23/08/2016 - Marina Foïs and Matthieu Lucci are among the cast of the seventh feature by the filmmaker, who won the Palme d'Or in 2008; it is being produced by Archipel 35 and sold by Films Distribution

In September and October, Laurent Cantet will be in the south of France to shoot his seventh feature-length fiction film, entitled The Workshop [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile]. According to Cineuropa’s sources, the film is toplined by Marina Foïs (nominated for the César Award for Best Actress in 2008 and 2012 for Darling [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Poliss [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile], popular recently in Papa ou maman [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile], Faultless [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Pericle the Black [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefano Mordini
film profile]) and Matthieu Lucci. 

With a Palme d’Or under his belt from Cannes 2008 thanks to his The Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carole Scotta
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile], Laurent Cantet also took home the New Directors Award from San Sebastián in 1999 and the César Award for Best Debut Film with Human Resources, as well as the Lion in Venice’s Cinema of the Present section in 2001 with Time Out. His third feature, Heading South [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Cantet
interview: Robin Campillo
interview: Simon Arnal-Szlovak
film profile], took part in the Venice Film Festival competition in 2005, with the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor into the bargain, Foxfire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile] won the Best Actress Award at San Sebastián in 2012, and his latest opus, Return to Ithaca [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile], pocketed the Venice Days Award in 2014.

Co-penned by the director and his regular writing partner Robin Campillo (winner of the César Award for Best Adaptation in 2009 for The Class, and who also wrote the screenplays for such titles as Eastern Boys [+see also:
trailer
interview: Robin Campillo
film profile] and Planetarium [+see also:
film review
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interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile]), the story is set in La Ciotat during the summer. Antoine (Matthieu Lucci) has agreed to take part in a writing workshop, where several young people are being integrated into the world of work by penning a noir fiction with the help of Olivia (Marina Foïs), a widely respected novelist. This writing task will force them to revisit the town’s industrial past and its dockyard that has been shut for the last 25 years – a whole rush of nostalgia that Antoine has no interest in. Feeling more closely connected to the anxieties of the modern world, the young man quickly starts rebelling against the group and against Olivia, who is simultaneously startled and drawn in by Antoine’s violent nature.

Produced by Denis Freyd for Archipel 35, The Workshop is being co-produced by France 2 Cinéma. Having already been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the feature also boasts backing from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and is being supported by Soficinéma 13, the Procirep and the Angoa-Agicoa. The cinematography has been entrusted to Pierre Milon, while the French theatrical distribution will be handled by Diaphana and the international sales by Films Distribution.

Archipel 35 will release The Stopover [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Delphine and Muriel Coulin
film profile] by Delphine and Muriel Coulin (winner of the Best Screenplay Award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last May) in theatres on 7 September, while on 12 October it will bring out The Unknown Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile] by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne (which was premiered in competition on the Croisette and has recently been re-edited by the brothers), who have regularly partnered up with Denis Freyd as their French producer. Both movies will be distributed by Diaphana.

(Translated from French)