EXCLUSIVE: Filming has recently wrapped in northern Portugal on feature drama The Odd Enchantment Of Madam P, starring Maria de Medeiros (Pulp Fiction), Trine Dyrholm (Queen Of Hearts), Emily Beecham (Little Joe), Tom Austen (Django series), Mathieu Amalric (The French Dispatch) and Alex Descas (Irma Vep).
Also starring are French actress, dancer, and circus performer Aurélia Thiérrée (Goya’s Ghosts), the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, with Orion Lee (First Cow), Albano Jeronimo (Remains Of The Wind), Luke Eberl (Marfa Girl 2) and Edgar Morais (Remains Of The Wind).
The film marks the fourth directorial outing of veteran New York filmmaker Sara Driver, whose movies have played at Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and Locarno.
The under-the-radar international co-production between Bulgaria, Portugal, and Greece heralds from U.S and European outfit Alaz Film, a co-producer on Sentimental Value and Two Pianos.
Producers are Kamen Velkovsky and Atilla Salih Yücer for Alaz Film; Rodrigo Areias for Bando a Parte; Amanda Livanou for Neda Films; and Konstantinos Kontovrakis for Kinestet.
The synopsis reads: “After surviving a mass shooting, Madame P., an internationally renowned opera singer, retreats into a world where dreams and reality blur freely. Walls come alive, figures dance in fireplace flames, tiny people need rescuing from dumplings, and an armadillo — her unlikely companion since the tragedy — follows her everywhere. A close friend and companion helps her navigate daily life. Her everyday life in a medieval mansion is interrupted by two American outsiders who arrive full of good intentions.”
The film’s original score is composed by The Legendary Tigerman. Cinematography is by Rui Poças (Frankie) and editing will be done by Oscar nominee Yorgos Mavropsaridis (Poor Things).
Financial support for the project was provided by ICA Portugal and Greek Film Center with Timeless Studio (Poland) joining as financier and co-producer.
Driver is known for her work within the New York avant-garde film movement. Her debut film Sleepwalk played at Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and others. Her 2017 documentary Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat played at TIFF and New York. She has collaborated multiple times with her partner Jim Jarmusch and produced his movies Permanent Vacation and Stranger Than Paradise.
The producers described the film to us as “Evoking Miyazaki and Lewis Carroll, this is a tale of trauma, imagination, and the strange grace of living inside your own world…Sara Driver crafts a cinematic universe that is both intimate and otherworldly. With The Odd Enchantment of Madam P, she invites audiences into a richly textured narrative centered on the enigmatic figure of Madame P and the strange ghost inhibiting her world.”
Alaz Film is currently in production on Arnaud Desplechin’s latest feature The Thing That Hurts, starring Alfre Woodard, JK Simmons, Felicity Jones, and in post-production on Susanna della Sala’s documentary Anonomi Romani.