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Screen icons Jean Dujardin and Valérie Donzelli are set to headline new features from Atelier de Production, the auteur-comedy-oriented outfit behind this year’s Unifrance Rendezvous in Paris opener “Comédie Française,” and Bertrand Mandico’s upcoming “Roma Elastica,” starring Marion Cotillard and Noémie Merlant.
Dujardin will star opposite Julia Piaton in “Montagne Russe” (“Rollercoaster”), a mental health-inflected love story following a bipolar man learning to master his condition as he strives to move forward both emotionally and professionally. Primed to shoot in April, the film marks the third feature from director Cyril Gelblat and is co-written by Gelblat, Sarah Kaminsky, and Laetitia Colombani.
Donzelli, meanwhile, will appear alongside André Dussollier (“Everything Went Fine”) and Kyan Khojandi (“Hot Ones”) in “Claude,” a family-reconciliation comedy about two middle-aged siblings forced to share custody of their newly single father. Written and directed by Clément Michel (“Haute Saison”), the film will shoot next month, with UGC Distribution handling French release and international sales.
Atelier de Production chiefs Mathieu and Thomas Verhaeghe are also eyeing a major festival launch for Mandico’s “Roma Elastica,” a 1980s-set homage to Italian cinema following an actress — played by Cotillard — who travels to Rome to shoot her final film. The producers are positioning the project as a potential breakthrough for the cult director.
“We deeply admire Bertrand’s work, but until now his films have reached critics more than audiences,” said producer Thomas Verhaeghe. “With ‘Roma Elastica,’ the idea was to move toward a more narrative-driven film that could speak to a wider public without sacrificing his style. The film is more accessible, yet fully retains his visual identity and cinematic language.”
Now in post-production, the film promises a more expansive big-screen look, embracing 35mm in place of Mandico’s usual 16mm and favoring real locations over studio sets, including Cinecittà’s storied backlots and natural settings in Rome, Nice, Occitanie, and southern France. “The rushes are beautiful, and the actresses truly flourished on set,” Verhaeghe added. “So we’re very hopeful.”
Indeed, 2026 is shaping up as a banner year for the Paris-based outfit, long known for nurturing offbeat auteurs such as Quentin Dupieux.
Atelier de Production will premiere three striking titles in competition at this month’s Alpe d’Huez Film Festival — Europe’s largest event devoted exclusively to screen laughs — including the Unifrance Rendezvous opener “Comédie Française” (directed by Bertrand Usclat and Martin Darondeau), Patrick Cassir’s quirky parental-care rom-com “It’s All Good,” and the suburban farce “The Better Me,” which follows a bald man pushed to the brink by the arrival of a new neighbor — his doppelgänger, identical in every way except for a luxuriant head of hair. Laurent Lafitte pulls double duty opposite Blanche Gardin and Olga Kurylenko.
“These aren’t ultra-mainstream studio comedies,” says Mathieu Verhaeghe. “Each has a twist — an original premise and a sensibility rooted in independent cinema. Even though we also make more mainstream films, this kind of auteur-driven comedy is really where our signature lies.”
At the same time, the producers have made notable inroads into the arthouse mainstream since partnering with Juliette Schrameck to launch the production outfit Lumen in 2024. Since then, the Verhaeghes have been involved in projects such as Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel’s “Eat the Night,” László Nemes’ “Orphan,” and Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” — all of which premiered in Venice or Cannes. Up next are Lukas Dhont’s Great War drama “Coward” and Laïla Marrakchi’s Atlas Workshop–acclaimed “La Mas Dulce,” both aiming for high-profile festival launches later this year.
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