Netflix has acquired Tatiana Huezo’s “Prayers for the Stolen” (Noche de la Fuego), a critically acclaimed Mexican drama which world premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section and won a special mention.
The streamer has picked up the film for most European territories outside of France, Italy and the U.K. where it was previously sold by The Match Factory, which represents the movie in international markets.
The film follows three friends in their journey into adolescence. In a town where there are only women and poppy planting has enforced violence, these girls cut their hair like boys and have underground hiding places to survive; but in their own world, magic and joy still prevail.
It marks the feature debut of Huezo, a well-known Mexican cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. Her latest documentary, “Tempestad,” followed the emotional journey of two women victimized by corruption and injustice in Mexico. It won prizes at Sheffield, Morelia, and was nominated at the Goyas and International Emmy Awards, among others.
“Prayers for the Stolen” earned warm reviews at Cannes and is one of the rare foreign-language movies acquired by Netflix off of the French-Riviera set festival this year. Variety reviewer Rebecca Kiang described the film as a “poetic, profound portrait of growing up a girl in cartel-land, and said “Huezo casts this extraordinary eye for lyricism within harshest realism across fiction for the first time, and the result is a darkly dazzling dream of life in the cartel-blighted Mexican hinterlands.”
A co-production between Mexico, Germany, Brazil and Qatar, “Prayers for the Stolen” was produced by Pimienta Films production in co-production with Match Factory Productions, Desvia, Bord Cadre films, Louverture Films, Cactus Film & Video, Jaque Content and ZDF in association with Arte.