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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Belgium / France

Emmanuelle Nicot is shooting her first feature film Dalva

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- Following the success of her earlier short Snatched, the Belgian director is returning with her first feature film, notably starring Alexi Manenti

Emmanuelle Nicot is shooting her first feature film Dalva
Director Emmanuelle Nicot

Following the success of her earlier short Snatched (the winner of the Grand National Prize at the Brussels Short Film Festival, the Best Direction trophy at the Le Court en dit Long festival and the Best Performance award at the Namur Film Festival), Emmanuelle Nicot is now embarking on a feature film adventure by way of Dalva [+see also:
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interview: Emmanuelle Nicot
interview: Emmanuelle Nicot, Julie Esp…
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]
, which began shooting on Monday.

The film follows in the wake of twelve-year-old Dalva. One evening, the police burst into her home which she shares with her father and take him away. Dazed and confused, Dalva defends the man tooth and nail, but to no avail. Abruptly deposited in a home for teenagers, Dalva forges a friendship with her roommate Samia and slowly places her trust in youth worker Jayden. Thanks to them, she will learn why she was torn away from the father she loves so much…

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The roles of Dalva and Samia are played by two young actresses, Zelda Samson and Fanta Guirassi, in their first on-screen appearances. As well as directing the film, “street casting” specialist Emmanuelle Nicot was also in charge of casting. Indeed, Snatched previously thrust youngsters Hajar Koutaine and Clémence Warnier into the spotlight, who were wonderful in the roles of Raïssa and Alio. Acting opposite the two young women, as chosen by the director, we find French actor Alexi Manenti who was incredible in Les Misérables [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ladj Ly
film profile
]
and graced screens last year in Fishlove [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

Having kicked off on Monday 19 July, shooting will proceed until 24 September in Brussels, the Braine-L’Alleud municipality and in France’s Grand Est region.

Dalva is produced by Hélicotronc, who are also producing the series Des gens bien this summer, which is a new project coming courtesy of the team behind The Break and a co-production between RTBF and ARTE. The film is co-produced by Tripode Productions (France), ARTE, Canal+, RTBF, Proximus and Shelter Prod, with the support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Brussels-Capital region, Europe Creative Media, Eurimages and the Gan Foundation. International sales will be helmed by MK2, distribution in France by Diaphana and distribution in Belgium by O’Brother Distribution.

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(Translated from French)

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