Ginevra Elkann’s ‘The Roses of Marrakesh,’ Starring Fanny Ardant, Boarded by True Colours (EXCLUSIVE)

Rome-based sales company True Colours has boarded Italian director Ginevra Elkann’s new feature “The Roses of Marrakesh” (“Le Rose di Marrakech”) starring Fanny Aradant as an aged matron named Madame Isabelle who lives in a luxurious estate in the Palmeraie of Marrakech.

Elkann, who is a granddaughter of former Fiat automaker chief Gianni Agnelli, is a London Film School graduate who worked as an assistant to Bernardo Bertolucci and Anthony Minghella. She made her directorial debut with “Magari” (“If Only”), a semi-autobiographical comedy about the disconnect felt by kids with divorced parents that opened the Locarno Film Festival in 2019. She followed with the black comedy “I Told You So” that launched from Toronto in 2023. “The Roses of Marrakesh,” her third feature, is set in the famous Agnelli estate in Marrakech known as Aïn Kassimou.

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The story follows Leila, the devoted housekeeper at the estate of Madame Isabelle, who “maintains the careful order of this timeless bubble, where everyone plays their role to perfection,” says the provided synopsis. “Between her and Yusef, the head gardener, a tacit, quiet, and restrained friendship has formed. When Leila’s sister arrives unexpectedly, revealing a heavy secret from their past, the tranquillity of this microcosm begins to crack,” it adds.

Nisrin Erradi, Ahmed Hammoud, Jalila Talemsi and Boubker Fahmi star alongside Ardant.

Lucky Red will handle distribution in Italy of “The Roses of Marrakesh,” which is completed.

True Colours will be launching international sales of the film in Toronto.

“The Roses of Marrakesh is a small story, and I mean that as praise,” Ginevra Elkann said in a statement.

“It’s about love, about the ordinary business of surviving our own pain, and about the tenderness we find along the way,” she added. “I made it close to the bone, because that’s the only place where I know how to find something true — and therefore universal.”

Commented True Colours MD Elliot Gustin-Hollman: “‘The Roses of Marrakesh’ is a beautiful film about the friendship between two women that transcends their fate.”

“We believe it’s exactly the kind of poetic movie audiences are looking for right now, and we’re truly proud to be working with a talented director like Ginevra.”