Sundance strikes again! The United States’ largest independent film festival, which has become virtual this year, rather than its typical surroundings in Park City, Utah, is ground zero for some of the most anticipated films of the year. This year’s long-awaited film adaptation proved worth waiting for: Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passage, adapted for the screen by the acclaimed actress and debuting director Rebecca Hall and starring Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson, was one of the great attractions of the festival. Although the black-and-white film won none of the festival’s 2021 awards, it has now won one of the biggest distribution deals of the season, reportedly raising $ 15.75 million from Netflix for worldwide distribution rights.
Deadline sparked the takeover on Wednesday, noting: “The film is a real statement of female empowerment, with Hall making his directorial debut in Nella Larsen’s novel, and Thompson and Negga in powerful performances. Netflix competed in a field of five bidders and will make one of its most important award streaming releases with a theatrical distribution component. “
Set during the Harlem Renaissance, Passage it is the story of childhood acquaintances Irene Renfield (Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Negga), both black women with fair skin enough to “pass” white, but choosing dramatically divergent paths. A casual encounter sparks even more drama, as mutual curiosity turns into an obsession with catastrophic results. Not incorporating just colorism and the deeply dangerous phenomenon of “passage”, the film also explores the white supremacy, the strangeness and the identity and mobility of the black class.
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The sale of the film adaptation, which debuted last Saturday as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition also starring André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy and Ashley Ware Jenkins, was reportedly performed by Endeavor Content . Passage was produced by Hall, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi and Margot Hand, with Thompson and Negga among the executive producers of the film. Additional 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.
No news yet when we can put Passage in our Netflix queues.