31/07/2008

Having first come to attention in 2004 with his debut feature The Giraffe’s Neck, Safy Nebbou is stepping things up a gear. August 13 sees the theatrical release of his second work, Mark of an Angel [+see also:
trailer
film profile], whose stellar cast includes Catherine Frot and Sandrine Bonnaire. The director will then set to work on his forthcoming project, Signé Dumas (“Signed by Dumas”), which will star Gérard Depardieu and Benoît Poelvoorde.

Co-written by the director and Cyril Gomez-Mathieu, the psychological thriller Mark of an Angel centres on Elsa (Frot), a woman in the middle of a divorce who is battling for custody of her son. One day, at a children’s birthday party, she notices a little six-year-old girl, the sight of whom troubles her deeply: she is firmly convinced that the girl is her daughter.

Obsessed by this inexplicable feeling, she then tries to work her way into the little girl’s life but finds her efforts hampered by the child’s mother (Bonnaire), who refuses to accept her claims. Is Elsa mad? What happened six years previously? Thus begins a psychological and almost savage confrontation between two women who were never meant to meet.

Produced and distributed by Diaphana for €5.76m, the film was co-produced by France 2 Cinéma. Unveiled in international premiere at the latest Cannes Film Market, the film was sold by Celluloid Dreams for the UK (Metrodome), Benelux (Lumière), Switzerland (Xenix), Greece (Odéon), Israel and Canada (Les Films Séville).

Written by Cyril Gely and Eric Rouquette and having enjoyed success as a stage production from 2003-2004, Signé Dumas will see Depardieu play well-known author Alexandre Dumas and Poelvoorde the character Auguste Maquet, the novelist’s ghost writer. The film is set in 1848. In his château, Dumas – then at the peak of his fame – is preparing his next book, The Count of Monte Cristo, with Maquet.

However, following a disagreement on the subject of the dawning Revolution, the two men argue bitterly after ten years of blissful collaboration. Maquet threatens to go before the courts and reveal that he is the sole author of their joint works. What part did each of them really play in their literary success? Who is the true father of d'Artagnan? In short: who is the author? An answer to this question will be found on the big screen in this film produced by Franck Le Wita and Marc de Bayser for Film Oblige.

(Translated from French)