The first clapperboard slammed today on Rabia, the debut feature film by Mareike Engelhardt, who attended La Fémis’ screenwriting workshop and already has three earlier shorts under her belt, including Nos Lions (presented in Palm Springs, among other events).

Leading the cast are Megan Northam (much remarked upon in The Passengers of the Night [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mikhaël Hers
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intervista: Constance Meyer
scheda film] and Spare Keys [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], as well as in the series Notre-Dame [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sameh Zoabi
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intervista: Adil El Arbi e Bilall Fallah
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intervista: Rachid Hami
scheda film]). Starring alongside them are Natacha Krief, Germany’s Léna Lauzemis, Klara and Maria Wöedermann, Christine Gautier and Andranic Manet (nominated for the 2019 Revelation Lumière Award courtesy of A Paris Education [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jean-Paul Civeyrac
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intervista: Olivier Wotling
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Written by Mareike Engelhardt in collaboration with Samuel Doux (notably the co-author of The Prayer [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Cédric Kahn
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intervista: Laurent Cantet
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Rabia is produced by Lionel Massol and Pauline Seigland for French firm Films Grand Huit, in co-production with Arte France Cinéma, as well as by Germany’s Starhaus Production (Wasiliki Bleser) and Belgium’s Kwassa Films (Annabella Nezri). Pre-purchased by Arte France, Canal+, Ciné+ and RTBF, the feature film also benefits from the support of the CNC and the FFA (by way of the Mini French-German Co-Production Treaty), the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the Dordogne department, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Bavaria region and the SOFICA companies Cofimage and La Banque Postale Image. In 2019, the project walked away with the International Arte Kino Award at the Les Arcs Film Festival.

Filming is set to continue until 16 January, with five weeks planned in the Dordogne and one in Jordan (with Rula Nasser heading up executive production on behalf of The Imaginarium Film, who recently worked on Holy Spider [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ali Abbasi
intervista: Ali Abbasi
intervista: Zar Amir Ebrahimi
scheda film] and Rebel). Photography is entrusted to Agnès Godard (the recipient of four César nominations and one trophy in 2001) and editing to Mathilde Van de Moortel (awarded the 2016 César for Mustang [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
scheda film] and recently well received via Full Time [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Eric Gravel
scheda film]). The film’s French release will be steered by Memento Distribution, while international sales fall to Kinology.

For the record, Films Grand Huit are currently post-producing Disco Boy by Italy’s Giacomo Abbruzzese (read our article) and Mi Bestia by Colombia’s Camila Beltran (news). They’re also set to shoot Jonathan Millet’s Les Fantômes in the spring (news).