For Arthur Harari, cinema is a family affair. His grandfather was an actor in French films, and his partner? She’s a Palme d’Or winner. Though he occasionally steps in front of the camera, Harari is first and foremost a filmmaker—a director and screenwriter who has just completed his third feature. While his 2016 debut, Diamant noir, flew under the international radar, his sophomore effort, Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (2021), premiered in Un Certain Regard and firmly established his reputation—earning the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc – and that was followed by Anatomy of a Fall – numerous awards for Best Original Screenplay, including the big daddy of it all with the Academy Award. His highly anticipated third outing is also a family affair – his brother Lucas wrote the graphic novel (known as Bande dessinée) The Case of David Zimmerman on which this is based on. Here is Everything We Know So Far … about Arthur Harari’s L’inconnue (aka The Unknown).
Back in May of last year, it was announced that Harari was working on The Unknown, had lassoed a major actress and had NEON backing the project… and then we would find out shortly after that, that this is actually based on the graphic novel by Arthur and Lucas Harari which was published this past November.
Written by Arthur Hahari, Lucas Harari, Vincent Poymiro and Justine Triet, the graphic novel description is as such: Paris, present day. David Zimmerman, in his thirties, is constantly on the edge of his life. He’s a photographer, but almost no one knows this, confined to weddings and bar mitzvahs. On the evening of December 31st, he lets himself be swept away by a huge party by his only friend, Harry, as exuberant as he is antisocial. Amid the crowd, his gaze is drawn to that of an enigmatic young brunette, whom he can’t help but follow… In the dead of night, his life is turned upside down. David wakes up… in the body of the stranger.
Léa Seydoux was the first to board. Niels Schneider (who toplined Harari’s feature debut) is cast alongside Victoire Du Bois and Lilith Grasmug.
Longtime producer Nicolas Anthomé and Lionel Guedj backed the project. And making this a famioly affair he re-teams with Cinematographer Tom Harari.
Filming began in March 2025 in Paris and then moved into the month of May with filming taking place in the West of France. We’d bet the house that this will be in competition for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2026.
