Maura suffers family complications in Chicas

13/03/2009

Writer Yasmina Reza’s debut directorial feature, Chicas (“Girls”) – adapted from her stage production A Spanish Play – features a European cast.

The film – which starts shooting next Monday in Paris – stars Spanish actress Carmen Maura (Volver [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agustín Almodóvar
interview: Carmen Maura
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
interview: Pénélope Cruz
film profile]), France’s André Dussollier (who has just finished filming Je ne suis que Joseph Staline), Emmanuelle Seigner (currently on screens in Change of Plans [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Valérie Dréville (Heartbeat Detector [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Christelle Tual (The Other One [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), alongside Belgium’s Bouli Lanners (Louise Michel [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Benoît Delépine and Gustav…
interview: Benoît Jaubert
film profile]).

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Written by Reza (daughter of a Hungarian violinist), the tragi-comic film centres on Pilar (Maura), a Spanish widow who has raised her three daughters in France. She falls in love with Fernand, the manager of her apartment building and invites him to lunch to introduce him to her family, including her son-in-law (Lanners).

But the introduction of this new man in her life – a sort of gentleman friend – upsets her daughters (one of whom is a lonely, famous actress, played by Seigner), shatters the veneer of good manners and reveals the fragility of family ties.

Produced by Said Ben Said for SBS Films (whose latest production, André Téchiné’s The Girl on the Train [+see also:
trailer
film profile], hits theatres next Wednesday), Chicas has a €6m budget. This includes co-production support from France 2 Cinéma and a pre-sale from Canal +.

The film will be shot in Paris, Toulouse and Malaga by DoP Patrick Blossier (thrice nominated for a Cesar Award, including in 2007 for Days of Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Bréhat
interview: Rachid Bouchareb
film profile]). UGC International will handle domestic distribution and international sales.