Acclaimed Romanian filmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu to shoot new project in France

Romanian filmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu will shoot his first film in more than six years in French and in France, where he now lives. The writer-director told Variety more about the new film at Visions du Réel, a film festival in Nyon, Switzerland, which held a retrospective of his films.

The project is currently in the casting phase and production will likely start in September, with ongoing financing.

The lead producer for the film is France’s Lumen, the company founded last year by Juliette Schrameck, the former managing director of MK2 Films. The latter, which was the international sales agent on his last film “The Whistlers,” is a minority producer.

The co-producers are Romania’s Mobra Films, the company of Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, and Germany’s Komplizen Film, which was also a producing partner on “The Whistlers.” Porumboiu’s production company, 42 Km Film, is not attached to the project.

While the title of the movie was not confirmed, it was previously referred to as “The Costume.” Porumboiu has identified locations near his home in Biarritz, France, and told Variety that the movie will be different from previous works.

Corneliu Porumboiu’s 2019 film “The Whistlers” was largely shot on the island of La Gomera in the Canaries, and featured an ancient whistling language. His previous fiction features, such as “12:08 East of Bucharest,” “Police, Adjective,” “When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism,” and “The Treasure,” were all shot in Romania and in Romanian.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Raul Stef)