07/05/2024 - Audrey Diwan's new film after her Golden Lion win, starring Noémie Merlant and Naomi Watts, will compete for the Golden Shell

Emmanuelle, Audrey Diwan's new film after her Golden Lion for Happening [+see also:
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interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile], will open the 72nd San Sebastián International Film Festival in competition. Taking place from 20 to 28 September, the festival will host the world premiere of the eagerly-awaited feature on 20 September.

Diwan co-wrote the screenplay with fellow filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski (whose latest film, Other People’s Children [+see also:
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interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile], competed in Venice too). The film follows the steps of a woman in search of a lost pleasure, whose business trip to Hong Kong will initiate numerous encounters including her meeting with Kei, a man who constantly eludes her. The film was inspired by the character and the world created by the writer Emmanuelle Arsan. Conceived as an exploration of pleasure in the post Me Too era, Emmanuelle was shot during the autumn of 2023 in Hong Kong and Paris.

The film, which was often touted for a Cannes premiere, ends up finally at the Basque festival, which has already welcomed Diwan as a part of the official selection jury in 2021, right after its Venice win with Happening, and before the announcement of her four César nominations and her BAFTA nomination, among other awards.

The film stars actress and director Noémie Merlant (nominated for the César for Best Newcomer for Heaven Will Wait [+see also:
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film profile] and for Best Actress for Portrait of a Woman on Fire [+see also:
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interview: Céline Sciamma
film profile], and winner in the Best Supporting Actress for The Innnocent [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]), Will Sharpe (series The White Lotus), Jamie Campbell Bower (series Stranger Things), Chacha Huang and Anthony Wong.

Emmanuelle is produced by Chantelouve, Rectangle Productions and Goodfellas, which is handling international sales. The film will be released in France by Pathé on 25 September, after the festival bow, and later in Spain by Beta Fiction Spain.

(Translated from Spanish)