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PRODUCTION / FUNDING France / Canada

Robert Guédiguian is preparing his new film Twist à Bamako

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- Filming will begin on 24 February in Africa on the 22nd feature from the Marseilles-born filmmaker. Produced by Agat Films & Cie and sold by mk2 Films

Robert Guédiguian is preparing his new film Twist à Bamako
Director Robert Guédiguian

Although he very rarely works with performers outside of a the small circle of actors he has cast since the very beginning of his long career, Robert Guédiguian will try something completely different in Mali Twist [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, his 22nd feature (which will begin filming on 24 February). Featuring a totally different cast, the film will also be set in the 1960s and take place in Africa. The cast will be led by Alicia Da Luz Gomes, Stéphane Bak (well received in The Mercy of the Jungle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joël Karekezi
film profile
]
and noticed in Farewell to the Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: André Téchiné
film profile
]
and Elle [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) and Burkina Faso actor Isaka Sawadogo (seen in White People [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and The Paradise Suite [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) who will be supported by Saabo Balde, Ahmed Dramé (nominated for the Most Promising Actor César award in 2015 for Once in a Lifetime [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), Bakary Diombera, Ben Sultan and Alassane Gueye.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Written by Robert Guédiguian together with Gilles Taurand (winner of the Best Screenplay César award in 1995 and nominated six times more since; collaborating with the director for the 4th time), the script begins in Bamako, in 1960. Samba, a young socialist activist, meets Lara, fleeing a forced marriage imposed by her family. They meet in one of Bamako’s many dance clubs and swear never to leave each other. But Samba begins to oppose some of the decisions made by his higher-ups and things soon get out of control...

For the record, Robert Guédiguian was selected in competition in Cannes in 2002 with the film Marie-Jo and Her 2 Lovers, in Berlin in 2005 and 2008 with The Walker of the Champ de Mars and Lady Jane [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, in Venice in 2017 with The House by the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Robert Guédiguian
film profile
]
and in 2019 with Gloria Mundi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Robert Guédiguian
film profile
]
, in San Sebastián with Where the Heart Is (Special Jury Prize) in 1998 and My Father Is an Engineer in 2004. In Cannes, he also screened out of competition Army of Crime [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
in 2009, The Snows of Kilimandjaro [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Robert Guédiguian
interview: Robert Guédiguian
film profile
]
in Un Certain Regard in 2011, and Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
in a special screening in 2015.

Produced by Marc Bordure and Robert Guédiguian for Agat Films & Cie, Twist à Bamako will be co-produced by France 3 Cinéma, Canal+ Overseas and most likely by Canadian company Peripheria, with negotiations currently at an advanced stage. Pre-bought by France 3, Canal+, Ciné+ and Canal+ Overseas, the feature is also supported by, among others, the advance on receipts from the CNC. The nine weeks of filming will be taking place in Senegal and in Paris with Pierre Milon as director of photography. French distribution will be handled by Diaphana and international sales by mk2 Films.

Agat Films & Ex Nihilo will soon unveil in Berlin, in the Panorama and Berlinale Special sections respectively, the documentaries Little Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sébastien Lifshitz
film profile
]
by Sébastien Lifshitz and Golda Maria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Patrick Sobelman and Hugo S…
film profile
]
by Patrick and Hugo Sobelman. The Parisian company also features, in its post-production slate, Emmanuel Courcol’s The Big Hit (read the news), Hiner Saleem’s Goodnight, Soldier and the documentary Pingouin & Goéland et leurs 300 petits [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Michel Leclerc.

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(Translated from French)

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