales at the Cannes Market.

The Dutch director’s debut tells the story of Vera, a fun-loving 23-year-old woman whose life is upended when an accident leaves her in a wheelchair. No longer feeling that she fits into her old life, she’s drawn into the world of Xander, a young man who has always lived with disability.

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Forced to make a difficult choice, Vera must decide whether to keep fighting to belong to the world she once inhabited, or risk claiming a place in a world she never imagined for herself.

“Stand Up,” which world premieres in Tribeca’s international narrative competition, is produced by Ineke Kanters and Lisette Kelder of Dutch production outfit the Film Kitchen, in co-production with Amanda Livanou and Katerina Tzourou of Greece’s Neda Film and Robert Kievit. It stars Lucia Zemene, Daan Buringa, Kendrick Etmon, Hana Hussein, Guy Clemens and Tamar van den Dop.

Loco Film’s Laurent Danielou described the film as “a powerful and emotional portrait of a young woman reinventing her life in a wheelchair, brought to the screen with sincerity, charm and a fresh perspective on disability representation.”

Sanders, who was born with cerebral palsy and has used a wheelchair his entire life, told Variety that “Stand Up” was born in part from a desire to bring greater visibility to people living with disabilities.

“In ‘Stand Up,’ I reveal a world that often goes unnoticed: the lives of young people with disabilities, their challenges, their culture and their perspectives. The film examines the difference between being born with a disability and acquiring one later and explores how such an event reshapes a life and an identity,” he says. “At the heart of the film is a question: to what extent does a disability define who you are?”

Noting that roughly 15% of the world’s population live with some form of disability — what he describes as “the largest minority in the world, yet one of the least represented on screen” — Sanders said his inspiration for the film was deeply personal.

“Growing up in special education, I connected with others navigating similar paths,” he said. “I was part of a world as rich and full as any other, yet essentially invisible in cinema. I wanted to change that.” 

Each of the actors portraying a character with a disability in “Stand Up” has one in real life, with Sanders describing it as “an artistic choice essential for authenticity, and one that nurtures an overlooked pool of talent.”

“We worked with actors, many of whom brought their own experiences into the story, combining fiction with documentary elements to portray life with a disability precisely and poetically,” he said. “Ultimately, this film is a celebration of vulnerability, and a tale about our ever-changing bodies and how that reflects on our identity.”