‘The Starling Girl’: Bleecker Street Acquires Laurel Parmet’s Feature Directorial Debut – Sundance

Bleecker Street has picked up North American rights to Laurel Parmet 's feature directorial debut The Starling Girl following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, slating it for release in theaters later this year. Financials weren't disclosed.

The film written and directed by Parmet follows 17-year-old Jem Starling (Eliza Scanlen), who struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. Even her greatest joy — the church dance group — is tempered by worry that her love of dance is actually sinful, and she's caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and an instinctive resistance to her mom's urging that the time has come to begin courting. She finds respite from her confusion in the encouragement of her youth pastor Owen (Lewis Pullman), who is likewise drawn to the blossoming Jem's attention.

Jimmi Simpson ( Westworld ), Wrenn Schmidt ( For All Mankind ) and Austin Abrams ( Paper Towns ) also star. Kevin Rowe and Kara Durrett produced, with Jessamine Burgum, Will Greenfield, Douglas Choi, Martina Bassenger, Chris Stolte, Heidi Stolte, William Reedy, Emily Reedy and David Hinojosa serving as exec producers.

Films up next for release by Bleecker Street include Frances O'Connor's Emily Brontë drama Emily (February 17), starring Emma Mackey, and the Toni Collette-led action-comedy Mafia Mamma (April 14), from director Catherine Hardwicke.