All articles tagged with #josephine
Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan–led Sundance drama Josephine has been acquired by Sumerian Pictures in a seven-figure US deal, with a major theatrical release and awards campaign planned, following its Sundance world premiere and upcoming Berlin debut.
Sumerian Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to Sundance’s Josephine in a seven-figure deal, securing a major theatrical release and an awards campaign. The Beth de Araújo drama stars Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, centers on an 8-year-old girl who witnesses a crime, and will premiere at Sundance with a Berlin Film Festival competition bow to follow, signaling strong buzz for an indie hit and potential awards season momentum.
IndieWire’s Sundance Critics Survey crowned Beth de Araújo’s Josephine the overwhelming favorite, sweeping Best Feature Film, Best Directing, Best Screenwriting and Best Performance (Mason Reeves first; Channing Tatum second), and helping it win both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. William Greaves’ posthumous documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem was named Best Documentary Feature and placed third in Best Feature; The Weight also ranked prominently in Best Feature. Critics from multiple continents weighed in, with results spanning Best Feature, Documentary, Directing, Screenwriting, International and First Feature categories across the festival’s awards landscape.
At the Sundance Film Festival, Josephine won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize (and its audience prize for U.S. narrative) while Nuisance Bear captured the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize; additional prizes went to To Hold a Mountain (world cinema documentary), Shame and Money (world cinema drama), and NEXT winners The Incomer and TheyDream, signaling strong distributor interest across multiple titles.
At the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine swept the top prizes by winning the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award, with a broad slate of winners announced across U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and NEXT categories, plus Short Film and Special Jury honors; other notable winners include Nuisance Bear, Shame and Money, To Hold a Mountain, The Incomer, TheyDream, and audience picks like American Pachuco, HOLD ONTO ME, One in a Million, and Aanikoobijigan, with the Festival Favorite to be announced later.
At the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine won both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award, while Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman’s Nuisance Bear took the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize. The festival also honored winners across dramatic, documentary, NEXT, shorts and world cinema sections, including Shame and Money (World Cinema Dramatic), To Hold a Mountain (World Cinema Documentary), TheyDream and The Incomer (NEXT), and various Shorts prizes, highlighting a broad slate of awards across competitive categories.
Beth de Araújo’s Josephine, a harrowing thriller told entirely from an eight-year-old’s perspective about the aftermath of a sexual assault, has become Sundance’s breakout, drawing audiences into a visceral, first-person experience and earning a standing ovation; with Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan leading and Greta Zozula’s POV cinematography, major buyers are circling though no deal has been announced yet, as Berlinale approaches and an awards push looms.
At Sundance, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine follows eight-year-old Jo after witnessing a rape; the film uses long takes to inhabit her psyche, balancing heavy subject matter with restraint as the courtroom drama unfolds, anchored by Mason Reeves’s mesmerizing performance and strong support from Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan.
Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan headline Josephine, a drama about a child who witnesses a crime, as Sundance kicks off with back-to-back premieres at the Eccles Theatre, followed by Olivia Wilde in Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex (also featuring Charli XCX). The pop star will then headline a Charli XCX–themed double feature, debuting her mockumentary The Moment the same night.
Deadline’s Sundance Day 2 coverage highlights the premieres of Josephine and Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, plus a slate of festival debuts, red-carpet portraits, and tributes, with appearances by Olivia Wilde, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan and other notables.
At Sundance’s Eccles Theater, the world premiere of Josephine moved audiences to tears as Channing Tatum admitted he cried five, six, and seven times while watching the film for the first time. The drama follows a young girl who witnesses a brutal sexual assault, with Tatum and Gemma Chan portraying her parents. Director Beth de Araújo spoke about crafting the story through a child’s perspective on female fear, while 8-year-old Mason Reeves—who plays Josephine—drew applause during a standout debut.
Channing Tatum wiped away tears at the world premiere of Josephine at Sundance, describing he cried five, six, seven times while watching the film. The drama, directed by Beth de Araújo, follows a young girl who witnesses a sexual assault, with Tatum and Gemma Chan portraying her parents and newcomer Mason Reeves in a pivotal role. The premiere drew a standing ovation and signaled one of Sundance’s early sensations for 2026.
At Sundance, Beth de Araujo's Josephine offers an earnest, harrowing portrait of trauma after an 8-year-old witness to a rape; Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan play the girl's parents as the film traces the fallout—therapeutic, legal, and relational—from the moment of the crime to the courtroom's thorny path to justice.
Berlin’s 76th Berlinale competition lineup includes Riley Keough in Rosebush Pruning and Channing Tatum in Josephine, with Wim Wenders as jury president and Tricia Tuttle leading programming. No Good Men opens the festival, which runs February 12–22, 2026, signaling a blend of international prestige, politically charged cinema and hollywood talent alongside European directors.
The famed 'zigzag' sex technique employed by Josephine, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, has long intrigued historians. While the exact details of the technique remain a mystery, sex expert Tracey Cox suggests that it likely involves oral sex, either by stimulating all areas of the clitoris or by targeting the most sensitive parts of the penis. The 'zigzag' technique had a profound effect on Napoleon, who was inexperienced with intimacy before meeting Josephine. Their passionate relationship, including their sexual adventures, is the subject of Ridley Scott's upcoming film.