17/03/2025 - Sandrine Bonnaire, Nailia Harzoune, Simon Abkarian, Louis Peres and Sonia Bonny also star in Gonzague Legout’s first feature, produced by Bright Lights Films and sold by WTFilms

Since 10 March, Gonzague Legout has been shooting his debut feature film, Le lièvre. Having previously turned heads with his short films Of Men and Mice (selected for the Unifrance Short Film Prize in 2016) and Il y a beaucoup de lumière ici (awarded the Gérardmer Grand Prize in 2023), the director’s leading man, on this occasion, is Dali Benssalah (particularly acclaimed for his part in Athena [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Romain Gavras
film profile] and La Traviata, My Brothers and I [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and hitting cinemas on 26 March in The Islanders [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and in August in Les orphelins).

The cast also stars Sandrine Bonnaire (recently seen in Finalement [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Soul Eater), Nailia Harzoune (seen in Bonjour Tristesse [+see also:
film review
film profile] and in the series Grace of Heaven), Simon Abkarian (recently starring in The Fourth Wall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Oelhoffen
film profile] and soon to be seen leading the cast of the two-parter De Gaulle), Louis Peres (For Night Will Come [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Céline Rouzet
film profile]) and Sonia Bonny (The Book of Joy [+see also:
film review
interview: Camille Lugan
film profile]).

The story was written by the director and revolves around a character called Ian. A pacemaker for a long-distance running champion who continually humiliates him, Ian decides to take part in a secret race whose participants run to the point of exhaustion and where stopping is tantamount to signing your own death warrant. It’s an incredible adventure which will help him to push himself to his limits and face up to the wounds of his past…

Le lièvre is being produced by Bright Lights Films in co-production with Same Player, KissFilms, Particles Films, Enable Prod. and Kobayashi Prod.. The movie has been pre-purchased by Netflix and France Télévisions, and enjoys further backing from Pictanovo. The six-week film shoot will continue until 18 April in the Hauts-de-France and Île-de-France regions, with Jean-Marie Delorme heading up photography. World sales will be steered by WTFilms while the film’s release in French cinemas falls to UFO Distribution.

(Translated from French)