04/10/2012 - Next November Martin Provost is to start shooting his new film centred on the intense relationship between Violette Leduc and Simone de Beauvoir

After winning seven Cesar awards in 2009 (including Best Film) for Séraphine [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Martin Provost is to start filming his fifth feature in mid-November. For his new opus, Violette, the director will once again delve into the lives of extraordinary women: novelist Violette Leduc and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, to be played respectively by Emmanuelle Devos (photo - Best Actress in 2002 and Best Supporting Actress in 2010) and Sandrine Kiberlain (nominated for a Cesar for best actress in 2010 for Mademoiselle Chambon [+see also:
trailer
film profile], currently in cinemas in Pauline détective [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Tip Top). The cast is also to feature Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet (nominated for the 2012 Cesar for best actor for The Minister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile]), Stanley Weber (Thérèse Desqueyroux [+see also:
film review
trailer
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Written by the director with René de Ceccatty and Marc Abdelnour, the screenplay tells the story of impoverished and ill-loved Violette Leduc, born out of wedlock at the beginning of last century, who meets Simone de Beauvoir in the post-war years in St Germain des Prés. An intense relationship develops between the two women that will last all their lives. For Violette, the relationship is based on a quest for freedom through writing, while, for Simone, it is the conviction that she holds the destiny of an exceptional writer in her hands. Olivier Gourmet is to play Jacques Guérin.

Produced by Miléna Poylo and Gilles Sacuto for Parisian outfit TS Productions (who already produced Seraphine), Violette is also to be co-produced by France 3 Cinéma and has been pre-acquired by Canal+ and Ciné+. The film is to be shot in 44 days. Negotiations are ongoing for the film’s French distribution and international sales.

TS Productions currently has Stéphane Brizé’s A Few Hours of Spring [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Diaphana Distribution) out in cinemas, and is to release Ilmar Raag’s A Lady in Paris, a majority production unveiled in the competition in Locarno, on December 6 (Pyramide Distribution).

(Translated from French)