Indie Distributor 1-2 Special Acquires North American Rights to Cannes Winner
Indie distributor 1-2 Special has acquired North American rights to Sandra Wollner’s latest feature, Everytime, a film that won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. This acquisition marks another significant move for the New York-based label as it continues to build a growing catalogue of festival-backed independent films. Founded in early 2025, 1-2 Special has rapidly expanded its presence in the arthouse distribution space through carefully selected acquisitions.
Cannes has long been a launching point for distributors aiming to secure some of the year’s most acclaimed independent films before they reach wider audiences. With Everytime now joining its lineup, the company appears to be making one of its biggest theatrical moves yet.
A Major Addition to the Theatrical Slate
The acquisition gives 1-2 Special all North American rights to Everytime, which recently won the top prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section. For a distributor founded just last year, this pickup further strengthens its ambitions in prestige and arthouse cinema while adding another critically discussed title to its expanding slate.
The deal was negotiated by Charades on behalf of the filmmakers, continuing a busy Cannes period for 1-2 Special after the distributor also acquired Critics’ Week winner La Gradiva. The company’s latest move signals a growing willingness to compete for buzzy festival titles as it continues shaping its theatrical identity.
At the center of Everytime is a mother, her young daughter, and a teenage boy brought together by grief following a tragedy. The three travel to the Canary Islands for a family holiday that never happened, only for the boundaries between memory and reality, past and present, to slowly begin overlapping. Adding to the roster of Aftersun’s director of photography, Gregory Oke, the film has already drawn attention following its Cannes debut.
Why Sandra Wollner’s Everytime Stood Out at Cannes?
Sandra Wollner arrives at Everytime after steadily building one of the more distinctive voices in contemporary European cinema. Her debut feature, The Impossible Picture, earned Best Film honors from the German Film Critics Association while also winning the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at the Göteborg Film Festival. Her follow-up feature, The Trouble With Being Born, later premiered at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize in the Encounters section.
Wollner shared her inspiration for the film: “Why does the sun go on shining? One would think that after a tragedy like the one that happens in the film, the world ought to have the decency to stop…The indifference of the universe, which doesn’t care about our pain — that’s what interested me,” she told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the film’s Cannes premiere.
Critical Acclaim and Recognition
The film has already generated strong critical reactions following its Cannes debut, arriving in a year when films like this year’s Palme d’Or winner also helped spotlight the festival’s increasingly diverse slate of breakout titles. The Hollywood Reporter described Everytime as an “intriguingly understated grief drama,” particularly praising the emotional weight of its ending. Meanwhile, Variety called it “the most refined and inventive formal statement” in this year’s Un Certain Regard lineup, suggesting the film confirms Wollner “as a major in the making.”
Looking Ahead
As 1-2 Special continues to expand its influence in the independent film space, Everytime represents a bold step forward. The film’s unique storytelling and emotional depth are expected to resonate with audiences and critics alike, solidifying Wollner’s place as a rising talent in the industry.
