Announced as part of Sundance 2019’s lineup last week, Tilda Swinton-starrer “The Souvenir” has found a home. A24 snagged North American rights to Joanna Hogg’s romantic drama from Protagonist Pictures and 30 West, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
Penned by Hogg, “The Souvenir” centers on a quiet film student (Honor Swinton Byrne). She “begins to find her voice as an artist while navigating a turbulent courtship with a charismatic but untrustworthy man, played by [Tom] Burke,” the source summarizes. “She defies her protective mother (Swinton) and concerned friends as she slips deeper and deeper into an intense, emotionally fraught relationship that comes dangerously close to destroying her dreams.”
“The Souvenir” seems to borrow some inspiration from Hogg’s own life. She’s identified as being “very shy” when she was younger, and said she was “always the one as a child on the outside of things a bit,” and experienced “a feeling of loneliness on some level. I wasn’t a good communicator, but I believed in some ways I could communicate,” she explained. She’s also acknowledged that she “didn’t feel the work [she] was doing at film school was understood.”
“I am beyond thrilled to be collaborating with A24 on ‘The Souvenir,’ Hogg said in a statement. “With impeccable taste they represent the best of contemporary cinema and have always been number one on my wish list to work with in the U.S.”
“Exhibition,” “Archipelago,” and “Unrelated” are among Hogg’s previous credits.
“The Souvenir” will have a theatrical release in 2019. Hogg is among the film’s producers.