12/12/2008

Having kicked off last week, shooting on up-and-coming director Mathias Gokalp’s debut feature, Rien de personnel (“Nothing Personal”), is in full swing at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres. The impressive cast includes Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Denis Podalydès, Zabou Breitman, Pascal Greggory, Mélanie Doutey and Belgium’s Bouli Lanners.

Co-written by the director and Nadine Lamari, the film focuses on an office party to which the managers’ spouses are invited. But this festive gathering turns out to be a training exercise in which roles are swapped.

The film – a bitter reflection on the world of work – is composed of three parts, each offering a different point of view and meaning throughout the course of the evening, where appearances are very deceptive.

Gokalp (35) previously attracted attention at numerous international festivals with his shorts Part-Time (2001), Le Tarif de Dieu (“God’s Tariff”, 2002) and Le Droit chemin (“The Straight and Narrow”, presented at the 2004 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and lauded at Clermont-Ferrand in 2005).

Produced by Antoine Rein (Producer on the Move 2006 - see interview) and Fabrice Goldstein for Karé Productions (who produced Gokalp’s three shorts), Rien de personnel was pre-bought by Canal + and Ciné Cinéma and received backing from the Centre region.

The five-week shoot – set to wrap up on January 8 – will take place almost entirely in Chartres, with a few days of filming in the Paris area. Rezo Films will release the title domestically in the second half of 2009 and international sales are being handled by MK2.

Karé Productions are currently enjoying box office success with Vilaine [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Nasty”) by Jean-Patrick Benes and Allan Mauduit (868,000 admissions in four weeks).

(Translated from French)