Claire Pommet, Stefan Crepon and Karin Viard star with Deneuve in graphic novel adaptation ‘A Man’s Skin’
EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based Playtime has boarded a trio of new titles, including Jerome Bonnell’s period drama The Arrangement, Lea Domenach’s graphic novel adaptation A Man’s Skin and Sarah Arnold’s debut feature Too Many Beasts.
It is launching international sales at the Paris Rendez-Vous next week.
The Arrangement (La Condition) stars Swann Arlaud, Galatea Bellugi, Louise Chevillotte and Emmanuelle Devos. Set in 1908, it is about a young maid in a bourgeois home who is pregnant with the child of her abusive employer, whose wife decides to fake a pregnancy to save face and keep the child as her own. But the two women form an unexpected bond that disturbs the balance of the household and challenges society’s status quo.
It is produced by Diaphana Films, which released the film via the company’s distribution arm in France on December 10. It has garnered 142,000 admissions to date.
The film is Bonnell’s ninth feature after a slew of festival and prize-winning titles, including Berlin-premiering Pale Eyes, Tribeca debut Just A Sigh and his most recent film 2021’s The Love Letter. Playtime will host a market premiere screening for buyers at the Rendez-Vous.
Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, co-CEO of Playtime, described the film as “a remarkable tale of women’s solidarity in a patriarchal world….The film goes where you don’t expect it to go, and Jérôme Bonnell makes you care about his characters.”
Diaphana producer Michel Saint-Jean said he believed the film “has strong mainstream appeal, dealing with themes of secrecy, power, and social violence, while at the same time remaining a clearly director-driven film that we believe critics will strongly support internationally”.
Deneuve
Domenach’s A Man’s Skin (Peau D’Homme) reteams the director with Catherine Deneuve after Bernadette Chirac comedy The President’s Wife. The film is adapted from Hubert and Zanzim’s best-selling graphic novel of the same name.
Set in the late 15th century, A Man’s Skin follows Princess Blanche, who is devastated when her father opts to marry her off to a coarse army commander she barely knows. Her godmother gives her a mysterious ‘skin’ that allows her to become a man and get to know her fiancé incognito.
It is produced by Karé Productions and Tresor Films, and Diaphana will release it in France. Claire Pommet, Stefan Crepon and Karin Viard headline the ensemble cast with Deneuve.
Playtime’s third new title for the Rendez Vous is Too Many Beasts (L’Espece Explosive), starring Alexis Manenti, Ella Rumpf and Vincent Dedienne. The film is set amidst a war in the French countryside between farmers and members of a gentlemen’s hunting club, sparked by wild boars ravaging local crops, which leads to a murder. A police officer is pushed to the brink of insanity as he leads the investigation a year later.
Director Arnold has previously made several eye-catching short films, such as Parades, which premiered in competition at Locarno and in Clermont-Ferrand.
Too Many Beasts is produced by 5 à 7 Films. Pan Distribution will release in France.
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