Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to “Cicada,” Matthew Fifer’s Brooklyn-set debut feature, which premiered last year at several festivals, including Frameline, Outfest and BFI London.
“Cicada” was written and directed by Fifer and Kieran Mulcare. The film was inspired by events in Sheldon Brown’s and Fifer’s own lives. Fifer headlines the film alongside Brown, who also co-wrote the script.
The film follows Ben (Fifer), a young bisexual man who, after a string of unsuccessful and awkward encounters, meets Sam (Brown), a man of color struggling with deep wounds of his own. As the summer progresses and their intimacy grows, their pasts begin to crawl to the surface.
“We’re thrilled to be working on Matt’s debut feature ‘Cicada.’ It’s a thrilling and promising new voice, one that fits our family of auteurs,” said Marcus Hu of Strand Releasing.
The film also stars Cobie Smulders, Michael Potts, Scott Adsit and Bowen Yang. “Cicada” is produced by Jeremy Truong and Ramfis Myrthil.
“This is a deeply personal project for so many of us; it was made possible only with the generosity of Tribeca Film Institute, SFFILM, and our incredibly loving and passionate crew,” said Truong and Myrthil.
The deal was done on behalf of Strand Releasing by Jon Gerrans and the producers. Strand is planning to release the film in the fall. Fifer is represented by Mosaic Media Agency.
Strand Releasing, based in Culver City, Calif., is currently handling Majid Majidi’s “Sun Children,” Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan” and upcoming releases include Bassam Tariq’s “Mogul Mowgli” starring Riz Ahmed.