Focus World, a distribution arm of Focus Features, has acquired Julia Ducournau’s psychological horror film “Raw” for most worldwide territories.
The film premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics’ Week section where it won the FIPRESCI Prize.
Garance Marillier stars as Justine, a teenager who, as the official synopsis describes, “commences her studies at veterinary school to follow in her family members’ footsteps. Raised as a vegetarian, Justine is pressured at school to try meat for the first time. Once she does, she plumbs both the depths of her own soul and tests the limits of her darkest cravings.”
“Raw” is Ducournau’s debut feature film. Her previous credits include “Mange,” a television movie, and “Junior,” a short, which played at Cannes in 2011.
In an interview with Women and Hollywood, Ducournau said, “I like movies that are roller coasters — onions that reveal themselves in the process. My movie is a constant metamorphosis talking about a metamorphosis. It’s also the story of a girl who finds out meat is not as bad as they say.”
As for advice she had for other female filmmakers, she said only that women should, “Identify yourself as a director in the media, not as a female director.”
Focus World is specifically focused on first-time and rising filmmakers, encompassing both narrative and documentary films. Another upcoming Focus World release is Natalie Portman’s directorial debut, “A Tale of Love and Darkness” which will open on August 19th.
Focus World plans a U.S. theatrical release for “Raw” in the spring of 2017.
