You might have to wait a whole hour for Kristin Scott Thomas to appear in the guise of carefree and broke aristocrat Bijou in this breezy mid-life crisis drama set in Greece, but once she arrives everything suddenly falls into place.
Two tickets to Greece, the French title from director Marc Fitoussi (Call My Agent) follows two former school best friends Magalie (Laure Calamy) and Blandine (Olivia Côte) as they reconcile decades after falling out and losing touch with one another. Despite the years, Magalie hasn’t changed one bit and is still the life and soul of any party that will have her. On the other hand, stuck up upper middle class Blandine has forgotten how to have fun.
Newly divorced and still pining for her old married life, Blandine is spurred on by her well-adjusted grown-up son, Benjamin (Alexandre Desrousseaux), to take a trip with Magalie to the...
Two tickets to Greece, the French title from director Marc Fitoussi (Call My Agent) follows two former school best friends Magalie (Laure Calamy) and Blandine (Olivia Côte) as they reconcile decades after falling out and losing touch with one another. Despite the years, Magalie hasn’t changed one bit and is still the life and soul of any party that will have her. On the other hand, stuck up upper middle class Blandine has forgotten how to have fun.
Newly divorced and still pining for her old married life, Blandine is spurred on by her well-adjusted grown-up son, Benjamin (Alexandre Desrousseaux), to take a trip with Magalie to the...
- 5/18/2024
- by Linda Marric
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Josh Krasinski’s If leads the charge at the UK and Ireland box office in 650 cinemas for Paramount.
The family film about imaginary friends is Krasinski’s widest opening as a director following A Quiet Place Part II which arrived in 563 cinemas in 2021.
If includes an ensemble cast of A-listers, both on-screen and on voice duties, including Ryan Reynolds, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fiona Shaw, Steve Carrell, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper and Emily Blunt. Cailey Fleming leads the cast as a girl who, having recently experienced a traumatic loss, begins seeing everyone’s imaginary friends.
Krasinski previously wrote and directed A Quiet Place...
The family film about imaginary friends is Krasinski’s widest opening as a director following A Quiet Place Part II which arrived in 563 cinemas in 2021.
If includes an ensemble cast of A-listers, both on-screen and on voice duties, including Ryan Reynolds, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fiona Shaw, Steve Carrell, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper and Emily Blunt. Cailey Fleming leads the cast as a girl who, having recently experienced a traumatic loss, begins seeing everyone’s imaginary friends.
Krasinski previously wrote and directed A Quiet Place...
- 5/17/2024
- ScreenDaily
Even Kristin Scott Thomas can’t save this painful French comedy about two older women heading for the Greek islands for wacky fun
Marc Fitoussi, whose directing credits include work on the French TV hit Call My Agent!, has created this excruciatingly sugary French comedy of female friendship in a vacation paradise. It’s a one-note, one-joke, non-Mamma-Mia! the non-musical, with three lead performances that are borderline insufferable.
Olivia Côte plays Blandine, a straitlaced, sobersided woman whose life is miserable; she’s divorced from a man who is now marrying someone half his age and her 20-year-old son is moving out. But then she reconnects with an old schoolfriend, the wild and irrepressible Magalie (Laure Calamy) who suggests they do something they once dreamed of as kids: visit the Greek island of Amorgos, because it was featured in Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, their favourite film from those days.
Marc Fitoussi, whose directing credits include work on the French TV hit Call My Agent!, has created this excruciatingly sugary French comedy of female friendship in a vacation paradise. It’s a one-note, one-joke, non-Mamma-Mia! the non-musical, with three lead performances that are borderline insufferable.
Olivia Côte plays Blandine, a straitlaced, sobersided woman whose life is miserable; she’s divorced from a man who is now marrying someone half his age and her 20-year-old son is moving out. But then she reconnects with an old schoolfriend, the wild and irrepressible Magalie (Laure Calamy) who suggests they do something they once dreamed of as kids: visit the Greek island of Amorgos, because it was featured in Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, their favourite film from those days.
- 5/15/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Disney’s “Kingdom of The Planet of the Apes” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.8 million ($4.7 million), according to numbers from Comscore.
Universal’s “The Fall Guy” dropped down to second place with £948,970 and now has a running total of £6.7 million. In third place, in its third weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Challengers” collected £333,281 for a total of £4.7 million.
In fourth position, in its fifth weekend, Studiocanal’s “Back to Black” earned £211,408 for a total of £11.2 million. Rounding off the top five was Sony’s “Tarot,” which read the cards to the tune of £140,983 in its second weekend and now has a total of £923,013.
The only other debut in the Top 10 was Trafalgar Releasing’s opera recording “Madama Butterfly,” which bowed in ninth place with £96,727.
The mid-week releases coming up include Trafalgar’s “Transformers: 40th Anniversary Event,” where episodes of the animated 1984 series will be screened alongside original voice-over talent,...
Universal’s “The Fall Guy” dropped down to second place with £948,970 and now has a running total of £6.7 million. In third place, in its third weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Challengers” collected £333,281 for a total of £4.7 million.
In fourth position, in its fifth weekend, Studiocanal’s “Back to Black” earned £211,408 for a total of £11.2 million. Rounding off the top five was Sony’s “Tarot,” which read the cards to the tune of £140,983 in its second weekend and now has a total of £923,013.
The only other debut in the Top 10 was Trafalgar Releasing’s opera recording “Madama Butterfly,” which bowed in ninth place with £96,727.
The mid-week releases coming up include Trafalgar’s “Transformers: 40th Anniversary Event,” where episodes of the animated 1984 series will be screened alongside original voice-over talent,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Gaumont has added French-language action feature The Orphans starring Dali Benssalah, Alban Lenoir, Anouk Grinberg and Sonia Faidi, to its Cannes slate.
The film is the first feature from Olivier Schneider who has worked as stunt coordinator on films including No Time To Die, Spectre, Taken and Fast and Furious X. It is about a cop and a mob fixer who team up to search for the killer of a former friend from their orphanage. Producers are Inoxy Films and Gaumont.
“Our ambition is to rehabilitate the French action movie and bring it back to cinemas,” said Alexis Cassanet, Gaumont’s head of international sales.
The film is the first feature from Olivier Schneider who has worked as stunt coordinator on films including No Time To Die, Spectre, Taken and Fast and Furious X. It is about a cop and a mob fixer who team up to search for the killer of a former friend from their orphanage. Producers are Inoxy Films and Gaumont.
“Our ambition is to rehabilitate the French action movie and bring it back to cinemas,” said Alexis Cassanet, Gaumont’s head of international sales.
- 5/8/2024
- ScreenDaily
Arriving on a jetset Mediterranean island to meet the wealthy father she has never known, Calamy’s factory worker enters a vipers’ nest of hostility in Sébastian Marnier’s devious French psychodrama
The root of all evil? Money, naturellement. Stacks of it, poured into a lavish villa on the French Mediterranean island of Porquerolles and frittered away in a unilateral war waged by a bored, ignored shopaholic wife against her overbearing husband. But even €1,500 a day squandered on everything from designer handbags to taxidermied endangered species to shopping channel tat fails to make much of a dent in the wealth of the Dumontet family, a clan that could give Succession’s Roys a run for their money in toxicity, treachery and obscene riches.
Into this nest of Lanvin-clad vipers stumbles Stéphane (Call My Agent!’s Laure Calamy), a pleasant, seemingly unremarkable youngish woman who works at an anchovy-packing factory and,...
The root of all evil? Money, naturellement. Stacks of it, poured into a lavish villa on the French Mediterranean island of Porquerolles and frittered away in a unilateral war waged by a bored, ignored shopaholic wife against her overbearing husband. But even €1,500 a day squandered on everything from designer handbags to taxidermied endangered species to shopping channel tat fails to make much of a dent in the wealth of the Dumontet family, a clan that could give Succession’s Roys a run for their money in toxicity, treachery and obscene riches.
Into this nest of Lanvin-clad vipers stumbles Stéphane (Call My Agent!’s Laure Calamy), a pleasant, seemingly unremarkable youngish woman who works at an anchovy-packing factory and,...
- 3/31/2024
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy stars as a scheming factory worker with designs on a mega-rich fortune in this classy feast of backstabbing, double cross and venal greed
Succession meets Knives Out in this comedy-thriller directed by Sébastien Marnier in what is an extremely French comic style: tongue-in-cheek, a little frothy, tiptoeing close to camp. It stars Call My Agent’s brilliant Laure Calamy as a scheming factory worker who wheedles her way into a dysfunctional mega-rich family. Calamy is often cast as likable, relatable women but here she does a very convincing Isabelle Huppert (circa her Claude Chabrol years); there’s something a bit off about her character from the start, possibly even unhinged.
Calamy is Stéphane – at least that’s what she calls herself. Bored of her job on the production line at a fish factory, and broke, out of the blue she calls her father, a self-made hotel and restaurant tycoon.
Succession meets Knives Out in this comedy-thriller directed by Sébastien Marnier in what is an extremely French comic style: tongue-in-cheek, a little frothy, tiptoeing close to camp. It stars Call My Agent’s brilliant Laure Calamy as a scheming factory worker who wheedles her way into a dysfunctional mega-rich family. Calamy is often cast as likable, relatable women but here she does a very convincing Isabelle Huppert (circa her Claude Chabrol years); there’s something a bit off about her character from the start, possibly even unhinged.
Calamy is Stéphane – at least that’s what she calls herself. Bored of her job on the production line at a fish factory, and broke, out of the blue she calls her father, a self-made hotel and restaurant tycoon.
- 3/27/2024
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Max is coming to France this summer.
Warner Bros. Discovery has confirmed the launch date for its streaming service in Europe, saying it will start its European rollout on May 21, with Max to go live in France before the start of the Paris Olympics, which kick off in July.
Jb Perrette, Wbd’s head of global streaming and games, made the announcement at the Series Mania TV festival in Lille, France on Thursday. He said the service in France, the biggest single territory outside the U.S. to receive Max, will roll out with basic, standard and premier tiers.
Max’s European offering will combine HBO and Discovery+ content and also include live-streamed and on-demand sports content from Wbd’s Eurosport channel, including coverage of the Olympic Games and events such as Grand Slam tennis and cycling’s Tour de France.
Wbd is already bulking up its French offerings, presenting...
Warner Bros. Discovery has confirmed the launch date for its streaming service in Europe, saying it will start its European rollout on May 21, with Max to go live in France before the start of the Paris Olympics, which kick off in July.
Jb Perrette, Wbd’s head of global streaming and games, made the announcement at the Series Mania TV festival in Lille, France on Thursday. He said the service in France, the biggest single territory outside the U.S. to receive Max, will roll out with basic, standard and premier tiers.
Max’s European offering will combine HBO and Discovery+ content and also include live-streamed and on-demand sports content from Wbd’s Eurosport channel, including coverage of the Olympic Games and events such as Grand Slam tennis and cycling’s Tour de France.
Wbd is already bulking up its French offerings, presenting...
- 3/21/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ahead of its launch in France, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service Max unveiled at Series Mania Festival its pipeline of ambitious local scripted projects, “Malditos” (working title), the adaptation of “Living with our deads,” the memoir of Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, and
“Malditos,” created by Jean Charles Hue (“Eat Your Bones”) and Olivier Prieur (“The Accident”), is an action-packed crime thriller revolving around the leader of a Gypsy community and her two sons who struggle to save their clan threatened with eviction by rising waters in Southern France. The series is produced by Eve Muller and Noor Sadar at Mediawan-owned White Lion Films, was penned by Hue, Prieur and Maya Haffar (“En thérapie”). Hue is directing the first five episode and Cécilia Verheyden (“Undercover”) is directing the remaining two.
Max has also boarded the series adaptation of the book “Living with our deads” (“Vivre avec nos morts”), which is...
“Malditos,” created by Jean Charles Hue (“Eat Your Bones”) and Olivier Prieur (“The Accident”), is an action-packed crime thriller revolving around the leader of a Gypsy community and her two sons who struggle to save their clan threatened with eviction by rising waters in Southern France. The series is produced by Eve Muller and Noor Sadar at Mediawan-owned White Lion Films, was penned by Hue, Prieur and Maya Haffar (“En thérapie”). Hue is directing the first five episode and Cécilia Verheyden (“Undercover”) is directing the remaining two.
Max has also boarded the series adaptation of the book “Living with our deads” (“Vivre avec nos morts”), which is...
- 3/20/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Max has unveiled a trio of French shows ahead of launch, with commissioning head Vera Peltekian saying “we don’t want to do a French Succession or White Lotus.“
Peltekian and French scripted boss Clémentine Bobin unveiled series about the Bataclan attacks, the gypsy community and an adaptation of a memoir by a French rabbi.
The previously-announced Bataclan series has been given title Black Lies and will co-star Laure Calamy and César-winning The Goldman Case actor Arieh Worthalter alongside Les Misérables’ Alexis Manenti and Mother And Son’s Annabelle Lengronne.
The show tells the story of a woman who cons her way into a victim’s association following the deadly attack in 2015. Produced by StudioFact Stories with June Films, the psychological thriller is directed by Just Philippot and written by Fanny Burdino, Jean-Baptiste Delafon, Samuel Doux and Alexandre Kauffmann. The story is loosely based on the non-fiction...
Peltekian and French scripted boss Clémentine Bobin unveiled series about the Bataclan attacks, the gypsy community and an adaptation of a memoir by a French rabbi.
The previously-announced Bataclan series has been given title Black Lies and will co-star Laure Calamy and César-winning The Goldman Case actor Arieh Worthalter alongside Les Misérables’ Alexis Manenti and Mother And Son’s Annabelle Lengronne.
The show tells the story of a woman who cons her way into a victim’s association following the deadly attack in 2015. Produced by StudioFact Stories with June Films, the psychological thriller is directed by Just Philippot and written by Fanny Burdino, Jean-Baptiste Delafon, Samuel Doux and Alexandre Kauffmann. The story is loosely based on the non-fiction...
- 3/20/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max platform has unveiled its first French originals slate ahead of its launch in the country this summer.
Max has just kicked off production for crime actioner Western Malditos set in the Gypsy community of Southern France. The series is produced by Eve Muller Noor Sadar of Mediawan’s White Lion Films and follows two brothers and mother as they fight to keep a dark secret from destroying their legacy.
It has also greenlit an adaptation of French female rabbi Delphine Horvielleur’s best-seller Living With Our Dead (Vivre Avec Nos Morts) that follows a young...
Max has just kicked off production for crime actioner Western Malditos set in the Gypsy community of Southern France. The series is produced by Eve Muller Noor Sadar of Mediawan’s White Lion Films and follows two brothers and mother as they fight to keep a dark secret from destroying their legacy.
It has also greenlit an adaptation of French female rabbi Delphine Horvielleur’s best-seller Living With Our Dead (Vivre Avec Nos Morts) that follows a young...
- 3/20/2024
- ScreenDaily
David Thion, the French producer of Justine Triet’s best picture contender “Anatomy of a Fall,” is preparing a raft of projects helmed by daring female directors including Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet (“Anais in Love”) and Emily Atef (“More Than Ever”).
Speaking to Variety ahead of the Oscars, Thion said he and Marie-Ange Luciani, who also produced “Anatomy of a Fall,” have also signed Triet for her next movie, the topic of which hasn’t been decided yet.
“Justine has devoted herself fully to the awards campaign for ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and she hasn’t had time to decide what her next film will be, but she has a few ideas,” Thion said. He added that Triet’s next film will likely be “mainly shot in French, but could have an Anglo-Saxon actress as the lead.”
Bourgeois-Tacquet, who made her feature debut with “Anais in Love,” which premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week,...
Speaking to Variety ahead of the Oscars, Thion said he and Marie-Ange Luciani, who also produced “Anatomy of a Fall,” have also signed Triet for her next movie, the topic of which hasn’t been decided yet.
“Justine has devoted herself fully to the awards campaign for ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and she hasn’t had time to decide what her next film will be, but she has a few ideas,” Thion said. He added that Triet’s next film will likely be “mainly shot in French, but could have an Anglo-Saxon actress as the lead.”
Bourgeois-Tacquet, who made her feature debut with “Anais in Love,” which premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week,...
- 3/8/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
French prosecutors have dismissed a complaint by French actress Hélène Darras claiming she was sexually assaulted by Gérard Depardieu, citing the statute of limitations for the alleged crime.
Darras filed an official complaint against the 75-year-old French star, claiming Depardieu assaulted her on the set of Fabien Onteniente’s film Disco in 2007. Darras made her allegations public in an interview on French TV in December. The interview, combined with raw footage of Depardieu making sexually inappropriate and obscene jokes, triggered a public uproar in France that some have compared to the #MeToo movement that was galvanized by the testimonies of victims of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Thirteen women have come forward to accuse Depardieu of sexual assault involving incidents spanning two decades. In February 2021, Depardieu was charged with rape and sexual assault allegedly committed in 2018 against actress Charlotte Arnould. Darras was auditioned as a witness during that ongoing investigation and...
Darras filed an official complaint against the 75-year-old French star, claiming Depardieu assaulted her on the set of Fabien Onteniente’s film Disco in 2007. Darras made her allegations public in an interview on French TV in December. The interview, combined with raw footage of Depardieu making sexually inappropriate and obscene jokes, triggered a public uproar in France that some have compared to the #MeToo movement that was galvanized by the testimonies of victims of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Thirteen women have come forward to accuse Depardieu of sexual assault involving incidents spanning two decades. In February 2021, Depardieu was charged with rape and sexual assault allegedly committed in 2018 against actress Charlotte Arnould. Darras was auditioned as a witness during that ongoing investigation and...
- 1/22/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Paris-based sales company is bringing eight new titles to Rendez-Vous.
Julie Delpy’s immigration-themed comedy Meet The Barbarians (Les Barbares) is among eight new titles Paris-based sales company Charades is launching at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema this month.
The event takes place from January 16-23 in Paris.
Charades extensive Rendez-Vous line-up also includes 3D animation Flow, romantic comedy Just A Couple of Days starring Camille Cottin, Jeremie Sein’s Olympic sports comedy Game Changers, Antoine Raimbault’s political thriller Smoke Signals, Gustave Kervern’s revenge story Enough Is Enough!, dark comedy Plastic Guns plus recently announced adaptation And...
Julie Delpy’s immigration-themed comedy Meet The Barbarians (Les Barbares) is among eight new titles Paris-based sales company Charades is launching at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema this month.
The event takes place from January 16-23 in Paris.
Charades extensive Rendez-Vous line-up also includes 3D animation Flow, romantic comedy Just A Couple of Days starring Camille Cottin, Jeremie Sein’s Olympic sports comedy Game Changers, Antoine Raimbault’s political thriller Smoke Signals, Gustave Kervern’s revenge story Enough Is Enough!, dark comedy Plastic Guns plus recently announced adaptation And...
- 1/9/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Indie Sales has boarded Nathalie Najem’s “No Way Back,” a timely feature debut tackling domestic violence with a cast led by Bastien Bouillon (“The Night of the 12th”) and Zita Hanrot (“Angry Annie”).
Now in post, “No Way Back” will be introduced to buyers by the banner Indie Sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase next week.
“No Way Back” tells the story of Laura, who is rebuilding her life after years under the toxic influence of Joachim and is raising their daughter on her own. When Joachim’s new girlfriend, Shirine, shows up at her door in dire straits, Laura realizes that they must help each other to get rid of Joachim’s harmful influence. The film appears to be in a similar vein as Xavier Legrand’s Venice prizewinner “Custody,” with an emphasis on sisterhood.
Bouillon won last year’s Cesar Award for best male newcomer for his...
Now in post, “No Way Back” will be introduced to buyers by the banner Indie Sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase next week.
“No Way Back” tells the story of Laura, who is rebuilding her life after years under the toxic influence of Joachim and is raising their daughter on her own. When Joachim’s new girlfriend, Shirine, shows up at her door in dire straits, Laura realizes that they must help each other to get rid of Joachim’s harmful influence. The film appears to be in a similar vein as Xavier Legrand’s Venice prizewinner “Custody,” with an emphasis on sisterhood.
Bouillon won last year’s Cesar Award for best male newcomer for his...
- 1/8/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Graphic novel adaptation stars stars Cesar-winning actress Izia Higelin
Indie Sales has boarded Blandine Lenoir’s fourth feature Juliette In Spring and will launch sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris which takes place from January 16-23.
The film, based on Camille Jourdy’s graphic novel, follows a thirty-something woman who returns to her hometown to spend time with her family as buried memories, unspoken truths and long-buried secrets bubble up to the surface in what Indie Sales calls “a sweet, tender and sometimes extravagant family portrait.”
The film stars Cesar-winning actress Izia Higelin in the titular role alongside a...
Indie Sales has boarded Blandine Lenoir’s fourth feature Juliette In Spring and will launch sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris which takes place from January 16-23.
The film, based on Camille Jourdy’s graphic novel, follows a thirty-something woman who returns to her hometown to spend time with her family as buried memories, unspoken truths and long-buried secrets bubble up to the surface in what Indie Sales calls “a sweet, tender and sometimes extravagant family portrait.”
The film stars Cesar-winning actress Izia Higelin in the titular role alongside a...
- 1/5/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard and Jacques Audiard are among 500 French cinema professionals to have signed an open letter in support of a silent march for peace in Paris this Sunday.
The initiative – created in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and its ongoing reverberations around the world – is being spearheaded by the newly launched Une Autre Voix (Another Voice) collective.
“This fratricidal war affects us all, and regardless of our reasons or affinities on each side of the wall, we want it to cease and that both peoples finally live in peace,” reads the letter.
“This is why we are organizing a silent, united, humanist and peaceful march that will open with a single long white banner. No political claims nor slogans. White flags, white handkerchiefs are welcome.”
Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal presides over the Une Autre Voix collective which also features French...
The initiative – created in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and its ongoing reverberations around the world – is being spearheaded by the newly launched Une Autre Voix (Another Voice) collective.
“This fratricidal war affects us all, and regardless of our reasons or affinities on each side of the wall, we want it to cease and that both peoples finally live in peace,” reads the letter.
“This is why we are organizing a silent, united, humanist and peaceful march that will open with a single long white banner. No political claims nor slogans. White flags, white handkerchiefs are welcome.”
Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal presides over the Une Autre Voix collective which also features French...
- 11/17/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
A femme fatale is in the business of fooling people, though we’ve seen enough of these characters to be overly familiar with their tricks. Maybe that’s why, in 2023, the most effective femme fatale is one who can fool the audience. Take Stéphane (Laure Calamy), the desperate young woman at the center of the delectable French family thriller “The Origin of Evil.” The film’s rather abstract title could refer to several things, but the most accurate is probably the cliché that first leaps to mind: Money is the root of all evil. For money — what it can and cannot do, and what people will do to get it — is the film’s theme, and the toxic life force that courses through it.
When we meet Stéphane, she’s in the women’s locker room of the fish plant she works at on an assembly line; her job consists...
When we meet Stéphane, she’s in the women’s locker room of the fish plant she works at on an assembly line; her job consists...
- 10/28/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Warner Bros. Discovery will be launching its streaming service Max in France, one of its top European markets, next summer, Variety has learned.
The launch in France and in Belgium will follow a rollout in 22 countries across the Nordics, Iberia, Spain, the Netherlands and Central Eastern Europe in the spring. The European plan was unveiled in broad strokes by Gerhard Zeiler, president of international at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Leah Hooper, Warner Bros. Discovery’s European head of streaming, during a keynote at Mipcom Cannes on Monday.
Hooper also announced that Max will stream live sport in Europe with Eurosport’s rights portfolio, including Grand Slam tennis, cycling’s Grand Tours, as well as coverage of the Olympic Games which will be held in Paris starting next July and will be streamed live and on demand on Max. The streamer will offer live simulcasts of our local entertainment networks in some countries.
The launch in France and in Belgium will follow a rollout in 22 countries across the Nordics, Iberia, Spain, the Netherlands and Central Eastern Europe in the spring. The European plan was unveiled in broad strokes by Gerhard Zeiler, president of international at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Leah Hooper, Warner Bros. Discovery’s European head of streaming, during a keynote at Mipcom Cannes on Monday.
Hooper also announced that Max will stream live sport in Europe with Eurosport’s rights portfolio, including Grand Slam tennis, cycling’s Grand Tours, as well as coverage of the Olympic Games which will be held in Paris starting next July and will be streamed live and on demand on Max. The streamer will offer live simulcasts of our local entertainment networks in some countries.
- 10/16/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Pierre Branco, general manager for Warner Bros. Discovery in France, Benelux and Africa, is stepping down from his position, Variety has learned.
Branco took the job a year ago and was previously country manager for WarnerMedia in France, Benelux, Middle East and Africa and head of affiliates and ad sales for Emea. A source close to the company said it was Branco’s decision to exit the banner. He’s the fourth high-ranking Wbd executive to depart in recent months amid an internal shakeup, following Emea boss Priya Dogra, Hannes Heyelmann, who headed Germany, and Robert Blair, the former boss international TV distribution.
“My 17 years at Wbd have been ones of immense pride and satisfaction,” Branco said in a statement.” The executive said it gave him “the privilege of working on the best brands and content in the business, collaborating with incredible colleagues and partners across the globe and leading...
Branco took the job a year ago and was previously country manager for WarnerMedia in France, Benelux, Middle East and Africa and head of affiliates and ad sales for Emea. A source close to the company said it was Branco’s decision to exit the banner. He’s the fourth high-ranking Wbd executive to depart in recent months amid an internal shakeup, following Emea boss Priya Dogra, Hannes Heyelmann, who headed Germany, and Robert Blair, the former boss international TV distribution.
“My 17 years at Wbd have been ones of immense pride and satisfaction,” Branco said in a statement.” The executive said it gave him “the privilege of working on the best brands and content in the business, collaborating with incredible colleagues and partners across the globe and leading...
- 10/3/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Self-destructive characters who grift and deceive are ever the province of French filmmakers, from Claude Chabrol to “Tell No One” director Guillaume Canet. In Sébastien Marnier’s sinister and sly domestic thriller “The Origin of Evil,” Laure Calamy plays a woman whose lies can’t stop falling out of her mouth. Calamy is one of the MVPs of the French show business satire “Call My Agent!,” in which she plays a flustered assistant at a fictional talent agency run by ridiculous people. In “The Origin of Evil,” Calamy gives an unsettling performance as Stéphane, a grifter crawling out of a busted relationship and a toxic job at a cannery and into the life of a wealthy man, Serge, played by Jacques Weber. She contacts him out of the blue and insists she’s his long-lost daughter, and the two form a parasitic relationship that recalls the uneasy power dynamics of...
- 9/29/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Anne-Sophie Bailly has lassoed the multi-faceted Laure Calamy for her feature debut, Les Inséparables. Originally titled Mona, according to the folks at Cineuropa, the family drama begins production in France early next month with the backing of Les Films Pelléas’ David Thion (we profiled back in 2018) and Philippe Martin. Bailly will re-team with her cinematographer Nader Chalhoub on the project.
This revolves around the relationship between a mother, Mona, who raised her disabled son alone and aspires to start caring for herself now that he’s a grown man. But when her son announces that he’s having a baby with his girlfriend, Mona finds herself with another heavy responsibility to bear.…...
This revolves around the relationship between a mother, Mona, who raised her disabled son alone and aspires to start caring for herself now that he’s a grown man. But when her son announces that he’s having a baby with his girlfriend, Mona finds herself with another heavy responsibility to bear.…...
- 9/22/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Stop Making Sense, the remastered concert film that sowed delight at TIFF, opens on 300 Imax screens in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland. Locations Stateside number 260 ahead of a nationwide release next week.
The 1984 Talking Heads extravaganza from Jonathan Demme is presented in its new iteration by A24 — meaning the decades-old movie can now extend its reach to a new, younger audience that is A24’s core fan base. Opening numbers are hard to gauge since there aren’t many comps but there are parties, discos, stars and sellouts with film looking at about $1.5 million, including Thursday previews.
A 40th anniversary large-format special premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month had people dancing in the aisles and broke Imax records. It was the company’s highest grossing live event, earning $640.8k and selling out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London.
The 1984 Talking Heads extravaganza from Jonathan Demme is presented in its new iteration by A24 — meaning the decades-old movie can now extend its reach to a new, younger audience that is A24’s core fan base. Opening numbers are hard to gauge since there aren’t many comps but there are parties, discos, stars and sellouts with film looking at about $1.5 million, including Thursday previews.
A 40th anniversary large-format special premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month had people dancing in the aisles and broke Imax records. It was the company’s highest grossing live event, earning $640.8k and selling out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London.
- 9/22/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
"Those two women will steal all my money." IFC Films has revealed an official US trailer for an extra dark wealthy family satire from France titled The Origin of Evil, made by filmmaker Sébastien Marnier. This first premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival, with stops at TIFF and London as well. It also won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at Frameline47. A woman is sucked into a world of secrets and betrayal as the battle over her estranged father's massive estate soon reveals him to be more than the genial patriarch she'd assumed in this twisted satire. Described as a "wildly entertaining thriller that will keep you guessing all the way to the end." Starring Laure Calamy (of Call My Agent! and Full Time) as Nathalie, with Doria Tillier, Dominique Blanc, Jacques Weber, Suzanne Clément, Céleste Brunnquell, and Véronique Ruggia Saura. The twisty, subversive film will release...
- 8/22/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
A long-lost daughter or an impostor looking for a cash-grab?
Laure Calamy stars as an elusive family member in Sebastien Marnier’s satirical thriller “The Origin of Evil,” where she reconnects with her alleged father as he nears his deathbed. “The Origin of Evil” premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and went on to screen at TIFF, BFI, and Frameline47, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.
The official synopsis reads: When Stéphane (Calamy) gets in touch with wealthy Serge (Jacques Weber), announcing that she is his long-abandoned daughter, his immediate family are none too thrilled. As Stéphane embarks on an extended visit in hopes of getting to know Serge, she also becomes entangled with the hostile women who share a tense existence in his beautifully appointed mansion by the sea: the restaurateur’s wife (Dominique Blanc), his other daughter (Doria Tillier), a rebellious granddaughter (Céleste Brunnquell), and a strangely off-putting housemaid,...
Laure Calamy stars as an elusive family member in Sebastien Marnier’s satirical thriller “The Origin of Evil,” where she reconnects with her alleged father as he nears his deathbed. “The Origin of Evil” premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and went on to screen at TIFF, BFI, and Frameline47, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.
The official synopsis reads: When Stéphane (Calamy) gets in touch with wealthy Serge (Jacques Weber), announcing that she is his long-abandoned daughter, his immediate family are none too thrilled. As Stéphane embarks on an extended visit in hopes of getting to know Serge, she also becomes entangled with the hostile women who share a tense existence in his beautifully appointed mansion by the sea: the restaurateur’s wife (Dominique Blanc), his other daughter (Doria Tillier), a rebellious granddaughter (Céleste Brunnquell), and a strangely off-putting housemaid,...
- 8/21/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Sun! Sea! Men! Margaritas! The siren song of this holy quartet is all that is required to tempt free-spirited hot mess Magalie (“Call My Agent” star Laure Calamy) to pack her bags and join her estranged former schoolfriend Blandine (Olivia Côte) on the holiday of a lifetime. The invitation has come courtesy of Blandine’s teenaged son Benjamin (Alexandre Desrousseaux), who believes, with good reason, that his recently divorced mother is in danger of becoming a recluse — and she wasn’t exactly the life and soul of the party to begin with. The stage is set for a pleasant if meandering comedy-drama powered by the personality clash at its core.
“Two Tickets to Greece” opens with a prologue establishing the contrast between these two women as teenagers, and it’s perhaps not strictly required, since this dynamic is telegraphed loud and clear in every glance, line and scene in the movie.
“Two Tickets to Greece” opens with a prologue establishing the contrast between these two women as teenagers, and it’s perhaps not strictly required, since this dynamic is telegraphed loud and clear in every glance, line and scene in the movie.
- 7/14/2023
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
In Marc Fitoussi’s Two Tickets to Greece, former besties Blandine (Olivia Cotê) and Magalie (Laure Calamy) cross paths after 30 years and decide take a trip to Greece together. Blandine, as if in homage to her name, has become timid and conservative over the years, while Magalie has an active sex life, likes to shake her tailfeather in nightclubs, and tries to ingratiate herself with just about anyone. Cue the drug-related hijinks and misunderstandings between the women and the Greek locals, threatening to jeopardize their trip.
This by-the-numbers travel comedy is nothing if not corny in its repeated attempts to wring humor from Blandine’s prudishness. In one scene, Magalie gets fully nude in their hotel room, with Blandine, trying to look away, repeatedly peeking to see if her friend has finally put some clothes on. While there’s an obvious queer dimension to that and other scenes, including one...
This by-the-numbers travel comedy is nothing if not corny in its repeated attempts to wring humor from Blandine’s prudishness. In one scene, Magalie gets fully nude in their hotel room, with Blandine, trying to look away, repeatedly peeking to see if her friend has finally put some clothes on. While there’s an obvious queer dimension to that and other scenes, including one...
- 7/7/2023
- by Clayton Dillard
- Slant Magazine
French filmmaker Antonin Peretjatko is set to sink his teeth into his fourth feature film and he lassoed some alumni for Vade retro (formerly known as Le vampire du soleil levant). Laure Calamy will topline with players William Lebghil and Vimala Pons in the mix. Lebghil was in Peretjatko’s sophomore feature and Pons was in his first pair of films including his debut The Rendez-Vous of Déjà-Vu (a Directors’ Fortnight selection back in 2013). Vade retro landed some early Cnc support three years back. Comme des cinémas’ Masa Sawada (Kôji Fukada Love Life) is producing the project which will move into production in September.…...
- 6/14/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has picked up U.S. distribution rights to the French comedy Two Tickets to Greece (aka Les Cyclades), starring César Award winner Laure Calamy (Call My Agent!), Olivia Côte and Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient). It’ll be released in theaters on July 14.
The film is set to open against Searchlight Pictures’ Sundance comedy Theater Camp, IFC Films’ Lakota Nation vs. United States, Roadside Attractions’ sports doc Black Ice, Kino Lorber’s horror comedy Final Cut from filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, Vertical’s rom-com The Modelizer, Crunchyroll’s Psycho-Pass Providence and MM2 Entertainment’s thriller Shadows.
Written and directed by Marc Fitoussi, who worked with Calamy on Call My Agent!, Two Tickets to Greece tells the story of Blandine (Côte), who is recently divorced and helplessly watching her only son leave home when her former best friend Magalie...
The film is set to open against Searchlight Pictures’ Sundance comedy Theater Camp, IFC Films’ Lakota Nation vs. United States, Roadside Attractions’ sports doc Black Ice, Kino Lorber’s horror comedy Final Cut from filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, Vertical’s rom-com The Modelizer, Crunchyroll’s Psycho-Pass Providence and MM2 Entertainment’s thriller Shadows.
Written and directed by Marc Fitoussi, who worked with Calamy on Call My Agent!, Two Tickets to Greece tells the story of Blandine (Côte), who is recently divorced and helplessly watching her only son leave home when her former best friend Magalie...
- 6/12/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
David Thion, the French producer of Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning “Anatomy of a Fall,” is reteaming with Guillaume Senez for “Une part manquante,” a Tokyo-set drama which Be For Films is representing in international markets.
“Une part manquante” will also reunite Senez with popular French actor Romain Duris, who starred in his 2018 film “Our Struggles” and earned a Cesar nomination for it. Brussels-based Be For Films had sold Senez’s feature debut “Keeper” and “Our Struggles” in most major territories and presented at a flurry of international festivals.
Duris will play Jay, who hasn’t seen his daughter for nine years since getting separated from his Japanese wife. As a foreigner residing in Japan, Jay was denied custody of his daughter. Hoping to find her somewhere in the city, he abandons his career as a renown chef and becomes a taxi driver. After all these years searching in vain,...
“Une part manquante” will also reunite Senez with popular French actor Romain Duris, who starred in his 2018 film “Our Struggles” and earned a Cesar nomination for it. Brussels-based Be For Films had sold Senez’s feature debut “Keeper” and “Our Struggles” in most major territories and presented at a flurry of international festivals.
Duris will play Jay, who hasn’t seen his daughter for nine years since getting separated from his Japanese wife. As a foreigner residing in Japan, Jay was denied custody of his daughter. Hoping to find her somewhere in the city, he abandons his career as a renown chef and becomes a taxi driver. After all these years searching in vain,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The ebullient French star on her hyperactive new film, taking on more serious roles and her love of British cinema
Laure Calamy certainly makes a jaunty entrance. She’s somewhere out of sight in the kitchen of her Paris flat, and all I can see on my laptop is a vividly coloured glass partition – a Mondrian pattern of rectangles in rich shades of red and orange. Then suddenly the French actor comes into view, greeting me with a big “All-ôôô!”, so perkily singsong that the English equivalent would have to be “Coo-eee!”
I like the panel, I tell her. “I found it in a little shop where I used to live,” she says. “I’m crazy about glassworks and those colours. I found this, et hop …!” – she bought it. You can imagine Calamy’s best-known character, Noémie Leclerc from the hit Netflix series Call My Agent!, buying something similar in...
Laure Calamy certainly makes a jaunty entrance. She’s somewhere out of sight in the kitchen of her Paris flat, and all I can see on my laptop is a vividly coloured glass partition – a Mondrian pattern of rectangles in rich shades of red and orange. Then suddenly the French actor comes into view, greeting me with a big “All-ôôô!”, so perkily singsong that the English equivalent would have to be “Coo-eee!”
I like the panel, I tell her. “I found it in a little shop where I used to live,” she says. “I’m crazy about glassworks and those colours. I found this, et hop …!” – she bought it. You can imagine Calamy’s best-known character, Noémie Leclerc from the hit Netflix series Call My Agent!, buying something similar in...
- 5/28/2023
- by Jonathan Romney
- The Guardian - Film News
Laure Calamy plays a woman forever racing between maternal and work duties in an acutely relatable story that grips
Anyone who has ever broken into a sweaty panicked run to make it in time for school pick-up will instantly get why the French Canadian director Eric Gravel has chosen to shoot this film about motherhood frazzle as a gripping thriller. I was on the edge of my seat in one scene, watching to see if a woman running to catch her commuter train home makes it. Her name is Julie, and she’s a divorced mum of two who’s feeling the grind: work, kids, mortgage arrears, crappy ex. It’s such an authentic and relatable film – so meticulously observed, in fact, that to be perfectly honest, I assumed it had been made by a woman.
Laure Calamy plays Julie; she’s in her early 40s, with a couple of children under eight.
Anyone who has ever broken into a sweaty panicked run to make it in time for school pick-up will instantly get why the French Canadian director Eric Gravel has chosen to shoot this film about motherhood frazzle as a gripping thriller. I was on the edge of my seat in one scene, watching to see if a woman running to catch her commuter train home makes it. Her name is Julie, and she’s a divorced mum of two who’s feeling the grind: work, kids, mortgage arrears, crappy ex. It’s such an authentic and relatable film – so meticulously observed, in fact, that to be perfectly honest, I assumed it had been made by a woman.
Laure Calamy plays Julie; she’s in her early 40s, with a couple of children under eight.
- 5/24/2023
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Kristin Scott Thomas starrer “Two Tickets to Greece” has been picked up by Parkland Entertainment for U.K. and Ireland distribution, Variety can confirm.
Directed by Marc Fitoussi (“Call My Agent”) the French comedy stars Scott Thomas alongside Olivia Côte (“My Donkey”) and “Call My Agent’s” Laure Calamy.
Set in present-day Paris and Greece, “Two Tickets to Greece” tells the story of recently-divorced Blandine (Côte), who is struggling to put her life back together. She is persuaded by her loud and fearless friend Magalie (Calamy) to head to the Greek island of Amorgos, which they’ve dreamed of visiting since they were teenagers. It’s only once the two women arrive they realize that their different approaches to life mean their dreamy holiday won’t go as planned, especially once Magalie’s pal Bijou (Scott Thomas) arrives on the scene.
“Two Tickets to Greece” was produced by Caroline Bonmarchand...
Directed by Marc Fitoussi (“Call My Agent”) the French comedy stars Scott Thomas alongside Olivia Côte (“My Donkey”) and “Call My Agent’s” Laure Calamy.
Set in present-day Paris and Greece, “Two Tickets to Greece” tells the story of recently-divorced Blandine (Côte), who is struggling to put her life back together. She is persuaded by her loud and fearless friend Magalie (Calamy) to head to the Greek island of Amorgos, which they’ve dreamed of visiting since they were teenagers. It’s only once the two women arrive they realize that their different approaches to life mean their dreamy holiday won’t go as planned, especially once Magalie’s pal Bijou (Scott Thomas) arrives on the scene.
“Two Tickets to Greece” was produced by Caroline Bonmarchand...
- 5/22/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
France’s culture minister Rima Abdul-Malak gave her first interview with the international press at the Cannes Film Festival where she unveiled a plan to invest €350 million ($378 million) in the film and TV industry. Abdul-Malak also addressed some hot topics that are currently being debated within the industry, such as the windowing rules for streamers, the protests over the pension reform, the rise of the far right and criticism of France’s #MeToo movement.
The government-investment initiative, called the Grande Fabrique de l’Image, is meant to bolster France’s position as a leader in film, TV and video games production, studio facilities, post-production, as well as film and TV training. The funding will go to 68 projects that were selected from 175 applicants by two committees, one of which is headed by filmmaker Cedric Jimenez. Among the selected projects are 11 studio facilities, 12 animation studios, six video games studios, five visual effects and post production houses,...
The government-investment initiative, called the Grande Fabrique de l’Image, is meant to bolster France’s position as a leader in film, TV and video games production, studio facilities, post-production, as well as film and TV training. The funding will go to 68 projects that were selected from 175 applicants by two committees, one of which is headed by filmmaker Cedric Jimenez. Among the selected projects are 11 studio facilities, 12 animation studios, six video games studios, five visual effects and post production houses,...
- 5/20/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Ticketholders reported queuing for an hour but still not being given access to the only screening.
Update, 17/5/23 20.58 Cet: The Cannes Film Festival has confirmed to Screen that, under pressure from crowds, security at the Palais de Festivals decided to let people without tickets into the 15.00 screening of Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Strange Way Of Life’, ahead of those who had tickets.
Original story:
A large number of Cannes ticketholders have been turned away from the only screening of Pedro Almodovar’s short film Strange Way Of Life.
Long queues formed outside the Palais des Festivals for the 3pm screening of the...
Update, 17/5/23 20.58 Cet: The Cannes Film Festival has confirmed to Screen that, under pressure from crowds, security at the Palais de Festivals decided to let people without tickets into the 15.00 screening of Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Strange Way Of Life’, ahead of those who had tickets.
Original story:
A large number of Cannes ticketholders have been turned away from the only screening of Pedro Almodovar’s short film Strange Way Of Life.
Long queues formed outside the Palais des Festivals for the 3pm screening of the...
- 5/17/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The letter targets “the political positions displayed by the Cannes Festival” in particular.
More than 123 French actors and actresses have signed an open letter denouncing sexual harassment in the French film industry, calling it “a dysfunctional system that crushes and annihilates”.
On the same day that Cannes welcomed Maïwenn’s Jeanne Du Barry and its star Johnny Depp, and just ahead of the premiere of Catherine Corsini’s Homecoming in competition, the letter targets “the political positions displayed by the Cannes Festival” in particular. “By rolling out the red carpet to men and women who assault, the festival sends the...
More than 123 French actors and actresses have signed an open letter denouncing sexual harassment in the French film industry, calling it “a dysfunctional system that crushes and annihilates”.
On the same day that Cannes welcomed Maïwenn’s Jeanne Du Barry and its star Johnny Depp, and just ahead of the premiere of Catherine Corsini’s Homecoming in competition, the letter targets “the political positions displayed by the Cannes Festival” in particular. “By rolling out the red carpet to men and women who assault, the festival sends the...
- 5/17/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Music Box Films has acquired North American rights to Babak Jalali’a immigrant drama Fremont, which premiered to acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival before moving on to SXSW, slating it for release in theaters later in the year, with a home entertainment bow to follow.
Starring real-life refugee Anaita Wali Zada, Fremont centers on mid-20s Afghan refugee Donya (Zada), whose complicated feelings about her prior work as a translator for the U.S. military have left her troubled and unable to sleep. Drifting through her uninspired routine in Fremont, California, which comprises her work at a fortune cookie factory and her lonely dinners at a local restaurant, Donya struggles to connect with the culture and people of her new, unfamiliar surroundings. That is, until an unexpected revelation prompts Donya to use her cookies to build a bridge to the outside world.
Gregg Turkington and Jeremy Allen...
Starring real-life refugee Anaita Wali Zada, Fremont centers on mid-20s Afghan refugee Donya (Zada), whose complicated feelings about her prior work as a translator for the U.S. military have left her troubled and unable to sleep. Drifting through her uninspired routine in Fremont, California, which comprises her work at a fortune cookie factory and her lonely dinners at a local restaurant, Donya struggles to connect with the culture and people of her new, unfamiliar surroundings. That is, until an unexpected revelation prompts Donya to use her cookies to build a bridge to the outside world.
Gregg Turkington and Jeremy Allen...
- 5/2/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Paris-based Playtime has unveiled a strong Cannes film market sales slate, which includes competition titles “About Dry Grasses” and “Homecoming.”
“About Dry Grasses” is by Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won the Palme d’Or in 2014 for “Winter Sleep.” The film follows Samet, a young art teacher, who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in, and hopes that his encounter with fellow teacher Nuray will help him overcome his angst. Deniz Celiloğlu, Merve Dizdar and Musab Ekici are among the cast.
“Homecoming,” by French director Catherine Corsini who won the 2021 Queer Palm for “The Divide,” follows Khédidja, who minds a wealthy Parisian family’s children for a summer in Corsica. She brings along her own two...
“About Dry Grasses” is by Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won the Palme d’Or in 2014 for “Winter Sleep.” The film follows Samet, a young art teacher, who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in, and hopes that his encounter with fellow teacher Nuray will help him overcome his angst. Deniz Celiloğlu, Merve Dizdar and Musab Ekici are among the cast.
“Homecoming,” by French director Catherine Corsini who won the 2021 Queer Palm for “The Divide,” follows Khédidja, who minds a wealthy Parisian family’s children for a summer in Corsica. She brings along her own two...
- 5/2/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival could face power cuts as a result of ongoing civil strife over France’s pension reforms.
In a direct threat to the festival, the National Federation of Mines and Energy announced on Friday that it will undertake “100 days of action and anger” in protest of French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform.
“In May, do what you like! The Cannes Film Festival, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Roland-Garros tournament, the Avignon Festival could end up in the dark! We won’t give up!” said the union.
Speaking to French cable channel Bfm TV on Monday, Fabrice Coudour, the secretary general of the Cgt Energy Union, said the group’s “goal is not to prevent the unfolding [of events], it is to have a platform.”
Macron’s government is raising the minimum retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years, and prolonging the years of contributions required for a full pension.
In a direct threat to the festival, the National Federation of Mines and Energy announced on Friday that it will undertake “100 days of action and anger” in protest of French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform.
“In May, do what you like! The Cannes Film Festival, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Roland-Garros tournament, the Avignon Festival could end up in the dark! We won’t give up!” said the union.
Speaking to French cable channel Bfm TV on Monday, Fabrice Coudour, the secretary general of the Cgt Energy Union, said the group’s “goal is not to prevent the unfolding [of events], it is to have a platform.”
Macron’s government is raising the minimum retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years, and prolonging the years of contributions required for a full pension.
- 4/24/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
The inside story behind the ascent of Finland’s outgoing prime minister, Sanna Marin, is the subject of a new three-part docuseries from HBO Max.
The streamer has unveiled the Finnish original “First Five,” which is billed as an “intimate” portrait of Marin and her headline-grabbing female cabinet. The project comes just weeks after Marin and her centre-left Social Democratic Party was defeated by the conservative National Coalition Party.
Marin was sworn in as prime minister in December 2019. At just 34 years old, she was the country’s youngest Pm, and formed a cabinet with four other women — a number of whom were also under 35. Mere months later, the group was thrown into an unprecedented challenge when the Covid crisis hit Finland.
The series claims to offer a “close-up view into the lives of exceptional politicians in unprecedented times,” and introduces the women behind the public roles.
Consisting of three 35-minute-long episodes,...
The streamer has unveiled the Finnish original “First Five,” which is billed as an “intimate” portrait of Marin and her headline-grabbing female cabinet. The project comes just weeks after Marin and her centre-left Social Democratic Party was defeated by the conservative National Coalition Party.
Marin was sworn in as prime minister in December 2019. At just 34 years old, she was the country’s youngest Pm, and formed a cabinet with four other women — a number of whom were also under 35. Mere months later, the group was thrown into an unprecedented challenge when the Covid crisis hit Finland.
The series claims to offer a “close-up view into the lives of exceptional politicians in unprecedented times,” and introduces the women behind the public roles.
Consisting of three 35-minute-long episodes,...
- 4/20/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Don’t expect Warner Bros. Discovery’s French original programming team to follow Netflix and Amazon Prime Video’s trail and chase teen audiences.
Vera Peltekian, VP and head of streaming original production for the banner, says the standalone service’s bow in France “is on the roadmap” with a raft of “bold and director-driven Max originals targeting adult audiences in line with what the HBO brand is known for.”
Peltekian, who previously worked 15 years at Canal + and played a major role in the pay TV group’s critically acclaimed series such as “The Returned,” “Spiral” and “Savages,” revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery’s first French original will be “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan,” a four-part series inspired by the true story of a woman who conned her way into a victims’ association and quickly became one of its pillars.
Now shooting on location in Paris, “The Mythomaniac of...
Vera Peltekian, VP and head of streaming original production for the banner, says the standalone service’s bow in France “is on the roadmap” with a raft of “bold and director-driven Max originals targeting adult audiences in line with what the HBO brand is known for.”
Peltekian, who previously worked 15 years at Canal + and played a major role in the pay TV group’s critically acclaimed series such as “The Returned,” “Spiral” and “Savages,” revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery’s first French original will be “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan,” a four-part series inspired by the true story of a woman who conned her way into a victims’ association and quickly became one of its pillars.
Now shooting on location in Paris, “The Mythomaniac of...
- 4/5/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Juliette Binoche, Laure Calamy (“Call My Agent!”), Camille Cottin (“Stillwater”) and Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) are among the 300 stars who signed an open letter addressed to France President Emmanuel Macron to demand the withdrawal of the retirement bill.
The letter was published in French newspaper Liberation ahead of massive and fiery protests that rallied more than a million people across the country on Thursday, according to local press. Despite the ongoing strikes, the government passed the unpopular bill last week to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, and was allowed to bypass a vote by using a constitutional clause called 49.3.
“You chose to push through a pension reform that is unfair, inefficient and one that impacts more severely the most vulnerable people and women,” said the letter, which added that the “reform has been rejected by the immense majority of the population.”
The letter also highlighted the fact that women...
The letter was published in French newspaper Liberation ahead of massive and fiery protests that rallied more than a million people across the country on Thursday, according to local press. Despite the ongoing strikes, the government passed the unpopular bill last week to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, and was allowed to bypass a vote by using a constitutional clause called 49.3.
“You chose to push through a pension reform that is unfair, inefficient and one that impacts more severely the most vulnerable people and women,” said the letter, which added that the “reform has been rejected by the immense majority of the population.”
The letter also highlighted the fact that women...
- 3/24/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
More than 300 leading figures from the French film and TV world have gotten behind a petition decrying controversial pension reforms spearheaded by the government of President Emmanuel Macron.
French stars Juliette Binoche, Audrey Fleurot, Camille Cottin, Swann Arlaud, Jeanne Balibar, Bérenice Béjo, Laure Calamy, Camille Cottin, Pierre Deladonchamps and Noémie Merlant; directors Michel Hazanavicius, Alice Diop, Kim Chapiron, Maimouna Doucouré, Robert Guédiguian and Alain Guiraudie, as well as producer Saïd Ben Saïd were among the signatories.
“It is high time to make our voices heard, because cinema, theater, culture, even if they sometimes offer dreams and a means of escape, above all speak of our world,” read an open letter to Macron accompanying the petition.
The petition was launched under the banner of the Cinema Entertainment Collective on the Liberation newspaper website on Thursday afternoon, as a national strike brought public services to a standstill and saw outbreaks of violence...
French stars Juliette Binoche, Audrey Fleurot, Camille Cottin, Swann Arlaud, Jeanne Balibar, Bérenice Béjo, Laure Calamy, Camille Cottin, Pierre Deladonchamps and Noémie Merlant; directors Michel Hazanavicius, Alice Diop, Kim Chapiron, Maimouna Doucouré, Robert Guédiguian and Alain Guiraudie, as well as producer Saïd Ben Saïd were among the signatories.
“It is high time to make our voices heard, because cinema, theater, culture, even if they sometimes offer dreams and a means of escape, above all speak of our world,” read an open letter to Macron accompanying the petition.
The petition was launched under the banner of the Cinema Entertainment Collective on the Liberation newspaper website on Thursday afternoon, as a national strike brought public services to a standstill and saw outbreaks of violence...
- 3/24/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The 46th César Awards, France’s top film honors, have been handed out in Paris, with Dominik Moll’s crime thriller The Night of the 12th winning the best picture trophy.
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms coming into the awards show, just behind Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, which picked up 11 nominations. Moll also won for best director, and Bouli Lanners earned the best supporting actor trophy for his performance in The Night of the 12th.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, was up for 9 Césars, as was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family...
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms coming into the awards show, just behind Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, which picked up 11 nominations. Moll also won for best director, and Bouli Lanners earned the best supporting actor trophy for his performance in The Night of the 12th.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, was up for 9 Césars, as was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family...
- 2/24/2023
- by Scott Roxborough and Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Léa Todorov’s first feature focuses on visionary Italian physician and educator Montessori.
Indie Sales has boarded Léa Todorov’s first feature Maria Montessori and has released a first look image from the project, which is currently in post-production.
The Franco-Italian co-production intertwines the real-life story of visionary Italian physician and educator Montessori with a fictional Parisian cabaret star hiding her child diagnosed with a disability to protect her career. The film’s French title is La Nouvelle Femme.
Set in the early 1900s, the film stars Jasmine Trinca as the titular character, known for her teaching experience with children...
Indie Sales has boarded Léa Todorov’s first feature Maria Montessori and has released a first look image from the project, which is currently in post-production.
The Franco-Italian co-production intertwines the real-life story of visionary Italian physician and educator Montessori with a fictional Parisian cabaret star hiding her child diagnosed with a disability to protect her career. The film’s French title is La Nouvelle Femme.
Set in the early 1900s, the film stars Jasmine Trinca as the titular character, known for her teaching experience with children...
- 2/7/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Film has its market premiere this month at EFM.
Indie Sales has boarded Léa Todorov’s first feature Maria Montessori ahead of the film’s market premiere at EFM.
The Franco-Italian co-production intertwines the real-life story of visionary Italian physician and educator Montessori with a fictional Parisian cabaret star hiding her child diagnosed with a disability to protect her career. The film’s French title is La Nouvelle Femme.
Set in the early 1900s, the film stars Jasmine Trinca as the titular character, known for her teaching experience with children with learning challenges that led to the founding of the now famous Montessori method.
Indie Sales has boarded Léa Todorov’s first feature Maria Montessori ahead of the film’s market premiere at EFM.
The Franco-Italian co-production intertwines the real-life story of visionary Italian physician and educator Montessori with a fictional Parisian cabaret star hiding her child diagnosed with a disability to protect her career. The film’s French title is La Nouvelle Femme.
Set in the early 1900s, the film stars Jasmine Trinca as the titular character, known for her teaching experience with children with learning challenges that led to the founding of the now famous Montessori method.
- 2/7/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Railway strikes, needy kids, a birthday party to plan, a job in Paris (a long commute away), interviews for another job (which demand sneaking away from work), and a babysitter who is increasingly over it: The deck of Julie Roy’s life is full, and because that life is happening fast, Éric Gravel’s César-nominated Full Time establishes much of this fullness within only 15 minutes.
The movie does not waste time: Julie, played by Laure Calamy (Call My Agent!), doesn’t have any. The railway strikes make it harder and...
The movie does not waste time: Julie, played by Laure Calamy (Call My Agent!), doesn’t have any. The railway strikes make it harder and...
- 2/4/2023
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
Animated fairy tale The Amazing Maurice voiced by Emilia Clarke, Hugh Laurie, David Thewlish, Gemma Arterton and Himesh Patel, jumps from Sundance to 1,700 screens via Viva Pictures, the distributor’s widest release to date and a big one for any independently produced animated film.
And Civil War drama Freedom’s Path starring Gerran Howell, Rj Cyler, and Ewen Bremner, debuts at 128 AMC and Regal Cinemas. In limited release, Let It Be Morning by the director of The Band’s Visit resurfaces, Kit Harrington is back in Baby Ruby and Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy stars in Full Time.
Maurice, directed by Toby Genken and written by Terry Rossio, a family action/comedy from the U.K., follows a streetwise cat and his gang of rats who come up with a perfect moneymaking scheme. Based on the novel The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Sir Terry Pratchett, it’s produced by Emely Christians,...
And Civil War drama Freedom’s Path starring Gerran Howell, Rj Cyler, and Ewen Bremner, debuts at 128 AMC and Regal Cinemas. In limited release, Let It Be Morning by the director of The Band’s Visit resurfaces, Kit Harrington is back in Baby Ruby and Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy stars in Full Time.
Maurice, directed by Toby Genken and written by Terry Rossio, a family action/comedy from the U.K., follows a streetwise cat and his gang of rats who come up with a perfect moneymaking scheme. Based on the novel The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Sir Terry Pratchett, it’s produced by Emely Christians,...
- 2/3/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
This review originally ran June 12, 2022, in conjunction with the film’s world premiere at the Tribeca Festival.
Over the last five years, society has gotten a crash course in Hollywood sexism. With Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s groundbreaking reporting on Harvey Weinstein came countless other stories of women’s mistreatment at the hands of producers, directors and even fellow actors.
Some of the most arresting stories along these lines come from crew members, like stunt coordinators who work on rape scenes. In her new documentary “Body Parts,” Kristy Guevara-Flanagan interviews actors, film and TV creators, and crew members who work behind the scenes to put sex onscreen.
Though the film overwhelmingly focuses on big names like Joey Soloway and Rose McGowan, its strongest material comes from accounts by less glitzy experts: body doubles, scholars, intimacy coordinators and one remorseful visual effects artist.
The film’s thesis is nothing new:...
Over the last five years, society has gotten a crash course in Hollywood sexism. With Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor’s groundbreaking reporting on Harvey Weinstein came countless other stories of women’s mistreatment at the hands of producers, directors and even fellow actors.
Some of the most arresting stories along these lines come from crew members, like stunt coordinators who work on rape scenes. In her new documentary “Body Parts,” Kristy Guevara-Flanagan interviews actors, film and TV creators, and crew members who work behind the scenes to put sex onscreen.
Though the film overwhelmingly focuses on big names like Joey Soloway and Rose McGowan, its strongest material comes from accounts by less glitzy experts: body doubles, scholars, intimacy coordinators and one remorseful visual effects artist.
The film’s thesis is nothing new:...
- 2/3/2023
- by Lena Wilson
- The Wrap
‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ and French-Senegalese war drama ‘Father & Soldier’ provided a boost to French cinemas.
The French box office saw ticket sales hit 15.05 million admissions in January, a 41.3 jump up from the same month in 2022, but still 15.1 down from the 2017-2019 pre-pandemic average, according to figures from state film organisation the Cnc.
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) led the month and the film has sold 12.7 million tickets to date since its December 14 release in the territory. It is now the 18th most successful film in French box office history, but a far cry...
The French box office saw ticket sales hit 15.05 million admissions in January, a 41.3 jump up from the same month in 2022, but still 15.1 down from the 2017-2019 pre-pandemic average, according to figures from state film organisation the Cnc.
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) led the month and the film has sold 12.7 million tickets to date since its December 14 release in the territory. It is now the 18th most successful film in French box office history, but a far cry...
- 2/3/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
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