Arte France Cinéma to back Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value
- The Norwegian director’s next movie, on which filming is underway, will be co-produced by the French-German network, alongside new projects by Kaouther Ben Hania and Gaël Morel
UPDATE (22 September 2023): Renate Reinsve was announced as the actress selected for the main role in Joachim Trier's film, but the actress is not involved in the project.
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The third 2023 selection committee held by Arte France Cinéma (which is steered by Olivier Père) has committed to pre-producing and pre-purchasing three projects.
Stealing focus amongst these movies is Sentimental Value (provisional title), Joachim Trier’s 6th feature film after Oslo, August 31st [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] and The Worst Person in the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile], to name but two. Co-written by the Norwegian director and his usual accomplice Eskil Vogt, the story kicks off when Nora and Agnès’ mother passes away and their father Gustav subsequently reappears in their lives. A film director of former renown, he has written a screenplay in which he would like Nora, who is now an actress, to play the main part, but the latter refuses categorically. During a retrospective on his work at a French festival, Gustav meets a young Hollywood star who declares herself blown away by one of his previous films and who expresses a desire to work with him. He offers her the role initially written for Nora, seeing this as an unhoped for opportunity to relaunch his career. The film shoot in Norway becomes an opportunity for Gustav to face his demons, as well as one last chance to reconnect with his daughters… Sentimental Value is produced by Mer Film and Eye Eye Pictures (Norway), Ex Nihilo and MK Productions (France), and Komplizen (Germany) and Zentropa (Denmark and Sweden). Having kicked off in August, filming will continue until October in Norway, France and Germany.
Arte France Cinéma is also throwing its weight behind Tu ne feras point d'images, which is the 6th feature film by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania, who turned many a head in Cannes back in May with her documentary Four Daughters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile], and who’s returning to the field of fiction (which suited her perfectly, as demonstrated by Beauty and the Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] and The Man Who Sold His Skin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile]). The story revolves around a young, reserved woman called Amira who’s studying in Tunis, who’s passionate about film, and who’s given a mysterious key by her dying grandmother. She launches herself into an exploration of her family’s past and the beliefs of her village, without suspecting the increasingly unbelievable revelations this will entail, which call into question everything she holds to be true… Produced by Tanit Films (France) alongside Mime Films (Tunisia) and Laika Films (Sweden), Tu ne feras point d'images will be sold worldwide by The Party Film Sales and is set to be shot in June and July of 2024.
Last but not least, Arte France Cinéma are supporting To Live, To Die, To Live Again [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Gaël Morel. This 7th fiction feature by the filmmaker who previously screened in the 1996 and 2007 Directors’ Fortnight (Full Speed and Après lui [+see also:
trailer
film profile], respectively) will star Victor Belmondo, Lou Lampros, and Théo Christine. The story follows Emma who loves Sammy who loves Cyril who loves him too. Any hopes of light-hearted courtship are blown apart by the arrival of AIDS. But just as they’re expecting the worst, the fate of the characters takes an unexpected turn. When you’re told that you’re going to die, but medicine ultimately saves you, how do you approach your new life? Is it simply a continuation of what went before? Or is it a new beginning? To Live, To Die, To Live Again is produced by ARP Sélection and will be shot this autumn in France and Italy.
For the record, Arte France Cinéma is also backing upcoming films by Andrea Arnold, Nadav Lapid, Miguel Gomes, Abderrahmane Sissako, Walter Salles, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Alain Guiraudie, Emmanuel Mouret, Fernando Trueba, Thierry de Peretti, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Patricia Mazuy, Emmanuel Finkiel, Bruno Podalydès, Justyna Tafel, Johanna Pyykkö, Payal Kapadia, Diego Céspedes, Gints Zilbalodis, Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, Francesca Comencini, Karim Moussaoui, Mareike Engelhardt, Momoko Seto, Jérémy Comte, Jonathan Millet, Louise Hémon and by the duo Caroline Poggi - Jonathan Vinel.
(Translated from French)