26/09/2023 - Undercover policing is at the heart of this first feature film - produced by Ex Nihilo and Mean Streets, and sold by Charades - whose cast is led by the director himself

Lawrence Valin has been in Paris shooting his debut feature film Little Jaffna since 18 September. A graduate of La Fémis’ La Résidence programme, the filmmaker-actor attracted a great deal of attention via his short films, the most recent of which, The Loyal Man, won him an acting prize in Clermont-Ferrand in 2020. Valin also toplines his latest opus, whose entire cast is French-Tamil and includes Puviraj Raveendram, Vela Ramamoorthy and Kawsie Chandran, among others.

Written by Lawrence Valin, Marlène Poste (the director’s usual partner in crime), Malysone Bovorasmy (nominated for 2021’s Best Screenplay César and Lumière trophies via Two Of Us [+see also:
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Little Jaffna is being produced by Marc Bordure on behalf of Ex Nihilo and by Simon Bleuzé for Mean Streets, in co-production with France 2 Cinéma. Pre-purchased by Canal+, Ciné+ and France Télévisions, the feature film also enjoys support from the CNC (via an advance on receipts and aid from the Images de la diversité fund), the Gan Film Foundation and the SOFICA company Cineaxe. The project featured within the annual selections of Groupe Ouest, the Grand Nord Workshop (Sodec) and the Angers Workshops. The 38-day film shoot will take place in Paris and the Ile-de-France region until 9 November, with Maxence Lemonnier heading up photography. Distribution in  France will be steered by Zinc and international sales by Charades.

For the record, Agat Films are also overseeing filming on La Pie voleuse by Robert Guédiguian (read our article) and Une affaire de principe by Antoine Raimbault (article – produced in league with Memento Films Productions), not to mention production on Michel Hazanavicius’ animated movie The Most Precious of Cargos. Their post-production works include Eat the Night by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, La Pampa by Antoine Chevrollier, Moi vivant, vous ne serez jamais morts by Baptiste Debraux (article) and En fanfare by Emmanuel Courcol (article), without forgetting 5 hectares [+see also:
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(Translated from French)