‘Chronicles Of A Wandering Saint,’ Independent Spirit Award-Nominated Comedy From Tomás Gómez Bustillo, Secures North American Deal

EXCLUSIVE: After landing three Independent Spirit Award nominations including Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, and Best Cinematography, writer-director Tomás Gómez Bustillo‘s under-the-radar debut feature Chronicles of a Wandering Saint has been slated for North American distribution and worldwide sales by boutique Hope Runs High. Pic will be released in U.S. theaters early this year.

The rare film to make a splash on the awards front even before release, Chronicles is set in a tiny Argentinian town, where a pious yet competitive woman decides that staging a miracle could be her ticket to sainthood. After discovering a lost statue, she orchestrates a grand reveal that will finally anoint her as the most admired woman in town. But before the unveiling, a jarring event illuminates the hidden magic of her world, forcing her to reevaluate everything she once took for granted.

Previously, the supernatural comedy won the Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award at SXSW. It’s the first from producers Gewan Brown and Amanda Freedman of new indie outfit Plenty Good.

In a statement to Deadline, Hope Runs High curator Taylor Purdee shared that the film “came out of nowhere and ricocheted me between hilarity and reverie. It’s quotidian adventure, it’s fantastical magics, it turns you upside down at the half way point and leads you lovingly towards one of the most simply moving conclusions I’ve seen in a film of this kind in quite a while.” He added that “if moviegoers are lucky, Tomás Gómez Bustillo will be inventing worlds like this for a long time.”

Producer Brown shared that the team is “very excited” to partner with Hope Runs High on the film’s release, noting that they were “immediately drawn” to the “highly collaborative and clever nature” of those at the company.

Bustillo added that “their passion for championing innovative and unique stories is contagious, and I hope that US audiences can share in the joy we had in making our beloved little film.”

Recent theatrical releases from Hope Runs High include BAFTA-nominated doc Rebellion on global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion, the Purdee-directed and starring Killian & the Comeback Kids, and Tribeca prize winner We Might As Well Be Dead. Other recent acquisitions include SXSW winner A Vanishing Fog as well as The Academy & Film Foundation’s new restoration of Lee Grant’s 1980 drama Tell Me a Riddle, the first major American feature to be written, produced, and directed entirely by women.