Big World Pictures has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to Iair Said’s “Most People Die on Sundays” from sales agent Heretic. The existential comedy, Said’s fiction feature debut, was an official selection in the ACID sidebar at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The film is set for a theatrical release in early 2025, following a fall festival run. Said previously directed the documentary feature “Flora’s Life Is No Picnic.”
“Most People Die on Sundays” follows David, a young middle-class Jewish man described as corpulent, homosexual, and afraid of flying. He returns to Buenos Aires from Europe for his uncle’s funeral, only to learn that his mother has decided to disconnect his father’s respirator. The story explores David’s struggle with existential anguish as he navigates his new reality.
Said explained the film’s genesis: “When my dad died, we had to pay $10,000 to bury him in a Jewish cemetery. It took two and a half years to pay it off. My dad prepared us a lot emotionally for the day he was gone. But neither he nor anyone else told us that his death would be so expensive.”
The director added, “There is no talk of what it is worth to die in the middle class. What price do the living pay for the death of a loved one? That’s what my film is about: what happens when ‘ordinary’ people… die.”
“Most People Die on Sundays” has also secured distribution in France via JHR Films, and in Latin America and Spain through Star+ (Disney+) and A Contracorriente Films.
Big World Pictures, a non-profit distribution outfit founded in 2013, focuses on bringing international cinema to U.S. and Canadian audiences. Their previous releases include films from directors such as Ulrich Seidl, Radu Jude, Mohammad Rasoulof, Tsai Ming-liang and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
Athens-based boutique film outfit Heretic has a current lineup that includes Locarno titles “New Dawn Fades” and Radu Jude’s “Eight Postcards From Utopia,” as well as Cannes ACID selection “Kyuka Before Summer’s End.”
Source Agencies
