Jean-Bernard Marlin shooting Sonny et ses frères
- The new feature by the filmmaker who made his name with Shéhérazade stars Tahar Rahim and Louis Memmi, is spearheaded by Curiosa and Vatos Locos, and is set to be sold by Pathé
Filming kicked off on 12 October on Sonny et ses frères, the third feature film by Jean-Bernard Marlin after Shéhérazade (screened in Cannes’ Critics’ Week and the winner of three César Awards in 2019, including Best First Film) and Salem (Cannes Un Certain Regard).
Heading up the cast are Tahar Rahim (awarded the César for Best Actor for A Prophet and nominated for Monsieur Aznavour, seen this year in Les Misérables and hitting screens next year in L’incident and Les petites peurs) and Louis Memmi (who burst onto the scene in Borgo and who’s hitting cinemas next year in L’une des leurs).
Penned by the director and Valentine Monteil, the screenplay follows Sonny (Louis Memmi) - who was abandoned at birth - as he infiltrates the fairground community to get closer to his father, Marco (Tahar Rahim), who’s a former stunt star and whom he has never met. One night, the fairground world is rocked by the disappearance of Marco’s legitimate son and designated heir, Dawson. As suspicion and paranoia take hold within the community, Sonny sets out to take his missing brother’s place…
Sonny et ses frères is produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films and by Marine Bergère, Romain Daubeach and Jean-Bernard Marlin for Vatos Locos Productions, in co-production with France 2 Cinéma and Pathé (who will handle distribution in France and international sales). Pre-purchased by Disney+, Prime Video and France Télévisions, the feature film also enjoys support in the form of a CNC advance on receipts and backing from the SOFICA company Cinémage. The shoot will mainly take place in Essonne, with a wrap date set for 4 December and with Belgian Ruben Impens (nominated for the Best Cinematography César via Titane and for a David di Donatello trophy thanks to The Eight Mountains) as director of photography.
For the record, Curiosa Films are currently overseeing post-production on Les quatre rendez-vous de Françoise by Sandrine Kiberlain (read our article), while Marine Bergère and Romain Daubeach have just wrapped shooting on Wake Up by Laurent Lafitte (article) via their other company, Mamma Roman, and are set to wrap La fête est finie by Jean-Christophe Meurisse on 23 October (article).
(Translated from French)
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