Je ne suis pas mort and Le veau d’or on Mercredi Films’s slate

by Fabien Lemercier

08/11/2011 - Co-screenwriter on André Téchiné’s recent film Unforgivable [trailer], Mehdi Ben Attia (pictured) started shooting his second feature, Je ne suis pas mort, in Paris last week.

Having attracted attention last year with The String, the director has this time put together a cast including Belgian actor Mehdi Dehbi (He Is My Girl [trailer]), Emmanuel Salinger (a familiar figure in French cinema since his Best Male Newcomer César for Arnaud Desplechin’s The Sentinel), Maria de Medeiros (who won acclaim this year in Hitler in Hollywood [trailer] and Holidays By the Sea [trailer]), Driss Ramdi, Slimane Dazi and Judith Davis.

Scripted by the director, Je ne suis pas mort centres on Yacine, a brilliant political science student from a modest background, who receives some unexpected support from his teacher Richard. Indeed, he offers to help him get an internship at the Elysée Palace.

But one night, Yacine wakes up in a panic. In a trance, he heads to his teacher’s home where he learns of his death. Oddly serene, he tries to reassure the family: "Don’t worry, nobody is dead. I’m Richard."

Produced by Florence Laneurie for Mercredi Films, Je ne suis pas mort will be shot in and around Paris until December 16. French distribution and international sales are still under negotiation.

Mercredi Films also wrapped shooting this summer on Hassan Legzouli’s second feature, the comedy The Golden Calf. Starring Morad Saïl and Nader Boussandel, the film traces the misadventures of 17-year-old Sami. Sent to a small village in the Moroccan Atlas by his father who hopes to see him settle down, he is desperate to return to France before his 18th birthday, to obtain French nationality and be reunited with his girlfriend Mélanie.

With this aim in mind, he and his cousin Azadade steal a bullock on a farm belonging to the Moroccan king and try to sell it to pay for the crossing. Backed by the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, The Golden Calf will be released in French theatres by Zelig Films Distribution.

(Translated from French)