Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Earwig gets a trailer

Poster designed by Laurent Lufroy.

Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s beautiful Earwig is based on the book by Brian Catling.

Somewhere in Europe, mid-20th century. Albert is employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice. Mia never leaves their apartment, where the shutters are always closed. The telephone rings regularly and the Master enquires after Mia’s wellbeing. Until the day Albert is instructed that he must prepare the child to leave…

The film stars Paul Hilton, Romola Garai, Alex Lawther and newcomer Romane Hemelaers. Music by Warren Ellis, Nicolas Becker & Augustin Viard.

Lucile Hadzihalilovic spent her childhood and adolescence in Morocco, before moving to Paris where she studied art history, then film at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques (now la Fémis). Her graduation film was LA PREMIÈRE MORT DE NONO.

In the early 1990s she founded the production company LES CINEMAS DE LA ZONE with Gaspar Noé, with whom she worked on CARNE and SEUL CONTRE TOUS (I STAND ALONE). Their collaboration continued with her contribution to the screenplay of Noé’s ENTER THE VOID.

In 1996 Hadzihalilovic produced, wrote, edited and directed LA BOUCHE DE JEAN-PIERRE (MIMI), a 52-minute film that screened in Un Certain Regard, at Cannes, and won the Prix SACD at Avignon Film Festival, the Best Screenplay Award at Angers European First Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and the OCIC Award (Honorable Mention) at Amiens International Film Festival.

In 2004, she wrote and directed the feature film INNOCENCE, based upon Wedekind’s “Mine-haha” produced by Agat Films, BlueLight and Entre chien et loup. The film won the Best New Director Prize at San Sebastian International Film Festival, the Bronze Horse for Best Film and the Best Cinematography Prize (for Benoit Debie) at the Stockholm Film Festival, the FIPRESCI Prize and People’s Choice Award at Istanbul International Film Festival, the Best FilmAward at Neuchâtel International Fantasy Film Festival,and the Special Jury Prize at theYubari Festival,Japan.

In 2015, she directed EVOLUTION, co-written with Alanté Kavaïté and in collaboration with Geoff Cox, and produced by Les films du Worso, Noodles Production, Volcano Films, Scope Pictures, and Left Field Ventures. The film won the Special Jury Prize and Best Cinematography Prize (for Manuel Dacosse) at San Sebastian International Film Festival, the Best Cinematography Prize at the Stockholm Film Festival, and the WITFS Foundation International Visionary Award 2015.

EARWIG is in cinemas on June 10th.