Breaking Glass Pictures Acquires SOUTH MOUNTAIN

Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired US rights to the award-winning SXSW drama SOUTH MOUNTAIN from multi-award-winning writer-director Hilary Brougher (STEPHANIE DALEY), and starring festival darling Talia Balsam (MAD MEN, HBO's DIVORCE) and Scott Cohen (THE AMERICANS, GILMORE GIRLS). Breaking Glass acquired rights to the film in January on the heels of the Palm Springs International Film Festival in a deal negotiated between Breaking Glass CEO Rich Wolff, producers rep Salomé Breziner, producer Susan A. Stover, and Brougher.

SOUTH MOUNTAIN world premiered in competition at SXSW to high praise, and remains 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes to date. Its robust festival life has included screenings at BAMCinema Fest, Palm Springs, Mill Valley, Heartland, and Mar Del Plata International Film Festivals. Prizes include the Grand Jury Prize, from the New Hampshire International Film Festival, and a Jury Prize for Excellence in Directing from the Naples International Film Festival.

"SOUTH MOUNTAIN is about the peculiar love that blooms in the wreckage of broken hearts." said Brougher. "I am thrilled to be working with Breaking Glass, a company committed to supporting truly independent cinema."

Alissa Wilkinson of Vox, praised SOUTH MOUNTAIN as "easily one of the best films I've seen all year "adding that "each scene feels vibrantly alive; director and writer Hilary Brougher has crafted a world in which nothing is cleanly resolved but a future is still possible." Beatrice Loayza of MUBI, calls the film "one of her fiercest discoveries... a graceful portrait...of a woman struggling to reaffirm her self-worth independent of others." Indiewire's Eric Kohn describes the film's "exquisite acting" noting that "Balsam...brings an astounding naturalism to the role of a woman suddenly forced to confront a later stage of life on her own." Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter calls the film "POTENT... Balsam makes Lila a thoroughly fascinating character." Variety's Nick Schager also touts "Balsam's superb lead turn" and film's "pitch perfect finale."

As family ties dissolve, a woman must find a way to heal in the absorbing, emotionally layered new drama. Lila (Talia Balsam) is an artist and mother living in the Catskills who has selflessly devoted herself to everyone around her, often at the expense of her own happiness. When her husband (Scott Cohen) leaves her for another woman with whom he has already fathered a child, Lila plunges into an existential crisis that unfolds with simmering tension and a series of unexpected twists. Built around an extraordinary performance from Talia Balsam-at once tightly wound and achingly vulnerable-South Mountain is a fearlessly honest portrait of a woman coming apart in order to become whole.

"I made this film with a small team of remarkable collaborators, including my husband, Cinematographer Ethan Mass, and an incredible cast led by Talia Balsam and Scott Cohen," said Brougher. "SOUTH MOUNTAIN is about the rebirth of a shattered family. In making it, I've rediscovered my own creative voice and sense of cinematic purpose. It's an honor to get to share such a personal, and personally-made film with audiences."

"Beautifully confident and eloquently personal, Brougher's film is both serenely quiet, yet filled with emotion and rage", said Richard Ross, Co-President of Breaking Glass. "Balsam gives a pitch perfect performance as a woman who tries to "hold on" while watching her world begin to crumble."

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