French multi-hyphenate Julie Delpy is heading to the UK next year to direct and star in feature film My Zoe with Gemma Arterton and Daniel Bruhl.

The actor, singer-songwriter director and screenwriter will be calling the shots from her own screenplay, a film described by Delpy as being about “the unconditional love you feel as a parent.”

It centres on the lengths to which a mother”s love goes for her child. Delpy plays Isabelle, a geneticist recovering from a toxic marriage and raising her daughter Zoe in conjunction with her ex-husband.

When the family is hit by tragedy, Isabelle must take matters into her own hands. Arterton and Bruhl play a couple to whom Isabelle turns for help in Moscow. Lior Ashkenazy is also attached.

Producer Gabrielle Tana of NYC-based Magnolia Mae Films is on board to produce for Baby Cow Films – she is head of film at the UK shingle”s feature production arm. Tana has extensive experience of filming in the UK, having worked on several high-profile projects including Philomena, Mindhorn, The Invisible Woman and The Duchess.

Delpy said of the long-gestating project: ““I started thinking and taking notes about this film over 20 years ago,” said Delpy. “It first came to my mind discussing with [director Krzysztof] Kieslowski about parenting, love and fate. It was a very profound process to write it. I gave it all the truth I had and I hope it resonates with others.”

My Zoe will be co-produced by Hubert Caillard and Dominique Boutonnat for Electrik Films in France.

PI subscribers should follow the project on our site from 3 December to receive regular email updates as HoDs board and dates and locations are locked down.

Julie Delpy photo via Getty Images Ent/Pablo Cuadra.