One film I’m excited to see at Cannes and, as I just pointed out, will also be playing the Seattle Film Festival following its stand-out debut at this year’s Sundance Festival is Benh Zeitlin‘s Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was quickly snatched up for distribution by Fox Searchlight and today they debut the film’s first poster.
The film centers on Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis), an intrepid six-year-old girl, who lives with her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), in “the Bathtub,” a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe; for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack–temperatures rise, and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.
Following its May festival appearances, Beasts of the Southern Wild will be released in limited theaters beginning on June 27. After the buzz out of Sundance, it’s one I’m thinking may be able to carry all the way to the awards season… or at least I’m hoping it’s that good.
