Grasshopper Film has picked up US distribution rights to Roberto Minervini’s The Damned that earned the filmmaker the best director prize when it premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard strand.
Set during the American Civil War in the winter of 1862, it follows a regiment of volunteer soldiers tasked with patrolling unchartered borderlands in western territories. As their mission ultimately changes course, the meaning behind their engagement begins to elude them.
It is the first fiction feature from Italian-born Minervini known for his long career in documentary filmmaking. Minervini shared the Un Certain Regard directing prize ex-aequo with Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.
The Damned is an Italian-American-Belgian co-production from Okta Film, Pulpa Film, Rai Cinema and Michigan Films. It stars Jeremiah Knupp, René W. Solomon, Cuyler Ballenger and Noah Carlson. France’s Les Films du Losange is handling international sales and will release the film in France in early 2025.
Ryan Krivoshey, Founder and President of Grasshopper Film, called the film “a bold and revolutionary reimagining of the Western genre” and “a work of profound depth, both timely and timeless.”
It will have its US premiere at New York Film Festival on October 8.
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