Claire Denis’ ‘The Cry of the Guards’ Shoots This Month; Mia McKenna-Bruce to Lead

A few years back, Claire Denis mentioned that she believed “Both Sides of the Blade” and “Stars at Noon” would be her final films amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The filmmaker ended up releasing two films in 2022, both winning prizes at Berlin and Cannes. Would these really be the final films for the 78-year-old auteur? Apparently not.

Last year, in a chat with The Guardian, Denis revealed she had just finished writing a new feature and that she was going to start location scouting it in Cameroon. Then in March, speaking with Screen Daily, she said the film was titled '“The Fence”, and noted that it centered on “four main characters, three men and a woman.”

“The Cry of the Guards” was supposed to have Riley Keough as one of its leads, but the actress has now had to drop out of the project and will be replaced by “How To Have Sex” breakout Mia McKenna-Bruce. She joins a cast that already included Matt Dillon, and Isaach de Bankolé. Production is expected to begin in January in Senegal. Here’s the synopsis:

As project supervisor Horn is welcoming his young partner Léone into the hut he shares with young and impetuous engineer Cal, a black man called Alboury appears outside the railings surrounding their quarters. Inflexible, hovering like a ghost in the darkness, he is determined to stay there until they return the body of his brother to him, who was killed on the site.

Suzanne Lindon (“Spring Blossom”) and Andrew Litvack (“Stars at Noon”) co-wrote the film which could very well be ready for a late 2025 premiere — possibly at Venice?

Denis is, arguably, France's most globally acclaimed living female director. Her notable works include “Chocolat,” “35 Shots of Rum,” “Beau Travail,” “The Intruder,” and “White Material.”