30/06/2025 - Pio Marmaï, Anaïs Demoustier, Gilles Lellouche, Vimala Pons and Gustave Kervern star in the cast of this Les Films Pelléas production sold by Goodfellas

Actor Pio Marmaï (© Kacy Bao) and actress Anaïs Demoustier (© 2022 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa - fadege.it, @fadege.it)

Pierre Salvadori (particularly acclaimed for The Trouble With You [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Salvadori
film profile], which was unveiled in Directors’ Week 2018 and nominated for 2019’s Best Film César, among other awards) has been shooting his 11th feature film, La Vénus électrique, since 26 May.

Stand-out names in the cast include Pio Marmaï (nominated for the 2019 and 2022 Best Actor Césars thanks to The Trouble With You and The Divide [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catherine Corsini
film profile], and for the Best Supporting Actor trophy in 2023 and 2024 via Rise [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Yannick [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and hitting French cinemas on 27 August in No One Will Know [+see also:
film review
film profile]), Anaïs Demoustier (awarded 2020’s Best Actress César thanks to Alice and the Mayor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Pariser
film profile], nominated Best Supporting Actress three times, including this year via The Count of Monte-Cristo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) and Gilles Lellouche (nominated for the 2019 and 2022 Best Actors Césars via In Safe Hands [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Stronghold [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and touring cinemas from 15 October in Chien 51). They’re joined by Vimala Pons (nominated for 2014’s Best Newcomer Lumière via The Rendez-Vous of Déjà Vu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], recently at her best in Mikado [+see also:
film review
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interview: Baya Kasmi, Félix Moati
film profile] and Vincent Must Die [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphan Castang
film profile], among other works) and Gustave Kervern (reuniting with the director following In the Courtyard [+see also:
trailer
interview: Philippe Martin
film profile] and hitting cinemas on 24 September via The Man Who Saw the Bear).

Written by the director in league with Benoît Graffin and Benjamin Charbit (the winning trio who scooped the 2019 Best Screenplay Lumière for The Trouble With You), the story takes us to Paris in the early 20th century. Convinced that he’s responsible for his wife’s death, in-vogue painter Antoine Balestro just can’t get back to work, to the despair of gallery owner Armand. One drunken evening, seeking forgiveness, Antoine tries to make contact with Irène by way of a medium. But he unwittingly finds himself dealing with a humble street entertainer called Suzanne who doesn’t know anything about the afterlife, having only snuck into the clairvoyant’s caravan to steal some food…

La Vénus électrique is being produced by Philippe Martin and David Thion on behalf of Les Films Pelléas (who’ve teamed up with Salvadori on all of his feature films since Wild Target in 1993), in co-production with France 2 Cinéma and Belgium’s Versus Production. Pre-purchased by Canal+, Ciné+/OCS and France Télévisions, the feature film also enjoys support in the form of an advance on receipts from the CNC, as well as from the Ile-de-France region, Wallimage, Pio & Co, and the SOFICA companies Cinéaxe, Cinécap, Indéfilms and Palatine. The movie’s ten-week film shoot will continue in Belgium (in Liège and the surrounding area), Paris and the Paris region until 1 August, with Julien Poupard (nominated for the 2020 and 2023 Césars in his speciality via Les Misérables [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ladj Ly
film profile] and Forever Young [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
film profile]) heading up cinematography. World sales are steered by Goodfellas and distribution in French cinemas by Diaphana.

For the record, Les Films Pelléas previously produced the 2025 and 2023 Palmes d’Or winners It Was Just An Accident [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jafar Panahi and Anatomy of a Fall [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Justine Triet
film profile] by Justine Triet, among other works. They’re currently overseeing post-production on La vie d’une femme by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet (toplined by Léa Drucker) and preparing If Love Should Die by Mia Hansen-Love.

(Translated from French)