Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures has acquired North American rights excluding Quebec to “Divine Love,” Brazilian Gabriel Mascaro’s Sundance hit which paints a prescient picture of a near-future faith dominated Brazil.
Outsider is planning a Spring 2020 release for the film. Set in a supposedly near-future brazil, the relevance of the film was felt with force just a few weeks ago when far-right President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he wanted Brazil’s Ancine state film-TV agency to be headed by someone who is “terribly Evangelical.”
Suggesting a major talent in the making, Mascaro’s follow-up to his Venice winner “Neon Bull” world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Guy Lodge predicted “The film’s blend of on-the-button politics and seductive aesthetics should make it hot festival property,” in his Variety review.
Set in 2027, the film follows Joana (Dira Paes), a bureaucrat who uses her job as a notary to try to convince divorcing couples to stay together. In her private life, Joana is committed to getting pregnant. The film is set against a futuristic world of faith dance parties, ritualistic orgies and fundamentalist Christianity, a heady mix.
A Desvia production in Brazil, “Divine Love” is co-produced by Malbicho Cine (Uruguay), Snowglobe (Denmark), Jirafa (Chile), Bord Cadre Films (Switzerland), Mer Films (Norway), Film i Väst (Sweden) and Globo Filmes and Canal Brasil in Brazil.
“Mascaro is a unique new voice in world cinema, and he has crafted something original and thought-provoking especially given the parallels between Brazil and the U.S. politically right now,” said Hudson.
In a joint statement, producers Rachel Daisy Ellis and Sandino Saravia Vinay said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Outsider Pictures which is an important distributor of Latin American films in the America market.
They added: “And we are excited to have the opportunity to show the film to a wider American audience following the amazing premiere in Sundance this year.”