First trailer for Michel Hazanavicius’ wartime drama ‘The Search’

Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’ (The Artist) upcoming wartime drama The Search looks both magnificent and devastating. Taking place in 1999 during the Second Chechen War, The Search follows the intercepting lives of four characters; an orphaned boy, his sister, a European Union delegation head, and a young army recruit, as they navigate the social and political chaos around them. 

Actress Bérénice Béjo (The Artist) and Hazanavicius are teamed up again for this film, a combination which garnered Oscar nods and national recognition for 2011’s The Artist. And judging by this first trailer alone, The Search may be an award-season darling itself. The Search looks to encapsulate the grit and trauma of its subject matter well, and I for one am very interested to see more footage of this project.

The Search opens at the the Cannes Film Festival this year with no U.S. release date yet announced.