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PRODUCTION Portugal / France

Fanny Ardant to shoot her third feature, Stalin's Couch

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- Gérard Depardieu stars as Russian dictator Joseph Stalin; the film is an adaptation of Jean-Daniel Baltassat’s novel

Fanny Ardant to shoot her third feature, Stalin's Couch
Fanny Ardant and Gérard Depardieu

As of this week, the Buçaco Palace, in the centre of Portugal, is hosting the principal photography for Fanny Ardant’s new feature, Stalin's Couch [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, in which the French actress-turned-filmmaker will direct her fellow actor Gérard Depardieu in the role of Joseph Stalin. Emmanuelle Seigner is also part of the cast, playing Stalin’s lover.

Despite the presence of the character of Stalin, Stalin's Couch is not a biopic, but rather an adaptation of Jean-Daniel Baltassat’s novel. Set in 1950, three years before the dictator’s death, the script explores – in a Freudian and intimate way – the arrival of a young painter in the lives of Stalin and his lover; this new arrival will spark restlessness and jealousy in the dictator.

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Swiss cinematographer Renato Berta is also on board this Paulo Branco production, through Branco’s two production outfits, Leopardo Filmes (Portugal) and Alfama Films (France). Branco already produced Ardant’s last movie, Cadences Obstineés [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, in 2013.

The theatrical release is expected for later this year.

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