The Most Precious of Cargoes
celebrates the Righteous

Director Michel Hazanavicius’ latest film opens in Quebec theatres on December 20

December 18, 2024

Les Films Opale has announced the Quebec opening on December 20 of Michel Hazanavicius‘ latest film, The Most Precious of Cargoes. This is the Oscar-winning director’s first foray into animation, as he adapts Jean-Claude Grumberg‘s novel of the same name. Presented in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, the film is the fruit of the director’s many years of work and echoes his intimate practice of drawing.

Once upon a time, a poor woodcutter and his wife lived in a great forest. Cold, hunger, poverty and a war raging all around them meant their lives were very hard. One day, the woodcutter’s wife rescues a baby girl thrown from one of the many trains that constantly pass through the forest. This baby, this “most precious of cargoes”, will transform the lives of the poor woodcutter’s wife and her husband, as well as those whose paths the child will cross – including the man who threw her from the train. And some will try to protect her, whatever the cost.

Their story will reveal the worst and the best in the hearts of men.

frame from The Most Precious of Cargoes

“The Most Precious of Cargoes is not a story about horror or the camps, it transcends that. It’s a movement from darkness to light; it’s a luminous story that reveals the best of man – and above all of woman. It’s a life impulse, and if the film calls on us to remember anything or anyone, it’s the Righteous. These men and women who saved lives at the risk of their own. These are the people the film celebrates.”
– Michel Hazanavicius

Michel Hazanavicius began his career in 1988 working with the Canal + comedy troupe Les Nuls. In 2004, he directed his first feature film, Mes amis, in which he gave the lead role to his brother Serge. In 2006, he directed OSS 117 Le Caire, nid d’espions, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. He reunited with Dujardin three years later for OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus.

The Most Precious of Cargoes is not a story about horror or the camps, it transcends that. It’s a movement from darkness to light; it’s a luminous story that reveals the best of man – and above all of woman…

– Michel Hazanavicius

The director’s international breakthrough came with The Artist. For this film, Dujardin won the Best Actor award at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in 2011, followed by six awards at the Césars, including Best Director for Hazanavicius and Best Actress for Bérénice Bejo, with the ultimate accolade of five Oscars, again including Best Director, and Best Film.

In 2014, the filmmaker changed registers again with The Search. The film competed at the Cannes Film Festival that same year. Hazanavicius then directed Le Redoutable, a biographical film about cult filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, played by Louis Garrel. Two years later, he directed The Lost Prince, a colourful fairy tale starring Omar Sy. In 2022, his film Coupez! opened the Cannes Film Festival.

Here is the trailer for The Most Precious of Cargoes: