Following the news that Mendes will direct four fab films about the Fab Four, our critic picks his fantasy lineup
Just when we were getting sick of the Marvel Cinematic Universe … Sam Mendes comes along with the Beatles Cinematic Universe. It’s a quartet of interlocking movies about the Fab Four, each centred on one band member, and with the fascinating promise of overlaps and Pov shifts, perhaps inspired by Lucas Belvaux’s triple-decker Trilogy pictures or Joao Canijo’s mirror image films Bad Living and Living Bad. Mendes’s moptop movies may tag quadrilaterally around key moments … Shea Stadium, the Maureen Cleave interview, Lennon’s death? But who to cast? Here is my fantasy lineup.
Just when we were getting sick of the Marvel Cinematic Universe … Sam Mendes comes along with the Beatles Cinematic Universe. It’s a quartet of interlocking movies about the Fab Four, each centred on one band member, and with the fascinating promise of overlaps and Pov shifts, perhaps inspired by Lucas Belvaux’s triple-decker Trilogy pictures or Joao Canijo’s mirror image films Bad Living and Living Bad. Mendes’s moptop movies may tag quadrilaterally around key moments … Shea Stadium, the Maureen Cleave interview, Lennon’s death? But who to cast? Here is my fantasy lineup.
- 2/21/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
French broadcaster France Televisions has been blamed by supporters of Gerard Depardieu, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” for contributing to the downfall of one of country’s most iconic actors with a bombshell documentary about his history of sexual abuse allegations which aired on Dec. 7.
The broadcaster’s head of film and international co-production, Manuel Alduy, tells Variety the TV group doesn’t have any agenda against Depardieu, however, and won’t boycott his films. “We will not ban films, but we won’t celebrate artists who have been accused until they’re completely cleared,” says Alduy, who joined France Televisions in 2021 after working at Twentieth Century Fox and Canal+ Group.
“Films are collective works of art and Depardieu happens to have starred in more than 100 films, including some classics of French cinema,” says Alduy. “It would be unfair for these films and for rights holders if we banned them,...
The broadcaster’s head of film and international co-production, Manuel Alduy, tells Variety the TV group doesn’t have any agenda against Depardieu, however, and won’t boycott his films. “We will not ban films, but we won’t celebrate artists who have been accused until they’re completely cleared,” says Alduy, who joined France Televisions in 2021 after working at Twentieth Century Fox and Canal+ Group.
“Films are collective works of art and Depardieu happens to have starred in more than 100 films, including some classics of French cinema,” says Alduy. “It would be unfair for these films and for rights holders if we banned them,...
- 12/22/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Grappling with free-falling theatrical admissions and misplaced blame by exhibitors on so-called “auteur” movies, the leading lights of the French film industry sounded the alarm about the state of the country’s cinema sector during a dramatic and emotional conference.
The jam-packed event on Thursday, called Appel aux Etats Generaux (Call for General Assemblies), was organized by some of France’s most established producers including Saïd Ben Saïd, Judith Lou Levy and Philippe Carcassone, who work frequently with directors Paul Verhoeven, Mati Diop and Florian Zeller, respectively.
The conference was held at the Institut du Monde Arabe, a cultural venue headed by Jack Lang, who served as minister of culture throughout the 1980s. Nearly 800 people attended the event, including members of the independent distributors guild (Dire) and the directors guild Srf, the governing body of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
Filmmakers, producers, distributors, arthouse exhibitors and crew members took the stage to...
The jam-packed event on Thursday, called Appel aux Etats Generaux (Call for General Assemblies), was organized by some of France’s most established producers including Saïd Ben Saïd, Judith Lou Levy and Philippe Carcassone, who work frequently with directors Paul Verhoeven, Mati Diop and Florian Zeller, respectively.
The conference was held at the Institut du Monde Arabe, a cultural venue headed by Jack Lang, who served as minister of culture throughout the 1980s. Nearly 800 people attended the event, including members of the independent distributors guild (Dire) and the directors guild Srf, the governing body of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
Filmmakers, producers, distributors, arthouse exhibitors and crew members took the stage to...
- 10/7/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Claude Chabrol was the most prolific of the New Wave directors. He didn’t only do murder thrillers; this fine selection of Chabrols from the ten year period 1985-1994 begins with a pair of detective tales but moves on to a masterful adaptation of a great book and two engrossing experiments, one of them picking up where an earlier French master left off. The players are terrific as well: Jean Poiret, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Claude Brialy, Bernadette Lafont, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-François Balmer, Christophe Malavoy, Jean Yanne, Marie Trintignant, Jean-François Garreaud, Emmanuelle Béart, François Cluzet.
Lies and Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol
Blu-ray
Cop au Vin (Poulet au vinaigre), Inspector Lavardin (Inspecteur Lavardin), Madame Bovary, Betty, Torment (L’enfer)
Arrow Video
1985-1994 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 9 hours and 17 minutes / Street Date February 22, 2022 / Available from Arrow Video (UK website) / Available from Amazon U.S. / 99.95
Common Credits:
Cinematography: Jean Rabier (3), Bernard Ziterman (2)
Production Designer:...
Lies and Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol
Blu-ray
Cop au Vin (Poulet au vinaigre), Inspector Lavardin (Inspecteur Lavardin), Madame Bovary, Betty, Torment (L’enfer)
Arrow Video
1985-1994 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 9 hours and 17 minutes / Street Date February 22, 2022 / Available from Arrow Video (UK website) / Available from Amazon U.S. / 99.95
Common Credits:
Cinematography: Jean Rabier (3), Bernard Ziterman (2)
Production Designer:...
- 3/8/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This number will increase as Cannes, Venice and other summer festival titles are added to the mix alongside studio releases.
French cinemas reopen this Wednesday (May 19) after lying dark for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the country’s 100-plus distributors rushing to set theatrical dates for an estimated backlog of 400 stalled films.
As a result, French cinemagoers will have access to the richest and most diverse offering of films in the world over the coming months, spanning festival titles, local mainstream comedies and dramas, world cinema and studio blockbuster fare, as the summer advances.
As of May...
French cinemas reopen this Wednesday (May 19) after lying dark for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the country’s 100-plus distributors rushing to set theatrical dates for an estimated backlog of 400 stalled films.
As a result, French cinemagoers will have access to the richest and most diverse offering of films in the world over the coming months, spanning festival titles, local mainstream comedies and dramas, world cinema and studio blockbuster fare, as the summer advances.
As of May...
- 5/17/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Isabelle Huppert in Mama Weed Photo: Courtesy of Fff The French Film Festival's fff@home has announced an online programme to run from March 12 to 27.
The selection includes titles from last year's Covid-hit edition, including Jean-Paul Salomé’s César-nominated quirky crime caper, Mama Weed, starring Isabelle Huppert as a French-Arabic police translator.
Other films screening, include the multi-César nominated Love Affair(s), directed by Emmanuel Mouret and Lucas Belvaux's Home Front, which features Gérard Depardieu.
Also included is Régis Roinsard’s whodunnit The Translators, Anne Fontaine's police thriller Night Shift and Justine Triet's romantic comedy In Bed With Victoria.
The films are available to watch for 48 hours across three weekends.
Richard Mowe, director and co-founder of the Festival, said: “We wanted to make sure that audiences did not miss out on some of the most anticipated films of the Festival due to the Covid disruption … and now...
The selection includes titles from last year's Covid-hit edition, including Jean-Paul Salomé’s César-nominated quirky crime caper, Mama Weed, starring Isabelle Huppert as a French-Arabic police translator.
Other films screening, include the multi-César nominated Love Affair(s), directed by Emmanuel Mouret and Lucas Belvaux's Home Front, which features Gérard Depardieu.
Also included is Régis Roinsard’s whodunnit The Translators, Anne Fontaine's police thriller Night Shift and Justine Triet's romantic comedy In Bed With Victoria.
The films are available to watch for 48 hours across three weekends.
Richard Mowe, director and co-founder of the Festival, said: “We wanted to make sure that audiences did not miss out on some of the most anticipated films of the Festival due to the Covid disruption … and now...
- 3/10/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
With 2017’s “This Is Our Land,” director Lucas Belvaux examined the ways in which far right movements attract, recruit and reformat new converts, curdling contemporary anxieties for acrid political goals. With his follow-up, “Home Front,” the Franco-Belgian auteur explores the roots of those prejudices. The film, which was part of Cannes’ selection last year, is screening this week at UniFrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris (Jan. 13-15).
Adapted by Belvaux from Laurent Mauvignier 2009 novel “The Wound,” the film follows two working-class cousins as they fulfil their colonial military duties in 1960s Algeria and as they nurse their scars and traumas in Burgundy of 2003. While the more cerebral Rabut has tried to forge ahead, his cousin Bernard remains a livewire, looking for any provocation to snap back into violence. Local draw Catherine Frot rounds out the cast.
Synecdoche and Artemis Productions are producing. The Party Film Sales in partnership...
Adapted by Belvaux from Laurent Mauvignier 2009 novel “The Wound,” the film follows two working-class cousins as they fulfil their colonial military duties in 1960s Algeria and as they nurse their scars and traumas in Burgundy of 2003. While the more cerebral Rabut has tried to forge ahead, his cousin Bernard remains a livewire, looking for any provocation to snap back into violence. Local draw Catherine Frot rounds out the cast.
Synecdoche and Artemis Productions are producing. The Party Film Sales in partnership...
- 1/10/2021
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Portuguese film distributor Midas Filmes has picked up a slew of new acquisitions, including Nanni Moretti’s upcoming “Three Floors,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” and Daniele Luchetti’s “The Ties,” which opened this year’s Venice Film Festival.
The Lisbon-based company, which is taking part in this year’s International Classic Film Market (Mifc) focus on Portugal in Lyon, France, has also recently picked up Belgian helmer Lucas Belvaux’s “Home Front,” starring Gérard Depardieu; “The Woman Who Ran,” by Hong Sang-Soo; and “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue,” Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke’s documentary about a local literature festival in Shanxi, China, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale.
Launched in 2006, Midas Filmes has released more than 60 films and boasts a DVD catalog of more than 200 films. Catalog titles and classics play major roles in the distributor’s repertoire, some 85% of which comprises international films, about 10% Portuguese titles and 5% U.
The Lisbon-based company, which is taking part in this year’s International Classic Film Market (Mifc) focus on Portugal in Lyon, France, has also recently picked up Belgian helmer Lucas Belvaux’s “Home Front,” starring Gérard Depardieu; “The Woman Who Ran,” by Hong Sang-Soo; and “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue,” Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke’s documentary about a local literature festival in Shanxi, China, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale.
Launched in 2006, Midas Filmes has released more than 60 films and boasts a DVD catalog of more than 200 films. Catalog titles and classics play major roles in the distributor’s repertoire, some 85% of which comprises international films, about 10% Portuguese titles and 5% U.
- 10/13/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
“Ouf!” – “Phew!” in French: the sigh of relief was the first word to appear in the inaugural clip at the opening ceremony of Lyon’s Lumière Festival, which kicked off on Saturday night as the city was put on maximum alert amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While attendance numbers are limited, cinemas remain open in France and the festival will be able to go ahead as planned.
Led by Thierry Frémaux, who is also head of the Cannes Festival, it is one of the world’s leading classic film events, which celebrates both heritage cinema and more contemporary works. Among those, audiences will be able to discover no less than 23 premieres originally meant to be screened in Cannes before the festival was cancelled in the wake of the global lockdown.
This year’s opening ceremony, which normally takes places before a full house of more than 5,000 people in Lyon’s abattoir-turned-concert hall Tony Garnier,...
While attendance numbers are limited, cinemas remain open in France and the festival will be able to go ahead as planned.
Led by Thierry Frémaux, who is also head of the Cannes Festival, it is one of the world’s leading classic film events, which celebrates both heritage cinema and more contemporary works. Among those, audiences will be able to discover no less than 23 premieres originally meant to be screened in Cannes before the festival was cancelled in the wake of the global lockdown.
This year’s opening ceremony, which normally takes places before a full house of more than 5,000 people in Lyon’s abattoir-turned-concert hall Tony Garnier,...
- 10/11/2020
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
Festival spearheaded by Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux set to run in Lyon October 10 to 18.
France’s Lumière Film Festival will host 23 titles from the Cannes Film Festival’s special 2020 Official Selection at its 12th edition running October 10 to 18 in Lyon.
The festival spearheaded by Cannes delegate general Thierry Frémaux, in his other role as head of the Institut Lumière, is pushing on with the 2020 edition in the face of rising Covid-19 restrictions in France following a surge in cases in the country.
The Lumière showcase represents just under half the 56 titles selected for Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection that it...
France’s Lumière Film Festival will host 23 titles from the Cannes Film Festival’s special 2020 Official Selection at its 12th edition running October 10 to 18 in Lyon.
The festival spearheaded by Cannes delegate general Thierry Frémaux, in his other role as head of the Institut Lumière, is pushing on with the 2020 edition in the face of rising Covid-19 restrictions in France following a surge in cases in the country.
The Lumière showcase represents just under half the 56 titles selected for Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection that it...
- 10/7/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The short answer is strong local films and major state subsidies.
Mourir Peut Attendre, which translates as ‘Dying Can Wait’ is the French title for the James Bond film No Time To Die, and unexpectedly apt.
As in the rest of the world, French exhibitors had high hopes for the new Bond title as the only major US production left on the release calendar for this autumn, as they battle to stay afloat in the face of historically low admissions and a lack of crowd-drawing blockbusters.
The move of the Bond film to April 2021 is a huge blow but unlike...
Mourir Peut Attendre, which translates as ‘Dying Can Wait’ is the French title for the James Bond film No Time To Die, and unexpectedly apt.
As in the rest of the world, French exhibitors had high hopes for the new Bond title as the only major US production left on the release calendar for this autumn, as they battle to stay afloat in the face of historically low admissions and a lack of crowd-drawing blockbusters.
The move of the Bond film to April 2021 is a huge blow but unlike...
- 10/6/2020
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Festival to go ahead as a physical event with guests including Thomas Vinterberg and Francois Ozon.
Rome Film Fest has revealed the programme and plans for its 15th edition, which is set to go ahead as a physical event with digital elements from October 15-25.
A total of 24 films and documentaries will comprise the official selection, most of which have proved critically-acclaimed at festivals such as Toronto, with nine having previously received a Cannes 2020 label.
Scroll down for line-up
These include three titles from Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology: Mangrove; Lovers Rock; and Red, White And Blue. The...
Rome Film Fest has revealed the programme and plans for its 15th edition, which is set to go ahead as a physical event with digital elements from October 15-25.
A total of 24 films and documentaries will comprise the official selection, most of which have proved critically-acclaimed at festivals such as Toronto, with nine having previously received a Cannes 2020 label.
Scroll down for line-up
These include three titles from Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology: Mangrove; Lovers Rock; and Red, White And Blue. The...
- 10/5/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Oliver Stone to Take Restored Copy of Oscar-Winning ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ to Lumière Festival
One of several high-profile guests scheduled to attend the Lumière Festival in October, Oliver Stone will be screening a newly restored copy of 1989’s “Born on the Fourth of July” at its world premiere in the French city of Lyon.
Other guests of honor include actor Viggo Mortensen, Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (1998’s “Festen”), Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher and Oscar winning composer Gabriel Yared. Sofia Coppola, whose father Francis Ford picked up the Lumière Prize last year, is bringing her latest film, “On the Rocks”, starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones, to Lyon.
Run by film director Bertrand Tavernier and Cannes Festival head Thierry Frémaux, Lumière is one of the world’s leading film heritage events. This 12th edition will also feature contemporary works including 20 films originally scheduled to run in Cannes before the festival had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. Titles include Vinterberg’s “Drunk”, “Last Words” by Jonathan Nossiter,...
Other guests of honor include actor Viggo Mortensen, Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (1998’s “Festen”), Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher and Oscar winning composer Gabriel Yared. Sofia Coppola, whose father Francis Ford picked up the Lumière Prize last year, is bringing her latest film, “On the Rocks”, starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones, to Lyon.
Run by film director Bertrand Tavernier and Cannes Festival head Thierry Frémaux, Lumière is one of the world’s leading film heritage events. This 12th edition will also feature contemporary works including 20 films originally scheduled to run in Cannes before the festival had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. Titles include Vinterberg’s “Drunk”, “Last Words” by Jonathan Nossiter,...
- 9/10/2020
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
One of the rare festivals to be hosting physical edition in the coronavirus era, the Deauville American Film Festival is set to world premiere 10 anticipated movies that are part of Cannes’s 2020 Official Selection.
The Deauville roster of Cannes pics was curated by the Normandy-set festival’s artistic director Bruno Barde out of the 56 films selected by Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux.
These include many prestige French films, notably Maïwenn’s “Adn,” Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s “A Good Man,” Lucas Belvaux’s “Home Front,” Bruno Podalydès’ “French Tech,” Charlène Favier’s “Slalom,” alongside Farid Bentoumi’s “Rouge,” Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma’s “Teddy” and Farid Bentoumi’s “Red Soil.”
Other non-u.S. pics from Cannes set for Deauville include Francis Lee’s British film “Ammonite” and Yeon Sang-ho’s South Korean movie “Peninsula.” The only American movie of the pack, Jonathan Nossiter’s “Last Words,” will play in competition.
“A town, beaches, views?...
The Deauville roster of Cannes pics was curated by the Normandy-set festival’s artistic director Bruno Barde out of the 56 films selected by Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux.
These include many prestige French films, notably Maïwenn’s “Adn,” Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s “A Good Man,” Lucas Belvaux’s “Home Front,” Bruno Podalydès’ “French Tech,” Charlène Favier’s “Slalom,” alongside Farid Bentoumi’s “Rouge,” Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma’s “Teddy” and Farid Bentoumi’s “Red Soil.”
Other non-u.S. pics from Cannes set for Deauville include Francis Lee’s British film “Ammonite” and Yeon Sang-ho’s South Korean movie “Peninsula.” The only American movie of the pack, Jonathan Nossiter’s “Last Words,” will play in competition.
“A town, beaches, views?...
- 7/28/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The September festival will be one of the public film events to take place in France for four months.
The Deauville American Film Festival has announced that it will screen 10 of the 56 titles selected for the Cannes Film Festival’s special 2020 Official Selection, at its upcoming edition running September 4-13 in France.
The titles include UK director Francis Lee’s period drama Ammonite, French filmmaker Maïwenn’s semi-autobiographical tale DNA and Korean director Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie horror Peninsula, which is already proving a smash hit at home and in other Asian territories.
The Cannes Film Festival, which was forced...
The Deauville American Film Festival has announced that it will screen 10 of the 56 titles selected for the Cannes Film Festival’s special 2020 Official Selection, at its upcoming edition running September 4-13 in France.
The titles include UK director Francis Lee’s period drama Ammonite, French filmmaker Maïwenn’s semi-autobiographical tale DNA and Korean director Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie horror Peninsula, which is already proving a smash hit at home and in other Asian territories.
The Cannes Film Festival, which was forced...
- 7/28/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
French sellers will market premiere a number of Cannes 2020 label titles.
MK2 Films is launching Carine Tardieu’s romantic drama The Young Lovers, starring Fanny Ardant opposite Melvil Poupaud as a 70-year-old woman who embarks on an affair with a married doctor 25 years her junior, and Ratatouille screenwriter Jim Capobianco’s stop-motion animation feature The Inventor about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, featuring Stephen Fry and Daisy Ridley in the voice cast. It will also market premiere Cannes 2020 titles The Big Hit by Emmanuel Courcol and Israeli filmmaker Nir Bergman’s father-and-son tale Here We Are.
Charades is running...
MK2 Films is launching Carine Tardieu’s romantic drama The Young Lovers, starring Fanny Ardant opposite Melvil Poupaud as a 70-year-old woman who embarks on an affair with a married doctor 25 years her junior, and Ratatouille screenwriter Jim Capobianco’s stop-motion animation feature The Inventor about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, featuring Stephen Fry and Daisy Ridley in the voice cast. It will also market premiere Cannes 2020 titles The Big Hit by Emmanuel Courcol and Israeli filmmaker Nir Bergman’s father-and-son tale Here We Are.
Charades is running...
- 6/21/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
Standing out on the line-up are Slalom by Charlène Favier, Josep by Aurel, Last Words by Jonathan Nossiter and Home Front by Lucas Belvaux, all bearing the Official Selection label. Founded in February following the merger of the international sales teams at Jour2Fête and Doc & Film (see the news), The Party Film Sales will be moving things up a gear at the Marché du Film Online (22-26 June) of the Cannes Film Festival, as the company managed by Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier, and headed up by sales directors Clémence Lavigne and Samuel Blanc, will be negotiating deals for four films bearing the Cannes 73 Official Selection label. Two of them will be screened at the market. Slalom by Charlène Favier will be wagering everything on its pair of lead actors (Noée Abita and Belgium’s Jérémie Renier) and on its moving story (about a young woman trying to escape.
Adding more value to their June 3rd unveiling, what went into this selection process and to be frank, some of these short descriptions will clue us in on the DNA of what we can expect to see from specific titles (including Maïwenn’s own DNA) that for the most part would have been included in the Un Certain Regard section. Here are some value added descriptions which will help figure out what the fall film festival might look like for Telluride, Tiff, Nyff.
The Faithful (or at least selected once before)
The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson (USA) – 1h43
ÉTÉ 85 by François Ozon (France) – 1h40
Asa Ga Kuru (True Mothers) by Naomi Kawase (Japan) – 2h20
Lovers Rock by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 1h08
Mangrove by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 2h04
Druk (Another Round) by Thomas Vinterberg – (Denmark) – 1h55
Adn (DNA) by Maïwenn (France / Algeria) – 1h30
Last Words by Jonathan Nossiter...
The Faithful (or at least selected once before)
The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson (USA) – 1h43
ÉTÉ 85 by François Ozon (France) – 1h40
Asa Ga Kuru (True Mothers) by Naomi Kawase (Japan) – 2h20
Lovers Rock by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 1h08
Mangrove by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 2h04
Druk (Another Round) by Thomas Vinterberg – (Denmark) – 1h55
Adn (DNA) by Maïwenn (France / Algeria) – 1h30
Last Words by Jonathan Nossiter...
- 6/10/2020
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
European film, TV and media group Wild Bunch Ag and Frankfurt-based financial institution Commerzbank have agreed a loan financing of up to 35M euros ($40M). Wild Bunch, which is headquartered in Paris and Berlin, will use the credit line to refinance an existing bank loan and “to reinforce the group’s capacity to deploy strategic measures,” the company said today. The loan comes due in October 2022.
Vincent Grimond, President of Wild Bunch Ag, said, “This loan is the result of the remarkable cooperation with the film specialists of the Commerzbank media team. We are delighted with the confidence shown in us by Commerzbank as one of the largest film and media financiers in Europe — a financial partner of choice for the future.”
In 2018, Wild Bunch previously struck a $130M financial restructuring plan with its creditors. Then late last year, the company expanded operations with the formation of Bim Production in...
Vincent Grimond, President of Wild Bunch Ag, said, “This loan is the result of the remarkable cooperation with the film specialists of the Commerzbank media team. We are delighted with the confidence shown in us by Commerzbank as one of the largest film and media financiers in Europe — a financial partner of choice for the future.”
In 2018, Wild Bunch previously struck a $130M financial restructuring plan with its creditors. Then late last year, the company expanded operations with the formation of Bim Production in...
- 6/10/2020
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
2020 has seen the cancellation of many film festivals around the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though Cannes, one of the most prestigious festivals, won’t be going ahead they have compiled 2020’s Official Selection.
Comprising of 56 films that would have been selected to play at this year’s festival, the selection is made up of features from filmmakers that have been selected at least before, newcomers, documentary’s and animations.
Amongst the line-up is Steve McQueen’s ‘Lovers Rock’ and ‘Mangrove’ which McQueen has dedicated to George Floyd.
“I dedicate these films to George Floyd and all the other black people that have been murdered, seen or unseen, because of who they are, in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere,” said McQueen. “‘If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.’ Black Lives Matter.”
Others amongst the line-up include Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated ‘The French Dispatch,...
Comprising of 56 films that would have been selected to play at this year’s festival, the selection is made up of features from filmmakers that have been selected at least before, newcomers, documentary’s and animations.
Amongst the line-up is Steve McQueen’s ‘Lovers Rock’ and ‘Mangrove’ which McQueen has dedicated to George Floyd.
“I dedicate these films to George Floyd and all the other black people that have been murdered, seen or unseen, because of who they are, in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere,” said McQueen. “‘If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.’ Black Lives Matter.”
Others amongst the line-up include Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated ‘The French Dispatch,...
- 6/4/2020
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The selection includes films from Wes Anderson, Naomi Kawase and two Steve McQueen projects.
The Cannes Film Festival has announced its special 2020 Official Selection.
Festival President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux revealed the line-up at a press conference in Paris, held without journalists this year.
With the 2020 physical festival cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Official Selection titles will be “supported” by Cannes as they screen in autumn festivals and beyond.
The 56-strong line-up includes Wes Anderson’s French Dispatch; two Steve McQueen projects - Mangrove and Lovers Rock; Maïwenn’s DNA; Naomi Kawase’s True Mothers; Thomas Vinterberg...
The Cannes Film Festival has announced its special 2020 Official Selection.
Festival President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux revealed the line-up at a press conference in Paris, held without journalists this year.
With the 2020 physical festival cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Official Selection titles will be “supported” by Cannes as they screen in autumn festivals and beyond.
The 56-strong line-up includes Wes Anderson’s French Dispatch; two Steve McQueen projects - Mangrove and Lovers Rock; Maïwenn’s DNA; Naomi Kawase’s True Mothers; Thomas Vinterberg...
- 6/3/2020
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
Summer of 85The Festival de Cannes has announced 56 films selected for their 2020 Festival, scheduled to have taken place between May 12—23 and cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Films with the official Cannes 2020 label set for a theatrical release before spring 2021 will receive additional support from the Festival when theaters reopen. Films that were predicted to play at the festival and not included in the Cannes 2020 Official Selection—including Leos Carax's Annette, Mia Hansen-Løve's Bergman Island, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria—may premiere elsewhere, while, as previously announced, Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta has delayed its premiere to summer 2021.Official SELECTIONThe French Dispatch (Wes Anderson)Passion Simple (Danielle Arbid)Josep (Aurel)Au Crépuscule (Sharunas Bartas)Les hommes (Lucas Belvaux)Rouge (Farid Bentoumi)Here We Are (Nir Bergman)Teddy (Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma)Un triomphe (Emmanuel Courcol)9 jours à Raqqa (Xavier de Lauzanne)Soul (Pete Docter)Vaurien (Peter Dourountzis)Slalom (Charlène Favier)The Real...
- 6/3/2020
- MUBI
A bit earlier today, in lieu of the actual fest, the Cannes Film Festival announced what their Official Selections would have been. Of course, these movies won’t actually be playing at Cannes, but they will be showing at other festivals around the world over the next handful of months. It would have been an interesting crop of titles, all lumped together in the south of France, and this afternoon, we’re going to take a look at a few of them, as the lineup is being rolled out. Some of the highlights here seem to include Ammonite (starring Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet), Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Pixar’s Soul, and a pair of new works from Steve McQueen (Lover’s Rock as well as Mangrove). There’s also films like Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut Falling, which played at the Sundance Film Festival, plus much more.
- 6/3/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Updated With Lineup: The Cannes Film Festival has revealed its 2020 lineup, which includes new movies from Wes Anderson, Steve McQueen, Pixar, Francois Ozon, Naomi Kawase, Thomas Vinterberg and Maiwenn. Scroll down for lineup.
Despite its cancellation due to the coronavirus, Cannes has revealed the 56 movies chosen for its Official Selection as a badge of honor for the movies and in a bid to boost their distribution credentials. Details about the makeup of the lineup, including a record number of women directors and debuts, were revealed yesterday.
The festival didn’t differentiate movies by section this year, instead announcing all 56 movies in one list, only demarcating some by thematic category.
Artistic director Thierry Frémaux had previously said that Spike Lee’s Netflix film Da 5 Bloods would have played Out of Competition. Lee was set to chair the jury. The movie would have marked Netflix’s return to the festival after a three year absence,...
Despite its cancellation due to the coronavirus, Cannes has revealed the 56 movies chosen for its Official Selection as a badge of honor for the movies and in a bid to boost their distribution credentials. Details about the makeup of the lineup, including a record number of women directors and debuts, were revealed yesterday.
The festival didn’t differentiate movies by section this year, instead announcing all 56 movies in one list, only demarcating some by thematic category.
Artistic director Thierry Frémaux had previously said that Spike Lee’s Netflix film Da 5 Bloods would have played Out of Competition. Lee was set to chair the jury. The movie would have marked Netflix’s return to the festival after a three year absence,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The show is going on for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, even though by now in a normal year we would have known which film would succeed Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” as the new Palme d’Or winner. The original 2020 festival was scheduled to run May 12-23 but was canceled in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Cannes is living on this year as festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Frémaux are announcing the 56 films that made the cut for the 2020 Official Selection. Selected films will be branded with an official Cannes 2020 label that they can take to additional festivals later this year and use when they open in theaters.
The Official Selection at Cannes usually includes the following sections: Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Special Screenings, and Midnight Screenings. The Palme d’Or contenders premiere in the Competition category. Last year’s Cannes Competition section...
The Official Selection at Cannes usually includes the following sections: Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Special Screenings, and Midnight Screenings. The Palme d’Or contenders premiere in the Competition category. Last year’s Cannes Competition section...
- 6/3/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Cannes Film Festival will not take place this year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the official selection has still been unveiled. While no distinct sections were revealed, Thierry Frémaux and Pierre Lescure took the stage of an empty theater to share the 50-plus films that were accepted to screen at the festival. While those Cannes world premieres will not happen in person or digitally, these films will be able to show the prestigious laurels as they head to other festivals this fall and beyond–except Venice Film Festival, who have said they will not be part of their event.
“This Selection is here, and it’s a beautiful one,” Frémaux said. “Even though movie theatres have been shut for three months – for the first time since the invention of film screening by the Lumière Brothers on December 28, 1895 – this Selection reflects that cinema is more alive than ever. It remains unique,...
“This Selection is here, and it’s a beautiful one,” Frémaux said. “Even though movie theatres have been shut for three months – for the first time since the invention of film screening by the Lumière Brothers on December 28, 1895 – this Selection reflects that cinema is more alive than ever. It remains unique,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Pixar’s “Soul,” Wes Anderson’s star-packed “The French Dispatch” and Steve McQueen’s “Mangrove” and Lover’s Rock” are among the 56 movies which will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of the festival’s eclectic Official Selection.
Also included in this year’s lineup, are Cannes regulars such as Francois Ozon’s anticipated “Summer 85,” Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers” and Maiwenn’s “DNA.”
The other celebrated filmmakers who will receive the Cannes 2020 label are Jonathan Nossiter with “Last Words,” Im Sang-soo with “Event” and Thomas Vinterberg with “Another Round.” As many other titles on this year’s lineup, these films were initially tipped for the festival before it canceled its physical edition in April and sticked with the French Riviera-set fest for various reasons, ranging from loyalty to distribution/marketing strategy. For instance, “Summer 85,” which marks Ozon’s follow up to his Berlin Golden Bear winning “By The Grace of God,...
Also included in this year’s lineup, are Cannes regulars such as Francois Ozon’s anticipated “Summer 85,” Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers” and Maiwenn’s “DNA.”
The other celebrated filmmakers who will receive the Cannes 2020 label are Jonathan Nossiter with “Last Words,” Im Sang-soo with “Event” and Thomas Vinterberg with “Another Round.” As many other titles on this year’s lineup, these films were initially tipped for the festival before it canceled its physical edition in April and sticked with the French Riviera-set fest for various reasons, ranging from loyalty to distribution/marketing strategy. For instance, “Summer 85,” which marks Ozon’s follow up to his Berlin Golden Bear winning “By The Grace of God,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Parallel sections issue joint statement on the decision to abandon 2020 editions due to Covid-19.
Cannes parallel sections Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight and Acid announced on Wednesday (April 15) that they were cancelling their 2020 editions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The respected sidebars had originally been due to take place alongside the Cannes Film Festival during its cancelled dates of May 12-23, and had then been holding out to run during a potential end-June, start-July slot, which has now also been abandoned after the French government extended a ban on large gatherings to mid-July.
”Following the French president’s April 13 announcement banning...
Cannes parallel sections Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight and Acid announced on Wednesday (April 15) that they were cancelling their 2020 editions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The respected sidebars had originally been due to take place alongside the Cannes Film Festival during its cancelled dates of May 12-23, and had then been holding out to run during a potential end-June, start-July slot, which has now also been abandoned after the French government extended a ban on large gatherings to mid-July.
”Following the French president’s April 13 announcement banning...
- 4/15/2020
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The Party Films Sales, the newly launched Paris-based film company, is making its market debut at the Efm with several acquisitions, including Javier Polo’s “The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos” and Jim Rakete’s “Now.”
The company brings together the international sales units of two banners, Jour2Fête, a French distribution company, and Doc & Film Intl., a world sales company that was recently acquired by Jour2Fete following the exit of its CEO Daniela Elstner, who is now UniFrance’s managing director.
“The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos” and “Now” are being delivered in two different versions, a feature-length one aimed at theatrical distributors, and a 52-minute format for TV channels. Samuel Blanc, co-head of international sales at The Party Films Sales, said the company was interested in building bridges between film and TV through the acquisitions of movies that can be viewed in different formats.
“The Mystery of the...
The company brings together the international sales units of two banners, Jour2Fête, a French distribution company, and Doc & Film Intl., a world sales company that was recently acquired by Jour2Fete following the exit of its CEO Daniela Elstner, who is now UniFrance’s managing director.
“The Mystery of the Pink Flamingos” and “Now” are being delivered in two different versions, a feature-length one aimed at theatrical distributors, and a 52-minute format for TV channels. Samuel Blanc, co-head of international sales at The Party Films Sales, said the company was interested in building bridges between film and TV through the acquisitions of movies that can be viewed in different formats.
“The Mystery of the...
- 2/24/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Parent company Jour2Fête will retain existing name for French distribution activities.
Paris-based film company Jour2Fête is rebranding the merged sales operations of its recent acquisition Doc & Film International and in-house sales team under the banner of The Party Film Sales.
Jour2Fête’s French theatrical distribution business will continue to operate under its existing name.
Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier’s Jour2Fête acquired Paris-based Doc & Film International last October, following the departure of its long-time CEO Daniela Elstner for French cinema agency Unifrance to take up the role of managing director.
Under the deal, the aim was to merge the existing staff,...
Paris-based film company Jour2Fête is rebranding the merged sales operations of its recent acquisition Doc & Film International and in-house sales team under the banner of The Party Film Sales.
Jour2Fête’s French theatrical distribution business will continue to operate under its existing name.
Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier’s Jour2Fête acquired Paris-based Doc & Film International last October, following the departure of its long-time CEO Daniela Elstner for French cinema agency Unifrance to take up the role of managing director.
Under the deal, the aim was to merge the existing staff,...
- 2/5/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based sales powerhouse to launch new titles by Maïwenn, Stephane Brizé, Louis Garrel and Bruno Podalydès.
Wild Bunch is to launch sales on new films by Maïwenn, Stéphane Brizé, Louis Garrel and Bruno Podalydès at Unifrance’s Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (January 16-20).
Drawing on her own complex history, Maïwenn’s fifth feature DNA revolves around a woman with close ties to a beloved Algerian grandfather who protected her from a toxic home life as a child. When he dies, it triggers a deep identity crisis as tensions between her extended family members escalate revealing new depths of resentment and bitterness.
Wild Bunch is to launch sales on new films by Maïwenn, Stéphane Brizé, Louis Garrel and Bruno Podalydès at Unifrance’s Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (January 16-20).
Drawing on her own complex history, Maïwenn’s fifth feature DNA revolves around a woman with close ties to a beloved Algerian grandfather who protected her from a toxic home life as a child. When he dies, it triggers a deep identity crisis as tensions between her extended family members escalate revealing new depths of resentment and bitterness.
- 1/9/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Des hommes
Belgium’s Lucas Belvaux has assembled one of his highest profile casts in some time with his latest feature Des hommes (Home Front), which reunites him with his Une Trilogy (2002) stars Catherine Frot and Jean-Pierre Darroussin who will be joined by Gerard Depardieu and Yoann Zimmer. Produced by David Frenkel and Patrick Quinet, Belvaux employs Bruno Dumont’s recent favored Dp Guillaume Deffontaines to lens. Belvaux, a five-time Cesar nominee competed in Cannes with his 2006 title The Right of the Weakest.…...
Belgium’s Lucas Belvaux has assembled one of his highest profile casts in some time with his latest feature Des hommes (Home Front), which reunites him with his Une Trilogy (2002) stars Catherine Frot and Jean-Pierre Darroussin who will be joined by Gerard Depardieu and Yoann Zimmer. Produced by David Frenkel and Patrick Quinet, Belvaux employs Bruno Dumont’s recent favored Dp Guillaume Deffontaines to lens. Belvaux, a five-time Cesar nominee competed in Cannes with his 2006 title The Right of the Weakest.…...
- 1/1/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Two projects from Franco-Moroccan producer Saïd Hamich won big at the Marrakech Film Festival’s Atlas Workshop this year, with the upcoming Kamal Lazraq-directed feature “Les Meutes” nabbing a development prize and the recently wrapped “Zanka Contact” winning an $11,000 post-production grant. “Zanka Contact” director Ismaël El Iraki was on-hand to present 10 minutes of footage, which screened before the gathered sales agents and festival programmers for the first time.
Speaking with Variety, Hamich touts El Iraki’s feature debut as an original proposition for contemporary Moroccan cinema. “It’s a wild, energetic film that’s part musical, part Western, and shot in 35mm scope,” says the producer. “It’s a love story between two survivors… who connect because they’ve both survived traumatic events.”
That subject has some resonance for El Iraki, who himself is a survivor of the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. Though the film is not directly inspired...
Speaking with Variety, Hamich touts El Iraki’s feature debut as an original proposition for contemporary Moroccan cinema. “It’s a wild, energetic film that’s part musical, part Western, and shot in 35mm scope,” says the producer. “It’s a love story between two survivors… who connect because they’ve both survived traumatic events.”
That subject has some resonance for El Iraki, who himself is a survivor of the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. Though the film is not directly inspired...
- 12/8/2019
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
The actress is headlining Pierre Pinaud’s second feature film staged by Estrella Productions and sold worldwide by Charades. Filming on The Rose Maker, Pierre Pinaud’s second feature film after On Air (screened within the MyFrenchFilmFestival 2013) which is scheduled to wrap on 24 October, has now entered into the home strait having kicked off on 2 September. Leading the cast is the brilliant Catherine Frot shored up by rapper Melan Omerta, alongside Fatsah Bouyahmed (One Man and his Cow), Olivia Côte (recently at her best in In Safe Hands and soon to be seen in Cévennes), Marie Petiot (who made a name for herself in the French TV series Hippocrate)...
- 10/10/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Initiative to showcase nine features, with seven from first time directors.
Nine features by rising filmmakers are being showcased by France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) at the Cannes Film Festival next month (May 14-25).
The initiative aims to give greater visibility to up-and-coming independent filmmakers. Seven of the nine are first- time features (apart from Blind Spot and As Happy As Possible), five are fiction films and four are documentaries. All are world premieres except Ena Sendijarevic’s Take Me Somewhere Nice, which debuted in Rotterdam.
They are:
Blind Spot (Fr) Dirs: Pierre Trividic, Patrick-Mario...
Nine features by rising filmmakers are being showcased by France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) at the Cannes Film Festival next month (May 14-25).
The initiative aims to give greater visibility to up-and-coming independent filmmakers. Seven of the nine are first- time features (apart from Blind Spot and As Happy As Possible), five are fiction films and four are documentaries. All are world premieres except Ena Sendijarevic’s Take Me Somewhere Nice, which debuted in Rotterdam.
They are:
Blind Spot (Fr) Dirs: Pierre Trividic, Patrick-Mario...
- 4/23/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Alternately tidy and vast, Film Forum’s forthcoming “Trilogies” series will serve the best one-two-three punches in cinema this spring. At 78 titles, it’s something of speaks-for-itself programming, with established classics of the mainstream and arthouse, until it’s suddenly not: some are off-the-beaten-path and altogether surprising for even being a trilogy (films by John Ford and Hou Hsiao-hsien). There’s a panoply of tone, from sacred (Bergman) to profane (Pasolini) with biting wit (or Whit) in-between. At the risk of speaking for taste and saying it has something for everybody, “Trilogies” might actually have something for everybody.
Film Forum have been kind enough to offer an exclusive look with a fine trailer that, like any good repertory sneak peek, makes even the personal favorites enticing yet again. Come April 16, this will surely be the toast of the town.
Watch below:
“Trilogies” begins at Film Forum on April 19. See the full schedule here.
Film Forum have been kind enough to offer an exclusive look with a fine trailer that, like any good repertory sneak peek, makes even the personal favorites enticing yet again. Come April 16, this will surely be the toast of the town.
Watch below:
“Trilogies” begins at Film Forum on April 19. See the full schedule here.
- 4/10/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Fireman drama has drawn 1m spectators at the French box office since release late November release.
WTFilms is reporting strong buyer interest in French director Fréderic Tellier’s breakout hit Through The Fire (Sauver ou Périr), starring Pierre Niney as a hero fireman who is badly disfigured while rescuing colleagues from a burning building.
The film has sold to China (Lemon Tree), Canada (A-z Films), Latin America (California Filmes), Hong Kong (Edko), Taiwan (MovieCloud), Korea (EnterMode), Belgium (Athena Films) and Greece (Odeon). Encore has picked it up for airlines.
Paris-based sales company WTFilms is expecting to seal further deals at...
WTFilms is reporting strong buyer interest in French director Fréderic Tellier’s breakout hit Through The Fire (Sauver ou Périr), starring Pierre Niney as a hero fireman who is badly disfigured while rescuing colleagues from a burning building.
The film has sold to China (Lemon Tree), Canada (A-z Films), Latin America (California Filmes), Hong Kong (Edko), Taiwan (MovieCloud), Korea (EnterMode), Belgium (Athena Films) and Greece (Odeon). Encore has picked it up for airlines.
Paris-based sales company WTFilms is expecting to seal further deals at...
- 1/11/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Early 2019 slate also includes Sundance selection ‘Midnight Traveler’.
Doc & Film International will kick-off sales on Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux’s upcoming Algerian War legacy drama Des Hommes, co-starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Frot, at the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 17-21).
Based on the eponymous novel of Laurent Mauvignier, Depardieu co-stars as the tortured, alcoholic figure of Feu-de-Bois, a brutish troublemaker haunted by a tough childhood and the horrors he saw as a young French soldier in Algeria during the country’s 1954-62 independence war.
The story unfolds some 40 years later in remote Burgundy region...
Doc & Film International will kick-off sales on Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux’s upcoming Algerian War legacy drama Des Hommes, co-starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Frot, at the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 17-21).
Based on the eponymous novel of Laurent Mauvignier, Depardieu co-stars as the tortured, alcoholic figure of Feu-de-Bois, a brutish troublemaker haunted by a tough childhood and the horrors he saw as a young French soldier in Algeria during the country’s 1954-62 independence war.
The story unfolds some 40 years later in remote Burgundy region...
- 1/10/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Early 2019 slate also includes Sundance selection ‘Midnight Traveler’.
Doc & Film International will kick-off sales on Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux’s upcoming Algerian War legacy drama Des Hommes, co-starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Frot, at the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 17-21).
Based on the eponymous novel of Laurent Mauvignier, Depardieu co-stars as the tortured, alcoholic figure of Feu-de-Bois, a brutish troublemaker haunted by a tough childhood and the horrors he saw as a young French soldier in Algeria during the country’s 1954-62 independence war.
The story unfolds some 40 years later in remote Burgundy region...
Doc & Film International will kick-off sales on Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux’s upcoming Algerian War legacy drama Des Hommes, co-starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Frot, at the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 17-21).
Based on the eponymous novel of Laurent Mauvignier, Depardieu co-stars as the tortured, alcoholic figure of Feu-de-Bois, a brutish troublemaker haunted by a tough childhood and the horrors he saw as a young French soldier in Algeria during the country’s 1954-62 independence war.
The story unfolds some 40 years later in remote Burgundy region...
- 1/10/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Under the Milky Way, a leading digital film distribution company, has appointed Juliana Moreira de Souza to run its office in Brazil as its seeks to strengthen its presence in Latin America.
The company, which already boasts local offices across 10 countries in Europe, North America and Asia, previously did business in Latin America but never had a local office with an executive on the ground.
Based in Sao Paulo, Moreira de Souza will be in charge of developing business deals across Latin America through relationships with local rights holders and platforms. She will also handle the international distribution of films owned by Latin American rights holders.
Moreira de Souza graduated from Georgetown University and previously interned at Lionsgate, Protagonist Pictures and A24, where she gained insights into domestic and international sales and marketing.
Under the Milky Way has more than 5,000 feature films under management, and is working with more than 100 platforms across the world,...
The company, which already boasts local offices across 10 countries in Europe, North America and Asia, previously did business in Latin America but never had a local office with an executive on the ground.
Based in Sao Paulo, Moreira de Souza will be in charge of developing business deals across Latin America through relationships with local rights holders and platforms. She will also handle the international distribution of films owned by Latin American rights holders.
Moreira de Souza graduated from Georgetown University and previously interned at Lionsgate, Protagonist Pictures and A24, where she gained insights into domestic and international sales and marketing.
Under the Milky Way has more than 5,000 feature films under management, and is working with more than 100 platforms across the world,...
- 10/23/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
While its execution feels as sophisticated as a bumper sticker slogan, director Lucas Belvaux’s This is Our Land, based on Jérôme Leroy’s book Le Bloc, functions nicely as a contemporary political thriller, respecting its audience’s intelligence enough to avoid an overly sensationalized narrative. It’s a timely story of Pauline (Émilie Dequenne), a nurse used as a pawn in a mayoral election by a controversial politician, played by Catherine Jacob, puppeteering the young woman’s rise to power. Famously, the president of France’s National Front Marine La Pen inspired Jacob’s character. As Pauline transitions into the limelight, even dying her hair blonde to better fit with the party’s brand, she finds her friends, family and patients deeply divided on her newfound political aspirations. While the script could use some touching up, Belvaux’s reserved visual style and strict commitment to tone renders This is...
- 4/17/2018
- by Tony Hinds
- The Film Stage
This year’s selection features eight world premieres and a Portugal focus.
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 9-18.
The initiative is aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, independnet filmmakers and will screen nine works. All our world premieres except Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road which is an international premiere.
They are:
L’amour Debout (France) by Michaël Dacheux Bad Bad Winter (Kazakhstan) by Olga Korotko Cassandro The Exotico! (France) by Marie Losier Dans La Terrible Jungle/ In The Mighty Jungle...
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 9-18.
The initiative is aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, independnet filmmakers and will screen nine works. All our world premieres except Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road which is an international premiere.
They are:
L’amour Debout (France) by Michaël Dacheux Bad Bad Winter (Kazakhstan) by Olga Korotko Cassandro The Exotico! (France) by Marie Losier Dans La Terrible Jungle/ In The Mighty Jungle...
- 4/17/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Indochine, which screened at the first French Film Festival in 1992. Régis Wargnier will attend The French Film Festival UK celebrates its silver jubilee this year and has announced the titles which will screen at the event, which runs at cinemas across the UK from November 2 to December 17.
Among the guests attending this year's festival will be Oscar-winning director Régis Wargnier, who will present a screening of Indochine, which screened at the first French Film Festival in 1992.
Other attendees include director Lucas Belvaux, who brings his topical film This Is Our Land and physical comedians Abel and Fiona Gordon, who will introduce their latest comedy Lost In Paris.
A number of films that screened in Cannes join the slate, including Redoubtable, about a young Jean-Luc Godard, Mathieu Amalric's singer biopic Barbara and Arnaud Desplechin's Ismael's Ghosts, which charts the complications that arise for a filmmaker when his former lover returns to the scene.
Among the guests attending this year's festival will be Oscar-winning director Régis Wargnier, who will present a screening of Indochine, which screened at the first French Film Festival in 1992.
Other attendees include director Lucas Belvaux, who brings his topical film This Is Our Land and physical comedians Abel and Fiona Gordon, who will introduce their latest comedy Lost In Paris.
A number of films that screened in Cannes join the slate, including Redoubtable, about a young Jean-Luc Godard, Mathieu Amalric's singer biopic Barbara and Arnaud Desplechin's Ismael's Ghosts, which charts the complications that arise for a filmmaker when his former lover returns to the scene.
- 10/20/2017
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Petition calls for unified EU vision on copyright and culture.
Cannes Palme d’Or contenders Fatih Akin, Michael Haneke, Michel Hazanavicius have joined 80 top European film-makers in a petition calling for a unified European Union vision on copyright and culture in the digital age.
“We believe that European filmmaking reflects Europe’s positive values. That it can inspire ambition and renewal in Europe’s cultural policies. Europe isn’t just jobs, territories, markets and consumers, European culture also supports multiple identities, democracy and freedom of expression,” the petition said.
Published to coincide with the European Film Forum in Cannes on Monday, it highlighted four key areas where the European Union needed to renew and reinforce its legislation to protect European culture.
Top of the filmmakers’ demands was the maintaining of the territoriality of copyright.
The European Parliament voted last week in favour of a European Commission proposal to de-territorialise digital rights, but the directors...
Cannes Palme d’Or contenders Fatih Akin, Michael Haneke, Michel Hazanavicius have joined 80 top European film-makers in a petition calling for a unified European Union vision on copyright and culture in the digital age.
“We believe that European filmmaking reflects Europe’s positive values. That it can inspire ambition and renewal in Europe’s cultural policies. Europe isn’t just jobs, territories, markets and consumers, European culture also supports multiple identities, democracy and freedom of expression,” the petition said.
Published to coincide with the European Film Forum in Cannes on Monday, it highlighted four key areas where the European Union needed to renew and reinforce its legislation to protect European culture.
Top of the filmmakers’ demands was the maintaining of the territoriality of copyright.
The European Parliament voted last week in favour of a European Commission proposal to de-territorialise digital rights, but the directors...
- 5/22/2017
- ScreenDaily
Petition calls for unified EU vision on copyright and culture.
Cannes Palme d’Or contenders Fatih Akin, Michael Haneke, Michel Hazanavicius have joined 80 top European film-makers in a petition calling for a unified European Union vision on copyright and culture in the digital age.
“We believe that European filmmaking reflects Europe’s positive values. That it can inspire ambition and renewal in Europe’s cultural policies. Europe isn’t just jobs, territories, markets and consumers, European culture also supports multiple identities, democracy and freedom of expression,” the petition said.
Published to coincide with the European Film Forum in Cannes on Monday, it highlighted four key areas where the European Union needed to renew and reinforce its legislation to protect European culture.
Top of the filmmakers’ demands was the maintaining of the territoriality of copyright.
The European Parliament voted last week in favour of a European Commission proposal to de-territorialise digital rights, but the directors...
Cannes Palme d’Or contenders Fatih Akin, Michael Haneke, Michel Hazanavicius have joined 80 top European film-makers in a petition calling for a unified European Union vision on copyright and culture in the digital age.
“We believe that European filmmaking reflects Europe’s positive values. That it can inspire ambition and renewal in Europe’s cultural policies. Europe isn’t just jobs, territories, markets and consumers, European culture also supports multiple identities, democracy and freedom of expression,” the petition said.
Published to coincide with the European Film Forum in Cannes on Monday, it highlighted four key areas where the European Union needed to renew and reinforce its legislation to protect European culture.
Top of the filmmakers’ demands was the maintaining of the territoriality of copyright.
The European Parliament voted last week in favour of a European Commission proposal to de-territorialise digital rights, but the directors...
- 5/22/2017
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: TF1 to unveil project in presence of Alain Prost.
Formula One champion Alain Prost flies into Cannes this weekend for a presentation of Julien Leclercq’s upcoming biopic Prost, retelling his life story through his close relationship with late brother Daniel and his on-track rivalry with Ayrton Senna.
“It’s a story of brothers in two parts. In the first part, we see his relationship with his brother Daniel, who was passionate about racing. He died around the time Senna came into Prost’s life. The pair were rivals, even when they were on the same team, but after Prost retired they became close,” said Paris-based Julien Madon, who is producing under his Labyrinthe Films banner which he runs with Leclercq. Mars Films is also on board as co-producer and French distributor.
TF1 Studio, which is handling international sales, will present the €17m project to buyers on Monday in the presence of Prost, Leclercq and Madon...
Formula One champion Alain Prost flies into Cannes this weekend for a presentation of Julien Leclercq’s upcoming biopic Prost, retelling his life story through his close relationship with late brother Daniel and his on-track rivalry with Ayrton Senna.
“It’s a story of brothers in two parts. In the first part, we see his relationship with his brother Daniel, who was passionate about racing. He died around the time Senna came into Prost’s life. The pair were rivals, even when they were on the same team, but after Prost retired they became close,” said Paris-based Julien Madon, who is producing under his Labyrinthe Films banner which he runs with Leclercq. Mars Films is also on board as co-producer and French distributor.
TF1 Studio, which is handling international sales, will present the €17m project to buyers on Monday in the presence of Prost, Leclercq and Madon...
- 5/20/2017
- ScreenDaily
This year’s showcase features ten world premieres and a Serbian strand.
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 25rd Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 18-27.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will once again screen nine works (bold indicates world premieres).
They are:
L’ASSEMBLÉE by Mariana Otero (documentary)Avant La Fin De L’ÉTÉ by Maryam Goormaghtigh (documentary)Belinda by Marie Dumora (documentary) [pictured]Le Ciel ÉTOILÉ Au-dessus De Ma TÊTE by Ilan KlipperCOBY by Christian Sonderegger (documentary)Kiss And Cry by Lila Pinell and Chloé MahieuLAST Laugh by Zhang TaoSCAFFOLDING by Matan YairSANS Adieu by Christophe Agou (documentary)
There will also be a special screening and two films in partnership with the film Belgrade Festival of Auteur Film. These are:
Pour Le Reconfort by Vincent Macaigne (special screening)Requiem For Ms J. by Bojan VuleticHUMIDITY...
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 25rd Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 18-27.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will once again screen nine works (bold indicates world premieres).
They are:
L’ASSEMBLÉE by Mariana Otero (documentary)Avant La Fin De L’ÉTÉ by Maryam Goormaghtigh (documentary)Belinda by Marie Dumora (documentary) [pictured]Le Ciel ÉTOILÉ Au-dessus De Ma TÊTE by Ilan KlipperCOBY by Christian Sonderegger (documentary)Kiss And Cry by Lila Pinell and Chloé MahieuLAST Laugh by Zhang TaoSCAFFOLDING by Matan YairSANS Adieu by Christophe Agou (documentary)
There will also be a special screening and two films in partnership with the film Belgrade Festival of Auteur Film. These are:
Pour Le Reconfort by Vincent Macaigne (special screening)Requiem For Ms J. by Bojan VuleticHUMIDITY...
- 4/21/2017
- by orlando.parfitt@screendaily.com (Orlando Parfitt)
- ScreenDaily
Starting this week, the Film Society of Lincoln Center hosts a retrospective of the 57-year career of one of the most iconic figures of modern cinema: Jean-Pierre Léaud. The child who grew up and grew old before our eyes, Léaud will forever be associated with one film above all, François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, made when he was only 14, and its character, Antoine Doinel, who he, in many ways, created. In a letter to his friend Helen Scott in 1962 Truffaut wrote, “I would prefer a film to change its meaning along the way rather than have an actor ill at ease. Jean-Pierre wasn’t the character I had intended for The 400 Blows.” When the Film Society first fêted Léaud, in 1994, in the series “Growing Up with Jean-Pierre Léaud: Nouvelle Vague’s Wild Child” (programmed by my future wife no less), the actor had only just turned 50. Léaud...
- 3/31/2017
- MUBI
In what French film industry group l’Arp sees as a potential sign of what's to come should France's far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen advance in May’s local elections, a feature seen as critiquing her National Front (Fn) party has been pulled from a municipal cinema in the south. Chez Nous (This Is Our Land), by actor/director Lucas Belvaux, is the story of a young woman recruited by a fictional populist party, and the ascension of the party in the north of…...
- 3/22/2017
- Deadline
Istanbul Film Festival unveils line-up and Meetings On The Bridge details.
The İstanbul Film Festival (April 5-15) has unveiled the programme for its 36th edition.
Scroll down for lineups
Despite intensive political campaigning ahead of the Turkish constitutional referendum on April 16 and an ongoing state of emergency in the country following last year’s July putsch, festival director Kerem Ayan revealed the line-up at a relatively relaxed press conference in Istanbul.
The festival will host a total of 203 films in 21 categories from 61 countries in nine venues on both sides of the Bosphorous. Among those are 13 Turkish features getting their world premieres.
Among films to compete in the international competition are Toronto hit Lady Macbeth and French immigration drama This is Our Land.
While the number of international guests set to attend the festival is expected to be down on previous years due to a series of terror attacks in the city, notable guests...
The İstanbul Film Festival (April 5-15) has unveiled the programme for its 36th edition.
Scroll down for lineups
Despite intensive political campaigning ahead of the Turkish constitutional referendum on April 16 and an ongoing state of emergency in the country following last year’s July putsch, festival director Kerem Ayan revealed the line-up at a relatively relaxed press conference in Istanbul.
The festival will host a total of 203 films in 21 categories from 61 countries in nine venues on both sides of the Bosphorous. Among those are 13 Turkish features getting their world premieres.
Among films to compete in the international competition are Toronto hit Lady Macbeth and French immigration drama This is Our Land.
While the number of international guests set to attend the festival is expected to be down on previous years due to a series of terror attacks in the city, notable guests...
- 3/14/2017
- ScreenDaily
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