Ava DuVernay’s distribution banner Array Releasing has bought “Mars One,” Gabriel Martins’ film which represents Brazil in the Oscar race.
The film world premiered at Sundance and will debut on select screens and on Netflix beginning Jan. 5. Array Releasing has nabbed the film for distribution in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
“Mars One” revolves around the Martins, a lower-middle-class Black family who are living in the margins of a major Brazilian city. A far-right extremist president has just been inaugurated, and the Martins feel the strain of their new reality as the political dust settles. Tércia, the mother, thinks she’s cursed after an unexpected encounter. Her husband puts all of his hopes into the soccer career of their son who secretly aspiring to study astrophysics and colonize Mars. Meanwhile, their older daughter falls in love with a young woman and ponders whether it’s time to leave home.
“Gabriel Martins has created an emotionally-layered drama in his first solo feature directorial debut,” said Tilane Jones, Array president. “Array is proud to distribute ‘Mars One,’ which marks the first time Brazil has chosen a film from a Black Brazilian director to represent the country at the Oscars for best International feature,” Jones continued.
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Following its premiere at Sundance, “Mars One” won the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature at Outfest Los Angeles, and the Jury Award for Best Feature Narrative at BlackStar Film Festival, among others.
“Mars One” was produced by Thiago Macêdo Correia of Filmes de Plástico. The acquisition was negotiated by Gordon Bobb of Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein, and Lezcano on behalf of Array, and Lorna Lee Torres and Austin Kennedy of Magnolia Pictures International on behalf of Mars One. Martins is represented by CAA.
