The Ice Tower, starring Marion Cotillard and Clara Pacini, to released by BFI Distribution

BFI Distribution announces that The Ice Tower, co-written and directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović (Innocence, Evolution, Earwig), starring Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Rust and Bone, Two Days, One Night) and newcomer Clara Pacini, will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 21 November 2025. A richly textured and deeply moving tale of longing and solitude, this dark and mesmerising modern fairy tale will make a highly original and alternative festive release in the run-up to Christmas. The film premiered in competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival where it won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.

Colder than ice, her kiss pierces the heart… The 1970s. Runaway Jeanne (Clara Pacini) falls under the spell of Cristina (Marion Cotillard), enigmatic star of The Snow Queen, a film of the Hans Christian Andersen story being shot in the studio where Jeanne has taken refuge. A mutual but potentially dangerous fascination begins to grow between the actress and the girl.

Lucile Hadžihalilovic and Marion Cotillard were reunited for The Ice Tower, having worked together 20 years ago on Hadžihalilovic’s first feature Innocence. Clara Pacini stars in her first ever feature film role, with supporting cast August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds, A Hidden Life, Salt) as Cristina’s doctor, Max, and director Gaspar Noé, who has a small cameo role as film director Dino. The stunning cinematography is by Jonathan Ricquebourg (The Taste of Things, The Death of Louis XIV), production design is by Julia Irribarria and costumes by Laurence Benoit. Sound design is by Ken Yasumoto.

Lucile Hadžihalilović grew up in Morocco, then studied art history and film in Paris. In the early 1990s she founded the production company Les Cinemas de la Zone with Gaspar Noé. In 1996 Hadžihalilović produced, wrote, edited and directed the short film La Bouche de Jean-Pierre which screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. In 2004, she wrote and directed her feature debut, Innocence, based on Frank Wedekind’s Mine-Haha, and starring Marion Cotillard, which won numerous prizes. In 2015 she directed Evolution which premiered at TIFF and won two prizes at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. In 2022 her film Earwig won the Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian. 

The Ice Tower is co-written by Geoff Cox and Lucile Hadžihalilović and is produced by Muriel Merlin. It is a co-production between 38 Productions, Sutor Kolonko, Davis Films, Arte France Cinéma and Bayerischer Rundfunk, with Arte.

The film will be released on BFI Player in January 2026.