Announced just moments ago… film distributor Motion Film Group has reportedly picked up distribution rights to Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Sundance 2011 entry, and his feature film debut, Gun Hill Road.

Deadline says Motion Film Group paid “low seven-figures for worldwide sales and distribution rights” to Rashaad’s film, which premiered Monday, in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, with the plan being to take the film to Cannes, to sell international rights, and then release the film stateside, in theaters, this summer.

The coming-of-age drama is set in the Bronx, and stars Esai Morales as a macho ex-con, who returns to his Bronx family home, after a three-year prison sentence, to learn that his son Michael (played by Harmony Santana) is transgendered. 

Judy Reyes and Isiah Whitlock co-star.

Ron Simons of SimonSays Entertainment produced the film; he also produced Night Catches Us, a 2010 Sundance selection last year, which was acquired by Magnolia Pictures. Looks like SimonSays is on a roll…

I saw a late cut of Gun Hill Road last month, before it was announced that the film would debut at the Sundance Film Festival. I didn’t see the final cut at Sundance, because the press screening happened after I left Park City. But, from what Rashaad said last month, I gather that the film I saw wasn’t all that different from the film that would screen at the festival.

Although I thought I’d wait to review it until after I’ve seen the final cut. But I’ll say that the cut I did see was solid! Familiar themes certainly, but it’s not often we see this story told from this POV. It’s well-acted, beautifully shot. A simple yet deeply affecting story.

No trailer for it yet, but you can watch Rashaad talk about the film below, which includes a few clips: