French Actor-Producer Elsa Zylberstein Prepares Christian Dior Biopic Movie (EXCLUSIVE)
03.09.2023 - 16:55
/ variety.com
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Elsa Zylberstein, the French César-winning actor and producer whose popular movie “Simone: Woman of the Century” recently opened in the U.S., is preparing a biopic movie of fashion icon Christian Dior. The film is being penned by Julien Teisseire (“The Hookup Plan”) and is being developed by Zylberstein’s banner Sonia Films and Odile McDonald (“Ransom”).
Zylberstein, who is in Venice to participate in the Impact Jury along with Nadine Labaki (“Costa Brava Lebanon”) and Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”), among others, told Variety that the film will open in 1947, in Paris, after World War II. Spanning a decade, the film sees Dior forging an empire alongside Raymonde Zehnacker, and falling madly in love with a much younger man, Jacques Benita.
“Christian Dior was a fiercely private man so people know very little about him and he was not a flamboyant character like other fashion designers or popular cultural icons, but he was no less fascinating,” said Zylberstein, whose mother worked for Christian Dior Perfume for many years, starting in the 1970’s. “It’s a world that I’m very familiar with because I grew up in it through my mother,” said Zylberstein.
“Christian Dior was like ‘mister normal’ and he wasn’t a Parisian, he came from Normandy.’ He was always discreet but he was also extremely resilient. That’s why his legacy is still alive today.” More than just a film about fashion, the biopic will explore the love triangle between Dior, Zehnacker and Benita.
Zylberstein will play the part of Zehnacker, a powerful ally who had an active role in helping Dior rise up in the competitive post-war fashion scene in Paris. “We like to say that behind every successful man there’s a woman, and that
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