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Outsider Pictures Nabs U.S. Rights to ‘Our Mothers,’ Belgium’s Oscar Submission (EXCLUSIVE)

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SAN SEBASTIAN — Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures has picked-up U.S. distribution rights to César Díaz’s “Nuestras madres” (“Our Mothers”), Belgium’s submission for the international feature film Academy Award.

Sold by Pyramide International, “Our Mothers” world premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week, winning the Golden Camera for best first film at the Cannes Festival.

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Outsider Pictures plans a next Spring release for the film, which is playing at San Sebastian Festival’s Horizontes Latinos sidebar.

“Our Mothers” is set in Guatemala in 2018, when the whole country hangs on the trials of the soldiers who started the Civil War as victims make their statements one after the other.

Ernesto, a young anthropologist working for the Forensic Foundation, works to identify those who disappeared during the conflict. One day, while listening to an old woman tell her story, he thinks he’s found a clue which could take him to his father, a guerrilla fighter who also disappeared during that period.

Against his mother’s wishes, he throws himself body and soul into the case with the aim of learning the truth.

“The stories told in ‘Our Mothers’ have never been so timely given the demonization of Central America by the Trump administration. How many Americans know that 200,000 people died, or understand the generational impact this has on a country? This cannot be ignored or forgotten,” Hudson said.

The film was co-produced by Belgium’s Need Productions, Perspective Films in France and Cine Concepción in Guatemala.

“We made this film to highlight the unknown story of Guatemalan history and to document an emotional journey that any audience can understand: where we come from and no matter what to find the truth of our own stories,” Need Productions’ Geraldine Sprimont said.

“I wanted to make this film for two reasons: firstly to explore cinematographically history with a capital H through the eyes of my country, and secondly to pay respect to the victims of the genocide and in particular to the women who are the soul of the country,” Díaz added.

A Belgian-Guatemalan director, Díaz has been selected for this year’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum with his film project “Los jueces” (“The Judges”), set up at Need Productions.

“Our Mothers” U.S. deal was negotiated by Hudson with Pyramide’s head of international sales, Agathe Mauruc.

Outsider has previously released two Golden Camera winners: Pablo Giorgelli’s “Las Acacias” and César Augusto Acevedo’s “La tierra y la sombra.”

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