Shooting ends for Spellbound

by Fabien Lemercier

29/11/2018 - Sara Giraudeau and Nicolas Duvauchelle topline Pascal Bonitzer’s new film, which is being produced by SBS and co-produced by Belgium’s Beluga Tree

Actors Sara Giraudeau and Nicolas Duvauchelle

On 23 November, Pascal Bonitzer wrapped the shoot for his eighth feature, Spellbound [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The director already has titles such as More (Jean Vigo Award in 1996 and nominated for the César Award for Best First Feature Film in 1997), Small Cuts (in competition at Berlin in 2003), Looking for Hortense [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (out of competition at Venice in 2012) and Right Here Right Now [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2016) under his belt.

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Standing out among the cast of his new opus are Sara Giraudeau (César Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2018 for Bloody Milk [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hubert Charuel
film profile], nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress and the Lumières Award for Best New Actress in 2016 for Les Bêtises [+see also:
trailer
film profile], giving a brilliant performance in the series Le Bureau des légendes [+see also:
interview: Frédéric Lavigne
series profile] and set to grace screens in 2019 in The Translators), Nicolas Duvauchelle (nominated for the César Award and Lumières Award for Best Actor in 2017 for A Decent Man [+see also:
trailer
film profile], nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2012 for Poliss [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile], hitting theatres next year in Persona non grata), Belgium’s Anabel Lopez (who turned heads in Two Is a Family [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile]), Josiane Balasko (nominated for the César Award for Best Actress in 1990, 1994 and 2004; appearing in a host of recent films such as Bright Sunshine In [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Back to Mom’s [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Nicolas Maury (Knife + Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Maury
interview: Yann Gonzalez
film profile]) and Iliana Lolic (who is working with the director for the third time).

The story, loosely based on the short story The Way It Came (later renamed The Friends of the Friends) by famous US novelist Henry James, was written by Pascal Bonitzer (nominated for the César Award for Best Screenplay in 1994 and 2017 for My Favourite Season and Agnus Dei [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lou de Laâge
film profile]) and Agnès de Sacy (nominated for the César Award for Best Adaptation in 2010 for One for the Road [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). The storyline revolves around Azar, who saw her father appear before her on the night he died. Meanwhile, Simon (Duvauchelle) saw his mother appear before him on the day she died. They don’t know each other, but Coline (Giraudeau) knows them both. She unsuccessfully tries to arrange for them to meet, but then Coline falls in love with Simon. And when the meeting is finally meant to take place, she sabotages it for fear of losing out to Azar. Azar leaves alone, and Coline is left feeling guilty. The next day, Azar is found dead, having lost consciousness in her car by the roadside... Yet Simon says she visited him at the exact time she was supposed to have died. Coline then convinces herself that he saw her ghost – and that this spectral encounter will not be the last...

Produced by Saïd Ben Saïd and Michel Merkt for SBS Productions (who are partnering up with the director for the fourth film in a row), Spellbound is being co-produced by Diana Elbaum for Belgian outfit Beluga Tree. The shoot took place in Paris, followed by the French Basque Country (in Itxassou, Biarritz and Hendaye), from 15 October-23 November, with Julien Hirsch in charge of the cinematography (nominated for the César Award in his respective category in 2007 and 2012, for Lady Chatterley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Minister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile]). The French distribution and international sales will be handled directly by SBS.