29/10/2021 - Also in the cast are Louise Bourgoin and Noémie Lvovsky, in this production by Les films du Bélier and Swiss company Alina Film which will be sold by Kinology

Actor and director Manu Laskar (© Martin Colombet) and actresses Louise Bourgoin (© Georges Biard) and Noémie Lvovsky (© Georges Biard)

Last stretch for the shooting of Manu Laskar's first feature film, Le Médium, which will end on 5 November. Revealed on stage as an author and actor with the collective Les Chiens de Navarre, the Franco-Swiss made his debut as a filmmaker with the short film Calme ta joie (Directors' Fortnight 2015).

For his transition to feature filmmaking, he also heads the cast, supported by Louise Bourgoin (recently seen in the series Hippocrate), Noémie Lvovsky (nominated for eight César awards, including this year for How to be a Good Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile]; to be seen next year in Viens je t'emmène and L'envol), Maud Wyler (The Bare Necessity [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erwan Le Duc
film profile], Secret Name [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aurélia Georges
film profile], the series Mixte) and Alexandre Steiger (Eiffel [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Blood Oranges [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Christophe Meurisse
film profile]).

Written by Manu Laskar and Raphaëlle Desplechin (winner of the SACD prize at the Cannes Critics' Week 2021 for Olga [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elie Grappe
film profile] and nominated for the 2011 César for Best Original Screenplay for On Tour [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mathieu Amalric
interview: Mathieu Amalric
film profile]), the script centres on Michael Monge, a young music teacher suffering through a painful break-up from his partner Clémence when he suddenly loses his mother, a psychic who specialises in communicating with the dead. Supposed to have inherited her gifts but overwhelmed by his own grief, he refuses to take care of her abandoned clients. However, his meeting with Alicia, a charismatic young artist who is certain she can feel the presence of her deceased husband Christian, convinces him to lend her his services. Struck by a guilty attraction to her, he must confront the invading presence of spectres, including that of Christian...

Produced by Justin Taurand for Les films du Bélier, Le Médium is co-produced by Swiss company Alina Film and the RTS. Also pre-purchased by Canal+ and Ciné+, the feature (which was selected in 2019 by the Emergence directing residency) also benefits from the support of the CNC advance on receipts, the South region (where the seven-week shoot started on 20 September, with Margot Besson as director of photography), the Office Féderal de la Culture, Cinéforom and Sofica Cinéventure. Distribution in France will be handled by Ad Vitam and international sales by Kinology.

(Translated from French by Manuela Lazic)