11/03/2008

Final preparations are underway before shooting begins in Corsica on March 25 on the French/German co-production Joueuse (“Player”).

This debut feature by Caroline Bottaro has an impressive cast that includes French actress Sandrine Bonnaire and US actor Kevin Kline (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1989 and recently starred in Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion).

Adapted from the novel The Chess Player by German writer Bertina Henrichs, the film tells the story of a cleaning lady who discovers a chessboard in a hotel room occupied by an American couple who are enthusiasts of the game. Discovering her own intense passion for chess, the young woman assuages her desire despite numerous pitfalls and becomes obsessively engrossed in the game of strategies and manipulation.

Bottaro has written three films for Jean-Pierre Améris and attracted attention as the director of a film short in 1995 (La mère starring Nathalie Baye). The filmmaker previously crossed paths with Bonnaire for the 2001 film C'est la vie (“That’s Life”), which Bottaro co-wrote.

Originally developed by Charles Gassot, the Joueuse project was then taken up by Dominique Besnehard for Mon Voisin Productions. The film also has co-production support from Germanys’ Blueprint Film (25% investment), €300,000 in financial backing from Eurimages, almost €500,000 from the co-production fund born of the French-German mini-treaty and an advance on receipts from the National Centre for Cinematography (CNC).

The seven-week shoot will take place in Corsica, notably in Cargese, and in Paris. Domestic distribution will be handled by StudioCanal.

(Translated from French)