French producers Noëlle Levenez and Clara Marquardt have launched production outfit Cérémonie, with a slate of projects from rising auteurs.
Guil Sela will direct his debut feature Life Is A Beach, described as an “anti-romantic romantic comedy” that passed through Critics’ Week’s Next Step programme. Haut Et Court will release in France, and Charades is handling sales.
The company is also developing Croatian director Nebojša Slijepčević’s first film, Two Little Nightmares, as a collaboration with Croatia’s Antitalent, Bulgaria’s Contrast films and Slovenia’s Studio Virc, and Mahaut Adam’s Drama Queen, co-produced by Les Films Norfolk and co-written with Martin Jauvat. Cérémonie will co-produce the film about two friends spending the summer in the South of France who wake up with hangovers and a body cut into pieces in their picnic hamper.
Levenez hails from Les Films Norfolk, where she produced Slijepčević’s Palme d’Or-winning 2024 short film The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent.
Marquardt previously worked at Les Valseurs with recent credits including Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s 2026 Cannes-selected short film The End starring Alexander Skarsgård and Noomi Rapace.
“We don’t want to limit ourselves to first films,” Marquardt says. “We are just starting to develop long-term relationships with a new generation of filmmakers with unique worlds, strong directorial identities and an ability to engage with a contemporary audience.”
Raising the financing for first films is a challenge, admits Levenez. “We remain confident in our projects’ ability to find their place in the market while preserving their uniqueness, which is at the heart of our mission as producers.”
The company is also developing two series projects – one live-action and one animated – as well as two animated short films in co-production with Les Valseurs as part of the company’s plans to develop feature films in the genre going forward.
The company’s moniker stems from its double meaning. “Both in its literal sense of a joyful, festive gathering, and for the ritualistic aspect of getting together to watch a film or a series, whether in a cinema or at home with a group of friends,” Levenez explains.
She adds it is also a subtle nod to Claude Chabrol’s 1995 psychological thriller La Ceremonie.
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