Acclaimed director Anita Doron’s lesbian romantic drama Maya & Samar is getting a U.S. release after Quiver Distribution acquired North American rights to the NC-17-rated film.
Deadline exclusively reported the deal on August 18, 2026, marking the next major step for the Canadian-Greek co-production following its premiere at the Thessaloniki Film Festival on November 4, 2025, and its Canadian theatrical release earlier this year.
Written by Tamara Faith Berger, the film stars Nicolette Pearse and Amanda Babaei Vieira in the lead roles. Quiver will release Maya & Samar on VOD platforms across the United States on September 4, 2026.
What else do we know about Maya & Samar?
Maya & Samar is set in Athens and follows Maya, a young Canadian journalist who works for an independent website, and Samar, a queer Afghan who escaped the Taliban and arrived in Greece. The two meet, and their connection quickly leads them into an intense affair. Their relationship forces them to confront the differences in their culture, experience, and privileges.
Doron describes their romance as “not just an affair; it is a reckoning that holds a mirror up to the illusions of the savior, and to the truths we prefer avoiding.” With Pearse as Maya and Vieira as Samar, the film also has Brenna Coates as Rebecca, Antonis Giannakos as Yan, Aris Athanasopoulos as Alex, and Agni Scott as Myrto in supporting roles.
Produced by Robert Lantos, Julia Rosenberg, and Laura Lanktree, Maya & Samar generated controversy over its NC-17 rating in the United States. The rating was given for sexual content and graphic nudity.
Doron publicly criticized the rating, calling it “shocking,” and said heterosexual films with similar content do not face the same restrictions. With the film now releasing on VOD platforms, Doron said, “I hope Maya & Samar reaches into the wildest parts of your heart and connects you across time, place, culture, and identity into a humanist oneness.”
Originally reported by Isha Sharma on ComingSoon.
