Acquisitions – Indie Films

Sheeping with the Enemy: STX Entertainment Points Gun at Cuarón’s “Desierto”

Published on October 7, 2015

Winner of the Special Presentation Prize from the International Federation of Film Critics, finally the household name of Cuarón made certain that this did not get lost in the TIFF shuffle. Now it’s got a big player in the distribution game to back it. Following his directorial debut (Year of the Nail), Variety reports that Jonás Cuarón’s Desierto has been picked up by STX Entertainment. More than likely, this will become a 2016 release.

Gist: Written by Cuarón and Mateo García, starring Gael García Bernal, this centers on a group of Mexicans whose attempts to cross the border into the United States are complicated by a shotgun-wielding vigilante (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

Worth Noting: Cinematographer Damián García’s big critical break came with the work he did on the film prior to this, Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Güeros (read review). They’ll be collaborating once again on Museo.

Do We Care?: With Cartel Land, Western, Sicario and now this, we’re still not bored with the cross (U.S.-Mexico) border conflicts.

Related Topics:Acquisitions: Indie Films, Desierto, Gael García Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jonás Cuarón, STX Entertainment

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).