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PRODUCTION France

Katell Quillévéré gets stuck into The Heart

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- With a first-rate cast in place, the shoot is about to kick off for the third feature by the filmmaker, who impressed at Cannes; it is produced by Les Films du Bélier and Les Films Pelléas

Katell Quillévéré gets stuck into The Heart
Director Katell Quillévéré

The first clapperboard will slam on Tuesday 29 September for the third feature by Katell Quillévéré: The Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile
]
. After the head turners Love Like Poison [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(revealed in the Directors’ Fortnight in 2010, winning the Jean Vigo Prize the same year) and Suzanne [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile
]
(selected in the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2013, nominated five times for the Césars in 2014 – including in the Best Screenplay category – with the Best Supporting Actress Award into the bargain), the 35-year-old filmmaker is trying her hand at her first adaptation with the successful novel Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal and a top-notch cast: Canadian actress Anne Dorval (who won a host of awards for her performance in Mommy), Emmanuelle Seigner (nominated for the César Award for Best Actress in 2014 for Venus in Fur [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roman Polanski
film profile
]
), Tahar Rahim (César Award for Best Actor in 2010 for A Prophet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile
]
, popular in such titles as The Past [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and Grand Central [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile
]
, in theatres from 11 November in Les anarchistes [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), rapper Kool Shen (Abuse of Weakness [+see also:
trailer
interview: Catherine Breillat
film profile
]
), Belgium’s Bouli Lanners (Rust & Bone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile
]
, Lulu in the Nude [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), Quebec-born actress Monia Chokri (Laurence Anyways [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, All Yours [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: David Lambert
film profile
]
), Dominique Blanc (Best Actress at Venice in 2008 for The Other One [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Alice Taglioni (currently appearing on screens in Premiers crus [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), Karim Leklou (Heatwave [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), Alice de Lencquesaing (nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 2013 for In a Rush [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Finnegan Oldfield (a real revelation this year in Les Cowboys [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, The Wakhan Front [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and Bang Gang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Husson
film profile
]
) and Théo Cholbi (Marguerite [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Giannoli
film profile
]
).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Written by Katell Quillévéré together with Gilles Taurand (winner of the César Award for Best Screenplay in 1995 and nominated five times since then, including in 2013 for Farewell My Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benoît Jacquot
film profile
]
), the story begins among the waves, with three teenagers who are surfing at daybreak. Several hours later, as they are on their way back home, they have an accident. Simon is already brain-dead when he gets to A&E at the hospital. Having to depend on machines from now on, his life is nothing more than a delusion. And so it becomes necessary to find the words to persuade his parents, wallowing in the depths of suffering, to agree to donate their son’s organs. The removal of Simon’s heart then takes the form of a race against time. In a Paris hospital, a woman who will never know anything about her saviour waits for the godsend of a transplant that may be able to prolong her life…

Produced by Justin Taurand (a European Film Promotion Producer on the Move in 2011, who has such titles as Love Like Poison and Vandal [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
to his credit) for Les Films du Bélier and David Thion for Les Films Pelléas (which is currently staging the shoot for La prunelle de mes yeux [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Axelle Ropert – read the article), The Heart is being co-produced by Belgian outfit Frakas Productions (Jean-Yves Roubin). Also featuring among the co-producers are France 2 Cinéma, Mars Films (which will distribute the movie in France), ISF Cinéma, Ezekiel Film Production and RTBF. Having also been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film is backed by the Ile-de-France and Upper Normandy regions, as well as by the La Banque Postale Image and Manon Soficas. The 45-day shoot will continue until 3 December in Le Havre, Paris and the Paris region. International sales will be handled by Films Distribution.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

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