One of the First Sales Out of SXSW: Avant-Garde Frankenstein Dark Comedy Dead Lover from Filmmaker Glowicki Acquired by Cartuna x Dweck, New Distribution Partnership Announced

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Press Release from Exile PR (Dead Lover Distribution)

Austin, TX – (March 11, 2025) — Cartuna and Dweck Productions today announced a new distribution collaboration, Cartuna x Dweck, and revealed that the joint venture has acquired North American rights to Grace Glowicki’s feature film Dead Lover after its Texas premiere at SXSW. The acquisition is one of the earliest sales to emerge from this year’s festival. While an official release date has not yet been set, the partners confirmed plans for a theatrical rollout as part of the film’s release strategy.

About the Film

Dead Lover is the sophomore feature by writer/director/actor Grace Glowicki. The film premiered in the Midnight section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it attracted strong critical attention. Reviews praised the film’s bold blend of dark comedy, emotional depth, and inventive aesthetic. Variety called it “a striking meditation on identity, love and self-acceptance,” while RogerEbert.com described it as “an already ingenious work elevated by [Glowicki’s] enlivening performance… Dead Lover is a camp classic in the making.”

Following Sundance, Dead Lover screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam and Göteborg Film Festival, and it has additional festival appearances scheduled, including the Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans and the Los Angeles Festival of Movies.

Story and Cast

Grace Glowicki stars as a lonely gravedigger, a character who literally smells of corpses and lives on the margins of ordinary life. When she meets her dream man—played by Ben Petrie—the two embark on a brief but intense romance that is abruptly cut short when he drowns at sea. Grief drives her to extreme and sometimes darkly comic measures: she pursues macabre scientific experiments to resurrect him, with unpredictable and far-reaching consequences. The screenplay was co-written by Glowicki and Petrie. The cast also includes Leah Doz and Lowen Morrow. Glowicki, Petrie, and Yona Strauss produced the film, with Matthew Miller, Olivia Nieuwland, Lexi Tannenholtz, Rhianon Jones, and Tristan Scott Behrends of Neon Heart Productions serving as executive producers.

Distribution Strategy and Industry Context

Cartuna launched its film distribution arm in the previous year with a particular focus on animation, DIY cinema, and cult titles. The company initially gained attention as a Blu-ray label, notably handling the physical release of the indie breakout HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, which enjoyed both box office and home media success. Dead Lover represents Cartuna’s first complete all-rights acquisition and marks the debut release for the Cartuna x Dweck partnership.

As part of the release team, Kurt Ravenwood—partner at creative agency SRH and producer on HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS—will join the campaign to develop marketing strategy and positioning for the film. Cartuna’s founder and CEO James Belfer emphasized the company’s mission: to support inventive, boundary-pushing storytellers and to build distribution paths that serve independent filmmakers directly.

Statements from the Producers and Filmmakers

James Belfer said, “We firmly believe that we are at the early stages of a historic creative movement. Inventive, boundary-pushing storytellers need more distribution support now than ever. This collective of producers has opted to take matters into our own hands and it’s our sincere hope that it will inspire others to do the same.”

Hannah Dweck, co-founder of Dweck Productions, added, “What Grace and her collaborators have dug up from their creative depths is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. We are honored to be part of this infinitely imaginative team. We can’t wait to set this exuberantly unrestrained, disgusting, beautiful, smelly, exhumed corpse of a rom-com loose on the world!”

Glowicki reflected on the partnership: “We feel touched by kismet to be working with Cartuna x Dweck! Individually, both companies are stalwart champions of independent voices in cinema, and we’re in love with their vision for a united superfront putting out movies with a fresh, individualized approach. Ben, Yona, and I are thrilled to be putting our brains together with them on rolling out Dead Lover!”

Background on Glowicki

Glowicki first gained prominence with her performance in Ben Petrie’s 2016 short Her Friend Adam, earning a Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance at Sundance. Her directorial debut feature, Tito, premiered at SXSW in 2019, winning the Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award and drawing praise from critics for its bold, performance-driven approach. Dead Lover builds on Glowicki’s reputation for fearless, idiosyncratic storytelling and showcases her work as a writer, director, and leading actor.

The North American deal for Dead Lover was negotiated by Hugues Barbier, Justin Timms, and Joe Yanick of Yellow Veil Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers, and by James Belfer on behalf of Cartuna x Dweck. Cartuna has indicated it is quietly assembling a broader distribution slate, with additional titles to be announced later this year.

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