24/08/2022 - Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, Anamaria Vartolomei and Fabrice Luchini star in this Tessalit production sold by Memento International

Director Bruno Dumont, actresses Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri and Anamaria Vartolomei, and actor Fabrice Luchini

Since 16 August, Bruno Dumont has been filming The Empire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile], his 11th fiction feature film, after four films selected in competition in Cannes (1999 and 2006 Grand Prix winners L’Humanité and Flanders [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Slack Bay [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Bruno Dumont
film profile] in 2016 and France [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] in 2021), one in Venice (Twentynine Palms [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2003) and one in Berlin (Camille Claudel 1915 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] in 2013), among other titles.

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The cast includes Camille Cottin (nominated for the 2016 Most Promising Actress César award, very well-known for her role in the series Call My Agent! and well-received in Stillwater, House of Gucci and Our Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rachel Lang
film profile]), Lyna Khoudri (winner of the 2020 Most Promising Actress César award for Papicha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mounia Meddour
film profile] and Orizzonti award for Best Actress in Venice in 2017 for Blessed [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], seen in Cannes in Our Brothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and in cinemas next year in the diptych The Three Musketeers), Anamaria Vartolomei (winner of the Best Actress Lumière award and Most Promising Actress César award this year for Happening [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile]), Fabrice Luchini (winner of the Volpi Cup for Best Actor in Venice in 2015 for Courted [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and in cinemas next year in François Ozon’s new film Madeleine, having already worked with Dumont in Slack Bay) and Brandon Vlieghe. Also in the cast are Julien Manier (noticed for his portrayal of Gilles de Rais in Joan of Arc [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile]) and the duo Bernard Pruvost - Philippe Jore (the investigators from Li'l Quinquin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

Written by the director, the script is set in a curious sci-fi universe: from the banal daily life of a fisherman’s village on the Opal Coast, emerges the epic parallel life of knights from interplanetary kingdoms. Rival clans are engaged in fierce and bloody battle following the announcement of the birth of Margat, the resurgent Prince, purple and ugly, the Beast of the Endtimes — located here on the Opal Coast, he is the child of a young couple already separated, as is common to life in a working class neighbourhood…

Produced by Jean Bréhat and Bertrand Faivre for Tessalit Productions, The Empire is co-produced by Germany’s Red Balloon Film, Italy’s Ascent Film, Belgium’s Novak Prod, and Furyo Films. Pre-bought by Canal+ and Ciné+, the feature film is supported by Pictanovo (Hauts de France region), the small-scale co-production deal between France and Germany, Eurimages, the Italian Cultural Ministre, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the Medienboard Berlin-Brandebourg, the CNC’s support to visual or audio creation with the use of digital technologies, and the Cofinova Sofica. Filming will take place until 10 September on the Opal Coast before resuming for a few days in late September in Brussels, then from 3 to 10 October in Caserte, with a final shooting day still to be confirmed in October or November in Berlin. The direction of photography is handled by David Chambille. ARP Sélection will be in charge of French distribution and sales are handled by Memento International.

(Translated from French)