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Sundance Winner ‘Farewell Amor’ to Bow on Mubi in December (EXCLUSIVE)

Sundance winner and upcoming BFI London Film Festival title “Farewell Amor” will bow in December on curated streaming service Mubi.

Mubi has acquired worldwide VOD rights, excluding North America, Africa, China and Israel, on the film. IFC has acquired the North America rights.

Producer Huriyyah Muhammad won the Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for narrative features at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film received its world premiere in the U.S. dramatic competition section in January. It will play at the BFI London Film Festival’s ‘Love’ strand in October.

Written and directed by feature debutant and Sundance Institute fellow Ekwa Msangi, the film follows an Angolan immigrant reunited with his family in New York City after 17 years. Now strangers sharing a one-bedroom apartment, they discover a shared love of dance that may help them overcome the distance between them.

Stars include Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (“Blood Diamond”), Zainab Jah (“Deep State”), Jayme Lawson (“The Batman”), Joie Lee (“Crooklyn”), Marcus Scribner (“Black-ish”) and Nana Mensah (“13 Reasons Why”).

“Farewell Amor” is co-produced by Mubi, with the company’s production arm led by Bobby Allen, senior VP of production. Producing partners include Muhammad and Msangi for Outrageous Pictures, Sam Bisbee for Park Pictures, Josh Penn for Department of Motion Pictures, and Joe Plummer for Wavelength Productions, with co-producer Emily McCann Lesser.

Allen said: “Ekwa is an incredibly talented filmmaker and story-teller, and we are proud to have worked with her on producing her feature directorial debut ‘Farewell Amor.’ The mission of Mubi productions is to champion emerging and established filmmakers from all over the world and help tell their stories to a global audience. We are now excited to continue working with Ekwa to present her beautiful film to our audience across the globe.”

Msangi added: “I have so much respect for Mubi’s taste as curators and film connoisseurs, so to have them both as our partners and the international home for ‘Farewell Amor’ is a huge honor. I’m overjoyed to be a part of the Mubi family.”

Mubi has several projects in development and announced titles on the outfit’s production slate include “Our Men,” directed by Rachel Lang (“Baden Baden”), starring Louis Garrel (“Rifkin’s Festival”) and Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent”), and a true crime feature documentary directed by David Farrier (“Tickled”).

Mubi is also an executive producer on Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming series “Maniac Cop,” created in partnership with HBO and Canal Plus. Mubi co-production “Port Authority,” directed by Danielle Lessovitz, played several festivals in 2019, including Cannes, Goteborg, Thessaloniki and Deauville.

The deal was made between Mubi and Fabien Westerhoff at Film Constellation, which is handling international sales for “Farewell Amor.”

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