Loco Films, a Paris-based production company, has officially snagged the rights to Woman at Sea, an upcoming film headed by Russian actress-turned-director Dinara Droukarova. Aside from being Droukarova’s directorial debut, Woman at Sea also stands to be a favorite at the San Sebastian Film Festival, where the film will soon premiere.
Originally based on a book titled Le grand marin by Catherine Poulain, Woman at Sea will star Dinara Droukarova (The Bureau) as protagonist Lili, a young woman who’s run away from her comfortable life in France in order to pursue her lifelong dream of fishing in the northern seas of Iceland. She convinces Ian, a rough-and-tumble fishing boat skipper played by Sam Louwyck (Brimstone), to take her aboard his ship, The Rebel, and despite being the only woman on board, Lili is determined to win the respect of this grizzled fishing crew with her “determination and courage”.
Loco Films and ‘Woman at Sea’ at the San Sebastian Film Festival
Based in Paris, France, Loco Films is a European production company best known for works like Tinnitus (2022), the story of a former Olympic diver who risks everything to return to her sport, and Eismayer (2022), based on the true story of an Austrian military official living a double life as a closeted gay man. Eismayer recently won Grand Prize of the International Critics Week at the Venice International Film Festival, leaving Loco Films with some big shoes to fill with the premiere of Woman at Sea.
Regarding the film’s upcoming debut at San Sebastian, Loco Films founder and CEO Laurent Danielou told Variety, “We are proud of this first film, shot on the harsh northern seas about a young woman seeking the fresh air of freedom. A beautiful and free film and the birth of a new director.”
While Woman at Sea marks Dinara Droukarova’s directorial debut, the Russian actress has decades of filmography under her belt, including a lead role in the 1998 cult film Of Freaks and Men, which saw her nominated for Best European Actress at the European Film Awards. A first look at her performance as Lili in Woman at Sea is available in the trailer featured below.
Woman at Sea will be co-produced by Mystery Productions, Gulldrengurinn, and Gullslottið. Davíð Óskar Ólafsson, Benedikt Erlingsson, Sergey Selyanov, Genevieve Lemal, and Julie Gayet join the film as producers. The film is slated to debut at the 2022 San Sebastian Internation Film Festival, which will run between September 16th and September 24th, 2022.
