Since 28 September, Amine Adjina has been shooting his debut feature, La petite cuisine de Mehdi, in Lyon. Hailing from the theatre world and a graduate of La Fémis’s 2021 screenplay workshop, the neo-filmmaker has chosen as his lead actors Younès Boucif (well-received in The Rapture [+lee también:
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entrevista: Iris Kaltenbäck
ficha de la película], Magnetic Beats [+lee también:
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entrevista: Vincent Maël Cardona
ficha de la película], Shepherds [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] and the series Standing Up), Clara Bretheau (revealed in Forever Young [+lee también:
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entrevista: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
ficha de la película] and hitting screens next year in Le Répondeur) and Hiam Abbass (nominated for the 2008 European Film Award for Best Actress via Lemon Tree [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] and for the 2018 Lumière in the same category thanks to In Syria [+lee también:
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entrevista: Philippe Van Leeuw
ficha de la película], recently at her very best in the Succession series, among other works).

Joining them are Gustave Kervern (In the Courtyard [+lee también:
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entrevista: Philippe Martin
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ficha de la película]), Laurent Stocker (nominated for the Best Supporting Role and Best Newcomer Césars in 2008, very well-received recently in Plastic Guns [+lee también:
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entrevista: Jean-Christophe Meurisse
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Written by the director, the story revolves around Mehdi who’s struggling to play the part of the perfect Algerian son in front of his mother Fatima whilst also throwing himself into his passion for French cuisine and wine in a bistro. And that’s without mentioning his sisters’ various problems and his nephew’s thwarted circumcision. So when his partner of two years Léa, who’s sick and tired of his family shenanigans, takes things up a notch, Mehdi implodes. She wants to meet his mother. Right now! Mehdi has his back to the wall, and he stumbles across the worst possible solution…

La petite cuisine de Mehdi is being produced by Nicolas Blanc on behalf of Ex Nihilo, in co-production with Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma. Pre-purchased by OCS and HBO Max, the feature film also enjoys support from the Sud region and the SOFICA company Cofimage. The 29-day film shoot, which will unfold in Lyon with Sébastien Goepfert (La nouvelle femme [+lee también:
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entrevista: Léa Todorov
ficha de la película], Une histoire d’amour et de désir [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]) heading up photography, is set to wrap on 7 November. International sales and distribution in France are both steered by Pyramide.

For the record, Agat Films & Ex Nihilo unveiled The Most Precious of Cargoes [+lee también:
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entrevista: Michel Hazanavicius
ficha de la película] by Michel Hazanavicius (due for release in France on 20 November) at the most recent Cannes Film Festival, alongside The Marching Band [+lee también:
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entrevista: Emmanuel Courcol
ficha de la película] by Emmanuel Courcol (in French cinemas on 27 November), Holy Cow [+lee también:
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entrevista: Louise Courvoisier
ficha de la película] by Louise Courvoisier (awarded the Youth Prize in the Un Certain Regard section – to be released in France on 11 December), Block Pass [+lee también:
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entrevista: Antoine Chevrollier
ficha de la película] by Antoine Chevrollier (in France from 5 February 2025) and Eat the Night [+lee también:
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entrevista: Caroline Poggi y Jonathan …
ficha de la película] by Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, while Little Jaffna [+lee también:
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entrevista: Lawrence Valin
ficha de la película] by Lawrence Valin was recently screened at the Venice Film Festival. The firm is also currently overseeing post-production on La Pie voleuse by Robert Guédiguian (due for release in France on 29 January 2025), Bonjour l’asile [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Judith Davis (in France from 26 February 2025) and Nous toutes by Michel Leclerc (starring Léa Drucker, Vincent Elbaz and Vincent Macaigne), as well as the shooting of L'inconnu de la Grande Arche by Stéphane Demoustier (article).