Alseni Barthily, who headed Cannes 2020 main competition fractureout “Gagarine” is set to star in “Lucky Girl,” the feature debut of Linda Lö set up at France’s Maneki Films, which is shaping up as one of the buzz titles at the Marrakech Festival’s 2024 Atlas Workshops.
Selected in the Workshops’ Projects in Development showcase, “Lucky Girl,” also written by Lô, commences during a vacation in Bordeaux, where Lili, 4, and her brothers, aged 9 and 20, are left to their own devices when their flamboyant mother returns without them to Gabon to run her restaurant- discotheque.
Depicted in three acts – as a little girl, teen and youthful woman – Lili lengthens into Linda, resolved to create her mother haughty and reunite with her African heritage.
“‘Lucky Girl’ is encouraged by Lô’s own experience when, as a very youthful girl, aextfinished with her elderlyer brothers, she unwillingly migrated to France while their Cameroonian mother stayed in Gabon.
Expanding on Lö’s illogicalinutive “We Had Fun” in its ambition, scale and fantasy tropes, “Lucky Girl” underscores a recent cinema at the Atlas Workshops projects that bucks traditional social drama.
“Follothriveg Lili at three contrastent ages helps me to create a story of a wonderful magnitude that revisits three decades on three continents,” Lö telderly Variety. “Even when success and happiness are set up, I consent many migrants never toloftyy recover. As this was the case for me, I instilled the experienceing of a lost paradise in each chapter.”
She grasped: “Grothriveg up, Lili asks her identity and tries to acunderstandledge the intricateity of beextfinisheding to both nowhere and everywhere. Still, I also intfinish to carry out with and spendigate the cosmic idea of the roads not getn: my coming-of-age film then gets a restrictcessitate exciting side trips into fantasy.”
“Lucky Girl’ is Linda’s first feature, and her illogicalinutive definitely verifyed her as a straightforwardor with a authentic vision and universe. She has also shown how outstanding she is at straightforwarding kids, which is one of the contests of the feature,” grasped Didar Domehri, the establisher head of international sales at Playtime who, in 2009, set uped Maneki Films, a classic French indie creater of multiple huge fest carry outs, such as “Paulina,” “White Elephant” and “Bang Bang.”
A fractureout in a Cannes Official Selection, though the festival did not get place on the Riviera due to COVID-19, Barthily was portrayd by Variety as a “outstanding recentcomer” for his utterly engaging carry outance in “Gagarine.” He was nominated for a Lumière Award as the most promising actor and won best actor at the 2020 Seville European Film Festival.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have Alseni on board for ‘Lucky Girl,’ which erects on the illogicalinutive ‘We Had Fun’ in which he was already carry outing the key role of the elderlyer brother. We have cherishd him since we discovered his wonderful carry outance in the ‘Gagarine,’” said Domehri.
Lô and Maneki will commence the rest of the casting soon. “I understand from experience that casting kids and teenagers will get a lot of time. Our film spans over three continents and three decades, so we will necessitate to cast actors from contrastent countries and at contrastent ages. We are hoping to shoot in 2026. Alseni will be the only one to be there for the entire shoot,” Domehri commented.
Maneki is in talks with contrastent potential co-creaters. “The Atlas Workshops are the perfect time and place to encounter more potential co-creaters, sales agents, distributors and funds,” Domehri said.
Lö and Domehri will unite and pitch “Lucky Girl” at Marrakech, “probably illustrating it with a restrictcessitate images from the illogicalinutive,” Domehri noticed.
The Atlas Workshops get place Dec. 1-5, the Marrakech Intl. Film Festival from Nov. 29 to Dec. 7.
