Screen spotlights 15 titles from Franche that could make a splash at film festivals in 2024, including new films by Marjane Satrapi, Jacques Audiard, Audrey Diwan and Michel Hazanavicius. The French offering is as rich as ever and the next films from Francois Ozon, Arnaud Depleschin, Christophe Honore and Olivier Assayas are also expected to be ready for Cannes.
And Their Children After Them
Dir. Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma
Adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s Prix Goncourt-winning book, this coming-of-age film follows teenagers across severa summers in a post-industrial Eastern France. The Boukhermas made their debut in Cannes’ ACID with Willy The 1st then followed with 2020 Official Selection Teddy, so Cannes is a likely bet, but the French release date through Warner Bros is set for September so an autumn festival premiere could also be on the cards.
Contact: Charades
Beating Hearts
Dir. Gilles Lellouche
Billed as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, actor and director Gilles Lellouche’s latest is one of the most anticipated French films of the year. Currently in post, it stars François Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos as star-crossed lovers caught between gang violence and crime. Lellouche’s Sink Or Swim premiered in Cannes before going on to earn 10 César nominations and box office glory, so the Croisette is a likely bet. It has an October release date in France.
Contact: Studiocanal
The Balconettes
Dir. Noemie Merlant
The second directorial outing from Merlant, also an actress with credits including Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. blendsfantasy, comedy and horror to tell a story fo three roommates who meddle in the lives of their neighbours and a late-night drink turns messy. Merlant premiered her debut feature Mi Lubita Mon Amour in Cannes’ 2020 selection. Celine Sciamma co-wrote the script with Merlant.
Contact: mk2 Films
Dear Paris
Dir. Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis director Satrapi returns with a love letter to Paris featuring an ensemble cast led by Monica Bellucci, Rossy De Palma and Ben Aldridge. The dark comedy follows its characters as they attempt to reconnect with what matters most in life.
Contact: Studiocanal
The Divine Sarah Bernhardt
Dir. Guillaume Nicloux
Nicloux’s follow-up to 2023 releases Lockdown Tower and The Baby stars Sandrine Kiberlain as the titular French stage actress, known as La Divine at the turn of the 20th century. The film is produced by Cannes regulars Les Films du Kiosque; Laurent Lafitte and Amira Casar round out the starry cast.
Contact: Memento International
Emilia Perez
Dir. Jacques Audiard
The veteran French auteur’s musical crime drama is a Mexico-set film about a cartel boss who undergoes a sex change in an effort to retire from the business and disappear forever. It stars Spain’s Karla Sofia Gascón alongside Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldana and Edgar Ramirez.
Contact: The Veterans, CAA Media Finance, lvanderstaay@goodfellas.film
Emmanuelle
Dir. Audrey Diwan
With Venice-winning Diwan at the helm, the English-language Emmanuelle looks a festival lock from its credits alone – a cast that includes Noemie Merlant alongside Naomi Watts and Will Sharpe, powerhouse companies Rectangle Productions, Hildegarde and Goodfellas producing, Rebecca Zlotowski co-writing and The Veterans and CAA Media Finance handling sales. t is set in Hong Kong and based on the famous French novel about a sexually adventurous heroine.
Contact: The Veterans, CAA Media Finance, lvanderstaay@goodfellas.film
Into the Wonderwoods
Dir. Vincent Paronnaud, Alexis Ducord
This 3D animation is directed by Persepolis co-director Vincent Parannaud alongside Alexis Ducord and is based on Paronnaud’s comic book under the pseudonym Winshluss. It is about a10-year-old boy lost in the woods who discovers a mysterious world inhabited by strange creatures.
Contact: Urban Sales
Jim’s Story
Dir. Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu
The Larrieu brothers, known for their eccentric comedies, are back with a melodramatic adaptation of a novel about a family living in the Jura mountains who are torn apart following the return of the son’s biological father. Produced by SBS Productions, the film stars Karim Leklou and Laetitia Dosch.
Contact: Pyramide
Maria
Dir. Jessica Palud
Palud’s second feature following her Venice Horizons best screenplay winner Back Home stars Anamaria Vartolomei as the titular Maria, namely real-life actress Maria Schneider who rose to fame in Last Tango In Paris and quickly had to navigate fame and scandal 35 years before #metoo. In the film adapted from a novel, Matt Dillon plays Marlon Brando alongside Yvan Attal and Dogman’s Edoardo Pesce.
Contact: Orange Studio
Monsieur Aznavour
Dir. Mehdi Idir, Grand Corps Malade
This buzzy biopic stars Tahar Rahim as legendary French crooner Charles Aznavour alongside Cesar-winning actor Bastien Bouillon and Marie-Julie Baup. It follows the famed Armenian-born French singing sensation who sang in 10 languages from his humble beginnings to his rise to fame and from Paris to New York. There is even early Oscar buzz.
Contact: Playtime (international), UTA (North America)
The Most Precious Of Cargoes
Dir. Michel Hazanavicius
Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of The Artist, has wrapped his first animation feature, a World War II drama adapted from the novel of the same name by Jean-Claude Grumberg, who co-wrote the script. It’s the story of a baby boy whose French-Jewish father throws him from an Auschwitz-bound train and is raised by a childless woodcutter’s wife. The story is personal for Hazanavicius – his own family fled the Nazis in Eastern Europe.
Contact: TBC
Planet B
Dir. Aude Léa Rapin
This dystopian thriller stars Adèle Exarchopoulos and Souheila Yacoub and is abiyt an activist who mysteriously disappears after a revolt turns violent and wakes up in an unknown world, aka Planet B. Shot in French and English, it is Rapin’s follow-up to her 2019 Cannes Critics’ Week genre-crossing feature Heroes Don’t Die.
Contact: Orange Studio
Les Prisonnières
Dir. Patricia Mazuy
Isabelle Huppert and Hafsia Herzi star as two women who develop an unlikely friendship when their husbands are inmates in the same prison. Produced by Alice Girard and Edouard Weil of Rectangle Productions alongside Xavier Plèche for Picseyes.
Contact: Les Films du Losange, a.lesort@filmsdulosange.fr or a.alvarez@filmsdulosange.fr
Saint-Exupéry (Saint-Ex)
Dir. Pablo Agüero
This live action biopic of aviator and The Little Prince author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry stars Louis Garrel, Diane Kruger and Vincent Cassel and focuses on a pivotal moment in Saint-Exupéry life. Produced by Cheyenne Federation, the film is Argentinian-born, Paris-based director Agüero’s sixth feature following San Sebastian competition entries Akelarre and Eva Doesn’t Sleep and Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight feature Salamandra.
Contact: Studiocanal
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