Charlotte Rampling and Cécile de France joined Léa Seydoux in Le Bal des Folles, a period dramatic thriller directed by Arnaud des Pallières.
Le Bal des Folles (Party Of Fools) takes place at the Paris Carnival in 1893 and is based on true historical facts and characters. The Pitié Salpétrière mental institution for women is the epicenter of an elaborate ball, where politicians, artists and socialites gather for the festivities. Seydoux will play Fanni, one of 150 female patients who were selected out of 4,500 to participate in the ball due to her good behavior and appearance. However, as the night unfolds, Fanni has only one goal in mind – to find her mother in the crowd and flee.
“The film will make visible all women, their ordinary life and condition,” said des Pallières to Screen Daily. “These women live together in a place that allows them to escape from the gaze of men. The men will disappear. No men will be seen until the evening of the ball.”
Wild Bunch Distribution has taken French rights, while Elle Driver is launching pre-sales on the production at the Pre-Cannes Screenings next week.