Marine Atlan's debut feature La Gradiva has a US release date and a trailer. The Cannes Critics' Week Grand Prize winner will open December 18 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center in New York, according to Variety, before expanding to the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles. 1.2 Special is handling the domestic release.
The film follows a class of French high school students whose trip to the ruins of Naples and Pompeii unravels into something charged with desire, anger, and loss. Atlan, who began their career as a cinematographer, co-wrote the script with Anne Brouillet. The cast is led by Antonia Buresi alongside newcomers Colas Quignard, Suzanne Gerin, and Mitia Capellier-Audat.
Before its theatrical run, La Gradiva plays the 64th New York Film Festival beginning September 27. The film has accumulated awards across the circuit: the Prix d'Ornano-Valenti at the Deauville American Film Festival and the audience award at New Horizons International Film Festival, in addition to its Cannes prize. MK2 Films handles international sales.
The French Oscar committee has shortlisted the film for the international feature race. Variety's Jessica Kiang described it as "a lithe, perceptive, piercingly compassionate debut." The French submission announcement is due in coming weeks.