Sartaj Singh
Helmed by Jacques Audiard, ‘Emilia Perez’ follows Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldana), who works as an underappreciated lawyer at a large firm in Mexico. However, her life is upended when she is kidnapped by the cartel to help a feared boss, Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, fake his death and disappear. However, Manitas has another reason for vanishing, and that is to begin life as his true self: a woman. Changing her name to Emilia Pérez and undergoing gender-affirming surgery abroad, she returns to Rita years later, hoping to reconcile with her past and build a better path for the future. The musical crime thriller unfolds around contrasting settings in Mexico, between dusty streets lined with dilapidated buildings and luxurious restaurants and clubs.
Emilia Perez Filming Locations
‘Emilia Perez’ was primarily filmed in and around Paris, France. The Mexico, London, Bangkok, and Switzerland backgrounds in the movie are created using establishing shots and visual effects. Filming began in May 2023 and was wrapped up by July 5, 2023. Prior to the beginning of principal photography, the movie faced scheduling conflicts among its lead cast members, which delayed the process by six months. Filming was slated to be carried out on location in Mexico, but at the behest of Jacques Audiard, it was shifted to Paris. Nevertheless, out of 49 days of shooting, a film crew spent five days in Mexico capturing exterior shots. Selena Gomez shared that speaking Spanish was the most difficult part of the movie for her, but she enjoyed returning to her cultural roots and practicing the language with her father for over a year.
Paris, France
Although ‘Emilia Perez’ is set in Mexico, the country’s environments were created using Studios de Bry in Paris. Located on 2 Av. de l’Europe in Bry-sur-Marne, a Paris suburb, the studio helped the movie create its exterior and interior shooting sites, both of which involve the use of detailed visual effects. The use of bluescreens allowed the team to construct sets for seemingly open-air locations like the Mexico marketplace that Rita walks along before being kidnapped. In reality, only a few shopfronts were constructed by the production team, and the background was painted in using visual effects created by the MPC Paris team. Similar work was done in the movie’s chase sequence, which was shot entirely within the studio. 70 VFX artists worked on bringing the backdrops of ‘Emilia Perez’ to life over eight months, which also included the building of Emilia’s house and the prison.
Studios de Bry played a major role in the creation of sets for the movie. ‘Emilia Perez’ was initially slated to be filmed in Mexico, but French director Audiard specifically wanted the production to be moved to Paris, where he was more familiar with the crews and had greater mastery over the environment. Containing six soundstages and advanced equipment support, Studios de Bry provided the film team with enhanced control over the production environment, including lighting, set design, and visual effects integration. Audiard’s decision to shoot in France also leveraged France’s tax rebate system, a program that provides a 30% rebate on qualifying expenses and can reach 40% for productions that allocate more than €2 million to visual effects done in France.
Cinematographer Paul Guilhaume was also careful to avoid the typical creation of Mexican backgrounds, using an orange filter to give everything a dusty look. “We knew that we wanted to recreate some gloomy days, just different imagery from what we can sometimes see in foreign films about Mexico, where there’s this vision that everything would be sunny and yellow,” said Guilhaume in an interview. Paris is increasingly regaining its foothold as a major film hub where movies and shows set up shop instead of only visiting for a postcard shoot of its famous sites. France’s increasing investment in its film infrastructure through the France 2030 plan is aimed at expanding the country’s studios and sound stages. This has resulted in Paris becoming a growing hub for international productions. Some other movies and shows shot in Paris include ‘The Substance,’ ‘The Count of Monte-Cristo,’ and ‘Euphoria.’
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