Amazon Studios has picked up the worldwide rights to director Matthew Heineman’s The Boy From Medellín, a portrait of Colombian Latin music star J Balvin.
The Endeavor Content-backed feature-length documentary follows Balvin, the “Prince of Reggaeton” and a Latin Grammy–winning performer, in the lead-up to a sold-out 2019 homecoming concert performance in Medellín, Colombia. The acquisition deal comes ahead of the documentary’s world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 11 via the Bell Digital Cinema platform.
“Representing my country, my city and Latin culture globally is a lifelong pursuit and I’m so proud to be a son of Medellín. I’m honored to be able to tell my story in this beautiful way and working with Matthew on this project was an incredible experience. Thank you to Amazon for making sure this story can be seen around the world,” Balvin said in a statement on Monday (Aug. 31).
The Boy From Medellin — from Heineman, the director behind the biopic Private War — is produced by Our Time Projects and SB Projects.
“Filmmaker Matthew Heineman is a master of his craft, and beautifully depicts the perspective of an international music icon. We are thrilled to welcome Matthew back to the Amazon family and to share J Balvin’s story with our global customers,” Javiera Balmaceda, head of international originals in Argentina, Chile and Colombia for Amazon Studios, said in a statement.
Amazon Studios also released Heineman’s City of Ghosts. His other movie credits include Cartel Land and the docuseries The Trade. Heineman is currently in production on a documentary about the Coronavirus crisis and he is set to write and direct Paradise, a narrative adaptation of the true events of the 2018 Paradise Fire, to be distributed by Focus Features.
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The Boy From Medellin is produced by Heineman, Juan Camilo Cruz, Myles Estey and Joedan Okun. Executive producers are Scooter Braun, Allison Kaye, Scott Manson, Jennifer McDaniels, Fabio Acosta, José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, Jenna Millman and Juan Diego Villegas.
Endeavor Content financed the documentary and is handling worldwide sales.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.