Céline Sciamma’s fourth feature is in the works. The French filmmaker will follow up “Girlhood” with “Portrait de la jeune fille en feu,” which roughly translates to “Portrait of the Girl on Fire.” Arte France Cinéma has pre-purchased the pic and will co-produce, Cineuropa reports.
Set in the 18th century on an isolated island in Brittany, the drama tells the story of “an artist commissioned to paint a young woman’s wedding portrait. The film is a fresco of emotions and desire through which the director seeks to ‘portray the presence of a past love, and the long-term resonance of this past love within us, which goes some way to compensating its loss,'” according to the source. Sciamma penned the script.
Adèle Haenel (“The Unknown Girl”) has been announced as part of the cast.
The Lilies Films production is slated to start shooting this October.
Sciamma wrote the screenplay for “My Life as a Zucchini,” a Best Animated Feature Film nominee at this year’s Oscars. Her last directorial effort, 2014’s “Girlhood,” earned four César nods, including Best Director. She made her directorial debut with 2007’s “Water Lilies” — which also starred Haenel — and followed it up with 2011’s “Tomboy.”
“When feminism is talked about, it is always presented as women getting revenge or women getting privilege — as though it only concerns women, or women in countries where [they are] oppressed,” Sciamma has told us. “Feminism isn’t that. It concerns us all. It’d be a great improvement for men too, actually.”