(New York, NY) January 26, 2013—Oscilloscope Laboratories announced today that it has acquired North American rights to Andrew Dosunmu’s MOTHER OF GEORGE. The film made its world premiere this past week as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition in Sundance, to widespread critical acclaim and enthusiastic audience response.
In the poetic and moving MOTHER OF GEORGE, Adenike (Danai Gurira) weds the charismatic Ayodele (Isaach De Bankolé), the owner of a small Nigerian restaurant in Brooklyn. Their traditional wedding culminates in a ceremony where Adenike is named for her yet-to-be-conceived son, George. But as the months pass without pregnancy, Adenike faces uncomfortable and unfamiliar choices in her desperate struggle to save her marriage. The film stars THE WALKING DEAD’s Gurira in the title role and veteran actor De Bankolé as her husband, and co-stars Yaya Alafia and Tony Okungbowa. This is Dosunmu’s second feature, following his critically heralded 2011 debut RESTLESS CITY.
Beautifully shot by cinematographer Bradford Young (AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS, PARIAH), the film skillfully folds large, universal themes and ideas into a very personal and intimate story.
It has already received many critical accolades at Sundance; Manohla Dargis of the New York Times singled it out as one of the highlights of the festival and called it “visually splendid.” Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the film is “dazzlingly shot” and praises Gurira’s performance, saying she “inhabits this role with a fire and pride, a devotion, and, at times, a despair bordering on instability.” Guy Lodge begins his review in Variety by saying, “Simply relating the narrative of Andrew Dosunmu’s seductive immigrant drama MOTHER OF GEORGE would do little to convey the film’s stark, poetic power, much less its extraordinary visual and sonic acumen.”
About the acquisition, David Laub and Dan Berger from Oscilloscope said, “We couldn’t be more excited to be releasing MOTHER OF GEORGE—it is exactly the kind of gem which we love to champion. In only his second feature, Dosumnu shows not only tremendous style and visual flair, but a deep empathy for his characters and the ability to portray the complexity of a traditional culture adapting to the modern world. We are thrilled to be working with this wonderful and talented group of filmmakers and to have the opportunity to bring this film to audiences.”
Filmmaker Andrew Dosumnu says, “I am thrilled to be working with Oscilloscope having been a fan of their roster of films. I am honored to be working with such a great team who support filmmakers and their vision. It is a perfect fit.”
The film was written by Darci Picoult and produced by Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy of Parts & Labor and Matt Parker & Carly Hugo along with Picoult, Chris Maybach, Saemi Kim and Okungbowa. Executive producers on the film are: Saerom Kim of Maybach Film Productions; Ron Simons of SimonSays Entertainment; Jerry Tankersley, Laura Bernieri & Joseph Sorrentino of Fried Alligator Films and Rhea Scott & Fady Salamé. The deal was negotiated by David Laub and Dan Berger from Oscilloscope with Ben Weiss of Paradigm, who represented the filmmakers.
About Parts and Labor:
Parts & Labor producers’ Van Hoy and Knudsen came into Sundance this year with three films they produced in competition. In addition to MOTHER OF GEORGE, the company also debuted photojournalist Shaul Schwarz’s powerful documentary NARCO CULTURA, and David Lowery’s romantic drama AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS starring Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster (the latter which was just acquired by IFC Films). Parts & Labor has produced more than a dozen films including Mike Mills’ BEGINNERS (for which Christopher Plummer won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Ira Sachs’ KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, Aaron Katz’s COLD WEATHER and Julia Lotkev’s THE LONELIEST PLANET.
About Carly Hugo and Matt Parker:
Carly Hugo and Matt Parker are independent film producers based in New York City. They have collectively produced over twenty features since 2005 and have a proven track record of consistently creating prestigious, high-quality films. Combined, Carly and Matt’s recent credits: as producers, Mother of George (dir. Andrew Dosunmu, Sundance 2013), Higher Ground (dir. Vera Farmiga, Sundance 2011), Hot Coffee (dir. Susan Saladoff, Sundance 2011), and Restless City (dir. Andrew Dosunmu, Sundance 2011); as co-producers, Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture (dir. Benh Zeitlin, Sundance 2012 – Grand Jury Prize Winner, Cannes 2012 – Camera D’Or Winner), Bachelorette (dir. Leslye Headland, Sundance 2012), Beautiful Darling (dir. James Rasin, Berlinale 2010), and Peter and Vandy (dir. Jay DiPietro, Sundance 2009).