Marine Atlan’s coming-of-age drama ‘La Gradiva’, winner of Cannes Critics’ Week’s Grand Prize, will open in New York on 18 December before expanding to Los Angeles and then nationwide. The release strengthens its position as a potential French submission for the international feature Oscar and follows considerable festival acclaim for Atlan’s directorial debut.

The film, distributed in the US by 1-2 Special, stars Antonia Buresi with newcomers Colas Quignard, Suzanne Gerin and Mitia Capellier-Audat, and follows French teenagers visiting Pompeii. It has won awards at New Horizons and Deauville, is scheduled for Toronto and New York film festivals, and has reported scores of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, 98 on Metacritic and 4.0 on Letterboxd; France releases it on 21 October.