UK sales and distribution outfit Blue Finch Films has taken worldwide rights to Paris Zarcilla’s horror title Raging Grace, set to premiere as part of the narrative competition section at SXSW.
Raging Grace is the debut feature from the UK-born Filipino writer-director. It is produced by UK-Vietnamese Chi Thai, Screen Star of Tomorrow 2021, who produces through her UK outfit Last Conker.
The film is about an undocumented Filipina immigrant, Joy, who is struggling to do the best she can for her daughter, Grace, when she secures the perfect job, taking care of an extremely wealthy but terminal old man. Soon, Joy and her daughter Grace start to realise everything is not as it first appeared. Something is festering beneath the surface, threatening all they have worked for.
The cast is led by Maxine Eigenmann who featured in Verdict, the Orizzonti special jury prize winning film at Venice 2019, Leanne Best, David Hayman and newcomer Jaeden Boadilla.
Zarcilla said: “As a child of the diaspora, I’ve struggled against the notions of being the good immigrant and the bad immigrant for as long as I can remember. When the pandemic was in full swing, I felt a swell of rebellion that I needed to release – this is what Raging Grace was forged from and I hope its message resonates with audiences all over the world.”
“It was vital to us in the making of this personal story that we do not replicate the systems of power that the film is critical of,” added Thai. “We worked so hard to maintain a continuity between what we created and how it was created. Bringing this film into the world was an act of catharsis, handled with mindfulness and tenderness.”
Shudder was initially announced as financing the project and releasing in North America, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand back in 2021, but is no longer attached to the feature.
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