Landing a historic win at this year's edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Sofia Coppola has just marked the second woman to win the Best Director prize for her film The Beguiled after it was first awarded to the Soviet filmmaker Yuliya Solntseva in 1961 for The Chronicle of Flaming Years.

"I was thrilled to get this movie made and it's such an exciting start to be honored in Cannes. I'm thankful to my great team and incredible cast and to Focus Features and Universal Pictures for their support of women's voices in film," stated Sofia after the announcement of her win of the prize.

At a girls' school in Virginia during the Civil War, where the young women have been sheltered from the outside world, a wounded Union soldier is taken in. Soon, the house is taken over with sexual tension, rivalries, and an unexpected turn of events.

The film features a stellar cast including: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Kirsten Dunst. Hollywood super star Nicole Kidman has been awarded by A Special Cannes Prize from the competition jury for the 70th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival.

It is slated that The Beguiled shall be released in the US by the end of June, 2017, after taking part in Sydney Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival. The film will release in Egyptian theatres through Four Star Films, the sole distributor of Universal Pictures in Egypt.