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PRODUCTION France

Salomé's four undercover women

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The cast has finally been announced for Les Femmes de l'ombre (lit. “Undercover Women”) by Jean Paul Salomé, with Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Laura Smet and Mélanie Laurent set to star in the director’s fifth feature.

Described as a thriller set during the Occupation, the film tells the story of female spies during the French Resistance in WWII. Melvil Poupaud will also star, while the director is currently in the process of hiring UK and German actors as well.

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Making his directorial debut with 1993’s Girls With Guns, Salomé went on to direct Restons groupés (1998), Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre (2000, starring Sophie Marceau) and Arsène Lupin (2004, 1.1m admissions in France).

"The idea of Femmes de l'ombre came about during the post-production of Belphegor in London, after reading an article in an English daily about these women whose activities are largely unheard of," the director told Cineuropa. "I then read several biographies of resistants, some of which were hired by the British secret services. It turns out that approximately 50 women had been recruited by a service under the direct control of Churchill and they carried out sabotage and infiltration operations, especially during the last months of the Occupation."

Produced by Eric Nevé for La Chauve Souris, Les Femmes de l'ombre – co-written by the director and Laurent Vachaud – will have a 12-week shoot starting mid-March 2007, mainly in and around Paris and in London.

Supported by pre-sales and co-production financing from TF1 Films Production, the feature is slated for release in France in spring 2008 through TFM. Sales are being handled by TF1 International.

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(Translated from French)

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