Six years after transitioning from film criticism, programming and docu features to narrative with Diane (2018), Kent Jones is gearing up for his sophomore project. Titled Late Fame, it was announced just prior to Cannes with Sandra Hüller onboard, however, Past Lives Greta Lee has replaced her and will now joining Willem Dafoe. This should be another fascinating character study – as the drama was penned by Samy Burch (Haynes’ May December – read review). Filming was planned for the fall – so this will be packaged and complete for the fall festival season in 2025. Killer Films’ Pamela Koffler and Christine Vachon are producing.
This is the story of Ed Saxberger (Dafoe), who wrote a book of poetry a long time ago that no one ever cared about. When a group of young artists rediscover his work, he must reassess his genius. The wild card in the group is Gloria (Lee), a talented and mercurial theatre actress who toys with affections and who is all set to be admired by this legendary Saxberger figure from a gritty New York golden age.
