David Thion, French producer of the Palme d’Or for Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall”, is reuniting with Guillaume Senez for “A Missing Part”, a Tokyo drama that Be For Films represents on international markets.
“A Missing Part” will also reunite Senez with popular French actor Romain Duris, who starred in his 2018 film “Our Struggles” and which earned him a César nomination. Brussels-based Be For Films had sold Senez’s debut feature “Keeper” and “Our Struggles” in most major territories and screened at a host of international festivals.
Duris will play Jay, who hasn’t seen his daughter in nine years since he separated from his Japanese wife. As a foreigner residing in Japan, Jay was denied custody of his daughter. Hoping to find her somewhere in the city, he gives up his career as a renowned chef and becomes a taxi driver. After all these years of searching in vain, Jay is about to give up and go back to France when Lily jumps into his taxi. But she doesn’t recognize him.
Talk to Variety, Thion, producer and partner of Les Films Pelleas, said Senez was inspired to write this story after visiting Japan to present “Our Struggles”. “The story depicted in ‘A Missing Part’ is not an isolated case. The law in Japan does not allow joint custody when one of the parents is non-Japanese – they are prohibited from being in contact with the child until the age of 18,” Thion said. , who noted that the film will end up exploring fatherhood as Senez’s previous film “Our Struggles” did.
Citing John Ford’s “The Searchers” as an influence, the producer said the film will be suspenseful and “address Japanese and French cultures through the story of a foreigner torn by his emotions trying to find his way in foreign territory”. Thion said the film will include many shots of Duris’ character traveling the length and breadth of Tokyo in his taxi. A first location scouting tour has been completed and Be For Films founder Pamela Leu pitched the hot project to buyers at Cannes.
At Cannes, we are going to start having buyers read the script. Many of those who distributed NOS BATAILLES are very curious to discover this project shot in Japan with Romain Duris.
At Cannes, we are going to start having buyers read the script. Many of those who distributed NOS BATAILLES are very curious to discover this project shot in Japan with Romain Duris.
Co-written by Jean Denizot (“The Men of the Church”), “A missing part” will be distributed in Belgium by Versus and by Haut et Court in France. The film will begin shooting on location in Japan in mid-October.
Les Films Pelléas is also preparing to start filming this fall for Karim Moussaoui’s next film (“Waiting for the Swallows”) “L’Effacement”. The film is co-written by Maud Ameline, based on the novel by Samir Toumi. Nomadis co-produced it in Tunisia. “L’Effacement” traces the journey of a young Algerian from a bourgeois family who becomes increasingly alienated by his authoritarian father and implodes.
“It’s a story that highlights a young generation caught between founding myths, social injunctions and personal desires, and it’s also a film about a failed transmission between generations,” said Thion, who described it as an “Algerian taxi driver”. Mk2 films embarks on international sales while Ad Vitam will distribute it in France.
Thion is also forging links with rising filmmakers, such as Anne-Sophie Bailly, whose short film “La Sage-femme” was presented last year at Telluride. Les Films Pelleas is producing Bailly’s first feature film “Les inséparables” which will star Laure Calamy, the cesarean actress of “Mon âne, mon amant et moi” and “Appelle mon agent! “. The film will revolve around the relationship between a mother, Mona, who raised her disabled son alone and longs to start taking care of herself now that he is a grown man. But when her son announces he’s having a baby with his girlfriend, Mona finds herself with another heavy responsibility.
“We are delighted to work with Anne-Sophie Bailly who is so talented. She graduated from French film school La Femis and the short film she presented at Telluride was actually her graduation film,” said Thion, who described “Les inséparables” as a “story moving story about a single mother taking care of her son”.
In addition to Justine Triet, Senez, Moussaoui and Bailly, Les Films Pelleas has also collaborated with Mia Hansen-Love (“One Fine Morning”), Guillaume Brac (“All Hands on Deck”), Christophe Honoré (“Le Lycéen”), Danielle Arbid (“A simple passion”) and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet (“Les Amours d’Anais”), among others.