Sundance’s World Cinema Jury Prizewinner ‘Cactus Pears’ Bought for North America Ahead of New Directors/New Films (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Strand Releasing has acquired North American rights to Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s “Cactus Pears” which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

The Indian gay drama will play at New Directors/New Films this week. The film was the first Marathi language film to premiere at Sundance and first Indian fiction film to win the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for a Dramatic Film. “Cactus Pears” follows Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), a young city dweller who returns to his family’s countryside home upon his father’s demise and must confront his family about being unmarried, there he finds solace with a farmer (Suraaj Suman) who shares his situation. “We’re thrilled and proud to have ‘Cactus Pears,’ it’s a film with universal appeal, one that we thing will resonate here with audiences in North America,” said Marcus Hu of Strand Releasing.

The deal was done between Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing and one of the film producers Neeraj Churi of Lotus Visual Productions.

Strand plans for an active festival roll out for the film prior to a theatrical release this fall. The movie is set to play at the upcoming San Francisco festival and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria festival, among otgers. “Cactus Pears” producers praised Strand Releasing for “their distinguished history of distributing Oscar-nominated films and official submissions for the Best International Feature Film category” which they said “underscores their commitment to exceptional cinema.” “This story began in a quiet corner of India, and it’s moving to know it will now reach audiences around the world, in cinemas where it belongs,” the producer said a joint statement.