Array Releasing, the distribution arm of Ava Duvernay’s Array production company, has acquired “Reservation Dogs” co-creator Sterlin Harjo’s documentary feature “Love and Fury,” the company announced on Tuesday.
The company acquired North American, UK, Australian and New Zealand rights and pans to released the film in select theaters and on Netflix on Dec. 3.
“Array Releasing is proud to bring celebrated filmmaker Sterlin Harjo’s documentary film ‘Love and Fury’ to audiences around the world, just in time for Native American Heritage month,” said Jones in a statement. “This lovingly made film explores the complex artistry of multiple Native American artists’ while offering texture, nuance and insight into Native identities and perspectives.”
“Love and Fury,” is described in the statement as the story of “a cadre of Native artists as they work to amplify Indigenous creativity in a post-colonial world and navigate their careers without seeking permission.”
“Love and Fury” premiered at Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival and was an official selection of the Seattle International Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival and DeadCenter FIlm Festival. Harjo served as producer of the film along with executive producer Robin Ballenger. In its review of the film, Point of View magazine observed: “Unlike many of the white people who write about art, Harjo defines the subjects not by their tribe, nation, or creed, but by their work and artistic impulses. This aspect of the film alone makes ‘Love and Fury’ radical.”
Sterlin Harjo who is a Seminole and Muscogee American, along with Academy award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, is the co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner of FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” a comedy about four teens in rural Oklahoma. Harjo, who received a fellowship from The Sundance Institute in 2004, has directed several feature films, including the thriller “Mekko,”, “Barking Water,” the documentary “This May Be the Last Tim: and “Four Sheets to the Wind.”
Harjo is also a founding member of The 1491s, a popular Native American sketch comedy troupe and is currently in development on several new television shows, while FX recently announced “Reservation Dogs” was renewed for a second season.
The acquisition was negotiated by Gordon Bobb of Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein, and Lezcano on behalf of Array, and Nina Shaw of Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein, and Lezcano on behalf of Sterlin Harjo.
For more on “Love and Fury,” see the trailer below.