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PRODUCTION France

Huppert, Bourgoin, Gedeck and Pauline Etienne star in La Religieuse

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Next January, Guillaume Nicloux (A Private Affair, Hanging Offense, Holiday [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) will start shooting on his ninth feature, La Religieuse (“The Nun”), an adaptation of Diderot’s novel The Nun, which was published in 1796 and was previously brought to the big screen in 1965 by Jacques Rivette.

This French/Belgian/German co-production will have a stellar cast including French actresses Isabelle Huppert (pictured – on screens from November 9 in My Worst Nightmare) and Louise Bourgoin (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec [+see also:
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film profile
]
and currently on screens in A Happy Event [+see also:
trailer
interview: Rémi Bezançon
film profile
]
), young Belgian thesp Pauline Etienne (nominated for the Best Female Newcomer César 2010 for Silent Voices [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Qu'un seul tienne et les au…
film profile
]
and acclaimed in Black Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gilles Marchand, director o…
film profile
]
) and German star Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile
]
, The Baader Meinhof Complex [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
).

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Co-scripted by Nicloux and Jérôme Beaujour, the film charts the rebellion and tragic fate of Suzanne Simonin (Etienne), a charming young woman from a bourgeois family who is cloistered away in a convent against her will after discovering she is an illegitimate child (Gedeck plays her mother).

She receives some comfort from the Mother Superior, but the latter dies and is replaced by a sadistic woman (Bourgoin) who never stops bullying Suzanne. So the young woman tries everything to get her vows annulled and is transferred to another convent where she is cloaked in the dubious affection of another Mother Superior (Huppert). Meanwhile, Suzanne plans her escape.

Produced by Sylvie Pialat for Les Films du Worso, La Religieuse has co-production support from France 3 Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Belgium’s Versus and Germany (Nicole Ringhut). Pre-bought by Canal + and Ciné+, the film will be shot in Germany (near Stuttgart) and in the Rhône-Alpes region (not far from Aix-les-Bains).

The film’s score will be composed by Max Richter (Waltz With Bashir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Sarah’s Key [+see also:
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trailer
film profile
]
, Take This Waltz [+see also:
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film profile
]
). The title will be distributed in Belgium by O’Brother and in France by Le Pacte, which is also handling international sales.

On December 7, Les Films du Worso will launch Laurent Achard’s Last Screening [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(see news), which was unveiled in competition at Locarno (distribution: Epicentre Films). In post-production, the company also has Alexandra Leclère’s Maman (“Mum”, see news) and Belgian director Joachim Lafosse’s co-production Our Children.

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(Translated from French)

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