25/08/2022 - The filmmaker also stars in this film backed by Why Not Productions and sold by Wild Bunch International alongside Johnny Depp

Actress-director Maïwenn (© Georges Biard) and actor Johnny Depp (© Harald Krichel)

One of the most heavily publicised film shoots in contemporary French cinema has been taking place since 26 July: that of Jeanne du Barry [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Maïwenn’s 6th feature film after Pardonnez-moi [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2006), All About Actresses [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2007), Polisse [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile] (Special Jury Prize in Cannes in 2011), My King [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Best Actress award in Cannes in 2015) and DNA [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (unveiled in San Sebastian in 2020, nominated four times at the 2021 César awards and winner of the Best Director Lumière award).

The filmmaker (nominated for the Most Promising Actress César award in 2007 and soon in Venice in Our Ties [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) is also in the cast, playing the titular role. By her sides are American star Johnny Depp, as well as Benjamin Lavernhe (nominated for the 2021 and 2020 Best Supporting Actor César awards for My Donkey, My Lover & I [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Love at Second Sight [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and in 2018 for the Most Promising Actor award for C'est la vie! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), veteran actor Pierre Richard (in cinemas next year in Astérix et Obélix: L’Empire du Milieu), Melvil Poupaud (recently nominated for the 2020 Best Actor César award for By the Grace of God [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: François Ozon
film profile], appreciated in May in Cannes in Brother and Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and One Fine Morning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Noémie Lvovsky (recently nominated for the Best Supporting Actress César award for How to be a Good Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile]), Pascal Greggory (appreciated recently in One Fine Morning) and India Hair (nominated for the 2013 and 2021 Most Promising Actress César award, a standout recently in The Line [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile], Sticking Together [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Angry Annie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

Written by Maïwenn and Teddy Lussi-Modeste (The Price of Success [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teddy Lussi-Modeste
film profile]), the script centres on Jeanne, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, who uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favourite of King Louis XV who, unaware of her status as a courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love. Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalises the court...

Produced by Pascal Caucheteux and Grégoire Sorlat for Why Not Productions, Jeanne du Barry is co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma, Belgium’s Films du Fleuve and IN.2 Film (Johnny Depp’s company – read the news). Pre-bought by France Télévisions, the feature film will be streamed in SVOD by Netflix. Filming will last 11 weeks with Laurent Dailland (nominated for the 1999 and 2010 César awards in his specialty) in charge of the cinematography. The score will be composed by English Oscar-winner Stephen Warbeck. French distribution will be handled by Le Pacte, and international sales by Wild Bunch International.

Why Not Productions will reveal Roschdy Zem’s Our Ties in Venice, launch Héloise Pelloquet’s La Passagère [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in French cinemas on 30 November, and currently has The Principal [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Chad Chenouga in post-production.

(Translated from French)