EXCLUSIVE: The French outfit’s lineup also includes 1950s-set cabaret drama Crazy Heart and culture-clash comedy God Bless This Mess
France’s SND is kicking off sales for Second World War-set drama When The Night Falls, directed by and starring Daniel Auteuil and based on the true story of a young civil servant and humanitarian priest who teamed up to save children from deportation during the Nazi occupation.
It co-stars Antoine Reinartz, known for Anatomy Of A Fall and Love Me Tender, and Gregory Gadebois, fresh off his role in Laszlo Nemes’s Orphan. The film about ordinary people who become heroes was shot in Lyon, where it is also set. It is produced by Frederic Jouve for Les Films Velvet alongside Palatio Films and La Smala Productions.
Auteuil co-wrote the script with Camille Lugan. It marks the veteran actor’s sixth outing as a director and follows An Ordinary Case which world premiered as a Cannes special screening in 2024.
Also powering SND’s 2026 line-up is Axel Courtiere’s Crazy Heart, which is set in Paris’s 1950s cabaret scene and follows a young piano player torn between loyalty to his mother, a singer whose star is fading, and a shy waitress with an extraordinary voice.
Rising talent Julien de Saint Jean (The Count Of Monte-Cristo) stars alongside Camelia Jordana, Karin Viard and Philippe Katerine. The film is produced by Apaches Films.
Rounding out SND’s slate of new titles is Mohamed Hamidi’s God Bless This Mess, a fish-out-of-water comedy about a young Muslim troublemaker sent to a strict Catholic school in the middle of rural Burgundy where the real test is fitting into his surroundings. Ilyes Diadel leads the cast alongside Josiane Balasko, Fred Testot and Jamel Debbouze, who also produces via his Kissman Productions alongside SND.
The three new projects are all in post-production, and SND will launch them at next week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous on script.
SND also heads to the Paris event with market screenings for Remi Bezancon’s detective comedy Murder In the Building starring Gilles Lellouche and Laetitia Casta, Julien Herve’s comedy sequel Ooh La La 2, Jean Baptiste Leonetti’s romcom Whatever It Takes and James Huth’s holiday caper Wanted Santa.
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