12/11/2024 - Soufiane Guerrab, Emma Boumali and Vimala Pons are among the cast of the filmmaker’s first fiction feature, which is being produced by Unité

Actors Soufiane Guerrab (© Georges Biard), Emma Boumali and Vimala Pons (© Georges Biard)

Since last month, Syrine Boulanouar has been in the Paris region shooting Bombonera, his fiction feature debut, following the documentary Wandering Stars (which he co-directed with Nekfeu).

Standing out among the cast are Soufiane Guerrab (popular in such films as A Brighter Tomorrow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Souheila Yacoub
film profile], Promises [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Kruithof
film profile], Step by Step [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and the series Lupin), Emma Boumali (who turned heads earlier this year in The Good Teacher [+see also:
film review
film profile]) and Vimala Pons (nominated for the Lumière Award for Best New Actress in 2014 for The Rendez-Vous of Déjà-Vu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], also putting on strong performances in Vincent Must Die [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphan Castang
film profile], Elle [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Wild Boys [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Mandico
film profile], and due to grace screens in Le beau role from 18 December, in Mikado from 5 February and in The Ties That Bind Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carine Tardieu
film profile] from 19 February).

Written by the director together with Karim Boukercha (The World Is Yours [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Romain Gavras
film profile]), the story revolves around Enzo, a homeless con man who orchestrates scam after scam by taking advantage of young football prodigies. During the selection process to choose players to take part in a major street football tournament in his stadium, he glimpses a huge opportunity in the guise of 14-year-old Lisa, a young lady who is determined to become the first girl to play on a boys’ team.

Produced by Bruno Nahon and Thomas Morvan for Unité, Bombonera has been pre-purchased by Netflix and has secured the support of the CNC’s advance on receipts and the Sofitvciné Sofica. The 30-day shoot is taking place in the Paris region, with Fabio Caldironi serving as the DoP. The French distribution and international sales details will be announced at a later date.

As a reminder, Unité recently staged The Story of Souleymane [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Boris Lojkine
film profile] by Boris Lojkine (which won two awards in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard), the documentary The Belle from Gaza [+see also:
film review
interview: Yolande Zauberman
film profile] by Yolande Zaubeman (also unveiled at Cannes last May) and the series Rematch (which came out on top at Series Mania), while it currently has À voix basse by Leyla Bouzid in post-production.

(Translated from French)