Schroeter shoots Une nuit de chien in Portugal
After a six-year absence from screens, veteran German director Werner Schroeter is currently shooting Une nuit de chien in Portugal. The film is adapted from the eponymous novel by Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti.
The cast of this European co-production includes French actors Pascal Greggory, Elsa Zylberstein, Amira Casar, Eric Caravaca, Sami Frey, Bulle Ogier, Nathalie Delon and Jean-François Stévenin; Swiss actor Bruno Todeschini; German actress Pascale Schiller (lauded in Pia Marais’ The Unpolished [+see also:
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Written by Gilles Taurand (who has collaborated several times with André Téchiné, won the Golden Osella at Venice in 1997 for Dry Cleaning and also wrote Jean Xavier de Lestrade’s Sur ta joue ennemie, currently in post-production), the adaptation of Une nuit de chien is set in an unnamed city in the throes of civil war.
Published in 1943, the novel inspired by an episode in the Spanish War describes a city in a state of siege and split into rival factions, against a backdrop of betrayal and power games. The stakes revolve around a boat, which represents the only hope of escaping the city’s bombardment.
In this apocalyptic atmosphere, a host of frightened and disillusioned characters face a cruel political police chief (Todeschini) and a member of an extreme left-wing party (Greggory), as they fight for their ideals and their survival.
Produced by Paolo Branco’s new French company Alfama Films (formerly Alma Films), which produced Schroeter’s last film (Two), Une nuit de chien is co-produced by Portuguese company Clap Filmes and Germany’s Gallery 415.
The €4.17m budget includes €450,000 in advances on receipts from the National Centre for Cinematography (CNC).
Shooting got underway three weeks ago and will wrap up at the start of May. The film will be shot almost entirely in Porto, apart from a few days in Lisbon.
Alfama Films are handling international sales and French distribution is still under negotiation.
(Translated from French)
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