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The Ice Tower
2025 film by Lucile Hadžihalilović From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Ice Tower (French: La Tour de glace) is a 2025 fantasy drama[2] film directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović from a screenplay she co-wrote with Geoff Cox. Set in the 1970s, it stars Marion Cotillard as an actress who is shooting a film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen, in which she plays the title character, and Clara Pacini as a runaway teenage orphan who becomes infatuated with the actress. The cast also includes August Diehl and Gaspar Noé.
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The film is a co-production between France, Germany and Italy and had its world premiere at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on 16 February 2025, where it won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution. It also won the awards for Best Film and Best Production Design at the 2025 Neuchâtel Fantastic Film Festival. It will be released theatrically in France by Metropolitan Filmexport on 17 September 2025.
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Plot
In the 1970s, the enigmatic actress Cristina is shooting a film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen, in which she plays the title character. At the same time, Jeanne, a runaway teenage orphan, takes refuge in the studio where the film is being shot and falls under Cristina's spell, and a mutual fascination grows between them.
Cast
- Marion Cotillard as Cristina / The Snow Queen[1]
- Clara Pacini as Jeanne / Bianca[3]
- August Diehl as Max[3]
- Gaspar Noé as Dino[3]
- Marine Gesbert as Stéphanie[3]
- Lilas-Rose Gilberti Poisot[7]
- Dounia Sichov[8]
- Raphael Reboul[9]
- Wilhelm Bonnelle[10]
Production
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Development
On 20 March 2017, Cineuropa reported that Lucile Hadžihalilović was finishing the screenplay for her next film, La Reine des Neiges (The Snow Queen), which had been selected by Groupe Ouest as one of the eight projects that would benefit from a writing coaching programme in Brittany that year.[11] Hadžihalilović co-wrote the screenplay with Geoff Cox, with whom she had collaborated in Évolution (2015) and Earwig (2021).[12]
On 22 June 2023, ARTE France announced that it would co-produce the film, now titled Tour de glace (The Ice Tower), starring Marion Cotillard, who had previously worked with Hadžihalilović in her feature directorial debut, Innocence (2004),[12] and that shooting would take place in France and Germany between January and February 2024.[13] Clara Pacini (in her first feature film),[14] August Diehl,[2] Gaspar Noé,[2] Lilas-Rose Gilberti Poisot,[15] Raphael Reboul,[9] Wilhelm Bonnelle, Marine Gesbert and Dounia Sichov later joined the cast.[8] The crew includes Jonathan Ricquebourg as the director of photography, Julia Irribarria as set designer, and costumes made by Laurence Benoit.[8]
The film was co-produced by France's 3B Productions,[16] Germany's Sutor Kolonko,[1] and Italy's Albolina Film.[17]
Hadžihalilović said about the film's inspirations: "We thought a lot about Víctor Erice's The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), which transfigures reality through the eyes of a youth. And we tried to do the same — embellishing and stylizing, experiencing this world through the young girl's eyes by making the mundane a bit more enchanted."[18]
Hadžihalilović said she thought it was funny to cast her longtime collaborator and real-life partner Noé as a director completely unlike himself. Noé's only condition to appear in the film was to wear a wig in it. He told Hadžihalilović that he would do the film for free if he could wear a wig.[18]
Filming
Principal photography began in Paris on 7 January 2024,[19][20][21] and wrapped in March 2024.[20][22] Filming also took place in Yvelines between February and March 2024,[23] and in the city of Bolzano in Northern Italy, between late February and late March 2024.[24][25][26]
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Release
The Ice Tower had its world premiere at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in official competition on 16 February 2025.[3][27] The film will be released theatrically in France by Metropolitan Filmexport on 17 September 2025.[4] International sales are handled by Goodfellas.[1] The film was shown in a special silent screening at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival on 17 April 2025.[28]
On 18 February 2025, Yellow Veil Pictures acquired North American distribution rights to the film[29] and will release it theatrically in the United States on 3 October 2025.[30] BFI Distribution will release the film in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2025.[31] Movies Inspired will release it in Italy and Bir Film will release it in Turkey.[32][33]
The official poster and the official trailer for the film were released on 5 August 2025.[34][35]
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Reception
The film holds a 79% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews with an average rating of 6.9/10, indicating a "Fresh" consensus.[36]
Accolades
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References
External links
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