Breillat to helm 'Abus de Faiblesse'

PARIS -- Radical Gallic helmer Catherine Breillat is set to helm "Abus de Faiblesse," an autobiographical drama based on her book depicting her destructive relationship with conman Christophe Rocancourt. Pic turns on Maud, a filmmaker suffering from hemiplegia, who gets manipulated by Vilko, an attractive thief she wants to cast in her next movie. Isabelle Huppert will play opposite French rapper-turned-thesp Kool Shen in "Faiblesse," which is expected to lense in Paris during the second half of the year. Breillat's follow-up to "Bluebeard" -- released Stateside by Strand Releasing -- "Faiblesse" is produced by Paris-based shingle Flash Films and co-produced by Arte France Cinema, the film production arm of the French-German broadcaster. Arte France Cinema has also boarded Argentine helmer Pablo Trapero's "Elephante Blanco" (working title) and Chinese filmmaker Lou Ye's "Mystery." Produced by French outfit Les Films du Lendemain, "Mystery" is a thriller following a Chinese middle-class woman who discovers her husband's double life. Hao Lei ("Summer Palace") and Qin Hao ("Spring Fever") star. Currently shooting in Wuhan, "Mystery" marks Ye's official comeback in China. Since directing "Summer Palace" in 2006, Ye, a controversial and critically acclaimed helmer, has been banned from making films in China. His last film "Love and Bruises" played at Cannes. A drama toplining Ricardo Darin, Martina Gusman and Jeremie Renier, "Elephant" centers on two priests struggling to better social conditions in a drug-infested slum 'burb in Buenos Aires. As reported in Variety (Dec. 2, 2011), the $4 million "Elephant" is Trapero's biggest-budgeted pic so far. It's produced by Spain's Morena Films, Trapero's Matanza Cine and Patagonik, and co-produced by France's Full House. Pic is shooting on location in Buenos Aires. John Hopewell contributed to this report. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com