25/04/2025 - Stanislas Merhar, Roxane Mesquida and Rehin Hollant will star in this production steered by Sombrero Films in league with Les Films Fauves and Frakas, and sold by WTFilms

Actor Stanislas Merhar (© Unifrance) and actress Roxane Mesquida (© Mary Rozzi/Unifrance)

Monday 2 June will see shooting commence on Jésus-Léopard, the 4th feature film by Patrick-Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic after Dancing (Tribeca 2003), The Other One [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (which competed in Venice 2008 and scooped a Best Actress prize) and Blind Spot [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (screened in Cannes’ ACID section in 2019 and nominated for the Louis-Delluc Prize that same year).

Revolving around a hypnotist who falls in love with someone not necessarily made for him, the film stars Stanislas Merhar (nominated for 1998’s Best Newcomer César and recently well-received in Fanon [+see also:
film review
interview: Jean-Claude Barny, Alexandr…
film profile] and Being Maria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Palud
film profile]), Roxane Mesquida (primarily known for Fat Girl and The Last Mistress [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], at her best last year in Fotogenico [+see also:
film review
film profile] and soon to be seen in Cannes in Que ma volonté soit faite) and Rehin Hollant (revealed in If It Were Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Patric Chiha
film profile]).

Written by the directorial duo themselves (for the record, Pierre Trividic scooped the Best Adapted Screenplay César in 2007 for Lady Chatterley [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and was nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category in 1999 via Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train), the story centres on Dylan who has an extraordinary gift for healing but who refuses to turn a profit from it, out of shyness. Because of this, his best and only friend, Jessica, mocks him. But Dylan isn’t interested in money: he wants to experience true love. And love presents itself to him unannounced when Jessica entrusts her mortally wounded friend to him...

Produced by Alain Benguigui on behalf of Parisian firm Sombrero Films in co-production with Luxembourg outfit Les Films Fauves and Belgian firm Frakas Productions, Jésus-Léopard has been pre-purchased by Ciné+/OCS and enjoys support in the form of an advance on receipts from the CNC, as well as backing from the Brittany region, from Film Fund Luxembourg and from the SOFICA company Cinécap. The 22-day film shoot will unfold between 2 June and 5 July in Luxembourg and Belgium with Jako Raybaut heading up photography. World sales will be steered by WTFilms and distribution in French cinemas by Le Pacte.

(Translated from French)