16/11/2009

Discovered with her debut feature Ain’t Scared [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (unveiled in the Berlinale Forum 2008), young director Audrey Estrougo (26) started shooting her second work, Toi, moi, les autres, in Paris on October 19.

This political musical comedy stars Leïla Bekhti (A Prophet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile]), Benjamin Siksou (who was a finalist on the TV programme “Nouvelle Star” in 2008 and attracted attention on the big screen as the teenager in Largo Winch [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Cécile Cassel (Romance of Astrea and Celadon [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), alongside Marie-Sohna Condé, Djianis Douzyani and Chantal Lauby.

Co-written by the director and Juliette Sales (Not Here To Be Loved [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Toi, moi, les autres tells the story of a complicated love affair against a backdrop of illegal immigration.

"I don’t think telling and filming love stories is really my thing. But, when I thought about the way I could combine my convictions and the musical form, it seemed so exciting that I couldn’t refuse," explained Estrougo during the film’s preparation.

"And the fact that the characters sing when talking about a serious social problem, illegal immigration, well, that’s ambitious," added the director, who said she was inspired to make a musical comedy in the same vein as Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe.

Toi, moi, les autres is produced by Olivier Delbosc and Marc Missonnier for Fidélité Films for around €6.6m. The budget includes co-production support from Mars Films and Wild Bunch, who will handle French distribution (in summer 2010) and international sales, respectively. Scheduled to last 45 days, shooting will wrap on December 20.

Fidélité Films is currently enjoying box office success with Laurent Tirard’s Little Nicolas [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (4.7m admissions in six weeks). The company’s slate also includes Grégoire Vigneron’s thriller Immaculate (see news), in post-production, and Nicolas Cuche’s comedy La Chance de Ma Vie (“The Chance of My Life”), which is currently shooting.

On the co-production side, two titles in post-production stand out: Scottish director Peter Mullan’s Neds and Antoine Charreyron’s The Prodigies (see news).

(Translated from French)