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Elsa Keslassy
International Correspondent
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Getty French screen legend Isabelle Huppert is set to star in her first British film, “Lineage,” the hot new feature from acclaimed filmmaker Yann Demange (“Top Boy,” “71”). She’ll star opposite Dali Benssalah, Adam Bessa and award-winning global recording artist Raye in a breakout screen role.
The high-profile crime drama is set to launch international sales at the Marché du Film during this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Veterans will lead international sales, with CAA Media Finance representing U.S. rights. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in London in early August. The project also reunites Huppert and Bessa, who co-star in “Parallel Tales,” Asghar Farhadi’s latest feature premiering in competition at Cannes.
Written by Enda Walsh, whose credits include “Hunger,” and based on a story by Demange, “Lineage” was developed by the pair over the past two years. Set in contemporary multicultural London, the film follows Tariq, a man rebuilding his life after prison and striving to carve out a new path for himself and his young son, Amine. When his brother pleads for help, Tariq is pulled back into the London criminal underworld and the dangerous orbit of their crime boss mother. This reconnection jeopardizes everything he has built, forcing him to confront his family loyalty and the legacy of violence that has defined his life. Demange, whose credits include “Top Boy” and the acclaimed thriller “71,” described “Lineage” as deeply personal.
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“‘Lineage’ is a homecoming for me in many ways,” Demange said, adding that the film will feature “characters I know very well at the center of the story, including a formidable crime boss matriarch.”
“It’s also my love letter to the London I grew up in and love. It’s important to me that the film both honors and delivers on the crime genre in an exciting and fresh way, whilst simultaneously exploring the complications of family and the possibility of transcending one’s beginnings,” continued the helmer, who broke through with his feature debut “71” which won him the British Independent Film Award for best director.
Thomas Benski, producer of “Lineage,” partner at Wayward and Carrousel and founder of Lumina, praised Demange as “a singular cinematic voice and one of the most distinctive filmmakers of his generation, masterfully blending emotional intensity, propulsive visual storytelling, and cultural relevance.” “‘Lineage’ is bold, filmmaker-driven cinema with true artistic ambition and global commercial appeal – exactly the kind of elevated storytelling we want to champion and bring to audiences,” added Benski. “Lineage” is produced by Wayward’s Thomas Benski and Meredith Duff, Crab Apple Films’ Angus Lamont, Carrousel’s Cécile Gaget, Besides Productions’ Christophe Toulemonde and Why Not Productions’ Pascal Caucheteux. Tessa Ross of House Productions, Richard Mansell of Strange Charm, Eva Yates of BBC Film are serving as executive producers. LPI, Lumina Studios and BBC Film are co-financing the movie.
Demange is represented by CAA, Range Media Partners, and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson & Christopher LLP; Huppert is represented by Isabelle de la Patelliere (UBBB) and Hilda Queally (CAA); Benssalah is represented by Juanita Fellag Chebra at AS Talents, UTA & Strand Entertainment; Bessa is represented by Grace Cavanagh-Butler at Sequel Management and Florence Charmasson at Alternative Agency; RAYE is represented by The Team and Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Walsh is represented by Curtis Brown Group.
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