Valérie Lemercier shoots 100% cachemire

by Fabien Lemercier

09/07/2012 - Since July 2, filming has been in full swing for Valérie Lemercier's fourth feature, Franco-Belgian co-production 100% cachemire (lit. "100% cashmere"). Once again, the director is acting in her own film, as in her previous opus Royal Palace! (2.7 million admissions in France in 2005) that earned her a Cesar nomination for best actress and Catherine Deneuve one for best supporting actress in 2006.

100% cachemire, a comedy about adoption, is to star the filmmaker and actress (who will also appear this autumn in Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia) alongside Gilles Lellouche (nominated for a Cesar for best supporting actor last year for Little White Lies [trailer] and who recently appeared at Cannes in Thérèse Desqueyroux [trailer]), young actor Samatin Pendev, Marina Foïs (nominated this year for a Cesar for best actress for Polisse [trailer, film focus]), Bruno Podalydès (Granny's Funeral [trailer]), and Chantal Ladesou.

Written by Valérie Lemercier, the screenplay tells the story of Aleksandra and Cyrille, a prominent, trendy, and very well-off Parisian couple, whose life is not quite the same after seven-year-old Alekseï from Russia suddenly pops up in their 100% cashmere, childless home. Aleksandra soon realises that this little boy they have adopted is not quite what she had been hoping for...

Produced by Rectangle Productions, 100% cachemire is co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, M6 Film, Wild Bunch, De l'Huile, and the Belgian Scope Pictures, and has benefitted from pre-acquisitions from Canal+, Ciné+, France 4, and W9, as well as the support of Palatine Etoile and Cinémage. Filming, to last ten weeks, will essentially be in and around Paris, with a few days of shooting in Savoie, Italy, and Russia. Wild Bunch is to be in charge of the film's distribution in France as well as its sales abroad.

Rectangle Productions currently has two films in post-production, Superstar by Xavier Giannoli (read more - out in France on August 29 and most likely going to the Venice Film Festival) and Hand in Hand by Valérie Donzelli (read more - out on December 12), while Le Temps de l'aventure by Jérôme Bonnell (article) is about to finish shooting.

(Translated from French)