Olivier Dahan's 'Nana' Launches France-Greece Partnership Between Marvelous and Kapa

Olivier Dahan's period drama "Nana" will be the first project under a new cross-border partnership between France's Marvelous Productions and Greece's Kapa Studios, announced Thursday at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Nov. 5–15).

The deal starts with the feature film and expands from there. The two companies plan to develop a television series next, with additional film and television projects potentially following.

What is 'Nana'?

Dahan directs an adaptation of Émile Zola's classic novel. He's the filmmaker behind "La Vie en Rose," which earned Marion Cotillard an Academy Award for playing French chanteuse Édith Piaf, and "Simone: Woman of the Century," a biopic of Auschwitz survivor Simone Veil.

The new film carries heavyweight French backing. France Télévision, Canal+ and the CNC (France's national film fund) support the project, while ARP co-produces and distributes it in France and internationally. Arthur Cohen of Momentum Entertainment brokered the deal and serves as executive producer.

Why pair a French producer with a Greek studio?

The producers frame "Nana" as a stepping stone toward something bigger. "We are very excited about the prospect of partnering with Kapa on 'Nana,' our flagship project," said Marvelous Productions founders Romain Le Grand and Vivien Aslanian. "Giannis and his team will help us strengthen the European and international dimension of our current and future productions."

Kapa's side sees creative upside in combining two national traditions. "France and Greece have strong and distinctive filmmaking traditions, and there is an exciting opportunity to work with Romain and Vivien to combine power and bring those perspectives together while developing projects with international reach," said Giannis Karagiannis, producer and CEO of Kapa Studios.

What does the partnership gain from Greece's infrastructure?

The answer is partly financial, partly physical. Greece offers a 40% cash rebate on production spending, one of Europe's most aggressive incentives, and Kapa Studios recently added two new 20,000-square-foot sound stages.

Kapa claims the largest sound stage facilities in Greece. Its campus includes:

• 12 sound stages totaling 250,000 square feet across 25 acres
• Backlots and existing sets
• 100,000 square feet of supporting spaces used as production offices, costume shops and workshops

The company has more than 50 years of experience in the film industry.

Who are the French partners?

Le Grand and Aslanian launched Marvelous Productions in 2017 after spending 19 years together at the helm of Pathé. Since signing a first-look deal with Warner Bros., the company has produced or co-produced 15 films.

The slate includes Dahan's "Simone: Woman of the Century," which ranked among the biggest hits at the French box office in 2022, and the biographical comedy "Bernadette," starring Catherine Deneuve, which earned a César nomination in 2024. Marvelous also produced "BDE," a comedy directed by Michaël Youn for Prime Video.

The Thessaloniki announcement signals how mid-sized European producers are now structuring cross-border deals around both content and infrastructure. If "Nana" performs, the follow-up series could turn a one-off co-production into a standing France-Greece pipeline.