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PRODUCTION France

Stéphane Demoustier filming Terre battue

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- Olivier Gourmet, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Charles Mérienne in the cast of this first feature film produced by Les Films Velvet

Since May 6th, Stéphane Demoustier (photo – director of several short films such as Bad Gones and Fille du Calvaire) has been shooting his first feature film: Terre battue. The cast of this movie, which explores the themes of victory, failure, humiliation and transmission between a business executive father and his budding tennis champion son, features Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet (Best Actor Award in Cannes in 2002, nominated for the César 2012 for Best Actor in The Minister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile
]
 and recently appreciated on the Croisette in Grand Central [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile
]
), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (in competition last month in Cannes in A Castle in Italy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
film profile
]
 and who just played in Il Capitale umano by Paolo Virzì) and young actor Charles Mérienne (on screen for the first time). 

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Written by the director with Gaëlle Macé, the screenplay focuses on Jérôme (Gourmet), who is about 40 years old. Recently fired from his job, he fails to start his own company. At the same time, his wife (Bruni Tedeschi) leaves him. In a few months, Jérôme has lost everything. His son, Ugo (Mérienne), plays tennis and is doing quite well. He will give it all he’s got, as if to compensate for the failure of his dad.

Produced by Frédéric Jouve for Les Films VelvetTerre battue (lit. Clay Court) is coproduced by the Belgian company Les Films du Fleuve (managed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne), Année Zéro, Arte France Cinéma and the RTBF. Also pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film has been financed by an advance on receipts from the CNC, the Ile-de-France region, Sofica Indéfilms, Emergence and the Eurimages fund. The filming, which will last until July 5th, takes place in the Ile-de-France and Nord-Pas-de-Calais regions (in Villeneuve d'Ascq, Proville and in Lens, in the Bollaert stadium, where scenes were shot on May 17th during a League 2 game). French distribution will be handled by Diaphana, while Lumière will take care of the Benelux countries. International sales have been acquired by Films Distribution

Les Films Velvet, which started producing feature films by coproducing Changement d’adresse by Emmanuel Mouret (2006), notably produced the first two feature films by Rebecca ZlotowskiBelle épine [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Louis-Delluc Prize for Best First Film in 2010) and Grand Central (unveiled recently in Cannes, in the Certain Regard section –review – to be released in France on August 28th).

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(Translated from French)

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