28/08/2014 - The director of Innocence has been filming her second feature in Spain this summer; the Les Films du Worso and Noodles production is sold by Wild Bunch

Lucile Hadzihalilovic

Rising to fame with her feature debut, Innocence (winner of the Best New Director Award at San Sebastian in 2004, the Bronze Horse at Stockholm, and the Fipresci and Audience Awards at Istanbul, among others), the talented and highly original Lucile Hadzihalilovic has been filming her second opus, Evolution [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], in Spain this summer (from 14 July to 15 August, in Lanzarote and Barcelona). According to Cineuropa’s sources, the cast of the fantasy film (which will blend genetic engineering with the upheavals of the transition from childhood to adolescence) includes young actor Max Brebant, Roxane Duran (who first appeared in The White Ribbon [+see also:
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interview: Michael Haneke
film profile], turned heads in 17 Girls [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Michael Kohlhaas [+see also:
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interview: Arnaud des Pallières
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interview: Lou de Laâge
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film profile], The Snows of Kilimanjaro [+see also:
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interview: Robert Guédiguian
interview: Robert Guédiguian
film profile] and Farewell My Queen [+see also:
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interview: Benoît Jacquot
film profile], among others).

Written by the director together with Alanté Kavaïté, the story revolves around 11-year-old Nicolas, who lives with his mother in a seaside housing estate. The only place that ever sees any activity is the hospital. It is there that all the boys from the village are forced to undergo strange medical trials that attempt to disrupt the phases of evolution... Interestingly, the director has quoted the classic The Island of Doctor Moreau (an HG Wells novel that has been adapted for the silver screen three times) as being among her sources of inspiration for the project (which passed through the Coproduction Village at the Les Arcs European Film Festival).

With production outsourced to Sylvie Pialat and Benoît Quainon for Les Films du Worso and to Jérôme Vidal for Noodles Production, Evolution is co-produced by Belgian outfit Scope Pictures and Spanish firm Volcano Films. Having been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film, which should be ready for release in spring 2015, will be distributed in France and sold internationally by Wild Bunch.

(Translated from French)