Press release from TM Publicity
Charlotte Gainsbourg is to star in the Australian/French co-production The Tree, the new film from writer/director Julie Bertuccelli whose debut feature Since Otar Left won the Critics Week Grand Prize at Cannes in 2004 and the César (French Oscar) for Best First Film.
The Tree will also star Marton Csokas (Romulus My Father, Lord of the Rings) and Aden Young (Mao’s Last Dancer, Lucky Country) and will introduce Morgana Davies as Simone. Other key roles feature Penne Hackforth-Jones, Gillian Jones, Arthur Dignam and Tom Russell.
Adapted from the book Our Father Who Art In The Tree, by Australian author Judy Pascoe, The Tree began filming this week in Boonah, Queensland.
Sue Taylor from Australian production company Taylor Media and Yaël Fogiel from French production company, Les Films du Poisson, are Producers. Rosemary Blight, Goalpost Pictures Australia, is one of the Executive Producers.
The Tree tells of eight-year-old Simone who, after the sudden loss of her much loved father, shares a secret belief with her grieving mother (Gainsbourg). She’s convinced her father’s spirit lives amongst the high branches of their Moreton Bay Fig and he’s come back from the dead to protect them. Using the strength of imagination and invention as a means to survive, the film explores the unstoppable power of life asserting itself over sadness.
“Charlotte Gainsbourg is an exceptional actress, always full of surprises, always challenging convention. For the role of Dawn, Simone’s mother, I needed someone who could capture life’s emotions in all its sadness, humour, beauty and strength. I’m thrilled she has agreed to take on this most demanding of roles,” director Julie Bertuccelli said.
Charlotte Gainsbourg has established a reputation as an outstanding actress in both English and French speaking cinema. She received a César Award in 1986 for Most Promising Actress for the film L’effrontée and made her English language film debut in Franco Zefferrelli’s adaptation of the Charlotte Bronte novel The Cement Garden. She played the wife of Sean Penn’s character in 21 Grams and went on to roles in The Science of Sleep and I’m Not There. Most recently she won best Actor award at the Cannes Films Festival.
Memento is the International sales agent, Kojo Pictures the domestic distributors in Australia and Le Pacte in France. Main investors are Screen Australia, PFTC, Canal Plus, Arte, Les Films Du Poisson and Taylor Media.