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KimStim has acquired all North American rights to Katharina Rivilis’ debut feature “I’ll Be Gone in June,” following its world premiere at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Set in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the months surrounding
the Sept. 11 attacks, the coming-of-age drama follows Franny, a 16-year-old German exchange student whose vision of an American adventure is quickly overtaken by homesickness, awkward days at school and the desert heat. Her isolation begins to shift when she meets Elliott, a local boy grappling with a quiet grief of his own.
Rivilis drew on her own experience as an exchange student in New Mexico for the film which she wrote and directed. She initially trained as an actor at the University of Film and Television “Konrad Wolf” in Potsdam-Babelsberg before studying directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin. Her short films include “Ariana Forever!,” “Day X,” which was nominated for a Student Academy Award in 2021, and “Rondo,” which premiered at the Berlinale.
KimStim is planning a North American theatrical release in spring 2027.
“I’ll Be Gone in June” was produced by Léa Germain and Wim Wenders for Road Movies, alongside Clemens Köstlin and Rivilis, and co-produced by Olga Lamontanara and Simon Jaquemet. Andrea Kuehnel and Vincent Savino serve as producers, with Lauren Melinda, Helena Sardinha, Rafael Thomaseto, Neil Kopp and Anish Savjani executive producing.
Represented internationally by Luxbox, the film stars Naomi Cosma, David Flores, Bianca Dumais and Rebecca Schulz.
“What moved me most about ‘I’ll Be Gone in June’ is how Katharina Rivilis finds something intimate and deeply human within a moment of collective trauma,” said KimStim co-president Ian Stimler. “Through the eyes of Franny, a German exchange student, post-9/11 America feels strange, seductive, lonely, and full of possibility.“
Stimler added that ”Naomi Cosma’s performance is beautifully open and vulnerable, and Rivilis’s filmmaking is both tender and assured. I knew immediately this was a film we wanted to champion.”
Stimler negotiated the deal with Jean-Benoit Henry, head of international sales at Luxbox. The company has also sold the movie to Nour Films in France, Weirdwave in Greece, A-One in the Baltics, Lev Cinemas in Israel, Bad Unicorn in Romania, Kisff Films in Ukraine, PT Falcon in Indonesia and Megacom in the former Yugoslavia.
“I’ll Be Gone in June” is a Germany-Switzerland-U.S. production from Road Movies, in co-production with Wolfskind Films and 8horses and in association with DCM, filmscience and Simbelle Productions. The 125-minute film is in English and German.
