Black Bear announces that its management arm has signed rising French-Algerian writer/director Emma Benestan for representation. Her sophomore feature, a character-driven horror-Western entitled Animale, stars Oulaya Amamra (Divines) and is set against the Camargue bullfighting scene in southern France. The hybrid genre film recently premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week 2024 to rave reviews, with her direction being praised by Screen Daily as “bustling and kinetic, and intimate when it needs to be.” Benestan’s work on the picture also earned her a spot in Deadline’s “Ones to Watch” series.
A graduate of the prestigious La Fémis, Benestan’s filmography leans toward the political, tending to explore how such dichotomies as femininity versus masculinity and fragility versus strength interact in our contemporary landscape. Benestan’s critically acclaimed feature debut Fragile, an irreverent feminist rom-com, screened at over 70 festivals worldwide and was released to French theaters in 2021.
Prior to this, Benestan directed several short films that premiered at various international festivals, including Goût Bacon, which was shortlisted for the French Academy Awards. She also holds editing credits on such acclaimed titles as Cannes Palme d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Color and Venice breakout Mektoub My Love: Canto Ono, as well as screenwriting credits on a number of projects including The Right Words, which premiered in Competition at Cannes in 2021.
