24/08/2020 - Alex Lutz, Agnès Jaoui, Veerle Baetens, Hafsia Herzi and Marie Berto star in this production handled by Maneki Films and Arches Films, with Versus in co-production, sold by Playtime

Final stretch for the filming of À l’ombre des filles [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the second feature from Étienne Comar following Django [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Etienne Comar
film profile] (which opened the Berlinale Competition in 2017). The cast includes Alex Lutz (winner of the 2019 César and Lumières awards for Best Actor for Guy [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; in cinemas on 18 November in 5 [+see also:
trailer
film profile]^e [+see also:
trailer
film profile] set [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Agnès Jaoui (winner of the Best Supporting Actress César award in 1998 and nominated in that same category in 1997, 2001 and 2016 ; she has just been filming Compagnons), Belgian actress Veerle Baetens (winner of the 2013 European Film Award for Best Actress for The Broken Circle Breakdown [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen
interview: Felix Van Groeningen
interview: Felix Van Groeningen
film profile], also well-received in Mothers' Instinct [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olivier Masset-Depasse
film profile] and In the Name of the Land [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Hafsia Herzi (appreciated in her feature debut as director, You Deserve a Lover [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hafsia Herzi
film profile], both behind and in front of the camera; soon in Sœurs and Madame Claude) and Belgian actress Marie Berto (Grand Central [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile]).

Written by the director (who also co-wrote Of Gods and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Beauvois
film profile] and My King [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), the script centres on Luc, a renowned lyric singer, who agrees to give singing lessons in a women's prison. Reluctant at first, Carole, Jeannine, Noor, Jess, Marzena and Catherine soon get Luc’s full attention as he tries to contain their strong and unpredictable temperaments just as the prison undergoes disturbances. How will he manage to keep them in harmony? Will he be able to make them experience a new kind of freedom through singing? And at what cost ?

Produced by Didar Domehri for Maneki Films and Étienne Comar for Arches Films, À l’ombre des filles is co-produced by Belgian company Versus Productions (Jacques-Henri Bronckart and Gwenaëlle Libert), and counts among its partners the Soficas Manon and SG Image, Canal+, Ciné+, the RTBF, Proximus and Be TV. It also benefits from the support of Wallimage and Inver Tax Shelter. For the record, the project was developed with the support of the CNC’s development grant, of the ANGOA and of Indéfilms Initiative. The film will be distributed in France by Ad Vitam, and in Belgium by O’Brother Distribution. International sales will be handled by Playtime.

For the record, the post-production slate of Maneki Films currently features Santiago Mitre’s 15 Ways to Kill Your Neighbour [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Memory House [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] from Brazilian director João Paulo Miranda Maria, recipient of the 2020 Official Selection Cannes Label and which will have its world premiere at the 45^th Toronto International Film Festival (10 - 19 September) in the Discovery section, before playing in the New Directors competition of the 68^th San Sebastian Film Festival (18 - 26 September).

(Translated from French)