Katarina Rivilis • Director of I’ll Be Gone in June – “This is like a Little Prince story: someone arrives from a different planet, learns through every encounter, and then has to leave again”

We sat down with Katharina Rivilis to talk about her debut feature I’ll Be Gone in June, premiering in the 79th Cannes Film Festival‘s Un Certain Regard section. Set in 2001 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the coming-of-age story follows 16-year-old Franny, a German exchange student navigating distance, desire and the shifting atmosphere of America post 9/11. In our conversation, Rivilis shared the incredible story of discovering newcomer Naomi Cosma for the lead role, and spoke about falling in love with the desert landscape of New Mexico while shaping the film’s intimate and distinctive visual language.