SCREEN DAILY: Together Films boards US abortion rights documentary ‘Zurawski v Texas’ for international sales (exclusive)

By Ben Dalton

Together Films has acquired international sales rights to Zurawski v Texas, a documentary about abortion access in the US, ahead of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA, November 14-24).

Directed by US filmmakers Maisie Crow and debut feature director Abbie Perrault, Zurawski v Texasfollows a group of women denied abortions – some of them when severely unwell – who join with an attorney to sue the state of Texas in an effort to regain their rights and reproductive futures.

The film is produced by Crow, Perrault, Blye Pagon Faust, Amy Flanagan, Siobhan Sinnerton and Cori Shepherd Stern, for HiddenLight Productions, Story Force Entertainment and Out of Nowhere.

Executive producers include Jennifer Lawrence through her company Excellent Cadaver, and Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton. It is also backed by dating and networking app Bumble.

Zurawski v Texas had its world premiere at Telluride Film Festival in August, going on to play US festivals at Hawai’I, Philadelphia and Chicago. It won the inaugural Impact award at the Hamptons film festival, and the audience award at Mill Valley.

Following the recent US election, seven US states approved measures to protect or expand abortion rights; but bids to restore protections failed in Florida, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Together Films founder and CEO Sarah Mosses described the film as “an essential watch in light of the US election results. The resonance of this story shows that any country is potentially under threat for loss of reproductive rights.”