IFC Films Buys ‘God’s Time,‘ Daniel Antebi’s Kinetic Debut Feature (EXCLUSIVE)
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to “God’s Time,” the kinetic debut feature from writer and director Daniel Antebi. “God’s Time” had its World Premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival in the U.S. Narrative Competition, where it won a Best Performance Special Jury Mention for actress Liz Caribel.
At the festival, Paste praised it for conveying “a real sense of New York life,” while Cinemacy called it “Fast-paced and hip, fitting squarely into the growing category of films for the ‘Euphoria’ crowd.”
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The movie centers around Dev and Luca, two best friends, who are also recovering addicts. The duo are secretly in love with fellow addict Regina. She spends every support group meeting sharing her wild fantasies about killing her evil ex-boyfriend. One day, her tone shifts, and Regina sounds serious. This sets Dev and Luca off on a 24-hour odyssey through pandemic-gripped New York City to stop Regina from making a life-shattering mistake. IFC Films will release “God’s Time” in select theaters and VOD on Feb. 24, 2023. It will stream exclusively on AMC+ spring 2023.
The film was financed and executive produced by Topic Studios and Raven Capital Management, and produced by Watch This Ready. “God’s Time” stars Ben Groh in his feature film debut, as well as Dion Costelloe (“The Deuce”), Liz Caribel (“Pussy Island”) and Jared Abrahamson (“American Animals”). The film was produced by Emily Korteweg on behalf of Watch This Ready, Andrew Hutcheson, Reid Hannaford and was executive produced by Ryan Heller, Michael Bloom and Maria Zuckerman for Topic Studios; Michael Covino and Kyle Marvin for Watch This Ready; Raven’s James Masciello, Matthew Sidari and Mitchell Zhang; and Josh Peters and Eddy Vallante.
“Daniel Antebi’s wildly energetic debut ‘God’s Time’ thoroughly commands your attention,” Arianna Bocco, president of IFC Films, said in a statement. “Hysterical, dark, and empathetic all at once, he has managed a balancing act that will speak volumes to a young and exciting new audience. We are proud to support this new voice and share it with audiences in North America.”
“Although this is my first feature film, I can assure you this is my second press release,” Antebi said. “I am still in a constant state of gratitude! From writing the story with Ben and Dion to my collaborative relationship with Topic Studios, Raven, Watch This Ready, Liz, and now IFC Films. They are the perfect partner to distribute my debut romp.”
Ryan Heller of Topic Studios, and Emily Korteweg of Watch This Ready, added, “IFC Films’ extraordinary history of connecting bold, original films to audiences makes them a perfect home for Daniel’s film. We are so happy to be back in business with Arianna and team and can’t wait for audiences to meet Dev, Luca and Regina.”
Antebi may be new to the feature world, but he’s directed some acclaimed shorts. His short film “A Dios” won him a 2019 Sundance Ignite Fellowship, and his short film “Soft” was an official selection of the 2020 SXSW Film Festival. He has also created work for the United Nations, RFK Human Rights Foundation, and Black Lives Matter, and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film 2020”.
The deal for the film was negotiated by Adam Koehler, acquisitions manager for IFC Films, with Abraham Bengio of WME Independent representing the filmmakers.
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