Premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival this month is the multi-country co-production thriller by director Pia Marais, titled Layla Fourie – a film that I've been following almost throughout its development, and that I'm very interested in seeing, hoping that it travels west, specifically New York.

Recapping… Here's the official synopsis:

Layla Fourie, a single mother in South Africa, is given the opportunity to get proper employment as polygraphist for pre-employment tests at a casino complex. In the constant present atmosphere of mistrust, lies and fear, Layla becomes a suspect herself on a murder happening on her first working day.

Produced by Germany's Pandora Film Produktion, South Africa's DV8 Films/Zinebar, IDTV (Netherlands), Cinema Defacto (France) and WDR/ARTE, the English-language Layla Fourie stars black British actress Rayna Campbell as the title character, and August Diehl (who most will remember from Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds playing SS-Sturmbannführer Dieter Hellstrom).

The Match Factory is selling the film globally.

This is Rayna Campbell's feature film debut; although she's an accomplished stage actress, and has done some British TV work as well.

There's no official trailer yet, but I came across the below video report by EuroNews, reporting on the film's premiere at Berlin, which includes interviews with the director an starring cast, as well as several bits of footage (over a minute total) from the film, which should give you some idea of its visual style, as well as its tone.

No word on where it'll screen next, but I suspect it'll be picked up by some Stateside festivals this year. We'll keep you posted.

Here's the video report – and underneath, you'll find the poster: