Just last summer it was learned Claire Denis would soon location-scout her new feature in Cameroon, where she grew up and would use as a central area for Chocolat and White Material. Because scoop sites were not exactly running through every contact for further info we’ve only now learned next details. Speaking to Screen Daily in Doha, Denis gave this film a tentative title, The Fence, and noted it centers on “four main characters, three men and a woman,” three of whom have been cast (actors currently unnamed).
This missing member might engender some rewrites, and in addition to certain location details being undetermined, Denis talked about the film in a curiously ambivalent manner:
“The script, I know it’s solidly built; there is something I could trust easily. But I realized since December, I have described them, I know the way they look, I could even describe their clothes. But there is something missing, I don’t know them enough, I realize they are still characters.”
Plot-wise, The Fence concerns “a construction site directed and held by white Occidental [Western] people, and the workers are African.” But it might not be the only thing coming soon; it might not even be the next. Per usual––e.g. 35 Shots of Rum shooting while White Material was on hold, Let the Sunshine In being produced in lieu of High Life, or Both Sides of the Blade briefly superseding Stars at Noon––Denis has another project in mind. Put simply, “In the meantime, I’m doing something else.” Whether that’s a film or acid jazz album or cooking book––who knows. It’s nice enough learning she, despite rumors of retiring, has no intent to hang up the hat. “I think the best way to retire is to die” should count as a confirmation of intent.
In the meantime, watch a clip from her masterclass: