Overview
- Sumerian Pictures released the first teaser trailer for Josephine on Tuesday, Aug. 11, bringing the festival hit into public view ahead of its theatrical rollout.
- The film won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and has since screened in competition at Berlin with a planned screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.
- Sumerian paid a reported mid-seven-figure sum for U.S. rights and has set a limited theatrical release for November 20, 2026, with a nationwide expansion on December 4, 2026, while formally committing to an awards campaign.
- Written and directed by Beth de Araújo from her own lived experience, Josephine follows an eight-year-old who witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park and the emotional and family fallout that follows.
- Newcomer Mason Lily Reeves has been widely praised as a breakout lead who was reportedly discovered locally in San Francisco, and the film’s double-Sundance win places it in the same awards-season conversation as past festival breakout titles like CODA and Minari.