American Film Market Dailies

Protagonist Pictures has closed a UK rights deal in all media with specialist distribution company Alarm Pictures for the 2017 Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard winner April’s Daughter (Las Hijas de Abril), written and directed by the acclaimed Michel Franco, it was announced today by Protagonist Pictures CEO Dave Bishop and Alarm’s Managing Director Alex Mandell.

Following its world premiere in Cannes, April’s Daughter went on to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival and San Sebastian Film Festivals before its UK premiere today at the 61^st BFI London Film Festival.

The deal was negotiated between Alex Mandell, Alarm Pictures’ Managing Director and George Hamilton, International Sales Manager at Protagonist Pictures.

Mandell commented: "I'm absolutely delighted to have come on board such a wonderful film which deservedly has huge prestige behind it.  Michel Franco is an exceptional filmmaker and Alarm Pictures is proud to distribute and represent films that are purely about directorial talent.”

Protagonist CEO Dave Bishop added: “We have always had great experiences with Alarm, and Protagonist is excited to partner with them again to bring Michel Franco's unique and original Cannes success to British audiences”.

Starring Emma Suarez (Julieta, The Next Skin) as April, the film tells the story of 17-year-old Valeria who is pregnant by her teenage boyfriend, but hasn't informed her absent mother April. When her sister Clara goes behind her back and calls their mother, she arrives full of concern, support and tenderness. But once the baby is born, it soon becomes clear why Valeria wanted to keep April as far away as possible.

The Spanish language feature film also stars Ana Valeria Becerril, Joanna Larequi (Charity), Enrique Arrizon (Desterrados), and Hernán Mendoza (After Lucia).

As well as writing and directing the film, Franco produced April’s Daughter through his Lucía Films production company. Lorenzo Vigas (From Afar) and Moises Zonana (Chronic, After Lucia) are also producers of the film. Executive producers on the project are Rodolfo Cova, David Zonana, Gabriel Ripstein and Academy Award nominated actor Tim Roth. Roth (Rob Roy, Pulp Fiction) starred in and executive produced Franco’s first English language feature Chronic, winner of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay Award. The film was nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature and Best Actor for Roth.

ABOUT PROTAGONIST PICTURES

Protagonist Pictures is an international finance, production and sales company which has a proven track record in outstanding films and commercial successes. Based in the UK, the company handles films from around the world, always maintaining a strong focus on filmmakers with exceptional vision and storytelling skills. 

Protagonist’s current successes on releases around the world include Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire with its ensemble cast of Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Sharlto Copley and Jack Reynor; Charlie McDowell’s The Discovery with Rooney Mara, Jason Segel and Robert Redford, William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth. Other titles include the 2017 Directors’ Fortnight Art Cinema Award Winner The Rider from Chloé Zhao to be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, The Florida Project from Sean Baker to be distributed by A24, 2017 Un Certain Regard Grand Jury Prize winner April’s Daughter from writer, director, producer Michel Franco and Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Official Selections Beast, from writer/director Michael Pearce, and Clio Barnard’s Dark River starring Ruth Wilson.

Currently in post-production are Richard Loncraine’s Finding Your Feet, Amma Asante’s Where Hands Touch, Kristoffer Nyholm’s Keepers, and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, which will be distributed by Amazon Studios. Currently in pre-production are Paramour, directed by Alexandra-Therese Keining and starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Juan Cabral’s Two/One starring Boyd Holbrook, The Souvenir from Executive Producer Martin Scorsese directed by Joanna Hogg, and Gypsy Boy starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Vita & Virginia starring Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki is currently shooting on location in Ireland.

ABOUT ALARM PICTURES

Alarm Pictures is a UK film distribution company that focuses on acquiring edgy and commercial independent film, looking to explore a mixture of new and innovative distribution models that can reach audiences in creative ways outside of the established norms.

We work closely with our various film partners to deliver audiences our unique brand of curated content by bespoke means.

We find great movies and work hard to expose them to as wide an audience as possible through a variety of platforms, specifically but not exclusively within the digital sphere.