Audrey Diwan is following up her Golden Lion win for “Happening” with an adaptation of Emmanuelle Arsan’s novel “Emmanuelle.”
The sensual thriller centers on a titular woman (Noémie Merlant) whose business trip to Hong Kong awakens an insatiability inside of her. Naomi Watts, Will Sharpe, “Stranger Things” breakout Jamie Campbell Bower, Anthony Wong, and Chacha Huang also co-star.
An official synopsis for the film reads: Emmanuelle is in search of a lost pleasure. She flies alone to Hong Kong, for a business trip. In this sensual world city, she multiplies experiences and meets Kei, a man who never ceases to elude her. Diwan’s film, freely adapted from Arsan’s novel, casts a female gaze on the intimate quest of the woman whose name still evokes one cinema’s most provocative characters.
“Emmanuelle” will open the San Sebastián Film Festival on September 20. The feature is distributed by Pathé.
Chantelouve, Rectangle Productions, and Goodfellas produced the film.
Diwan made her feature directorial debut with “Losing It” starring Celine Sallette and Pio Marmaï. Her second film, “Happening,” won the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. That same year she was part of the Official Jury at the San Sebastian Festival, where she returns for the “Emmanuelle” premiere.
In 2023, she was awarded the Best Screenplay César with co-writer and director Valerie Donzelli for “L’amour et Les Forets” (“Just the Two of Us”).
“Emmanuelle” is co-written by Diwan and Rebecca Zlotowsky. The producers are Reginald de Guillebon, Marion Delord, Edouard Weil, Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval, Livia Van Der Staay, and Laurence Clerc, with Severine Bacle serving as an associate producer. Ardavan Sarfaee co-produces, with Tatiana Bouchain executive producing.
“Emmanuelle” star Merlant previously appeared in Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and Todd Field’s “TÁR.” The actress told IndieWire that she opts for roles that have an elusive quality to them.
“[‘TÁR’] is not a movie with answers, it’s a movie with kind of a lot of mystery and a lot of questions. [It’s] really important about the dynamics of power, about the relation between humans, about the process of creation,” Merlant said. “That’s what I like in this movie: There are no heroes or villains. They’re all a little bit of everything sometimes.”
Merlant added that there is a lack of French representation for controversial characters, at least when it comes to international awards seasons. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” for example, was infamously not selected by France for the Oscars’ Best International Feature submission.
“I think they have this issue with queer films or really feminist films or really… I don’t know. I’m still wondering,” Merlant said of the Sciamma film. “I think it’s a mistake because I think it would have been a great addition to the Oscars because it would’ve been an amazing visibility and a visibility for love and respect and we need that so much, not only in France, but all over the world and the cinema and film like that of this power.”
“Emmanuelle” is still seeking U.S. distribution, but premieres September 25 in French theaters. The Veterans is handling worldwide sales. Check out the trailer below.
