Juliette Binoche joined “Polina” ballet-themed drama cast

PanARMENIAN.Net - Juliette Binoche has joined the cast of “Polina,” a ballet-themed drama that will mark the feature debut of famed choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, Variety reports.

TF1 International is handling worldwide sales on “Polina” and will start pre-sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris.

An adaptation of the popular French comicbook, “Polina” will topline Nastya Shevtsova, a Russian dancer. Cast will be completed by Niels Schneider (“Heartbeats”) et Jérémie Belingard, who are both ballet dancers at the Paris Opera.

Co-directed and co-written by Preljocaj and Valerie Müller, the film opens in Moscow in the early 90’s and follows the journey of Polina, a gifted ballerina from a modest background who joins the prestigious school of Professor Bojinsky and becomes a Bolshoi dancer at 18. Pic turns on Polina’s love story with a French dancer who initiates her to contemporary dance and leads her to travel to different parts of the world.

Preljocaj is a renowned choreographer whose Ballets are featured in the repertoires of La Scala of Milan, the New York City Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, among other companies. Created by Bastien Vives, “Polina” has been published in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, Korea, Japan, China and Poland, according to TF1.

Binoche toplines Isabel Coixet’s “Nobody Wants the Night,” which will open Berlin film festival.

Due to start shooting next winter, Polina” illustrates TF1’s recent move into diverse, edgier arthouse projects to complete its slate of mainstream French films.

TF1’s current lineup includes Eric Besnard’s romantic comedy “The Sense of Wonder” (“Le gout des merveilles”), Jean-Paul Rouve’s “Memories” (“Les souvenirs”), an adaptation of David Foekinos’ novel, Marie-Castille Mention Schaar’s “Once In a Lifetime” (“Les heritiers”) which opened in France on Dec. 3 and has so far grossed over $3 million. TF1 is also selling “Boomerang,” a drama based on Tatiana de Rosnay’s novel starring Melanie Laurent (“Enemy”).