15/06/2012 - Two brothers and their father have been on the run for ten years. With Nicolas Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Maya Sansa, Zacharie Chasseriaud, and Jules Pélissier

On July 9, Jean Denizot will start shooting his first feature: La Belle vie (lit. “The good life”). According to our information, the director, who last year participated in the Ateliers d’Angers, has brought together a cast made up of Nicolas Bouchaud (photo - mostly an actor on stage, but also in films such as Don’t Touch the Axe [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Swiss actor Jean-Philippe Ecoffey (Une bouteille à la mer [+see also:
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film profile]), Italian actress Maya Sansa (soon to appear in Dormant Beauty [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Bouli Lanners
film profile] by Marco Bellocchio), Zacharie Chasseriaud (The Giants [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Bouli Lanners
film profile]), Jules Pélissier (Lights Out [+see also:
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The screenplay is written by Jean Denizot and Frédérique Moreau in collaboration with Catherine Paillé. As it starts, Sylvain (Zacharie Chassseriaud), his brother, and his father have already spent ten years on the run, hiding along France’s autoroutes. Ten years before, when Yves (Nicolas Bouchaud) lost custody of his two sons, the latter didn’t hesitate to follow him, to stay with the man they loved so much, blaming their mother, the justice system, and everybody else looking for them along the way. But now the boys have grown up, and there is no end to this way of life. They are missing out on all the dreams and joys they should be enjoying at their age. When, once again, the father and sons have to flee, Pierre (Jules Pélissier), the eldest, makes the most of the opportunity to disappear. Left alone with his father, stuck on an island on the river Loire, Sylvain meets Gilda (Solène Rigot), the first girl, the first love, and the first step on the path to the good life, his very own.

Produced by Mathieu Bompoint for Mezzanine Films, La Belle vie is co-produced by Love Streams Agnès B. Productions with M141, La Vie est Belle Films Associés, Shellac, Dublin Films,Sedna Films and Arane. Supported by an advance on receipts of up to €440,000 from the National Film and Moving Image Centre (CNC), as well as by the Centre and Aquitaine regions, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, SoficaIndefilms, and Procirep, the film will be shot between July 9 and August 20 (18 days in the Aquitaine region in Lescun, Bedous, and Pau, then 18 days in the Centre, mostly in the Sancerrois). Shellac is in charge of the film’s distribution in France, with The Match Factory taking care of its international sales.

La Belle vie is the third feature to be produced by Mezzanine Films, after Free Hands [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Brigitte Sy (selected for the Forum at the 2011 Berlinale) and Le paradis des bêtes [+see also:
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film profile] (lit. “Beasts’ paradise”) by Estelle Larrivaz (out in France last March).

(Translated from French)