A Crime Reporter Turns His Beat Into a Film: Jérôme Pierrat's Moolah Heads to Venice

A journalist who has spent years investigating organised crime in France is bringing that world to the big screen. Jérôme Pierrat's fiction feature debut Moolah — also titled La Moula — will world premiere on Wednesday, 9 September in the Horizons section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival (The Hollywood Reporter).

The Horizons section, called Orizzonti in Italian, is Venice's showcase for more cutting-edge cinema, as Variety describes it — a programming strand that sits alongside the festival's main competition and tends to favour formally adventurous work (Variety). The official Venice Biennale website and programme both list the film, confirming its 82-minute runtime and French-language original with Italian subtitles (Venice Biennale programme, published 24 August 2026; labiennale.org).

Pierrat wrote, directed and stars in the film. The plot draws from his real-life reporting: a struggling organised crime reporter named Jérôme sees a chance to reboot his career thanks to Charlie, a cocaine trafficker, and his gangster associates. While the group waits for a drug shipment near the port of Marseille, the possible presence of an undercover cop puts them all in danger (The Hollywood Reporter). The French film export agency Unifrance describes the project as a thriller and Pierrat's first feature (Unifrance).

The cast includes Kader Benchoudar, Jean Ruimi, Jean-Michel Correia, Thierry Coignard, Patrice Kouyoumdjian, Jean-Mathieu Frattaci, Fethi Makdoudi, Michel Ucciani and Jacques Sordi (The Hollywood Reporter). Iconoclast Films, Shotinmars and Fatalitas Productions produced, with Iconoclast Films handling world sales — meaning the company is shopping the film's distribution rights to international buyers across territories (The Hollywood Reporter).

The Hollywood Reporter premiered two exclusive clips from the film ahead of its Venice bow (The Hollywood Reporter). At a tight 82 minutes, Moolah is a lean prospect for a festival slot — short enough to keep a buyer's attention in a market where every screening hour counts.

For a first-time fiction film-maker, premiering on the Lido is a serious platform. The Venice Horizons section has functioned as a launchpad before, and sales agent Iconoclast will be looking to convert festival buzz into territory deals before the film leaves Italy.