Director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, starring Honor Swinton Byrne and her mother Tilda Swinton, not only took the the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize but quickly spurred talk of a sequel. Today distributor A24 released the film’s first trailer, offering a look at what prompted all that buzz.
Tom Burke also stars. Set against the background of the film industry, The Souvenir focuses on a quiet film student (Swinton Byrne) who meets a mysterious man (Burke). Within days the two are in what will be her first serious love affair, even as she ignores the concerns of her mother (Swinton) and friends. The student borrows large amounts of money from her parents, surrendering to the relationship and her new love’s needs. The film is based on Hogg’s actual experience.
A24 acquired North American rights to The Souvenir in December, prior to Sundance. By that point, Martin Scorsese had signed on as exec producer, having been impressed by British writer-director Hogg’s 2010 film Archipelago. At the time, A24 said, “Each of Joanna’s films has a mesmerizing power and uncommon intimacy, and The Souvenir shows a filmmaker at the height of her craft. The film brilliantly captures the heady, formative days of first love and a young woman’s efforts to give shape to her art, and we could not be more excited to bring The Souvenir to a wide audience.”
The following month, Deadline broke the news that A24 had closed a North American rights deal for a Hogg sequel The Souvenir – Part 2.
On board the first film as producers Hogg and Luke Schiller, and exec producers (in addition to Scorsese) Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Lizzie Francke, Rose Garnett, Andy Starke and Dave Bishop.
The Souvenir hits theaters via A24 on May 17. Check out the trailer above, and here is the newly released poster:
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