WATCH: Sexy French Lesbian Film 'Summertime' Coming to Toronto

If you’re going to be anywhere near Toronto in the next few weeks, make a dash to the Toronto International Film Festival to catch the sexy, dramatic lesbian romance Summertime (La Belle Saison), which is already getting major raves.

Directed and cowritten by Catherine Corsini, the film portrays a young woman, Delphine (Izïa Higelin), who leaves her parents’ farm in the south of France in the early 1970s and moves to Paris, where she falls in love with feminist activist Carole (Cécile de France). Although Carole is involved with a man, she quickly returns Delphine’s affection — but then their relationship is complicated by a family emergency that requires Delphine to return to the farm and deal with her parents’ expectation that she marry a male neighbor.

“Perhaps the world is finally ready for a lesbian romance as direct and unapologetic as ‘Summertime,’” wrote Variety reviewer Peter Debruge upon its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland last month. The film is also being compared to Blue Is the Warmest Color.

De France is a veteran actress known for her lesbian roles in 2002’s The Spanish Apartment and 2003’s High Tension, while Higelin is a relative newbie. Corsini explored lesbian love previously in Replay, a 2001 release exploring a tortured affair between characters played by Emmanuelle Béart and Pascale Bussières.

Summertime, in French with English subtitles, will screen September 13, 15, and 19 at the Toronto festival, marking its North American premiere. (By the way, the Toronto fest is also screening Freeheld September 13 and 14, and presenting a conversation with star Julianne Moore September 11.)

After the Toronto event, Summertime is likely to come to other fests and art houses. Watch the trailer below.