I'LL BE GONE IN JUNE
In Katharina Rivilis’ evocative debut, produced by Wim Wenders, a German teenager's year abroad unfolds amid the vast deserts of New Mexico and the upheaval of September 2001. Having hoped to study abroad among the skyscrapers of New York, 16-year-old Franny (newcomer Naomi Cosma, in a striking performance) is instead set to spend a year as an exchange student in the desert town of Las Cruces, finding herself suspended between two worlds: the familiar life she has left behind in eastern Germany and an America far from her expectations, whose rhythms, customs and paradoxes challenge her sense of self. Set against the events of September 2001 as America reels from 9/11, Rivilis’ unique coming-of-age tale draws a subtle parallel between one young woman’s search for identity and a nation suddenly forced to reconsider its place in the world. Yet Rivilis avoids approaching this pivotal historical moment through grand gestures and dramatic reveals, instead offering an intimate glimpse at a pre-digital teenage way of life and the ordinary experiences that have endured: the awkwardness of first love, the excitement of new friendships and the struggle to find an anchor however close to or far from home. This human-scale drama — portrayed by an incredible cast of young non-professional actors — plays out against the expansive sunbaked New Mexican landscape as lensed by Italian cinematographer Giulia Schelhas, a setting at once liberating and isolating, succinctly conveying the uncanny feeling of being a stranger in a strange land of endless possibilities and infinite contradictions. –Abbie Algar
DIR/SCR/PROD Katharina Rivilis; PROD Léa Germain, Vincent Savino, Andrea Kuehnel, Wim Wenders, Clemens Köstlin. Germany/Switzerland/U.S., 2026, color, 125 min. In English and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Run Time: 125 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, December 12, 2026
Genre: Drama
