Blue Is the Warmest Colour's director is planning to sell off his prestigious Palme d'Or in order to fund his next movie.

Abdellatif Kechiche, the critically acclaimed director of the 2013 winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival, is taking the drastic measure of auctioning off the esteemed trophy, in order to get through the post-production phase of his latest venture Mektoub, My Love, states the Hollywood Reporter.

The movie was halted from completion as the director ran into financial difficulties.

Starring the up-and-coming French actors Shain Boumediene, Lou Luttiau, and Ophelie Bau, the new two-part feature, was going through post-production when the financing bank abruptly blocked line of credit of the movie, reportedly leaving the project “in limbo,” Kechiche told The Hollywood Reporter.

Cofiloisirs was the bank in question, and it also happens to be one of the top two lenders for French films.

“In order to raise the necessary funds for the completion of post-production without further delays, the French production and distribution company Quat'Sous is auctioning film memorabilia related to Kechiche's work. Items to be offered range from the Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival 2013) to the oil paintings that played a central role in Blue Is the Warmest Color," states the same report from Hollywood Reporter.

It is unknown exactly how much more money is required to see the movie through, owing to a non-disclosure agreement between the production company and the financiers.

Kechiche however, is no stranger to controversy. This is not the first time that the director has been in the news over something outrageous.

A lesbian love story that is arguably the most sexually explicit and forward movie that has ever received the honour that is the Palme d'Or — the movie also ensured that the two female leads, actresses Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux were also bestowed with Palme d'Ors of their own. Seen as a triumph for queer storytelling and artistic cinema, Blue Is the Warmest Colour was touted as a game changer by many — viewers and critics alike.

Apart from the content of Blue Is the Warmest Colour, Kechiche was also embroiled in a controversy surrounding him and his lead actress Lea Seydoux. A Guardian report said that Seydoux called the experience of filming with Kechiche 'horrible', stating that she would never work with him again. She reportedly went so far as to say that she felt 'like a prostitute' while filming the rampant sex scenes in the movie.

Kechiche responded to Seydoux with an open letter of sorts, in which he called out the actress for being “an arrogant, spoiled child.”