Spain’s Best Foreign Language Film submission for next year’s Academy Awards, Flowers (original title Loreak), has been picked up for North American distribution by Music Box Films, according to Variety.
Flowers is the first Basque-language film to be submitted by Spain to the Academy. Directed by Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga, who previously teamed up in 2010’s For 80 Days, the melodrama follows the story of three women. Ane (Nagore Aranburu), who feels trapped in an unfulfilled marriage, starts receiving flower bouquets weekly from an anonymous sender. Tere (Itziar Aizpuru) pines for a grandchild, but her only son and his wife are not cooperating with her vision. Their lives intersect following a sudden and unexpected tragedy, and flowers anonymously start to appear once again. According to early reviews, the film is a study on compassion, loss, and missed connections.
Winner of the Cine Latino Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Flowers was on the official selection list at multiple film festivals including the San Sebastian International FF, Spanish FF, BFI London FF, Tokyo International FF, Zurich FF, Cleveland International FF, and Santa Barbara International FF.
Some of Music Box Films’ recent distributions include last year’s Oscar winner Ida, and the Gemma Arterton-starrer Gemma Bovery.
The film opens in New York on October 30, followed by Los Angeles on November 27.