Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #74. Francois Ozon’s The New Girlfriend

The New Girlfriend (Une Nouvelle Amie)

Director: Francois Ozon
Writer: Francois Ozon
Producers: Mandarin Films’ Eric and Nicolas Altmayer
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Romain Duris, Anais Demoustier, Raphael Personnaz

Man, Francois Ozon is on a roll. His last film, Young & Beautiful just premiered at Cannes 2013 in the Main Competition and he’s already in post-production on his next, I Am Woman, which seems to have been recently re-titled The New Girlfriend. Never at a loss for top notch talent, Ozon headlines his latest with two of France’s most sought after leading men, Romain Duris (who US audiences should recognize from Heartbreaker, Populaire, and several well known Klapisch titles) and Raphael Personnaz (Vronsky in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina) while hot commodity Anais Demoustier plays the female lead.

Gist: Penned by Ozon (pictured above) and based on a novel by British auteur Ruth Rendell,” Girlfriend” turns on Claire, a young woman who falls into depression after her best girlfriend’s death. She eventually finds the strength to embrace life after discovering an unexpected secret about her late friend’s husband.

Release Date: It’s hard to say, but while his last film premiered at Cannes, Ozon has a tendency to premiere in Toronto or Venice. Either way, a nice festival slot will be secured.