New films this week include France’s Belle Du Seigneur, Argentinean-Canadian-French co-production Another Kind ofSilence as well as UK-German-Canadian drama The Song of Names.

Principal photography started last week (October 27) on Glenio Bonder’s Belle Du Seigneur, a drama following the love affair between a Jewish diplomat, of modest upbringing, and a married young woman from a Geneva Protestant bourgeois family. Jimmy De Brabant, Thierry de Navacelle and Jean Luc Van Damme are jointly producing the film, which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Natalia Vodianova in the lead roles alongside Marianne Faithfull, Maria Bonnevie and Ed Stoppard. Shooting is scheduled to wrap in about seven weeks with Stealth Media selling the film internationally.

A US policewoman’s life falls apart when her family is killed in Santiago Amigorena’s Another Kind of Silence. Amigorena also wrote the script. Produced by Max Films Productions, Rizoma Films and Gloria Films, shooting will commence on November 22 in Argentina and Canada with Marie-Josée Croze and Nahuel Perez Biscayart in the lead roles. The film has received backing from ARTE and Canal+. Celluloid Dreams has been appointed to handle international sales and Rezo Films will distribute across France.

Anthony Hopkins and Dustin Hoffman have been confirmed to star in The Song of Names, a German-UK-Canadian co-production to be directed by Vadim Perelman. The film is produced by Egoli Tossell Film, Feel Films and Foundation Features, with Nick Hirschkorn producing and Hannah Leader executive producing. The story, about a man searching for a childhood friend who mysteriously vanished when they were teenagers, is based on the book by Norman Lebrecht. Jeffrey Caine adapted it for the big screen. Shooting is planned to kick off in early 2011. Westend Film is selling the production internationally, starting at the American Film Market (AFM) this week.