22/11/2016 - The British actress is lined up for Marylise Dumont’s project, presented by Shellac at the co-production market of the German-French Film Meeting

Of the 24 titles being presented at the co-production market of the German-French Film Meeting – which is taking place today and tomorrow in Saarbrücken, organised by Unifrance in partnership with German Films, the CNC and the FFA, and which brings together more than 220 professionals from the two countries – 11 are projects of French initiative. And two feature debuts in development have particularly attracted the attendees’ attention. 

The first of these is Black Dog by Marylise Dumont, produced by Thomas Ordonneau for Shellac Sud, for which British actress Gemma Arterton (Gemma Bovery [+see also:
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The second project is A Woman of the World by Cécile Ducrocq, produced by Stéphane Demoustier and Guillaume Dreyfus for Année Zéro. Having turned heads with her short films (most notably Back Alley, revealed in the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2014, and winner of the Special Jury Prize for Acting at Sundance 2015 and the César Award for Best Short Film in 2016), the director has herself written the screenplay for her feature debut, which depicts the journey of a prostitute faced with the power of globalisation. Marie, who has been a prostitute for 20 years, has made something of a stable life for herself in Strasbourg; but this is suddenly called into question by the arrival of competition in the guise of young Nigerian women, a situation that first drives her to Berlin, and then to Dubai, the new El Dorado for her particular profession.

Other projects set to be presented at the co-production market of the German-French Film Meeting include A Girl Made of Dust by Hiam Abbas (produced by Alliance de Production Cinématographique with German outfit Baby Blues Films), Vertigo by Jean-Nicolas Rivat (a psychological thriller adapted from Franck Thilliez’s novel of the same name - C Ton Film Productions), The Black Heart of Forests by Serge Mirzabekiantz (Sacrebleu Productions and Hélicotronc – about two teenagers who decide to have a baby, hidden away in the depths of the forest) and The German's Village (produced by JPG Films and Film En Stock – an adaptation of Boualem Sansal’s novel of the same name).

(Translated from French)