RLJE Films and Netflix to distribute David Oyelowo’s feature directorial debut ‘The Water Man’

David Oyelowo’s family adventure film, The Water Man, has been acquired by RLJE Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, for North America, and by Netflix for the rest of the world. The film had its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival to much critical praise and also opened this year’s Urbanworld Film Festival.

The film is the directorial debut of acclaimed actor David Oyelowo (Selma), which he also stars in, and is produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films, ShivHans Pictures, and Yoruba Saxon. In North America the film is expected to be released day-and-date in theaters and PVOD on May 7, 2021 and Netflix will release the film internationally later this year.  

The Water Man, a Black List script written by Emma Needell, also stars Rosario Dawson (Netflix’s Luke Cage, Disney+’s The Mandalorian), Lonnie Chavis (NBC’s This Is Us), Amiah Miller (War For the Planet of the Apes), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) and Maria Bello (CBS’s NCIS). In The Water Man, Gunner (Chavis) sets out on a quest to save his ill mother (Dawson) by searching for a mythic figure who possesses the secret to immortality, the Water Man. After enlisting the help of a mysterious local girl, Jo (Miller), they journey together into the remote Wild Horse forest — but the deeper they venture, the stranger and more dangerous the forest becomes. Their only hope for rescue is Gunner’s father (Oyelowo), who will stop at nothing to find them and in the process will discover who his son really is.

“While in some ways this film is a father and son story, at its core it’s also a love letter to mothers everywhere and is dedicated to my own. To be able to share my directorial debut, The Water Man, with the world through the hands of RLJE Films and Netflix is a dream come true for me,” said Oyelowo.

The Water Man is produced by Oyelowo (A United Kingdom), Carla Gardini (“Delilah”), Shivani Rawat (Wander Darkly) and Monica Levinson (Golden Globe nominees Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Trial of The Chicago 7) and executive produced by Academy Award nominee Oprah Winfrey (The Color Purple), Darren M. Demetre (Lean on Pete), Connor Flanagan (Wander Darkly) and Emma Needell.

Photo credit: Karen Ballard

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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