23/07/2024 - The directorial feature debut by Camille Lugan, staged by Barney Production, will be world-premiered in the Giornate degli Autori

Having been trained in the screenplay department of La Fémis and directed the short film La persistente (2018 Cannes Critics’ Week), Camille Lugan is now set to unveil her feature debut, The Book of Joy [+see also:
film review
interview: Camille Lugan
film profile], in the Giornate degli Autori, organised as an integral part of the 81st Venice Film Festival (28 August-7 September 2024).

Standing out among the cast are Sonia Bonny (giving a strong performance in Marguerite’s Theorem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Novion
film profile]), Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zhdanov (class of 2022-2023 at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts), Italy’s Asia Argento (David di Donatello Award for Best Actress in 1994 and 1997, seen recently in the Cannes title Queens of Drama [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Raphaël Thiéry (very popular in The Dreamer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anaïs Tellenne
film profile] and Scarlet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile], and set to grace screens soon in Le domaine), Julien Drion (who turned heads in Rosalie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and the series Polar Park), Belgium’s Damien Chapelle (Angry Annie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Don Juan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Serge Bozon
film profile]), Burkinabé actor Wabinlé Nabié (The Big Hit [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Our Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Ahmet Zirek (Chateau Life) and Grégoire Colin (popular on the Croisette in May this year in Meeting With Pol Pot [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Across the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
film profile]).

The story, written by Camille Lugan (Ibrahim [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Amore mio [+see also:
film review
film profile]) and Salvatore Lista (Eat Your Bones [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], The Path of Excellence [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Meteorites [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), unfolds in a In a dull, desolate town. Joy (27) is an orphan who lives her faith with intensity and almost never leaves her church. Until the day she meets Andriy, a young man who gets beaten up in front of her. Soon, she becomes convinced their paths were meant to cross…

Produced by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi for Barney Production, The Book of Joy has been backed by the Normandy region and will be distributed in French theatres by The Jokers Films.

As a reminder, Barney Productions has recently produced titles such as Hounds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kamal Lazraq
film profile] by Kamal Lazraq (Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes in 2023), Deserts [+see also:
film review
interview: Faouzi Bensaïdi
film profile] by Faouzi Bensaïdi (2023 Directors’ Fortnight), Across the Sea by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi (Critics’ Week at this year’s Cannes) and Cabo Negro [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Abdellah Taïa (Proxima Competition at the 58th Karlovy Vary IFF).

(Translated from French)