Neon Sets U.S. Theatrical Release Date For Spanish Oscar Hopeful ‘Sirāt’

EXCLUSIVE: Cannes winner and Spanish Oscar hopeful Sirat has been set by Neon for a New York and LA release on Friday, February 6, followed by a nationwide rollout in later February.

The surprise Oscar contender has been shortlisted for five categories: Best International Feature (Spain), Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Music (Original Score) and Best Sound. The sound team is the first all-female team ever to be shortlisted.

Since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize, the film has also been nominated for two Golden Globes — Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Score — and nine European Film Awards, including Best European Film, Best Director, Actor, and Screenwriter. It has also scored four London Critics’ Cirlcle noms.

Sirāt is directed by Oliver Laxe and produced by Domingo Corral, Oliver Laxe, Xavi Font, Pedro Almodóvar, Augustín Almodóvar, Esther Garcia, Oriol Maymo, Mani Mortazavi and Andrea Queralt. It is written by Santiago Fillol and Laxe.

The film had a successful one-week Academy qualifying run in November. In New York on February 6th, pic will open at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center and in Los Angeles at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre and AMC Burbank 16. A nationwide release will follow.

The synopsis reads: “A father (Sergi López) and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They are searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading, but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.”