Isabelle Huppert to Star in Yann Demange’s Thriller ‘Lineage,’ Launching Project at Cannes Market
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.
Demange, whose credits include “Top Boy” and the acclaimed thriller “71,” described “Lineage” as deeply personal.
“‘Lineage’ is a homecoming for me in many ways,” Demange said. 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,” said the helmer, who broke through with his 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.
