Advertisement

France’s Curiosa Films, Wild Bunch Germany Team on ‘Charlotte’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Click here to read the full article.

Olivier Delbosc’s Paris-based company Curiosa Films is partnering with Wild Bunch Germany on “Charlotte,” a WWII-set film about the short and prolific life of the German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, who died in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 26.

“Charlotte” will be directed by Gilles Bourdos. His film “Renoir” played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and represented France in the foreign-language Oscar race in 2014. The film will mark the first adaptation of David Foenkinos’ 2015 prize-winning novel “Charlotte.”

More from Variety

Bourdos penned the script with his frequent collaborator Michel Spinosa (“Renoir,” “Endangered Species”), as well as Foenkinos.

The ambitious period film will tell the story of Salomon, a young prodigy who left her mark on the world of arts with “Life? Or Theatre?” — an autobiographical series of 769 paintings that she created between 1941 and 1943 in the south of France, where she lived before she was captured by the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz.

“Charlotte Salomon’s pictorial diary is a major work of art that captures the essence of her life and her experience being hunted by the Nazis,” said Delbosc.

“Charlotte” is expected to start shooting in Berlin and the South of France at the end of the summer. Casting is under way. There is no sales agent attached to the project at this point.

“Charlotte” is one of the internationally driven projects currently undertaken by Curiosa Films. The banner is also producing, with RT Features, Claire Denis’ next film, “The Stars at Noon,” an adaptation of Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel set during the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1984. Robert Pattinson and Margaret Qualley will headline the film, which is expected to start shooting in September. Wild Bunch Intl. is selling the project.

Curiosa Films’s roster also includes Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions” (pictured), based on Honoré de Balzac’s masterpiece that stars Benjamin Voisin, Xavier Dolan, Vincent Lacoste and Cecile de France (sold by Gaumont); Regis Roinsard’s “En attendant Bojangle,” with Virgina Efira and Romain Duris (sold by Studiocanal); and the third opus of “Little Nicholas,” a live-action family franchise based on the popular series of French children’s books from the 1960s. The film will be directed by Julien Rappeneau and will start shooting soon.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.