French group Gaumont will be rocking up at the bustling informal market of the 44^th Toronto International Film Festival (5-15 September) with a top-notch trump card up its sleeve: Lost Illusions [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Xavier Giannoli
scheda film] by Xavier Giannoli. With principal photography currently under way (since mid-July) and scheduled to wrap in late October, the eighth feature by the filmmaker who has been selected twice in competition at Cannes (The Singer [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] in 2006 and In the Beginning [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] in 2009) and at Venice (Superstar [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Xavier Giannoli
scheda film] in 2012 and Marguerite [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Xavier Giannoli
scheda film] in 2015) is an adaptation of the works of famous writer Honoré de Balzac, and particularly the novel Lost Illusions.

The cast includes young actor Benjamin Voisin (who, just prior to this, was filming the upcoming, as-yet-untitled movie by François Ozon), Gérard Depardieu (currently on the cinema listings in Thalasso [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which will be taking part in the competition at the impending San Sebastián Film Festival), Vincent Lacoste (gracing screens at Venice at the moment in My Days of Glory [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Antoine de Bary
scheda film] and soon to appear in My Traitor My Love), Jeanne Balibar (seen recently in Cold War [+leggi anche:
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Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
scheda film], Les Misérables [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ladj Ly
scheda film] and Wonders in the Suburbs [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]), Cécile de France (currently giving a strong performance at Venice in A Bigger World [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Fabienne Berthaud
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The plot unfolds between 1837 and 1843 and revolves around Lucien de Rubempré, a young poet who dreams of becoming an author, and who ups sticks and leaves Angoulême for the bright lights of Paris. For many years, Xavier Giannoli had talked about his wish to adapt Lost Illusions. “It’s a novel about innocence in tatters,” he stated during a symposium devoted to Balzac. “I’m fascinated by the idea that, within us, we have something that is linked to purity and corrupted innocence. What of ourselves and of our purity are we willing to relinquish in order to find our place in life? It’s a topic I’m very passionate about.”

Produced by Olivier Delbosc for Curiosa Films (which is thus teaming up with the director for the third feature in a row, following The Apparition [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Xavier Giannoli
scheda film] and Marguerite) and by Sidonie Dumas for Gaumont (which will oversee the French distribution as well as the international sales), Lost Illusions can boast a co-production and a pre-purchase by France 3 Cinéma. Having also been pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the film has secured support from the Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France regions.

As a reminder, Curiosa Films has Between Two Worlds [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emmanuel Carrère
scheda film] by Emmanuel Carrère and My Father's Stories [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Jean-Pierre Améris in post-production. Among the array of movies it has in production are Hommes au bord de la crise de nerfs by Audrey Dana (since 19 August) and Do you Saint-Tropez by Nicolas Benmamou (which will start principal photography on 9 September), toplined by Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu.

At Toronto, Gaumont’s international sales team, headed up by Adeline Falampin and Alexis Cassanet, will be hard at work signing deals for the films Bye Bye Morons [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Albert Dupontel, #iamhere [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Éric Lartigau (set to be released on 12 February 2020) and The Voice of Love [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Valérie Lemercier (a film that pays tribute to Canadian singer Céline Dion but is not a biopic, per se), all of which are in post-production, Three Days and a Life [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Nicolas Boukhrief (due to be released in France on 18 September), Rogue City [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Olivier Marchal (currently being shot, toplined by Jean Reno), the comedy Family Swap [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Jean-Patrick Benes (about to start filming, starring Alexandra Lamy and Franck Dubosc) and the documentary Heart of Oak by Laurent Charbonnier. And that’s not to mention The Specials [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano (which goes on general release in France on 23 October), which brought the Cannes Film Festival to a close and which has already been sold practically all over the world.