Actor and filmmaker Valérie Donzelli will reteam with her “Just the Two of Us” co-writer Audrey Diwan – a Golden Lion winner with “Happening” – to pen “The Infinite Present Ends,” a literary adaption that Donzelli is slated to direct.
Based on a fictionalized 2015 memoir from psychiatric nurse Mary Dorsan, the text embeds within a teenage psychiatric ward over the course of a year, teasing out the complex bonds, challenges, frustrations and unexpected moments of grace shared between patients and caregivers. Though unflinching in its evocations of violence, the project’s central theme is that of sentimental education, per Donzelli.
“These social workers must find ways to love these children that are not their own,” Donzelli tells Variety. “They must find the right and constructive outlets for that love, so we want to explore this idea of education within the various forms of affection we give.”
Produced by Rectangle Productions (“Vortex,” “Happening”), the project has already received development support from France’s CNC.
The creative duo previously collaborated on “Just the Two of Us,” a Donzelli-directed psychological thriller that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. Meanwhile, Diwan is widely expected to hit the A-list circuit later this year to launch her Noémie Merlant-led erotic drama “Emmanuelle” and to accompany “Beating Hearts” – a romantic musical, hotly touted for a Riviera berth, that Diwan co-wrote.
For her part, Donzelli is putting the finishing touches on the documentary “Rue du Conservatoire,” also produced by Rectangle and due out later this year. The non-fiction feature follows a graduating class of France’s National Academy of Dramatic Arts, where Donzelli has previously taught. Diaphana will handle French distribution.
