Tomás Gómez Bustillo’s latest project is headed to U.S. theaters…

After landing three Independent Spirit Award nominations including Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay and Best Cinematography, the Argentine writer-director’s under-the-radar debut feature Chronicles of a Wandering Saint has been slated for North American distribution and worldwide sales by boutique Hope Runs High.

The film will be released in U.S. theaters early this year.

The rare film to make a splash on the awards front even before release, Chronicles of a Wandering Saint is set in a tiny Argentinian town, where a pious yet competitive woman decides that staging a miracle could be her ticket to sainthood. After discovering a lost statue, she orchestrates a grand reveal that will finally anoint her as the most admired woman in town. But before the unveiling, a jarring event illuminates the hidden magic of her world, forcing her to reevaluate everything she once took for granted.

Previously, the supernatural comedy won the Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award at SXSW. It’s the first from producers Gewan Brown and Amanda Freedman of new indie outfit

In a statement to Deadline, Hope Runs High curator Taylor Purdee shared that the film “came out of nowhere and ricocheted me between hilarity and reverie. It’s quotidian adventure, it’s fantastical magics, it turns you upside down at the half way point and leads you lovingly towards one of the most simply moving conclusions I’ve seen in a film of this kind in quite a while.”

He added that “if moviegoers are lucky, Tomás Gómez Bustillo will be inventing worlds like this for a long time.”

Producer Brown shared that the team is “very excited” to partner with Hope Runs High on the film’s release, noting that they were “immediately drawn” to the “highly collaborative and clever nature” of those at the company.

Bustillo added that “their passion for championing innovative and unique stories is contagious, and I hope that US audiences can share in the joy we had in making our beloved little film.”