London and Paris-based sales outfit Film Constellation has boarded sales on French filmmaker Emma Benestan’s revenge feature Animale.
Wild Bunch Distribution has pre-bought French rights and will release the film in cinemas in 2024.
The film is set in the Camargue region of France, known for traditional bull fighting. In this male-dominated environment, a woman trains to fulfil her dream of wining the annual competition. When she is mauled after a drunken celebration, she starts to notice disturbing changes, while young men begin to be murdered.
Divines actor Oulaya Amamra is signed on to star, and principal photography will begin in France’s Camargues region next September.
It is produced by French outfit June Films’ Julie Billy and Naomi Denamur; Titane producer Cassandre Warnauts of Belgium’s Frakas Productions; and France 3 Cinéma.
Benestan’s previous credits include romantic comedy Fragile, artistic director on Netflix series Vampires and co-writer on short The Right Words, which premiered in competition at Cannes in 2021.
”Animale is set in the Camargue region; a place that has resonated with me throughout my life,” said Benestan. ”It is harsh and dry, wild and violent, but it is also a secret and magical place where men are kings, and bulls are both dominated and revered. I’ve always had a deep desire to film the animals as much as the men and women around them, so I am thrilled to embark on this journey and to count on the support of such a talented team.”
“Some of our favourite films today express social issues using the approach of genre. We’re very proud to be ploughing the furrow of horror films with the singular voice of Emma Benestan, which brings to the genre a new, intimate look into a land and a community which have rarely been represented in films. Emma is part of a new generation of filmmakers who dare, with a humble audacity, reinvent film language,” added the June Films producers.
Film Constellation’s Fabien Westerhoff noted: “Rooted in a striking landscape reminiscent of classic westerns, Animale brilliantly subverts the revenge tropes to explore the relationship between humans and their inner beast; the primal, visceral part of us that is often screaming to get out … and which, if not dealt with, will find a way out itself.”
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