Sumith Prasad
French director Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s ‘La Tour de Glace’ will begin filming in France and Germany in January 2024. Set in the 1970s, the drama film is about a 15-year-old runaway orphan named Jeanne, who finds herself in the studio of a film adaptation of a fairytale. Here, she meets the charming actress Cristina, who plays the Snow Queen on the set and mentors her. The film explores the elements of a coming-of-age story, fantasy, and intrigue. Geoff Cox and Hadzihalilovic penned the movie, which is produced by France’s 3B Productions. The exact filming locations have not been revealed yet.
While French actress Marion Cotillard will play the seductive Cristina/Snow Queen, we don’t know who will play the young Jeanne yet. 3B Productions’ Muriel Merlin explained that Cotillard’s strong character influences the teenager, with ‘The Snow Queen’ in the backdrop, symbolizing the girl’s journey to adulthood. The film will also have fantasy elements, according to Merlin. The producer is best known for producing Léa Seydoux-starrer ‘France,’ Hirokazu Koreeda’s ‘The Truth,’ Bruno Dumont’s ‘Joan of Arc,’ and Juliette Binoche-starrer ‘Slack Bay.’
Cotillard has an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, among others, to her name. Her line-up of movies includes partner Guillaume Canet’s ‘Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom,’ which is already out, and Jim Capobianco’s ‘The Inventor,’ which will be released in September. Her French film ‘Little Girl Blue,’ directed by Mona Achache, will be released in November 2023. The actress’ well-known credits include Edith Piaf in ‘La Vie en Rose,’ Billie Frechette in Michael Mann’s ‘Public Enemies,’ Mal in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception,’ Adriana in Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris,’ Dr. Leonora Orantes in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion,’ Miranda Tate/Talia al Ghul in ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ Ann Defrasnoux in Adam Driver-starrer ‘Annette,’ etc.
Hadzihalilovic is collaborating with screenwriter Cox after co-writing ‘Earwig’ with Brian Catling. The filmmaker is known for her feature films ‘Innocence’ (2004) and ‘Evolution’ (2015). Her films have been termed a bit “eccentric” and “macabre,” in addition to featuring body horror. Therefore, we can expect ‘La Tour de Glace’ to have much of the same feel. The French drama is expected to release in 2024. Arte France Cinema is backing up the project as well.
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