Movie lovers rejoice, new Olivier Assayas alert! Well, not entirely new. The prolific French auteur’s 1994 breakout film “Cold Water” has finally received US distribution thanks to arthouse distributor Janus Films, and we have the first trailer.

“’Cold Water’ is one of the great missing films, a nearly unknown tour de force by Olivier Assayas. If it had ever been properly released, it would certainly be considered one of Olivier’s masterpieces,” Janus Films President Peter Becker said in a press release. Assayas has described the film as semi-autobiographical and that the making of it changed his “filmmaking life” by teaching him that “it is by taking chances, by trying side roads that you open up new spaces for yourself.”

The official synopsis can be read below.

In 1970s France, teens Christine (Virginie Ledoyen) and Gilles (Cyprien Fouquet) are restless, prematurely disillusioned and utterly appalled by their parents’ listless attitudes toward life. They enliven things through sex and petty theft, but the latter lands Christine in a home for troubled teens. She breaks out, skipping town with Gilles, and the couple end up at a wild party in the woods. They then move to a nearby commune, but receive a culture shock there that strains their relationship.

Assayas’ work has been popular among cinephiles for decades, but his two collaborations with Kristen Stewart introduced the director to a wider American audience. The pair first worked together on 2014’s “The Clouds of Sils Maria” where Stewart delivered a career-best performance and became the first-ever American woman to win a César award. The two reunited again for last year’s “Personal Shopper.” While the film became infamous for receiving boos at its 2016 Cannes Film Festival premiere, Assayas ended up tying for Best Director at the festival and the film ended up on several critics’ best of 2017 lists.

“Cold Water” will be released be released in New York on April 27 and in Los Angeles on May 17, followed by a nationwide rollout.

https://vimeo.com/262445306

COLD WATER Trailer from Janus Films on Vimeo.