04/10/2023 - Nicolas Duvauchelle, Florent Hill-Chouaki, Finnegan Oldfield, Denis Lavant and Sandor Funtek star in this Adastra Films production sold by Urban Sales

Actors Nicolas Duvauchelle (© Georges Biard), Florent Hill-Chouaki (© AgencesArtistiques.com) and Finnegan Oldfield (© Georges Biard)

Filming is almost completed on the mafia thriller Brûle le sang, the debut feature from Akaki Popkhadze (a Georgian filmmaker living in France). It will end on 9 October in Nice, France, before two days of shooting in Georgia. 

Heading the cast is Nicolas Duvauchelle (nominated for the 2017 César award for Best actor for A Decent Man [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and in the Best Supporting Actor category in 2012 for Polisse [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile], appreciated recently in the series Black Butterflies [+see also:
trailer
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile] and Black Hearts), who is starring alongside Florent Hill-Chouaki, Finnegan Oldfield (nominated for the 2016 and 2018 Best Newcomer César award, seen in Venice in Vermin [+see also:
film review
interview: Sébastien Vaniček
film profile] and in French cinemas on 22 November in L’Arche de Noé), Denis Lavant (nominated for the 2013 César award for Best Actor for Holy Motors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leos Carax
film profile], seen recently in Human Flowers of Flesh [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Helena Wittmann
film profile] and South Sentinel [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mathieu Gérault
film profile]), Sandor Funtek (nominated for the 2022 César award for Best Newcomer for Authentik [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Jean-Philippe Ricci, Georgia’s Ia Shugliashvili (winner of several awards for My Happy Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nana Ekvtimishvili, Simon G…
film profile]) and Temiko Chichinadze (a highlight recently in Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile]).

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Written by the director together with Florent Hill-Chouaki, the script is set in Nice where a pillar of the local Georgian community is murdered. His son Tristan, who aspires to become an Orthodox priest, ends up alone with his mother. That is when Gabriel reappears. The older brother with a dark past, Gabriel is determined to clear the family name… 

Produced by Sébastien Aubert and Leslie Jacob for Adastra Films, Brûle le sang is co-produced by Belgium’s Beside Productions, Georgia’s Gemini and Austria’s Elly Films. Pre-bought by Canal+ and Ciné+, the feature film also benefits from the support of the CNC’s advance on receipts, of the South region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) and of the department Alpes-Maritimes. After starting on 28 August, filming will have lasted a total of eight weeks, with Justin Vaudaux as director of photography. French distribution will be handled by ARP Sélection and international sales by Urban Sales.

For the record, Adastra Films just won three award at the Deauville American film festival with its co-production LaRoy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Shane Atkinson. The Cannes-based company is also behind the recent title Heartbeast [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Finnish director Aino Suni (winner of two Jussi awards this year). 

(Translated from French)