MALAGA — Dark Star Pictures, the L..A.-based distribution company, has secured North America distribution rights to “On the Go,” which showcases the acting talents of “Elite’s” Omar Ayuso, here playing a Grindr addict with vengeance in his heart.
Celebrating its world premiere at last August’s Locarno Film Festival, “On the Go” was acquired for world sales in the run-up to the Swiss festival by Paris-based MPM Premium.
A road movie through an Andalusia of music, dance, sex and sensuality, “On the Go” has steadily chalked up sales since then, closing France (Outplay), Germany, Switzerland, Austria (Salzgeber), Taiwan (Cineplex) and now the U.S. and Canada (Dark Star Pictures).
“We’re excited to work again with Dark Star Pictures, a distributor focused on bringing unique and cutting-edge genre movies to North America. They are a natural partner for ‘On the Go,’ a Spanish comedy that is as hilarious as it is thoughtful,” said Quentin Worthington, MPM Premium head of sales and acquisitions.
“We are ecstatic to be bringing ‘On the Go’ to North American audiences,” said Mike Repsch, president of Dark Star Pictures, told Variety.
“Filmmakers Julia de Castro and Maria Royo have beautifully crafted a snapshot of modern society and the issues we face with a gleeful energy. The film is sure to capture the hearts of viewers – both young and old – with its youthful exuberance and Kerouacian approach to the road movie genre,” he added.
Written and directed by Royo and Castro, “On the Go” revisits from a female perspective an extraordinary Andalusian feature, 1982’s “Corridas de Alegría,” perhaps the biggest movie to come out from an explosion of late ‘70s-early ‘80s creativity in Andalusia seen not only in film but also music: Think Triana.
Four decades later, “On the Go” picks up and transfers to a contemporary age “Corridas de Alegria’s” social conscience and art cinema issues, plus its sexual frankness, large humour, the unpredictability of a road movie and some great flamenco tracks.
Ayuso plays Jonathan caught at the movie’s outset, burning down a night club and hitting the road in the car of a close friend, Milagros, set on motherhood and persuading Jonathan to become her sperm donor.
If “Corridas de Alegría turned on friendship and failure in love, in “On the Go,” “we review these two themes 40 years later, immersed in the era of dating apps, eternal youth, and economic insecurity. The context is conformed by a vital period both of us shared: the last years of fertility in a historic moment for the self-sufficient woman,” said Royo and Castro.
Reaping upbeat reviews, “On the Go” manages to be both formally inventive and great fun. That may explain in part its best feature and director awards at Spain’s Gijón Festival building on special mentions at Locarno from a Youth Jury and at Valladolid, in its Rainbow Prize category, plus a Special Jury Prize at France’s Chéries-Chéris Festival, one of Europe’s top LGBT events.
“On the Go” joins an adventurous Dark Star distribution lineup, adding to Ukraine War drama “Stay Online,” shot using an innovative Screenlife format, and alien romance comedy “The Becomers,” a Fantasia standout.
