Cream of the crop
Clemency, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Festival, was produced by a Malaysian production company.
DID you know that prison drama Clemency, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on Feb 3, was produced by a Malaysian production company?
Clemency, starring Alfre Woodard, Richard Schiff and Aldis Hodge, is one of two films produced and financed by Ace Pictures Entertainment selected to compete at Sundance 2019.
Widely acclaimed as one of the best films in this year’s Sundance festival, Clemency tells a story of prison warden Bernadine Williams (Woodard), who is wrestling with the psychological and emotional toll that comes with carrying out death row executions for years.
As she prepares to execute another inmate, she must confront the demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
Johnny Chang, CEO of Ace Entertainment, one of the executive producers of the film, said that the decision to produce Clemency was a no-brainer.
“We were thrilled to discover the incredibly moving screenplay by writer-director Chinonye Chukwu, and with the participation of the outstanding lead actress Alfre Woodard and the highly experienced production team, our decision to come on board was very easy,” said Chang in a press release.
Ace Pictures also produced another film that was selected to compete in Sundance – Imaginary Order, a dramedy starring Bridesmaids star Wendi McLendon-Covey.
Clemency was Ace Picture’s first fully financed movie in 2018.
Established in 2017, Malaysiabased Ace Pictures Entertainment ventured into Hollywood and has produced 10 films to date, including the high-profile collaboration with Angelina Jolie for fantasy drama Come Away, set to be released later this year.
The company’s latest project, Colour Out Of Space is a collaboration with Elijah Wood’s SpectreVision and stars Nicolas Cage. The sci-fi horror is based on HP Lovecraft’s classic novel of the same title and production has already begun in Portugal.