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A 10-year-old San Francisco girl discovered at a Richmond District farmers market is entering one of Hollywood’s toughest Oscar races.

Upstart distributor Sumerian Pictures plans to campaign Mason Reeves, the breakout star of the San Francisco-shot drama “Josephine,” as lead actress during the film’s awards season push, while costars Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan will campaign in their respective supporting actor categories, Variety reported on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Writer-director Beth de Araújo, a San Francisco native, will compete in the original screenplay and best director categories.

“Josephine,” which will have its Bay Area premiere at the 49th Mill Valley Film Festivalnext month, has generated Oscar buzz since it won the jury prize and audience award for best film in the U.S dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival in January. It made its international debut at the 76th Berlin Film Festival the following month.

It was picked up by Sumerian Pictures for a reported seven figures, and is scheduled to be released in theaters on Nov. 20.

Based on a real-life experience of de Araújo, “Josephine” is about a girl (Mason) who witnesses a rape in Golden Gate Park. She becomes a key witness in the case but is also trying to process the trauma in her young mind as her worried parents (Chan and Tatum) try to navigate the best way forward.

It took 12 years for de Araújo, who grew up in the Richmond District, to bring her vision to the screen. She resisted potential financiers who urged her to shoot in Eastern Europe to save money. She finally found financing and received a huge assist from SFFilm, the nonprofit that runs the San Francisco International Film Festival, and the San Francisco Film Commission.

“They’d say, ‘We can do it this year, but you gotta go to Budapest,’” de Araújo told the Chronicle at Sundance. “But the whole design of it was engineered around my memory and visual language.

“Also, San Francisco is incredible. It’s so cinematic.”

De Araújo discovered Mason, who had no previous acting experience, while she was shopping with her mother at a farmers market on Clement Street. She turned 8 during the first week of filming in 2024.

A third-generation San Franciscan, Mason is trilingual, having been born to a mother of Chinese descent and a father who is half Costa Rican. She trains in jiu-jitsu, enjoys reading, arts and crafts, and spending time with her three siblings, two cats and a dog.

In March, Mason signed with TFC Management for representation. The firm also represents actors Dakota and Elle Fanning, Lashana Lynch and prolific screenwriter Akiva Goldsman.

The youngest performers to be nominated in the best actress Academy Awards category are 9-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (2012) and 13-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes for “Whale Rider” (2003).

From 1934 to 1960, the Academy awarded a juvenile Oscar for child performers, first given to 6-year-old Shirley Temple for her work in 10 films in 1934 and last awarded to 14-year-old Hayley Mills for “Pollyanna.”