Last Dance: Queer Father-Daughter Drama Set for Cannes

Karim Aïnouz’s film *Last Dance* stars Adrien Brody, Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt. It follows Broadway composer Elliot (Brody) who takes his daughter Emma (Zegler) on a 1991 gay cruise in Caribbean, where she falls for a crew member. Platt co-stars and writes songs; Zegler sings. The screenplay by Emily Ziff Griffin adapts her 2021 New Yorker essay “The Last Dance with My Dad.” Fifth Season, 51 Entertainment and Griffin produce; FilmNation handles international sales at Cannes, while CAA Media Finance Group manages domestic rights.

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Griffin’s 2021 New Yorker essay recounts growing up with a gay father amid the AIDS crisis. The film places its story in the early 1990s, a time of widespread loss and emerging queer solidarity, which Aïnouz describes as a period where hope helped the community survive.

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Two-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody returns after *The Brutalist*. Golden Globe winner Rachel Zegler, fresh from an Olivier award for *Evita*, and Tony-Emmy-Grammy winner Ben Platt join him. Director Karim Aïnouz, known for Cannes-regular *Firebrand*, leads the project. Emily Ziff Griffin wrote the screenplay. FilmNation, led by CEO Glen Basner, handles international sales; co-producers are Fifth Season and 51 Entertainment.

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*Last Dance* portrays a “universal and urgent tale where joy is taken up as resilience,” using the dance floor as a metaphor for survival during the AIDS epidemic. Director Karim Aïnouz said the film celebrates hope and solidarity that helped the queer community endure the crisis. FilmNation CEO Glen Basner noted the screenplay’s crystal-clear specificity and its universal resonance. By foregrounding a queer father-daughter relationship, the film aims to broaden LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream cinema and to offer “fables of hope” for today’s audiences.

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• “I am thrilled to bring to the screen such a unique and moving portrait of a time where hope and celebration allowed our queer community to overcome one of the worst crises of last century,” — Karim Aïnouz, Director

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• “When many were dying of AIDS, there was a sense of solidarity and fury that made us stronger.” — Karim Aïnouz, Director

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• “ Added Glen Basner, CEO FilmNation Entertainment: “Emily Ziff Griffin’s unfiltered remembrance of her father and her unconventional upbringing is powerful in both its’ crystal-clear specificity, and in its relatability to all children — in all types of families — who look back on seminal, life moments.” — Glen Basner, CEO, FilmNation Entertainment

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• “Watch on Deadline RELATED: Adrien Brody’s Best Actor Acceptance Speech Among The Longest In Oscars History In Last Dance, “celebrated Broadway composer Elliot (Brody) invites his daughter Emma (Zegler) on a gay cruise through the Caribbean in 1991 — a dazzling, liberating world of music, celebration and chosen family where Emma, the only straight woman on board, experiences an unexpected first love with a young crew member.” — *Deadline* article excerpt

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FilmNation will launch *Last Dance*’s international sales at the Cannes market, positioning the film for global distribution ahead of its anticipated festival circuit.

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