22/06/2010

Customised cars, tuning, reassembly, speed and roads: such is the bizarre world explored by Christophe Sahr in his debut feature Voie Rapide (“Expressway”), which started shooting last week.

The cast includes 25-year-old Johan Libéreau (nominated for the 2008 Best Male Newcomer Cesar for The Witnesses [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and recently acclaimed at Cannes in Belle Epine), Christa Theret (who will turn 19 in three days’ time; nominated for the 2010 Best Female Newcomer Cesar for LOL [+see also:
trailer
interview: Christa Théret
film profile] and set to appear from August 25 in The Clink of Ice [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Isabelle Candelier and Guillaume Saurrel.

Scripted by Sahr in collaboration with Olivier Gorce and Élodie Monlibert, the film centres on 20-something Alex, who is glued to the steering wheel of his red Peugeot 206. With its rituals and codes, tuning is his sole passion, with no real place left for his girlfriend Rachel and their child.

But one night, in this life of straight roads and high speeds, at a bend, like a first turning, his car veers off the road and someone dies. He flees and feels guilty. Then, faced with Marthe, the mother of the dead boy, he experiences a slow process of realisation...

Sahr, who has three short films to his name, also looked at the world of tuning in Contact (2008). According to Florence Borelly, producer of both Contact and Voie Rapide, "the two stories are set in the same world, but they are completely different. We wanted to work on the subjects of tuning and the suburbs: Contact enabled us to do this, with stunts."

Produced by Sésame Films, Voie Rapide has been pre-bought by Ciné Cinéma. It has support from the Ile-de-France and Centre regions, and backing from Sofica Cinemage.

The seven-week shoot will take place in Essonne and Val de Marne, followed by Orléans and Tours. Theatrical distribution will be handled by Epicentre Films, while international sales are still under negotiation.

(Translated from French)