French actor-producer Elsa Zylberstein sets Christian Dior biopic

French César-winning actor and producer Elsa Zylberstein (Simone: Woman of the Century) is preparing a biopic based on fashion icon Christian Dior.

Zylberstein, who is currently at Venice film festival as part of the Impact Jury told Variety that the film is set 1947 Paris, following World War II.

Spanning a decade, the film sees Dior "forging an empire alongside Raymonde Zehnacker, and falling madly in love with a much younger man, Jacques Benita." 

It is being written by Julien Teisseire (The Hookup Plan) and is being developed by Zylberstein’s Sonia Films and Odile McDonald (Ransom).

“Christian Dior was a fiercely private man so people know very little about him and he was not a flamboyant character like other fashion designers or popular cultural icons, but he was no less fascinating,” said Zylberstein, whose mother worked for Christian Dior Perfume in the 1970’s.

“It’s a world that I’m very familiar with because I grew up in it through my mother,” said Zylberstein. “Christian Dior was like ‘mister normal’ and he wasn’t a Parisian, he came from Normandy.’ He was always discreet but he was also extremely resilient. That’s why his legacy is still alive today.”

The biopic will explore the love triangle between Dior, Zehnacker and Benita. 

Zylberstein will portray Zehnacker, a "powerful ally who had an active role in helping Dior rise up in the competitive post-war fashion scene in Paris."

“We like to say that behind every successful man there’s a woman, and that was also true for Dior," said Zylberstein.

Elsewhere, Zylberstein is also developing a spy thriller about Sylvia Rafael, a South African-born Israeli Mossad agent who was involved in the fateful Lillehammer case, a 1973 assassination attempt on Ali Hassan Salameh. Concussion's Peter Landesman will direct the film.