26/06/2023 - The selected works are La vraie vie by Marie Monge, Arco by Ugo Bienvenu and Trompe la mort by Rocco Labbé

After first and third editions dedicated to projects in the “fantasy, sci-fi and horror” vein, a second session dedicated to musicals, and a fourth dedicated to comedies, adventure films were the focus of the CNC’s most recent round of annual selective aid for genre films. And, after listening to presentations by the pre-selected filmmaker-producer duos, three screenplays were eventually chosen (from among the 52 submitted), underpinning projects which are set to be supported to the tune of 500,000 euros each.

As such, the CNC will be throwing its weight behind La vraie vie, which will be Marie Monge’s second feature after Treat Me Like Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marie Monge
film profile] (screened in the 2018 Directors’ Fortnight). Adapted by the director from Adeline Dieudonné’s novel of the same name, the story revolves around Billie who protects her little brother Gilles from the violence in their family by using her vivid imagination to tell him stories, which act as ramparts against reality. But when a terrible accident upsets this fragile balance, Billie only has one thing on her mind: saving her brother from the looming shadow of their Father. The teen thus throws herself into a frantic quest which forces her to face up to her own fears and contradictions. In the stories she invents, Billie has developed a very clear idea of what courage is. But where are the monsters in real life? And what exactly is a heroine...? Production is steered by Julie Viez on behalf of Cinenovo and by David Pierret for Sailor Films.

Two first feature film projects likewise jostle among the lucky few, including an animated film in the form of Ugo Bienvenu’s Arco. Co-written by the director alongside Félix de Givry, the story unfolds around one particular question: what if rainbows were actually men and women from the future who had come to observe the past? Ten-year-old Arco lives in the distant future of 2932. During his first flight, dressed in his rainbow space suit, he goes off course and ends up in the past of 2075. Iris, a little girl his age, sees him fall from the sky. She takes him in and helps him to get back home in any way she can…  Production is entrusted to the two co-screenwriters on behalf of Remembers.

Last but not least, genre film aid has also been allocated to Trompe la mort by Rocco Labbé, who wrote the movie’s screenplay together with Clément Tuffreau. The story takes place at the beginning of the Battle of Verdun where three French camoufleurs, who are performing artists in civilian life, find themselves trapped behind the German lines. With no weapons to hand, they only have their ingenuity to save them in the face of a new enemy: an armoured flamethrower which burns everything in its path... Production is steered by Alexis Perrin on behalf of Rumble Fish Productions.

(Translated from French)