Alain Guiraudie prepares L'inconnu du lac

by Fabien Lemercier

14/06/2012 - In this love story, two men meet in a nudist resort on the banks of a lake, but one of them is a murderer. According to our information, this September Alain Guiraudie is to start shooting L'inconnu du lac (lit. “The unknown of the lake”), his fourth feature film notably after No Rest for the Brave [trailer] and The King of Escape [trailer], films that were well reviewed at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2003 and 2009. For the moment, the cast has been kept a secret.

Written by the director, the screenplay follows Franck, 40, who spends his summer afternoons at a meeting place on the edge of a lake. He splits his days between two men. He develops a very strong, completely platonic friendship with the first, Henri. And with the second, Michel, he finds great physical and passionate love. This, despite the fact that Michel drowned his previous lover, and that Franck witnessed it.

Produced by Sylvie Pialat for Les Films du Worso (already partners for Guiraudie’s previous film), L'inconnu du lac has received an advance on receipts from the National Film and Moving Image Centre (CNC) and aid from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Shooting should last from September to the beginning of October in the Var area. Distribution in France and international sales will be handled by Les Films du Losange.

Les Films du Worso also have La Religieuse by Guillaume Nicloux in post-production (with Isabelle Huppert, Louise Bourgoin, Pauline Etienne, and Martina Gedeck – read more). The film should be ready by the beginning of 2013. The French production company also attended the last Cannes Film Festival with its co-production Our Children [trailer, film focus] by Belgian director Joachim Lafosse (for which Emilie Dequenne won at an award in the Certain Regard, out in France on August 22 – read the review) and Rodri, a short film by Franco-Colombian filmmaker Franco Lolli in the Directors’ Fortnight.

(Translated from French)