Samuel Goldwyn Films has snagged North American rights to Agnieska Holland’s latest, “Mr. Jones.” Variety confirmed the news.

Penned by Andrea Chalupa, “Mr. Jones” is based on true events and is set in the 1930s. The drama tells the story of an “ambitious young journalist who travels to Moscow to uncover the truth behind the Soviet propaganda machine only to receive a tip that could expose an international conspiracy and cost him his life.”

The pic premiered at the Berlinale in February.

“‘Mr. Jones’ is a masterful historical thriller which transported me to a time and place seldom seen on the screen,” said Peter Goldwyn of Samuel Goldwyn Films. “The film tells of a past that eerily echoes the present.”

When we asked Holland what drew her to the story, she said, “I wanted to give justice to one of the worst – and practically unknown – genocides. I felt that the story is incredibly relevant. The world we’re living in [is starting] to look like the worst periods in the 20th century,” she observed. Holland said the biggest challenge in making the film was figuring out “how to express the things you cannot express: the fear, the suffering, and the death of millions of innocents.”

Holland’s “In Darkness,” “Europa Europa,” and “Bittere Ernte” (“Angry Harvest”) were all nominated for Academy Awards.