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TORONTO 2019 TIFF Industry

Gaumont touting Xavier Giannoli’s Lost Illusions

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- Standing out among the cast of the film, which is currently being shot, are Benjamin Voisin, Gérard Depardieu, Vincent Lacoste, Jeanne Balibar, Cécile de France and Xavier Dolan

Gaumont touting Xavier Giannoli’s Lost Illusions
Director Xavier Giannoli

French group Gaumont will be rocking up at the bustling informal market of the 44th Toronto International Film Festival (5-15 September) with a top-notch trump card up its sleeve: Lost Illusions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
by Xavier Giannoli. With principal photography currently under way (since mid-July) and scheduled to wrap in late October, the eighth feature by the filmmaker who has been selected twice in competition at Cannes (The Singer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
in 2006 and In the Beginning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
in 2009) and at Venice (Superstar [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
in 2012 and Marguerite [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
in 2015) is an adaptation of the works of famous writer Honoré de Balzac, and particularly the novel Lost Illusions.

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The cast includes young actor Benjamin Voisin (who, just prior to this, was filming the upcoming, as-yet-untitled movie by François Ozon), Gérard Depardieu (currently on the cinema listings in Thalasso [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which will be taking part in the competition at the impending San Sebastián Film Festival), Vincent Lacoste (gracing screens at Venice at the moment in My Days of Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoine de Bary
film profile
]
and soon to appear in My Traitor My Love), Jeanne Balibar (seen recently in Cold War [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile
]
, Les Misérables [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ladj Ly
film profile
]
and Wonders in the Suburbs [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Cécile de France (currently giving a strong performance at Venice in A Bigger World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabienne Berthaud
film profile
]
) and Canada’s Xavier Dolan. They will be flanked by André Marcon, Jean-François Stévenin and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing.

The plot unfolds between 1837 and 1843 and revolves around Lucien de Rubempré, a young poet who dreams of becoming an author, and who ups sticks and leaves Angoulême for the bright lights of Paris. For many years, Xavier Giannoli had talked about his wish to adapt Lost Illusions. “It’s a novel about innocence in tatters,” he stated during a symposium devoted to Balzac. “I’m fascinated by the idea that, within us, we have something that is linked to purity and corrupted innocence. What of ourselves and of our purity are we willing to relinquish in order to find our place in life? It’s a topic I’m very passionate about.”

Produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films (which is thus teaming up with the director for the third feature in a row, following The Apparition [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
and Marguerite) and by Sidonie Dumas for Gaumont (which will oversee the French distribution as well as the international sales), Lost Illusions can boast a co-production and a pre-purchase by France 3 Cinéma. Having also been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film has secured support from the Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France regions.

As a reminder, Curiosa Films has Between Two Worlds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Carrère
film profile
]
by Emmanuel Carrère and My Father's Stories [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Jean-Pierre Améris in post-production. Among the array of movies it has in production are Hommes au bord de la crise de nerfs by Audrey Dana (since 19 August) and Do you Saint-Tropez by Nicolas Benmamou (which will start principal photography on 9 September), toplined by Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu.

At Toronto, Gaumont’s international sales team, headed up by Adeline Falampin and Alexis Cassanet, will be hard at work signing deals for the films Bye Bye Morons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Albert Dupontel, #iamhere [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Éric Lartigau (set to be released on 12 February 2020) and The Voice of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Valérie Lemercier (a film that pays tribute to Canadian singer Céline Dion but is not a biopic, per se), all of which are in post-production, Three Days and a Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Nicolas Boukhrief (due to be released in France on 18 September), Rogue City [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Olivier Marchal (currently being shot, toplined by Jean Reno), the comedy Family Swap [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Jean-Patrick Benes (about to start filming, starring Alexandra Lamy and Franck Dubosc) and the documentary Heart of Oak by Laurent Charbonnier. And that’s not to mention The Specials [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano (which goes on general release in France on 23 October), which brought the Cannes Film Festival to a close and which has already been sold practically all over the world.

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(Translated from French)

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