Jacques Audiard’s New Film ‘Les Olympiades’ Shooting Near Paris With Celine Sciamma Co-Writing (EXCLUSIVE)

Jacques Audiard, the French director of Palme d’Or winning “Dheepan” and Oscar-nominated “A Prophet,” is currently filming his next feature, “Les Olympiades,” near Paris.

Audiard, who enjoys working with a mix of rising and well-seasoned talents behind and in front of the camera, wrote the script of “Les Olympiades” with two female auteurs, Léa Mysius (“Ava”) and Celine Sciamma, whose latest film “Portrait of a Young Lady on Fire” won best screenplay at Cannes 2019 and earned a Golden Globe nomination.

“Les Olympiades” is based on New Yorker cartoonist Adrian Tomine’s “”Killing and Dying,” a collection of graphic short stories. Although the plot is under wraps, the story is expected to deal with adolescence and revolve around female protagonists.

The movie will mark Audiard’s follow-up to “The Sisters Brothers,” a period crime film starring Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly and Jake Gyllenhaal. “The Sisters Brothers” won Audiard the best director nod at Venice in 2018 and went on to play at San Sebastian. Audiard most recently wrote and directed the last two episodes of the fifth season of “The Bureau.”

Audiard is producing “Les Olympiades” with Valérie Schermann through their Paris-based banner Page 114. A sales agent and French distributor will be announced at a later stage.

The film’s key crew includes Paul Guilhaume, the cinematographer of Mysius’s “Ava,” the hit spy series “The Bureau,” and Sebastien Lifshitz’s “Little Girl” and “Adolescents;” and Pierre-Marie Dru, the music supervisor/producer of the Oscar-nominated “I Lost My Body,” and Leos Carax’s upcoming film “Annette” with Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard.

The casting of “Les Olympiades” was handled by Cristel Baras who previously worked with Audiard on “The Sisters Brothers,” and Sciamma on all her films including the latest, “Portrait of a Young Lady on Fire.”

One of France’s biggest directors, Audiard is best known for his sharply-written, dark-edged contemporary crime thrillers, such as “A Prophet” with Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup; “Read My Lips” with Emmanuelle Devos and Vincent Cassel; “Rust and Bone” with Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts.