Dany Boon to Make First Film on Confinement During Pandemic

Dany Boon to Make First Film on Confinement During Pandemic
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Dany Boon to Make First Film on Confinement During Pandemic

Dany Boon to Make First Film on Confinement During Pandemic

The first film about confinement amid the pandemic is being written, and many other similar productions are expected to follow. The brain behind the idea is the French producer and actor Dany Boon known for his popular high-grossing movies. In an interview with the RTL television, he announced he is currently writing a movie about a residential building whose inhabitants are confined in order to avoid the Covid-19 infection.

Boon, 53, who was born to an Algerian father, is one of the most popular actors in France. In 2008, he starred and directed a movie named "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" (Welcome to the Sticks), which was seen by 20.5 million people, hitting an unprecedented number of views in the history of French cinema.

During the interview, Boon said the confinement weeks inspired him to make a new movie, and that he and his wife Laurence Arné are currently working on the script. They are taking advantage of their free time to create a fruitful work, he explained. The French director said he was surprised he managed to accept isolation and adapt to it in an unexpected way especially that his life was all about travel, work, festivals, and big events. Earlier this year, right before the coronavirus outbreak, he partook in the "Festival du film de comédie de l'Alpe d'Huez 2020", during which he introduced his latest movie "Le Lion" (The Lion).

Boon was also prepping to shoot a new movie this summer named "The Palm", however, the pandemic made him postpone the project and gave him a new idea. Like any other citizen in this world, the actor has spent confinement weeks with his small family waiting for life to return to normal, despite the persisting concerns linked to the virus.

The new movie highlights the daily life issues of the inhabitants of a Parisian residential building who found themselves banned from leaving their apartments. Each one of them has his own story, from the owners of small shops on the ground floor to the low-income residents living in the small rooms on the roof. The shooting is set to kick off once the lockdown ends, so the movie becomes ready for screening before the end of 2020.



Forest Fire Near Athens Under Control, But Area on High Alert

A firefighting airplane sprays water on a hill in Thymari, south of Athens, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (104 Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
A firefighting airplane sprays water on a hill in Thymari, south of Athens, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (104 Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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Forest Fire Near Athens Under Control, But Area on High Alert

A firefighting airplane sprays water on a hill in Thymari, south of Athens, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (104 Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
A firefighting airplane sprays water on a hill in Thymari, south of Athens, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (104 Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek firefighters said Friday that a forest blaze that had forced evacuations around Athens was under control, but warned that scorching temperatures were keeping fire risk at a highly elevated level around the capital and on northern Aegean islands.

Greece has become particularly vulnerable in recent years to fires in the summer fueled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures linked to climate change.

The fire around Athens broke on Thursday afternoon near the towns of Palaia Fokaia and Thymari, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Athens, and forced the evacuation of five villages popular with local and foreign tourists, AFP reported.

Though it was under control on Friday, a volatile combination of high temperatures and strong winds meant that a high risk of other fires breaking out remained, especially in the Attica region around the Greek capital and some islands in the north Aegean Sea, authorities said.

A spokesman for the fire service told AFP that over 100 firefighters with 37 vehicles and a helicopter were on standby near Palaia Fokaia and Thymari.

Fields, olive groves and some houses were ravaged by the blaze.

The blaze came on the heels of another fire on the island of Chios -- Greece's fifth-largest island -- which had destroyed more than 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land in four days.

Weather agencies forecast a heatwave in the coming days with temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), including in the capital Athens.