L’Ascension: “For you I would climb Everest!”
- Ahmed Sylla receives top billing in Ludovic Bernard’s first feature film; the DACP Films production will be distributed in France by Mars
Paris, Nepal, Chamonix… Filming for Ludovic Bernard’s first feature-length film, L'ascension [+see also:
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film profile] (lit. “The Climb”), began on 15 February and will continue until 9 May. An experienced assistant director (having worked on titles such as Tell No One [+see also:
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film profile], Mesrine: Part 1 - Killer Instinct [+see also:
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film profile], Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1 [+see also:
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film profile] and Lucy [+see also:
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making of
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film profile]), Alice Belaïdi (winner of the 2010 Molière Award for Best Female Newcomer, popular in films such as Les Kaïra [+see also:
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film profile] and French Women [+see also:
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film profile], and soon to appear in the forthcoming Taulardes [+see also:
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film profile]), Nicolas Wanczycki (who rose to fame in Nulle part, terre promise [+see also:
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film profile] and was cast in supporting roles in several films such as Love at First Fight [+see also:
film review
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interview: Thomas Cailley
film profile]), Denis Mpunga (Marguerite [+see also:
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interview: Xavier Giannoli
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Written by Nadir Dendoune (a journalist and, notably, the author of the novel that inspired the film: Un tocard sur le toit du monde), Olivier Ducray and Ludovic Bernard, the script gets under way with the sentence, “For you I’d climb Everest!” Samy would have been better off if he’d just kept his mouth shut that day… Not that Nadia puts much stock in these seemingly empty words. And yet, out of his love for her, Samy leaves his council estate and goes on a journey to scale the legendary 8,848 metres that make Everest the literal top of the world. His departure sends waves through his friends and his “hood”, and, in the end, leaves all of France captivated, passionately following this ordinary young guy’s extraordinary journey for love. To top it all off, there is a message of hope: it’s up to each and every one of us to forge our own future, because anything is possible.
Produced by Laurence Lascary for DACP Films, L'Ascension has co-production agreements in place with France 2 Cinéma, Mars Films and Rhône-Alpes Cinéma. Canal+, Ciné+, France 4 and D8 have already bought the rights to the film in advance, and the feature also has the support of the A Plus Image and Cineventure Soficas. Mars Distribution will be in charge of the film’s domestic theatrical release.
(Translated from French)
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