The Fire Next Time
Our only directorial debut in the top 100, actress Mati Diop moves behind the camera in her long-gestating project, The Fire Next Time (which is not an adaptation of the famous James Baldwin novel). Known for her debut in Claire Denis’ exceptional 2008 film 35 Shots of Rum, as well as co-starring alongside Brady Corbet in the morbid Antonio Campos film Simon Killer (she’s also racked up credits with Matias Pineiro and Benjamin Crotty), Diop has been steadfastly working on getting her debut off the ground, which concerns Adele, a sixteen-year-old beautician in Senegal whose lover Soulemaine goes missing and the bodies of his friends wash ashore in Dakar. Soon after, she’s betrothed to marry an older man as she awaits news of Souleimane.
Release Date/Prediction: Diop’s debut has been coming together since 2012. This past March, Diop was casting the film, and in September, ARTE France Cinema announced it would commit to producing the title. While we’re unsure of where in the process Diop currently is with The Fire Next Time (which may undergo a title change), she’d be a great contender for Critics’ Week at Cannes with her debut should it be ready in time. Look for player announcements shortly.
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