Jan Kounen shooting Mon cousin

by Fabien Lemercier

17/04/2019 - Vincent Lindon and François Damiens are toplining this comedy being produced by Eskwad and sold overseas by Pathé

Actors Vincent Lindon and François Damiens

Since 1 April, Jan Kounen has been shooting Mon cousin [+see also:
trailer
film profile], his fifth feature-length fiction film, following Dobermann (1997), Blueberry (2004), 99 francs [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (1.2 million admissions in France in 2007) and Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (which was the closing film of the Cannes Film Festival Official Selection in 2009 and was nominated for the César Award for Best Costume Design in 2010).

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To topline his new opus, the director, who also helmed one of the segments of the sketch film The Players (2012) in addition to several documentaries (including Darshan: The Embrace, presented out of competition at Cannes in 2005), has called on the services of Vincent Lindon (Best Actor Award at Cannes in 2015 and César Award for Best Actor in 2016 for The Measure of a Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile], also nominated in the same category at the 1993, 2000, 2008, 2010 and 2013 Césars; popular in the recent titles At War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphane Brizé
film profile], The Apparition [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile] and Casanova, Last Love [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]) and Belgium’s François Damiens (nominated for the César Award for Best Actor in 2015 and 2016 for The Bélier Family [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] and Cowboys [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]; giving a strong performance at Cannes last year in The World Is Yours [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Romain Gavras
film profile]; set to hit theatres in September in Fourmi and in January 2020 in The Lost Prince). Rubbing shoulders with them are fellow cast members Pascale Arbillot (Guy [+see also:
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film profile], Little White Lies [+see also:
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film profile], Borderline [+see also:
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film profile]; gracing screens from 1 May in Nous finirons ensemble [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and in October in Mon chien stupide), Alix Poisson (The French Minister [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]), Dominique Bettenfeld, Catherine Davenier and Nicolas Audebaud.

The story, written by Fabrice Roger-Lacan together with Jan Kounen and Vincent Lindon, revolves around Pierre (Lindon), the chief executive of the Pastié Group, which is an umbrella company for the biggest international alcohol brands as well as a range of top wines classified as “grands crus”. As is the case every five years, he has to go to the solicitor’s office to renew the contract that maintains ties between him and his cousin Adrien (Damiens). But Adrien is a cousin he simply can’t stand, as he unwittingly makes blunder after blunder and gaffe after gaffe, once again potentially putting the company in jeopardy. But this time, things really go awry... These two cousins with polar-opposite temperaments will find themselves embarking on an extraordinary adventure together that brings them to the lush vineyards of Bordeaux, where, in the face of adversity, they will eventually patch things up…

Produced by Richard Grandpierre for Eskwad, Mon cousin is being co-produced by TF1 Films Production, Belgium’s Umedia and Pathé (which will handle the French distribution and the international sales). The nine-week shoot will take place in the Paris region, Dordogne and Gironde, with Guillaume Schiffman (nominated for the Oscar in his respective category in 2012 for The Artist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michel Hazanavicius
film profile]) in charge of the cinematography.