Michiel Blanchart is currently filming his first fiction feature film, La nuit se traine. The young Belgian filmmaker first made his name with his short film, the last of which — T’es morte, Hélène — travelled around the world of festivals, before landing on the Oscars shortlist. A hybrid and audacious film, a romantic, horrific and melancholy comedy, T’es morte, Hélène also caught the eye of Sam Raimi, and the culte American filmmaker will co-produce the film’s feature length remake, set to be shot next years in the United States and directed by Blanchart himself.

For his feature debut, however, he remains in Brussels, exploring its nightlight and placing his character in its underworld, the time of a breathless chase. The story is carried by Mady, student by day, locksmith by night. But Claire, the enigmatic young woman she is helping out one night, isn’t what she seems to be. This door isn’t that of her apartment. And the bag she wants to recover at all costs isn’t hers, but Yannick’s, a man whose questions Mady will have to answer to. Caught in a hellish race, Mady only has one night to prove her innocence in a bustling city. One night to save her own skin.

Michiel Blanchart has given the leading role to young French actor Jonathan Feltre, discovered in Rascals [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which recently came out in France. Playing Maddy, we’ll find Natacha Krief, seen recently in Simone, a Woman of the Century and the series Caïn, and who held the leading role in Looking for Leila [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]. The cast is completed by two Belgian actors, Jonas Bloquet, discovered in Private Lessons [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jacques-Henri Bronckart
intervista: Joachim Lafosse
scheda film], seen recently in the series 1899 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kilian Riedhof
scheda film]. The film will also see participation from Romain Duris (seen this year in the series Greek Salad [+leggi anche:
intervista: Cédric Klapisch
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intervista: Thomas Cailley
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La nuit se traine is produced by Michael Goldberg for Daylight Films in Belgium, and Boris Van Gils for Formosa in France, a duo that is also behind Habib, la grande aventure [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Benoît Mariage
scheda film] by Benoît Mariage, which just came out in France. The film is also co-produced by Margaux Marciano and Nicolas Duval Adassovsky for Quad in France, as well as Gaumont, France 3 Cinéma, A Private View, RTL, VOO & BeTV, Proximus, with the support of Canal+ and Ciné+, and the participation of BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance, France Télévisions, the Centre du Cinema et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, the Brussels-Capital Region, the VAF, Take Five Invest, the Media Programme of the European Union, and Eurimages.