Written, directed and produced by de Araújo, Josephine stars Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan as Damien and Claire, the parents of an eight-year-old girl played by newcomer Mason Reeves. The film begins with a quiet morning run through San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, when Josephine runs ahead of her father and unexpectedly witnesses a violent sexual assault. The incident profoundly alters the young girl’s understanding of the world and draws the family into a difficult legal case while she struggles to process what she has seen.
The story reflects an experience from the director’s own childhood. De Araújo has explained that she and her father once intervened in a sexual assault in the same park when she was eight years old, an event that stayed with her for decades. In interviews around the festival circuit she described Josephine as an attempt to revisit that moment through fiction and examine how children internalize traumatic events.
At the Berlinale press conference, de Araújo spoke about why she chose to tell the story from a child’s perspective. “I was wanting to see what it would be like if I took it to an extreme level through the lens of an eight-year-old girl,” she said, emphasizing the vulnerability and confusion that can accompany such experiences.
The director also addressed the broader social themes behind the film. In discussions with journalists she stressed the importance of confronting sexual violence openly, arguing that responsibility and shame should shift away from victims. “The shame needs to be on them,” she said, referring to perpetrators, while explaining that silence around these crimes often leaves survivors isolated.
The production placed particular emphasis on creating a supportive environment for its youngest actor. De Araújo discovered Mason Reeves unexpectedly at a farmers’ market in San Francisco while casting the film. During the press conference she praised the young performer, saying, “She was a gift… incredibly talented and emotionally intelligent for her years.”
The adult cast also spoke about their collaboration with Reeves. Chan and Tatum described spending time together before filming to build trust and ensure the child actor felt comfortable on set, even turning rehearsal days into informal games on playground equipment.
For Tatum, the role of Josephine’s father had a strong personal dimension. Speaking in Berlin, the actor said that some of the conversations his character has with his daughter mirrored discussions he has had with his own child. Reflecting on one scene, he told reporters: “That conversation… is a conversation that I’ve had with my daughter.”
Josephine marks the second feature film from de Araújo, who first gained attention with her provocative 2022 thriller Soft & Quiet. That earlier film, which unfolds in real time and largely in a single shot, examined racism and extremist ideology in suburban America and premiered at the South by Southwest. Both works demonstrate the director’s interest in confronting uncomfortable social realities through intense, character-focused storytelling.
The screenplay for Josephine had a long development process. De Araújo began writing versions of the script in the mid-2010s and refined it through the Sundance Institute’s screenwriting and directing labs before production eventually took place in San Francisco.
By the time it reached Berlin, the film had already generated significant attention on the festival circuit. Its Sundance premiere brought major recognition, including both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the US Dramatic Competition.
Josephine (USA)
Director: Beth de Araújo
Cast: Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Mason Reeves, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy
