18/09/2023 - Loosely based on Jérôme Ferrari’s novel, the French director is painting the portrait of a generation of Corsicans, produced by Les Films Velvet and sold by Pyramide International

Since 28 August, Thierry de Peretti has been based in Corsica filming À son image, which is his 4th feature film after Les Apaches [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (discovered in the 2013 Directors’ Fortnight), A Violent Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (screened in Cannes’ Critics’ Week 2017) and Undercover [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thierry de Peretti
film profile] (awarded the Jury Prize for Best Photography in San Sebastián 2021 and nominated for 2023’s Best Adapted Screenplay César).

The cast stars Clara-Maria Laredo, Marc Antonu Mozziconacci, Louis Starace, Barbara Sbraggia, Saveria Giorgi, Andrea Cossu, Pierre-Jean Straboni, Paul Garatte, Antonia Buresi (Rodéo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lola Quivoron and Julie Ledru
film profile]), the director himself, Horald Orsoni, Valérie Franceschetti, Cédric Appietto (I Comete – A Corsican Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pascal Tagnati
film profile], Homecoming [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catherine Corsini
interview: Suzy Bemba
film profile]), Alexis Manenti (the winner of 2020’s Best Newcomer César via Les Misérables [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ladj Ly
film profile] and well-received in Cannes back in May in The Rapture [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iris Kaltenbäck
film profile], among other accolades) and Victoire Du Bois (Little Ones [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julie Lerat-Gersant
film profile], White Paradise [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

Loosely adapted by the filmmaker in league with Jeanne Aptekman (who also worked together on Undercover) from Jérôme Ferrari’s novel of the same name, the story revolves around Antonia who has just died. It’s 2003 and she killed herself in a car on a road in Corsica at the height of summer. She was 38 years old and a photographer. The lengthy mass which her uncle presides over is an opportunity to remind himself of who she was, her friends, her loves and her commitment. The tale is developed around several moment’s in Antonia’s life, interwoven with significant events in the island’s political history between the 1980s and the dawn of the 21st century. It paints the portrait of an entire generation…

À son image is produced by Frédéric Jouve on behalf of Les Films Velvet (now on their 3rd collaboration with de Peretti) and in co-production with Arte France Cinéma. Pre-purchased by Canal+, Ciné+ and Arte, the movie enjoys support in the form of an advance on receipts from the CNC, as well as backing from the Collectivité de Corse, the Région Sud (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) and the SOFICA companies Cinémage and Indéfilms. The 40-day film shoot will take place in Corsica and Serbia (5 days in the latter) before wrapping on 18 November, with Josée Deshaies heading up photography (having been nominated for the 2012 and 2015 Césars in his speciality). Distribution in France and international sales are both steered by Pyramide.

For the record, Les Films Velvet are releasing Street Flow 2 by Leïla Sy and Kery James (produced by Srab Films) on Netflix on 27 September.

(Translated from French)