EXCLUSIVE: L.A.-based film company Indican Pictures has acquired North American rights for French directorial duo Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis’s road movie Silver Star and set a January 30, 2026 theatrical release.
The production reunites French duo Bessis and Amar behind the camera for the first time since 2013 SXSW breakout Swim Little Fish Swim, having first sparked attention with 2011 short film Checkpoint.
Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things) and rising talent Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson (Boots) co-star in the tense road movie.
Johnson plays Billie, a young African American woman recently released from prison, who kidnaps pregnant, down on her luck teenager Franny during a failed bank robbery. After hearing about her kidnapper’s plight, Franny decides to forge an unlikely alliance and embark on a road trip to find the money Billie needs.
The film played at France’s Deauville American Film Festival in 2024 and also screened at the Denver and Glasgow film festivals. It will be theatrically released by Wayna Pitch in France on November 26.
“We at Indican Pictures knew we wanted to bring this film to North America when we saw the film at the Deauville Film Festival and were stunned to learn two French filmmakers had crafted a prescient look into the soul of America,” said Indican Pictures’ Randolph Kret.
“They have created a modern heir to Bonnie & Clyde mixed with Thelma & Louise, plus a dash of the urgent realism of the Safdie Brothers and the emotional authenticity of Sean Baker – proof that their cinema belongs among today’s most vibrant indie storytellers,” he added.
The deal was negotiated by Indican Pictures’ Shaun Hill with Valentine Loche and Antoine Blanc from Paris-based Pulsar Content handling negotiations for the filmmakers and production companies.
The feature is produced by Amar and Bessis’s company Les Films de la Fusée in association with Carte Blanche and Valerie Steinberg Productions.