Sideshow and Janus Films announced today that they have acquired North American rights to PETER HUJAR’S DAY, the highly acclaimed new film by Ira Sachs (PASSAGES, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, LOVE IS STRANGE) which was a standout at the Sundance Film Festival where it screened in the Premieres section. It stars Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall. The film will next show at the Berlinale in Panorama. Sideshow and Janus Films are planning a Fall theatrical release for the film. SBS will be handling international sales for the film.

The deal was negotiated by Sideshow and Janus Films with WME Independent. PETER HUJAR’S DAY was produced by Jordan Drake and Jonah Disend, and co-produced by Fred Burle and Aaron Craig. The film is a Complementary Colors, Blink Productions & Primo Content Presentation in association with We Are Films & Materia Cinema, and a Jordan Drake & One Two Films Production based on the book Peter Hujar’s Day by Linda Rosenkrantz.

Ira Sachs said, “Sideshow and Janus Films represent a commitment to the kind of cinema that has meant the most to me, as audience and as filmmaker.” He continued, “To be a part of their future makes me feel both young and old, and full of hope both for this film and for the movies.”

Sideshow and Janus Films commented, “Our team fell in love with PETER HUJAR’S DAY immediately. With its deceptively minimal premise, Ira Sachs has crafted a deeply profound, major work. This film illustrates the way we live in the past and present, pondering the mysterious, remarkable nature of time. PETER HUJAR’S DAY lingers with a magical, unprecedented sense of what storytelling on film can be. Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall deliver career performances. We could not be more excited to work with Ira and his Producer Jordan Drake to bring this unforgettable film into the world this Fall.”

PETER HUJAR’S DAY is a richly cinematic rendering of a conversation recorded in 1974 between photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz. Their talk that day focused on a single 24 hours in the life of Hujar, the brilliant and famously uncompromising artist who was one of the most important figures in downtown New York’s legendary cultural scene of the 70s and 80s. Set entirely in Linda’s Manhattan apartment, the film freely and imaginatively recreates that long-ago afternoon and the wonderfully discursive exchange between these two singular individuals. As the photographer vividly describes interactions with leading cultural figures of the day, including Allen Ginsberg and Susan Sontag, as well as the challenges of living on limited financial resources in 70s New York, Peter Hujar’s Day transforms unexpectedly into a Bloomsday-like rumination on both an artist’s life and time itself.

In their short four-year collaboration, Sideshow and Janus Films—have acquired some of the most celebrated international films from around the world such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Academy Award ® winner DRIVE MY CAR and Jerzy Skolimowski’s Academy Award ® nominated EO as well as films by Bertrand Bonello, Catherine Breillat, Leos Carax, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Jafar Panahi, Christian Petzold and Wim Wenders. In 2024, the company released Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner which went on to become one of the most acclaimed films of the year. In addition, Gints Zibalodis’ FLOW became their highest grossing film at the box office and won the Golden Globe, European Film Award, National Board of Review, NYFCC and LAFCA awards for Best Animated Feature. It’s nominated for 2 Academy Awards ® for Best International Feature and Best Animated Feature. Upcoming releases include Alain Guiraudie’s MISERICORDIA which was just nominated for 7 César Awards including Best Film and Director, David Cronenberg’s acclaimed thriller THE SHROUDS starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce, Jia Zhangke’s decades-in-the-making CAUGHT BY THE TIDES and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s highly anticipated thriller CLOUD.

PETER HUJAR’S DAY is executive produced by Lucas Joaquin, Paul Weston, Corin Taylor, and Michelle Jaffe, Martin Kalina, Nicolas Pérez Veiga, and Alfredo Pérez Veiga, Franklin Laviola and Nicholas Laviola, Ellis Fox, Sol Bondy, Nadine Rothschild, and Inés Massa, and Ben Whishaw, Rebecca Hall and Adam Kersh also serving as executive producer. Alex Mitow serves as associate producer.