Francois Ozon’s Berlin competition film By the Grace of God has been snatched up by indie buyers ahead of its world premiere Friday night.
French sales outfit Playtime inked deals for the film with buyers across Europe, including Germany (Pandora), Spain (Golem), Benelux (September Film), and Italy (Academy 2) among others and closed for much of the rest of the world, with agreements with mk2/Mile End for Canada, Sharmill Films for Australia, California Filmes for Latin America and Kino Films for Japan.
Melvil Poupaud, Denis Menochet and Swann Arlaud co-star as three men who confront a family priest who abused them as children and who is still working with youngsters years later.
The story is inspired by the real-life case of Father Preynat, a Catholic priest in the French city of Lyon who was indicted in 2016 for sexual assault. Preynat has gone to court to try and block Grace of God’s release in France until after his trial, which is due to start later this year.
