Audrey Diwan, the BAFTA-nominated filmmaker of the Venice Golden Lion-winning “Happening,” is set to make her television debut with Haut et Court TV in France, Variety has learned.
Haut et Court TV is one of France’s leading production companies with credits ranging from the supernatural drama series “The Returned,” to “The New Pope” with John Malkovich and Jude Law; “Panthers” with Tahar Rahim and more recently the French-Israeli series “Possession.”
Diwan is currently writing the series, which will be an original story about a mother and daughter running a plastic surgery clinic. The plot is under wraps but the series will be similar to “Happening” in that it will deal with intimate issue, about women and their bodies, transformations and limitations. A pay TV company in France is believed to be co-developing the series.
The filmmaker, who is also a book author and a screenwriter, recently collaborated with Valerie Donzelli on the script of her upcoming film and is currently developing her next feature with Edouard Veil at Rectangle Productions (“Aline”) with whom she made “Happening.”
“Happening,” which IFC Films and FilmNation will release domestically, was adapted from Annie Ernaux’s semi-autobiographical novel and centers on a promising young student who gets pregnant at a time when abortions were illegal in 1960s France. The film’s leading actor, Anamaria Vartolomei, is part of this year’s EFP Shooting Stars at in Berlin. The movie is also nominated for four Cesar Awards. Diwan is also nominated for BAFTA award for best director.
Haut et Court TV recently formed an alliance with leading international companies, including Netherlands’s Lemming Film (“Pleasure”), Belgium’s Versus Production (“Mother’s Instinct”), Norway’s Maipo Film (“Miss Julie”), Germany’s Razor Film (“Waltz With Bashir”), Israel’s Spiro (“Foxtrot”), France’s Unité (“A Good Doctor”), the U.S.’s Masha (“False Flag”) and the U.K.’s Good Chaos (“Triangle of Sadness”). Called The Creatives, the alliance is backed by Fremantle through a three-year partnership.
