Austrian filmmaker Sandra Wollner’s family drama “Everytime,” which won the top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard competition this year, has been acquired for North American distribution by 1-2 Special.
In the year since it was officially launched, the New York-based independent distributor has acquired and distributed seven films to date, including Harris Dickinson’s deeply felt directorial debut “Urchin” last year and the Charli XCX-starring “Erupcja” earlier this year. “Everytime” is now the second Cannes film that the distributor has acquired, following its recent acquisition of writer-director Marine Atlan’s coming-of-age drama “La Gradiva.”
Shot by “Aftersun” cinematographer Gregory Oke, “Everytime” follows a mother, young daughter and teenage boy who, brought together by a sudden tragedy, take a trip to Spain’s Canary Islands for a family holiday that never happened. Whilst there, the pain and memories of the past and present begin to quietly overlap.
“Everytime” is Wollner’s third feature film, following 2016’s “The Impossible Picture” and 2020’s “The Trouble With Being Born.” Even before it took home any Cannes awards, the movie received widespread acclaim from critics coming off its premiere in the south of France earlier this month.
In TheWrap’s review of the drama, critic Chase Hutchinson wrote, “Wollner has made not just one of the more intriguing discoveries of the festival, but a delicate depiction of grief that’ll stick with you.” Star Birgit Minichmayr also garnered immense praise for her lead performance in the film.
The movie’s Un Certain Regard win was announced exactly one week ago today. Just one day later, Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord,” which stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as a couple who face intense scrutiny after moving back to the wife’s remote Norwegian hometown, won the prestigious Palme d’Or award at the festival. Neon is on deck to release that film in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand some time later this year.
Elsewhere at the fest, Abinash Bikram Shah’s Nepali thriller “Elephants in the Fog” took home this year’s Jury Prize, while Louis Clichy’s animated drama “Iron Boy” won the Special Jury Prize.
