Cinema Libre Studio Acquires Ambitious Mexican Crime Drama ‘Days of Grace’
Zack Sharf
Cinema Libre Studio has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Mexican writer-director Everardo Gout’s debut feature “Days of Grace” (“Dias de Gracia).” The news comes a couple of years after the film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and opened in Mexico, where it went on to win an astounding eight Ariel Awards, the Mexican equivalent to the Oscars.
Set in Mexico City over 12 years and benchmarked by the World Cup in 2002, 2006 and 2010, the film follows three very disparate lives that intersect as they are impacted by violence and abduction. Lupe (Tenoch Huerta), an idealistic cop, is tasked to investigate a crime ring and finds that justice has no value when a human life has a price. When Susana’s (Dolores Heredia) businessman-husband Arturo is taken, she must go outside the law to fight for his release. And Iguana (Kristyan Ferrer) is conflicted as he dreams of becoming a boxer even as he is drawn into a lifestyle that finds him guarding kidnap Victim X (Carlos Bardem) and facing down a criminal mastermind.
“When I saw the film at Cannes I was mesmerized by the creativity of the director. I’ve not seen such a brilliant achievement in the last ten years,” said Philippe Diaz, Chairman of Cinema Libre. “After the Mexican release and rights issues were worked out, we worked closely with the Gout brothers to shorten the film for American audiences. It turns out the timing of a 2015 US release is fortuitous since many more Americans became aware of the violence going on south of the border due to the mass kidnapping in Iguala.”
The drama features cinematography from Luis David Sansans (“Y Tu Mama Tambien”) and a soundtrack featuring Nick Cave, Scarlett Johansson and Academy Award-winning composer Atticus Ross. Cinema Libre will hold a day-and-date release in U.S. theaters and on HBO May 1 before rolling the film out on Blu-Ray/DVD and On Demand platforms May 5.
READ MORE: Philippe Diaz: “I think that movies can help make the world a better place”
