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PRODUCTION France

Shooting starts on Hustache-Mathieu’s thriller Poupoupidou

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Shooting starts today in Mouthe, France’s coldest city, on Gérald Hustache-Mathieu’s second feature: Poupoupidou.

The director, who garnered multiple awards for his shorts and acclaim for his debut feature April In Love [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(2006), is this time trying his hand at a detective film. The cast includes Jean-Paul Rouve (The Easy Way [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), Sophie Quinton (nominated for the Best Female Newcomer César 2004 for Who Killed Bambi?) and Guillaume Gouix (Jimmy Rivière).

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Written by the director in collaboration with Juliette Sales, the film centres on successful thriller writer David Rousseau (Rouve), who has been suffering from writer’s block for four years. He visits Mouthe to claim an inheritance that turns out to be paltry.

But he is intrigued by the death of local star Candice Lecoeur (Quinton), dubbed the "Belle of Jura". The young woman, who advertised a well-known cheese and presents the weather on regional TV, is found dead in the no man’s land between the French and Swiss borders.

Rousseau decides to investigate with the help of a young policeman (Gouix), who doesn’t believe in the official suicide explanation either. A disturbing discovery is soon made: during a hypnotic regression session with her psychologist, Candice apparently relived experiences from a past life when she was… Marilyn Monroe!

Poupoupidou is produced by Isabelle Madelaine for Dharamsala (who have backed the director since the start of his career and also enjoyed success in theatres at the end of 2008 with Lyes Salem’s Masquerades). The €4m budget includes €470,000 in co-production support and pre-sales from France 2 Cinéma, pre-sales from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma, as well as backing from the Franche-Comté and Ile-de-France regions (€303,000), where shooting will take place until March 31.

Diaphana Distribution will manage French distribution, while international sales are still under negotiation.

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(Translated from French)

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