Magdala stars the famous American choreographer
Elsa Wolliaston.
Cineuropa: How did the idea for Magdala come about?
Damien Manivel: Iâve been working with Elsa Wolliaston for 12 years now. We made the short film
La Dame au chien together, as well as
Isadoraâs Children. So
Magdala came about from the desire I feel on an almost perpetual basis to film Elsa, to document our relationship, to paint a portrait of it, so to speak. Iâve wanted to work on a mythical, legendary character with her for several years, and had notably been looking into the character of Mary Magdalene. Itâs a project Iâd originally planned to shoot next summer, but with all thatâs happened - without going into the current situation too much - Elsa and I felt that it was the right time to venture into that forest and shoot this film.
Five promising young filmmakers taking part in Emergence
(l-r) Directors Sarah Arnold, Léa Todorov Karim Bensalah, Martin Drouot and Stéphane Marchetti
Selected by a jury that was chaired this year by
Alice Winocour (supported by a number of others, including
Anaïs Demoustier), five young filmmakers have been picked for the 23
rd session of the Emergence directing residency. This scheme, which is the only one of its kind in Europe, will offer them the chance to shoot two scenes from their debut features in March, with the patronage of an established director, artistic support and professional production facilities.