d’Overbroeck’s student to make Cannes Film Festival debut

In October 2021, around sixty of our Sixth Form students took part in an audition for an independent film called Club Zero – many of them were recalled for further auditions, a process which eventually led to one of our students, Ksenia, being cast in the role of Elsa, one of five young central characters in the piece. The film, by acclaimed director Jessica Hausner (Little Joe, Amour Fou) and produced in part by BBC Films, was shot over the summer of 2022 in Oxford and Austria and has been announced as being ‘In Competition’ as part of the Official Selection for the Cannes Film Festival. It stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, Crimson Peak) in the lead role, alongside our very own Ksenia!

The film, a dark, surreal psychological thriller set in an elite boarding school, has been chosen from thousands of entries to be part of a select group of twenty-one films that will be shown at the famous Théâtre Lumière and is already attracting significant industry attention.

By being selected to be ‘In Competition’, the film is in the running for Palme d’Or, the main prize of the festival which will be judged by a panel of industry specialists including actors Paul Dano and Brie Larson.

Ksenia, who you may have recently seen as Juliet in our school production of Romeo and Juliet, has been a d’Overbroeck’s student since Year 7 and we are so incredibly proud of her success. We’re wishing her all the best for the premiere which takes place today. Ksenia Devriendt is left in the banner image above.