Sideshow, Janus takes Catherine Breillat’s Cannes competition title ‘Last Summer’ for North America

Sideshow and Janus Films have landed another favorite at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, acquiring the North American rights to Catherine Breillat’s film Last summer.

The feature film, which premiered in the Cannes competition, is a French adaptation of the Danish drama by May el-Toukhy Queen of Hearts, which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2019. In the French version, Léa Drucker plays Anne, a brilliant lawyer with a seemingly perfect husband and a family film that puts everything on the line when she begins a passionate romance with the teenage stepson. Samuel Kircher and Olivier Rabourdin co-star. Last summer was produced by Saïd Ben Saïd for SBS production. The film is Breillat’s first feature film in ten years Weakness abuse in 2013.

“Catherine Breillat is one of the most daring and inspiring directors on the subject of desire,” Sideshow and Janus Films said in a statement. “It’s exciting to have her back after 10 years with one of her best films. We can’t wait to introduce her to a whole new generation of viewers.”

After the festival tour, Sideshow and Janus are planning a stage run for Last summer. The deal for the film was negotiated by Pyramide International on behalf of the filmmakers with Sideshow and Janus Films.

Last summer marks Sideshow and Janus Films’ second Cannes purchase this year, following their acquisition of the US rights to Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film Speaking of dried herbs, which won the Best Actress award for star Merve Dizdar at this year’s festival. The distributors have solid experience with Cannes acquisitions, having picked up Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Academy Award Drive my car in 2021 and Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO nominated for an Oscar at Cannes last year.