03/06/2014 - The first clapperboard will slam in July for the new film by the director of The Betrayal and La désintégration, produced by Istiqlal and distributed by Pyramide

Philippe Faucon

According to Cineuropa’s sources, Philippe Faucon, the talented independent director who is often inspired by stories exploring furores and prejudice – sometimes even stretching to racism and hatred – will begin the shoot for his ninth feature film, Fatima [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Faucon
film profile], at the end of July. Discovered at Cannes in 1990 with L'Amour (winning the award in the Perspectives of French Cinema section) and popular for titles such as Samia (in the Parallel section at Venice in 2000), The Betrayal [+see also:
trailer
film profile]  (selected at Toronto in 2005 and at Rotterdam in 2006), Dans la vie [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Toronto in 2007) and La désintégration [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (out of competition at Venice in 2011), the director has cast young actress Zita Hanrot (who was brought to audiences’ attention in Radiostars [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) in his new opus, among other performers.

Written by the director, and based on Prière à la Lune (“Prayer to the Moon”) by Fatima Elayoubi, the story revolves around Fatima, who is separated from her husband and lives alone with her two daughters, aged 16 and 19. She has a poor grasp of French, which she continues to struggle to learn at her literacy lessons, in between her days spent as a cleaner. Frustrated and humiliated, she is forced to live through a kind of separation from her daughters, owing to their different languages. She is also crippled by the fear that they will not have the chance to experience anything other than the frustrating and degrading path that she has followed. And so, stubborn as a mule, she tries hard to pay more attention to the schooling of one of her daughters, and to provide material support for the other one’s efforts in her studies. One day, in Arabic, she sets about jotting down in a notebook everything that it has not been possible for her to say to her daughters up until now in French...

Produced by Istiqlal Films and the Canadian firm Possibles Média, Fatima is benefitting from co-productions by Arte France Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma and Pyramide Production, an advance on receipts from the CNC, and backing from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region and the Acsé (the National Agency for Social Cohesion and Equal Opportunities). Filming will take place from 28 July until 12 September in the urban area of Lyon and in Nice, among other locations. Distribution in France and international sales will be handled by Pyramide.

(Translated from French)