Leading French producer Michael Gentile’s Paris-based outfit The Film is about to start shooting Julie Delpy’s next directorial outing, “The Barbarians,” and Laurence Arné’s “Les Hennedricks” starring Dany Boon.
Delpy’s comeback to French filmmaking since “Lolo,” “The Barbarians” is a satirical comedy unfolding in a small town in Brittany which is preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees after voting unanimously to greet them in exchange for subsidies from the government. But instead of seeing Ukrainians come into town, they see Syrian refugees, causing some tensions among locals and testing their liberal beliefs. Delpy will star in the film opposite Sandrine Kiberlain (“Mademoiselle Chambon”), Laurent Lafitte (“Elle”) and Ziad Bakri (“The Weekend Away”), India Hair (“Angry Annie”), Mathieu Demy (“The Bureau”) and Delpy’s father Albert Delpy.
Delpy penned the script with Matthieu Rumani (“Family Business”), in collaboration with Lea Domenech (“Bernadette”). “The Barbarians” will start filming on June 19 and will be distributed in France by Le Pacte which is at Cannes with several films including Maiwenn’s “Jeanne du Barry” and Catherine Corsini’s “Homecoming.” Charades is representing the film in international markets. “The Barbarians” has been pre-bought by Canal+ and Disney+ for the SVOD window. Delpy last directed the L.A.-based series “On The Verge” for Canal+ and Netflix.
“Les Hennedricks,” meanwhile, marks the directorial debut of Arné, a well known French comedian. The family road movie will star Arné and Dany Boon and is set to start filming May 11. The pair previously co-starred in Boon’s third biggest film “La Ch’tite Famille” which sold more than 5 million tickets in France. Arné penned the movie in collaboration with Cecilia Rouaud and is co-producing via her banner Bonnes Soeurs which she runs with her sister Caroline. Gaumont is co-producing and will distribute the film, on top of handling international sales. Canal+ and Netflix have picked up pay TV and SVOD rights, respectively.
Gentile’s roster also includes a pair of completed films, “Before the Flames Go Out,” the politically engaged feature debut of journalist Mehdi Fikri.
“Before The Flames Go Out” centers around the aftermath of the crime and will follow the victim’s sister as she embarks on a battle to obtain a fair trial for her late brother, as well as raise media attention around the case. The movie is repped by Goodfellas and has been pre-bought by OCS and Netflix. The cast is headlined by Camelia Jordana, Sofian Khammes and Sofiane Zermani.
The banner has also wrapped by “Madame de Sevigné,” a 17th century-set drama set at the court of French King Louis XIV. The movie stars Karin Viard, Ana Girardot and Cédric Kahn. It will be released by Ad Vitam in France and is being represented in international markets by Orange Studio.