Two new women-directed films have found homes. Deadline reports that Oscilloscope Laboratories snagged the North American rights to Valérie Müller and Angelin Preljocaj’s “Polina,” a ballet drama starring Juliette Binoche (“The Clouds of Sils Maria”), and Paladin and Electric Entertainment have acquired the rights to Bette Gordon’s psychological thriller “The Drowning,” led by Julia Stiles (“Bourne” franchise) and Josh Charles (“The Good Wife”).
“Polina” made its world premiere at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. Penned by Müller (“Le monde de Fred”), the French film “centers on Polina (Anastasia Shevtsova), a promising classical ballet dancer who is just about to join the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet when she discovers contemporary dance, a revelation that throws everything into question,” Deadline writes. After moving to France to work with a famous choreographer Liria Elsaj (Binoche), Polina is confronted by the fact that “determination and hard work don’t always lead to success.” The co-director of the film, Preljocaj, is a dancer and choreographer herself. Everybody’s on Deck’s Gaëlle Bayssière and Didier Creste produced the project.
Binoche has signed on to writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve’s follow-up to “Things to Come,” “Maya.” The film centers on a French war reporter (Roman Kolinka, “Eden”) dealing with the trauma of having been taken hostage in Syria. The Oscar winner’s next feature, “Ghost in the Shell,” hits theaters March 31. Scarlett Johansson stars as a cyborg in the big-budget sci-fi story.
“The Drowning” debuted at the 2016 Warsaw Film Festival and opened the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival earlier this month. The film follows “a forensic psychologist (Charles) who is haunted by his expert witness testimony that sent a young boy to prison for a chilling murder. When the boy later reappears in his life, he is drawn into a destructive, soul-searching reinvestigation of the case,” the source summarizes. “Elizabeth Kling, Subi Liang, Ho-Cheung Pang exec produced and Radium Cheung, Daniel L. Blanc, Jamin O’Brien are producers.”
Gordon’s directing credits include “Handsome Harry,” “Luminous Motion,” and “Variety.” Next up for Stiles is “Smash” creator Theresa Rebeck’s “Trouble,” an indie comedy about feuding siblings played by Anjelica Huston and Bill Pullman.
