In what promises to be a vintage 2025 year for auteur cinema, Kantemir Balagov‘s next might also join the fray. Originally titled “Monica” and developed well before the invasion, this English-language debut will be shot in New Jersey and now learned that a portion will also be shot in France. During Cannes, it was revealed that the production team had changed, with Pascal Caucheteux and Grégoire Sorlat of Why Not Productions mounting the project, and now ARTE France Cinéma is also on board. Backed by Alexander Rodnyansky (who is already in France for Zvyagintsev’s next), we also learn that Butterfly Jam is being set for mid-September shoot — making this might be a long-shot for a Cannes premiere, but a potential shop-in for a Venice ’25 edition premiere.
Co-written with Marina Stepnova, this centers around 15-year-old Pyteh lives in New Jersey’s Circassian community where his father and aunt run a diner specializing in Circassian cuisine. The business is struggling. When he’s not helping out in the restaurant, the boy is training to become a professional wrestler. After one of his father’s misguided schemes goes wrong, Pyteh must come to terms with the man his beloved father is – and isn’t – and finds himself confronted with a violence that will force him to grow up faster than he would like.
