Paris-based Charades has boarded a slew of starry Cannes titles including Mona Achache’s just-announced Special Screening film Little Girl Blue starring Marion Cotillard and Directors’ Fortnight opener The Goldman Case.
The company is also selling Kamal Lazraq’s Hounds premiering in Un Certain Regard, Katell Quillévéré’s Along Came Love set for a Cannes Premiere screening and Chicken For Linda! selected for parallel section ACID, plus will unveil first images from new acquisition Sébastien Vanicek’s Vermin.
Little Girl Blue is inspired by the life of Achache’s mother. The director discovered thousands of photos, letters and recordings when her mother died, spurring Achache to resurrect her on screen in an attempt to understand her. Cotillard plays Achache’s mother in the production from prolific French production house Les Films du Poisson with France 2 and Belgium’s Wrong Men co-producing and Tandem distributing in France.
Achache’s first feature The Hedgehog, an adaptation of the novel by Muriel Barbery, was a box office hit in France and the filmmaker is also behind more recent titles 2021’s WWII-set Valiant Hearts starring Camille Cottin and 2014’s Gazelles.
Cedric Kahn’s Directors’ Fortnight opening film The Goldman Case is based on the true story of Pierre Goldman, a French left-wing intellectual who faced life in prison for four armed robberies, one of which resulted in the death of two pharmacists. The film follows the relationship between Goldman and his attorney as he pleads not guilty and becomes a hero of the intellectual left. The film is produced by Benjamin Elalouf’s Paris-based Moonshaker and stars Arieh Worthalter, Arthur Harari, Patrick Pineau and Nicolas Briançon. Ad Vitam will distribute the film in France.
Quillévéré’s Along Came Love, set for Cannes Premiere, stars Anais Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste. Set in Normandy in 1947, the film follows a waitress and young mother and a wealthy student whose paths collide. Set for French release via Gaumont, Along Came Love is produced by Les Films Pélléas and Les Films du Bélier in co-production with Gaumont, France 2 Cinéma, Frakas productions, Pictanovo Hauts-de-France and Belgium’s Proximus, VOO and Be TV and RTBF.
Un Certain Regard film Hounds is the debut feature from La Fémis grad Kamal Lazraq and is produced by Barney Productions with Mont Fleuri Production and Beluga Tree on board as co-producers. Ad Vitam is distributing in France. Set in the suburbs of Casablanca, the film stars Ayoub Elaid and Abdellatif Masstouri as a father and son who make a living doing small trafficking jobs for the local mafia before they are tasked with kidnapping a man. When things go wrong, they embark on a long night roaming the seedy parts of the city.
Also on Charades’ Cannes slate is ACID title, the France-Italy animated feature Chicken For Linda! directed by Chiara Malta and Sébatien Laudenbach and produced by Dolce Vita Films and Miyu Productions. The mother-daughter tale follows Paulette who feels guilty after unjustly punishing her daughter Linda and sets out to make it up to her by preparing her beloved meal of chicken with peppers, despite not knowing how to cook and finding a chicken on the day of a nationwide strike. Laetitia Dosch and Clotilde Hesme head the French voice cast of the title released in France via Gebeka Films.
Charades will also bring Vanicek’s Vermin from My Box Films to the market for the first time along with first images from the film. The film follows a lonely man about to turn 30 who brings home a venomous spider and accidentally sets it loose forcing the residents of his building to fight for their survival. Vermin stars Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Jérôme Niel, Finnegann Oldfield and Lisa Nyarko and will be released by Tandem in France.
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