Isabelle Huppert’s schedule for 2006 will cross paths with three filmmakers from three different European countries, Belgium, Italy and France, respectively: Joaquim Lafosse, Alessandro Capone and Claire Denis. Never one to fear working with young directors, Nue-Propriété [trailer], the second feature by Lafosse – currently being shot in Wallonia – could never have succeeded in securing financing without the French actress. "What touched me the most," the filmmaker pointed out, "was that Isabelle was willing to work with such a young team, and I am also grateful to her for having accepted our financial conditions, because our budget was only €1.8m.”
Produced by Joseph Rouschop for Belgian outfit Tarantula, Nue-Propriété is a French minority co-production with Mact Productions (Martine De Clermont-Tonnerre) and backed by the Communauté française de Belgique and Wallimage. Lafosse’s remarkable first feature, Private Madness, a low budget film shot in nine days, was presented in official competition at Locarno 2004 and earned its director a spot in the Cannes Atelier.

Apart from Huppert, the cast of Nue-Propriété also stars Jérémie Rénier (The Child [trailer, film focus]) and his brother Yannick. The film tells the story of a divorced woman who lives with her twin sons on an old restored farm, which she is eager to sell in order to emancipate herself and change her life. However, this proves very difficult as her children are unwilling to move. The six-week shoot began on March 6.

At the end of May, Huppert will go on to shoot The First Voice by Alessandro Capone (produced by Cristaldi Pictures; see news).

Meanwhile White Material by Claire Denis, the original script by novelist Marie Ndiaye, is still in the writing stage. According to Why Not Productions, shooting of the film, a story set against coffee plantations in a dry season, will begin next winter.