EXCLUSIVE: Kingsley Ben-Adir and Rob Morgan are leading the cast of Frank & Louis (working title), the English-language feature debut of Late Shift director Petra Volpe.
Production on the film began on April 30 in the UK; TrustNordisk has boarded international sales rights.
Written by Volpe and Esther Bernstorff, Frank & Louis centres on a man serving a life sentence, who takes an in-prison job caring for ageing and infirm prisoners suffering from memory loss diseases. What starts as a self-serving parole mission turns into an emotional and transformative relationship with a fellow inmate that offers a chance at redemption.
Indira Varma, Rosalind Eleazar and Grammy-winning artist Rene Perez Joglar - who performs music under the name Residente - round out the cast.
The film is produced by Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi for Switzerland’s Zodiac Pictures, in co-production with Georgie Paget and Thembisa Cochrane for the UK’s Caspian Films.
It is made in co-production with Swiss Radio and Television and SRG SSR; with backing from the Federal Office of Culture, Zürcher Filmstiftung, Suissimage, Media Desk Suisse and the cantons of Aargau and Lucerne.
It is a fourth feature for Swiss filmmaker Volpe, whose Late Shift debuted as a Special Gala at this year’s Berlinale and has sold extensively worldwide, also through TrustNordisk. Late Shift has taken over $7m in Switzerland, Austria and Germany since its February release, with over 550,000 admissions.
“This passion project has been over ten years in the making, and I’m incredibly excited and grateful for the amazing ensemble of truly passionate actors who are joining me on this journey to bring a beautiful, touching, and relevant story about the transformative power of compassion to the big screen,” said Volpe of Frank & Louis. “I hope this film will spark important conversations about aging and mental health within the prison system.”
Ben-Adir was nominated for the 2021 Bafta Rising Star award, and played Bob Marley in last year’s Bob Marley: One Love. Morgan has appeared in US titles Mudbound, The Last Black Man In San Francisco and Just Mercy, and was nominated for best male lead at the Spirit Awards in Cannes 2019 title Bull. Joglar’s acting credits include In The Summers, winner of two prizes at Sundance 2024, for which he was nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award for breakthrough performance.
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