Fox Searchlight is to release the uncut version of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers in February, reviving the dormant NC-17 rating due to its graphic and explicit sexual content.

The move marks the first time in its history that Fox Searchlight has released an NC-17-rated film, and the first time a studio belonging to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has done so in more than six years - when MGM released Bent.

The Dreamers will be unveiled in North America at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20. The film, which is nominated for a Goya for Best European Film, screened to critical acclaim at the 2003 Venice Film Festival and London Film Festival.

It will open in Los Angeles and New York on February 6 and in select cities nationwide beginning February 13.