Sundance attacks again! The largest independent film festival in the United States, which has become virtual this year instead of being held in its typical surroundings in Park City, Utah, is the zero point for some of the most anticipated films of the year. This year, a long-awaited film adaptation was worth the wait: Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passant, adapted for the screen by the acclaimed actress and first director Rebecca Hall and starring Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson, was one of the great attractions of the festival. While the black-and-white film didn’t end up with any of the 2021 festival awards, it has now won one of the season’s top distribution deals, reportedly grossing $ 15.75 million from Netflix for worldwide distribution rights.
Limit date provoked the acquisition on Wednesday, and noted: “The film is a true declaration of female empowerment, with Hall making her debut at the helm of the novel Nella Larsen and Thompson and Negga playing powerful performances. Netflix competed in a field of five bidders and will perform one of its top awards launches with a theatrical distribution component. “
Set during the Harlem Renaissance, Passant is the story of childhood acquaintances Irene Renfield (Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Negga), both black women clear enough to “go” through white, but choosing dramatically divergent paths. A casual meeting provokes even more drama, as a mutual curiosity becomes an obsession with catastrophic results. Incorporating not only colorism and the deeply dangerous phenomenon of “passing,” the film also explores white supremacy, drought, and the identity and mobility of black classes.
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The sale of the film adaptation, which premiered last Saturday as part of the U.S. Drama Contest, also featured André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy and Ashley Ware Jenkins. Passant was produced by Hall, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi and Margot Hand, with Thompson and Negga among the executive producers of the film. Other executive producers were Oren Moverman, Angela Robinson, Erika Hampson, Michael Y. Chow, Kevin A. Lin, Lauren Dark, Daniel Battsek, Ollie Madden, Brenda Robinson, Chaz Ebert, Yvonne Huff, Christopher Liu, Arcadiy Golubovich, Dori A .Rath, Joseph J. Restaino, David Gendron and Ali Jazayeri.
There is no news yet on when we can put it on Passant in our Netflix queues.