Sundance fav ‘Padre’ gets picked up by IFC

Our own Jameson Kowalcyzk had predicted festival silverware for the first timer director and had this to say “drawing the texture and character of the city through the lens of the camera and burning it onto celluloid. Galla’s film works the mistaken-identity story archetype into an entirely character-driven film. Combined with the overall layer of grit, the end result is a nice mix of intense drama and neo-noir”.

It's been a long wait since the film's Park City triumphs, but finally Padre Nuestro has been bought up domestically by indie powerhouse IFC First Take. Writer-director Christopher Zalla's thriller centers on Juan (Armando Hernandez), a man running from Mexican mobsters who hops a van smuggling illegal aliens to New York and meets innocent fellow traveler Pedro (Jorge Adrian Espindola). Pedro is searching for his father (Jesus Ochoa) in hopes of handing over an unopened letter from his dead mother but awakens one day to find his belongings — and his identity — stolen by Juan.

The film will get a Spring release.