‘Alpha’ By Julia Ducournau.
After winning the Palme d’Or in 2021 for “Titane”, Julia Ducournau is set to direct her next genre-bending feature, titled “Alpha”. Irnanian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani and French actor Tahar Rahim are set to star. details on the plot are under wraps. Julia will direct from her own script. Filmnation and Charades brought the package to Cannes this year and are handling international sales. Neon acquired the pic for North American distribution. They also served as U.S. distributor for her last feature, 2021’s body horror “Titane”.
It was revealed that Garance Marillier has joined the cast for ‘Alpha’, making it her third collaboration with Ducournau, after starring in 2016’s “Raw” and “Titane”. she will join Farahani and Cesar award-winning Tahar Rahim (A Prophet).
Like “Titane”, the logline and further details are under wraps as of yet. but I found some tidbits about the story. Alpha, it turns out, is the name of the main protagonist, an 11-year-old girl who might have supernatural powers. Her parents will be played by Farahami and Rahim.
we also got statements about the film from the producers:
“Alpha is Julia’s most personal, profound work yet, and we are looking forward to a global audience discovering the story with as much excitement as we did.” said Filmnation and Charades in a joint statement.
The producers added: “Alpha is a new page in Julia Ducournau’s corpus that is both very consistent with the previous ones and entirely new in it’s tone. To match an exceptional project, it was necessary to transcend conventions, […]”
The production is set to begin sometime later this year.
Ducournau had a breakout with her 2016’s debut feature “Raw”. I had watched the film and remember getting an eerie feeling and at the same time scary, from the grounded reality nature of the film and realistic human interactions in it. I instantly fell in love with the filmmaking style of Julia, you could see the makings of a genuine talent. I was eagerly waiting for her follow up feature. Her sophomore effort (Titane) was equally thought provoking and good. the film caused polarized reactions at Cannes 2021, but eventually won the Palme. Even the Telluride Film Festival rejected the film.
There’s also no reason to fault the Spike Lee led jury from that year for giving it the top prize. It was a eyebrow raising move, and Ducournau’s film did feel like something we had never seen before. As Lee stated in the closing press conference: “I’ve never seen a film in my life where a Cadillac impregnated a woman”.
Neon acquired “Alpha” in one of the first big buy at the Cannes market. Later, NonStop Entertainment bought the Scandinavian and Iceland distribution rights to the film. Neon have now bought the last 5 Palme d’Or’s in a row. the list includes; “Parasite” (2019), “Titane” (2021), “Triangle of Sadness” (2022), “Anatomy of a Fall” (2023) and “Anora” (2024). They have an incredible sense for guessing the winner and acquire it beforehand.
It has been five years since Ducournau became the then second woman to win the Cannes Palme d’Or, and first to win the award solo. Jane Campion (Power of the Dog) won the award for “The Piano” in 1993. Ducournau specializes in body-horror, and her third feature is highly anticipated.
Julia is also working on her own TV series with A24, but that one is still in the very early stages of development.
Expect “Alpha” to premiere at Cannes in 2025 or 2026.
