An official selection at the Venice and TIFF (where it won the top Platform prize), The Match Factory has released the first international trailer for Pietro Marcello’s adaptation of Jack London’s Martin Eden ahead of its North American premiere at this year’s New York Film Festival. The first preview also comes on the heels of Kino Lorber picking up the film for a U.S. release.

The film transplants Jack London’s seminal semi-autobiographical novel from early 20th century Oakland, California to Naples, Italy while keeping the engrossing plot intact. Luca Marinelli stars as the handsome sailor Martin Eden, who aspires to become a writer to rise above his station and earn the affection of a young university student Elena (Jessica Cressy). We follow him from lowly sailor to published author who eventually grapples with philosophically based political upheaval and destructive anxiety over his newfound circumstances.