PARK CITY, UT (January 25, 2013) — IFC Films announced today from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival that the company is acquiring U.S. rights to writer-director David Lowery's second feature AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS, which premiered on January 20 at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film, with a screenplay by Lowery, stars Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker and Keith Carrradine, and was produced by Sailor Bear's Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston.
Parts & Labor's Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen, Primary Productions' Amy Kaufman and Cassian Elwes. The film was executive produced by Evolution Entertainment's Mark Burg and Michael Menchel, Paradox's Fredrik Malmberg and Daniel Wagner, and Lagniappe's Jesse Kennedy and Logan Levy.
Set against the backdrop of 1970's Texas Hill Country, AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS is a romantic American story that follows three characters on various sides of the law ? outlaw Bob Muldoon (Affleck), his wife Ruth Guthrie (Mara), and a local sheriff named Patrick Wheeler (Foster), who gets caught in their crosshairs.
Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: "Coming into Sundance, this was one of the biggest titles on our list and probably on many buyers lists, and so we are ecstatic about this acquisition for our company. This is a beautiful and exquisitely crafted romantic American drama, with superlative performances across the board. We are honored to now be able to say we get to work with David Lowery, a remarkable new voice in filmmaking, as we take this film to audiences."
"We put our all into making AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS and bringing it to Sundance, and our hope was that it would find a home with a distributor who's passion for the film would match our own. The good folks at IFC Films demonstrated to us that, not only do they share that fervor, but that they're ready to roll up their sleeves and get some dirt under their fingernails as they work with us to bring this picture to the big screen," said Lowery. "I can't wait."
Lowery is a filmmaker from Texas. His first feature ST. NICK (2009) and his short-film PIONEER (2011) have screened at festivals around the world. In addition to his second feature AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS premiering at Sundance this week, he also co-wrote Yen Tan's film PIT STOP, and edited the Shane Carruth-directed film UPSTREAM COLOR, both which premiered at Sundance this week as well.
The deal for the film was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with Elwes and WME Global on behalf of the filmmakers.
IFC Films is a sister label to IFC Midnight and Sundance Selects, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.
This is the second acquisition for IFC Films at the festival on the heels of securing rights to Michael Winterbottom's Steve Coogan starrer-THE LOOK OF LOVE. IFC Films' sister label Sundance Selects acquired rights two docs in competition at the festival — Nick Ryan's THE SUMMIT and Richard Rowley's DIRTY WARS.
Parts & Labor producers' Van Hoy and Kundsen previously worked with the IFC team on Aaron Katz's COLD WEATHER, which they produced. Their company also has produced Mike Mills' BEGINNERS, (for which Christopher Plummer won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor); Ira Sachs' KEEP THE LIGHTS ON and Julia Lotkev's THE LONELIEST PLANET. They also have two other films premiering in competition at this year's Sundance Film Festival — photojournalist Shaul Schwarz's documentary NARCO CULTURA; and Andrew Dosunmu's second feature MOTHER OF GEORGE.
Sailor Bear's producing duo of Halbrooks and Johnston also were recipients of the 2013 Indian Paintbrush Producers Award, given out at the festival this week.
| * | * | * |
About IFC FILMS
Established in 2000 and based in New York City, IFC Films is a leading U.S. distributor of quality talent-driven independent film. Its unique distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters as well as on cable's Video On Demand (VOD) platform, reaching nearly 50 million homes. Some of the company's successes over the years have included MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, TOUCHING THE VOID, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS, GOMORRAH, CHE, SUMMER HOURS, ANTICHRIST, IN THE LOOP, ANTICHRIST, WORDPLAY, CAIRO TIME, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, TINY FURNITURE and CARLOS. Over the years, IFC Films has worked with established and breakout auteurs, including Steven Soderbergh, Gus Van Sant, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Miranda July, Lars Von Trier, Gaspar Noe, Todd Solondz, Cristian Mungiu, Susanne Bier, Olivier Assayas, Jim McKay, Larry Fessenden, Gregg Araki, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, as well as more recent breakouts such as Andrea Arnold, Mia Hansen Love, Corneliu Porombiou, Joe Swanberg, Barry Jenkins, Lena Dunham, Aaron Katz, Daryl Wein and Abdellatif Kechiche. Recent releases include PEACE, LOVE, AND MISUNDERSTANDING starring Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener; and YOUR SISTER'S SISTER starring Emily Blunt and Mark Duplass. IFC Films is a sister label to Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.
# # #