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PRODUCTION / FUNDING France

Five promising young filmmakers are heading to Emergence

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- The 22nd session of the film direction residency will lend support to first feature films put forward by Nathalie Saugeon, Jean-Baptiste Durand, Emmanuel Laskar, Pierre Mazingarbe and Edouard Salier

Five promising young filmmakers are heading to Emergence
Director Nathalie Saugeon

Selected by a jury presided over, this year, by Jean-Bernard Marlin, five young filmmakers have been chosen to participate in the 22nd session of the film direction residency intitled Emergence, a unique initiative in Europe which will provide the selected few with an opportunity to film two sequences of their first feature films, as well as offering them a mentor in the form of an established director, support in all things artistic, not to mention professional help with production.

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Nathalie Saugeon has been selected with her project Fils de. The story, which she wrote with Anne-Claire Jaulin, is centred on Rudy (14 years old) who has never met his father. Against all odds, he seeks to be accepted by his biological family over the course of a summer spent on the coast… A project steered by Sébastien Haguenauer on behalf of 10:15! Productions.

Jean-Baptiste Durand has been selected with Chien de la casse [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
. At the heart of the story are Dog and Mirales, two childhood friends living in a small village in the south of France who spend most of their time hanging around the streets. To kill time, Mirales has taken to teasing Dog, to the point of now treating him like a whipping boy. But that particular summer, Dog meets Elsa and a love story unfolds between them. Consumed by jealousy, Mirales will need to shake off his past in order to grow and find his place in the world… (production : Anaïs Bertrand on behalf of Insolence Productions).

Likewise joining the winners’ ranks is French-Swiss candidate Emmanuel Laskar, who’ll be working on Le Médium, centred around Michael Monge who has just lost his mother, a medium who specialised in communing with the dead. Despite being the official heir of her gift, Michael is a non-believer and rejects his heritage. But fate will place Alice in his path, a fascinating artist rocked by the recent death of her partner who disappeared in the ocean while surfing. As Alice insists that he get into contact with the deceased, Michael will grow increasingly attached to her and will try to guide her back towards the path of life... (production : Justin Taurand on behalf of Les Films du Bélier).

Pierre Mazingarbe, for his part, has been selected to participate with Chiens et loups, which recounts the misadventures of Jade Pileggi. As a child, she was the ugly duckling in a family of illustrious men, Nobel prize winners and geniuses. She longed for the approval of her mother, Judith, but the latter only had eyes for her two sons. Ranking first place at the French National School for the Judiciary, Jade can now expect to find a prestigious post in Paris. But when her mother tells her she has cancer, Jade has no choice but to return home to the family manor in Béthune to look after her… (produced by Charlotte Vande Vyvre on behalf of Balade Sauvage Productions).

Last but not least, Edouard Salier will be working on Un monstre, moi aussi (based on a screenplay co-penned with Maurice Carrasco), whose story unfolds in the south of France in 2028. Lazare and Séraphin (11 and 12 years old) are brothers and best friends. One day, Séraphin is contaminated by waste from an old nuclear power station. He develops a monstrous appearance, a reduced mental capacity and a tendency to glow at night-time. Following on from this catastrophe, Lazare finds himself having to mourn the memory of his brother and learning to love him for who he now is, in a world where there’s no place for monsters (produced by Jean-Michel Rey and Ninon Chapuis on behalf of Rezo Production).

Since its creation by Élisabeth Depardieu, Emergence (presided over by Dominique Besnehard, who is flanked by producer Laurent Lavolé in the role of artistic director) has lent its support to first feature films by Mia Hansen-Love, Alice Winocour, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Katell Quillévéré, Leyla Bouzid, Léa Fehner, Morgan Simon, Farid Bentoumi, Antonin Peretjatko, Elie Wajeman, Stéphane Demoustier, Joachim Lafosse and Pierre Schoeller, to name but a few.

Noteworthy projects winning a place on the residency’s previous editions include Lola [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Micheli
film profile
]
by Belgium’s Laurent Micheli (set to be released in French cinemas on 11 December), Little Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Benjamin Parent (released on 8 January 2020) and The Bare Necessity [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erwan Le Duc
film profile
]
by Erwan Le Duc (presented at the latest Directors’ Fortnight and nominated Best Film at the 2020 Lumières Awards). Stand-out works assisted by the initiative and now in post-production include L’Horizon [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Émilie Carpentier, Besties [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Marion Desseigne-Ravel and Garçon Chiffon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Maury
interview: Nicolas Maury
film profile
]
by Nicolas Maury.

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(Translated from French)

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