Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner Beasts of the Southern Wild Will Debut This June

Film lovers, take note: Benh Zeitlin's highly lauded Sundance '12 favorite Beasts of the Southern Wild is heading to theaters. Fox Searchlight, which acquired first time feature director Zeitlin's pic out of the fest, will release the film in limited release on June 29; hit the jump for a full synopsis and peek at the festival award winner.

The bayou-set film was the indie discovery to come out of Park City this year, and earned the fest's Grand Jury Prize for drama. The magical realism-flavored drama should make for great counter-programming during blockbuster season -- at least, you can be sure Fox Searchlight's hoping so. The synopsis:

In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.

Below: From Sundance, a meet-the-filmmakers vid with Zeitlin describing his project and young star, Quvenzhané Wallis. Expect an official trailer to come from Fox.