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“Bonjour Tristesse” is a new France-produced romantic drama feature, directed by Durga Chew-Bose, in a modern take on Françoise Sagan's ‘coming-of-age’ novel, starring Chloë Sevigny, Lily McInerny and Claes Bang, now streaming on digital platforms:

“…at the height of summer, 18-year-old ‘Cécile’ (McInerny) is relaxing by the French seaside with her father (Bang) and falling in love with her new boyfriend.

“But the arrival of her late mother's enigmatic friend (Sevigny) turns her world upside down…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Bonjour Tristesse (Durga Chew-Bose)

There was slight trepidation going into Bonjour Tristesse. Justifying itself as another “adaptation” of Françoise Sagan’s text rather than remake of Otto Preminger’s masterpiece of mise-en-scène, there’s still some hesitation about the chutzpah that must go into thinking you can top that great craftsman at the height of his power. As directed by writer-turned-filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose with a great deal of formal assurance, this 2024 iteration is a highly respectable effort that’ll speak to countless people the original didn’t. One major difference being that Preminger made the film as a showcase for the muse he was having an affair with, Jean Seberg, casting some leering-male element onto the whole project. Chew-Bose’s project isn...

Actress Lily McInerny knows it sounds a little weird coming from a rising actress of her caliber, but it’s true, she “wasn’t a very outgoing kid.” But even her early inclination to work behind the scenes couldn’t quite kick what was always stirring in her: she wanted to tell stories. Acting? That fit the bill.

As the Indie Spirit nominee told IndieWire during a recent interview, she always loved fantasy tales, and that love for magical escapism naturally led to an interest in the theater and beyond. Also of assistance: An overall McInerny clan affection for “The Simpsons” (the gateway for her sense of humor), plus her dad’s love of sci-fi and horror.

She even made her own little films as a youngster, and by age eight, she was acting in elementary school productions. At age 13, she got into New York City’s “Fame” high school,...

“Bonjour Tristesse” is a new France-produced romantic drama feature, directed by Durga Chew-Bose, in a modern take on Françoise Sagan's ‘coming-of-age’ novel, starring Chloë Sevigny, Lily McInerny and Claes Bang, now playing in theaters:

“…at the height of summer, 18-year-old ‘Cécile’ (McInerny) is relaxing by the French seaside with her father (Bang) and falling in love with her new boyfriend.

“But the arrival of her late mother's enigmatic friend (Sevigny) turns her world upside down…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Utopia, which knows its way around a music documentary opened Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements at the Film Forum in NYC to $13.2k with sold-out Q&As and plans to roll the Venice-premiering satirical hybrid doc/mockumentary across key markets in May ahead of a national release June 6. It’s sitting at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes (31 reviews).

Each stop of the road show from LA (sold out preview at Vidiots on the 8th) and Brooklyn next weekend (also holding at the Film Forum) to San Francisco, Nashville, Knoxville, Portland and Chicago — feature sold and selling-out sessions with directors and band members whose film is as much a satire of a music doc as the real thing. Actual archival footage and interviews alternate with a movie-within-a-movie that has actors playing band members (Joe Keery as Stephen Malkmus; Fred Hechinger as Bob Nastanovich; Natt Wolff as Scott...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the new release “Bonjour Tristesse,” the second film adaptation of the 1954 novel sensation. This relationship entanglement was written by then 19-year-old author Françoise Sagan. In select theaters on April 25th, see local listings.

Lily McInerny is Cécile, the 17-year-old daughter of widower playboy Raymond (Claes Bang), and they are currently vacationing in the South of France. Raymond is dating the statuesque Elsa (Nailia Harzoune), a dancer from Paris. The three are co-conspirators in relaxation, but their idyllic situation is broken up by a visit from Anne (Chloë Sevigny), a fashion designer who knew Cécile’s late mother and Raymond. The old friend sparks a flame, and through the familiarity Raymond and Anne have a whirlwind affair and quickly become engaged. This riles up Cécile, and she plans to break them up, not understanding what the results of her actions might be.

Rust, the indie Western with a tragic backstory, is now out at at some 115 theaters through Falling Forward Films, as well as on PVOD. The release comes well over three years since the film’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed by a bullet from Alec Baldwin‘s gun on the New Mexico film set.

An on-again-off-again involuntary manslaughter criminal case against the producer and star was put to rest last December. Multiple civil suits related to the shooting remain in the courts in California and New Mexico. A jury found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for the production, guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the October 2021 incident and she was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Amid all that, the movie itself has taken a back seat, until now. Deadline’s review calls the release “bittersweet” but notes “the exceptional cinematography of Hutchins, as well as Bianca Cline, who came in to film the remaining scenes.

Chloë Sevigny loves to work, of course, but as the mother of a five-year-old, she has other things to consider, too.

“I’m a working actress, but also having a family at home and being more rooted in New York now that I have a child, there’s a different level of consideration for what projects I take on,” the actress told Indiewire. For some performers, describing themselves as a “working actor” could seem like self-deprecation, but for Sevigny, even though many of her priorities have changed, it’s always about the work.

And the work that makes up her resume is iconic, having first come up in the indie film pipeline at 19 years old in writer Harmony Korine and director Larry Clark’s “Kids,” the controversial ’90s coming-of-age film about a group of New York teens left to their own self-destructive devices. Since then, she has been nominated for...

“Bonjour Tristesse” (2024) begins on a cozy, comforting note in a sun-drenched town in Europe. It is hard for these early moments not to remind you of Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me by Your Name,” especially with how it establishes its setting filled with warmth and a sense of relaxation. There is a clear emphasis on making us a part of this world on a sensory level with shots of mundane details around its characters, akin to Yasujirō Ozu’s pillow shots, which furthers the cushy charm of its setting. That is also how writer-director Durga Chew-Bose presents her bourgeois characters, caught in these simple joys of life.

None of them feels a sense of urgency or unrest in the conventional sense. Agreed that these people are there to spend their summer vacation, where rest might just be of the utmost priority. However, that seems unlikely in modern times, in which the film places its characters.

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Greenwich Entertainment releases “Bonjour Tristesse” in select theaters on May 2, 2025.

The German language might get plenty of admiration for its ability to articulate complicated feelings and things, but don’t discount French for its similar refinement. Consider tristesse, which translates to “sadness, gloominess, dolefulness, dreariness, gloom,” and the like, but definitely sounds better than just “sadness.” It sounds chic, winsome, so French. Bonjour, tristesse? Oh la la indeed!

Such is the title of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novel — written when the author was just 18, and thus the perfect age to write a story literally called “Hello, Sadness” — and of both a previous (very good) Otto Preminger-directed adaptation and Durga Chew-Bose’s clever new spin on the story at hand. While remakes can feel, by their very nature, like the worst kind of retread (to say nothing...

Directing an adaptation of an iconic book that has already been successfully adapted by the legendary Otto Preminger is an ambitious task for a first-time director, yet that is precisely what Durga Chew-Bose did for her debut feature, Bonjour Tristesse. Taking advantage of her superb cast and some gorgeous scenery, Chew-Bose manages to make her version of this story worth watching despite a safe script.

Bonjour Tristesse Review

Bonjour Tristesse follows a young woman vacationing in the south of France with her father and his younger girlfriend when their seemingly idyllic getaway is disrupted by the arrival of one of her late mother’s old friends. A little bit of debauchery and a whole lot of melodrama ensue, creating a film that goes down incredibly easy.

The biggest obstacle Bonjour Tristesse has to overcome is that its characters aren’t the most approachable. They’re rich and superficial, but this...

Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2024 TIFF coverage. Bonjour Tristesse opens in theaters on May 2.

There was slight trepidation going into Bonjour Tristesse. Justifying itself as another “adaptation” of Françoise Sagan’s text rather than remake of Otto Preminger’s masterpiece of mise-en-scène, there’s still some hesitation about the chutzpah that must go into thinking you can top that great craftsman at the height of his power. As directed by writer-turned-filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose with a great deal of formal assurance, this 2024 iteration is a highly respectable effort that’ll speak to countless people the original didn’t. One major difference being that Preminger made the film as a showcase for the muse he was having an affair with, Jean Seberg, casting some leering-male element onto the whole project. Chew-Bose’s project isn’t so much feminist as feminine––that a working-out of neurosis that doesn’t provide completely easy answers.

The summer season is upon us and, per each year, we’ve dug beyond studio offerings to present an in-depth look at what should be on your radar. From festival winners of the past year to selections coming straight from Cannes to genre delights to, yes, a few blockbuster spectacles, there’s more than enough to anticipate.

Check out our picks below and return for monthly updates as more is sure to be added to the calendar. Release dates are for theatrical openings, unless otherwise noted.

Pavements (Alex Ross Perry; May 2)

If the Hollywood superhero-industrial complex is perishing, the Rolling Stone and Spin magazine extended universe is hastily being built. What better defines “pre-awareness” for the studios like the data logged by Spotify’s algorithm, where billions of track plays confirm what past popular music has stood the test of time, and also how––in the streaming era––you can gouge ancillary money from it?...

In Bonjour Tristesse—a modern retelling of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novella of the same name—the enigmatic fashionista Ann (Chloe Sevigny) discovers a long-held craving just as it’s satisfied by her lover, Raymond (Claes Bang). She describes the feeling as “fizzy,” an adjective that captures the quietly galvanic sensations permeating Durga Chew-Bose’s stringent and striking directorial debut. The interaction also illustrates the inflamed senses of self-awareness that define the film’s characters, who relentlessly observe, analyze, and diagnose each other’s behaviors in ways that invariably reflect back on themselves.

The wealthy, womanizing Raymond enjoys a carefree life in the French Riviera with his stepdaughter, Cécile (Lily McInerny), whose mother died years before. The two have always kept each other company—even solitaire is a multiplayer game for them—and this closeness remains unchallenged when Raymond takes up with the beautiful Elsa (Nailia Harzoune), whose warmth grounds the...

Is cinema ready for a new adaptation of “Bonjour Tristesse“? Well, it’s been 66 years since Otto Preminger‘s take on Françoise Sagan‘s classic French novel, so why not?

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

Durga Chew-Bose makes their narrative feature debut with “Bonjour Tristesse,” which follows a young girl in flower whose teen idyll by the French coast gets threatened when an old flame of her father’s shows up to stay with her family.

Continue reading New ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ Trailer: Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang & Lily McInerny Star In New Take On French Family Drama On May 2 at The Playlist.

"You terrify me..." Greenwich Ent. has debuted the US trailer for an indie romantic thriller titled Bonjour Tristesse, adapted from the novella of the same name. This French film first premiered at TIFF 2024 last year, and it also played at AFI Fest, Vancouver, Sudbury, & Zurich Film Fests. At the height of summer, 18-year-old Cécile is relaxing in a villa in the south of France with her widowed father Raymond and falling in love with her new boyfriend. Theirs is a lived-in compatibility a world of ease and languor. The arrival of her late mother's enigmatic friend, played by Chloë Sevigny, turns her world upside down. An adaptation of Françoise Sagan's unforgettable coming-of-age novel, Durga Chew-Bose's Bonjour Tristesse film masterfully captures the complexity of relationships between women and how they wield influence over one another's fates. The French indie film stars Claes Bang, Lily McInerny, Nailia Harzoune, Aliocha Schneider,...

The melancholy of coming of age is captured in the whimsically dark “Bonjour Tristesse,” based on Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novella whose title translates to “Hello, Sadness.”

“Palm Trees and Power Lines” standout star Lily McInerny plays 18-year-old Cécile who is vacationing with her father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his lover Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). However, their summer takes a twisted turn when Anne (Chloë Sevigny), a friend of Cécile’s late mother, drives down from Paris to pay the family a visit.

As the synopsis teases, “Cécile’s world is threatened and, desperate to regain control, she sets in motion a plan to drive Anne away with tragic consequences. The three embark on an incredible journey of deceit, lust, compassion, and unconditional love against the backdrop of an unforgettable French summer.” Aliocha Schneider also stars.

“Bonjour Tristesse” is writer/director Durga Chew-Bose’s directorial debut; the film premiered at 2024 TIFF.

The...

Following its TIFF premiere last fall, Durga Chew-Bose’s Françoise Sagan adaptation Bonjour Tristesse recently traveled to New York, opening the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look. Now, Greenwich Entertainment has set a May 2 theatrical debut for the drama starring Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang, Lily McInerny, Nailia Harzoune, and Aliocha Schneider, and released the first trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: “At the height of summer, 18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerny) is languishing by the French seaside with her handsome father, Raymond (Claes Bang), and his girlfriend, Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune), when the arrival of her late mother’s friend, Anne (Chloë Sevigny), changes everything. Amid the sun-drenched splendour of their surroundings, Cécile’s world is threatened and, desperate to regain control, she sets in motion a plan to drive Anne away with tragic consequences. An adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s unforgettable coming-of-age novel by the same title, Durga Chew-Bose’s...

“I’ve been young for so long, and so old for longer.” — Durga Chew-Bose, from Too Much and Not the Mood (2017) “Certain phrases fascinate me with their subtle implications, even though I may not altogether understand their meaning.” –-From the novel Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (1954) In 1955, eighteen-year-old Françoise Sagan’s debut novel Bonjour Tristesse, about a teenager and her widowed playboy father vacationing on the French Riviera, enjoyed three months atop the New York Times bestseller list. Otto Preminger’s lush CinemaScope film adaptation followed in 1958. The director’s clinically cool approach was tepidly received, though Jean-Luc Godard, […]

The post “I Wanted to Make Sure That My Version Was Additive”: Writer-Director Durga Chew-Bose on Adapting Bonjour Tristesse first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

“I’ve been young for so long, and so old for longer.” — Durga Chew-Bose, from Too Much and Not the Mood (2017) “Certain phrases fascinate me with their subtle implications, even though I may not altogether understand their meaning.” –-From the novel Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (1954) In 1955, eighteen-year-old Françoise Sagan’s debut novel Bonjour Tristesse, about a teenager and her widowed playboy father vacationing on the French Riviera, enjoyed three months atop the New York Times bestseller list. Otto Preminger’s lush CinemaScope film adaptation followed in 1958. The director’s clinically cool approach was tepidly received, though Jean-Luc Godard, […]

The post “I Wanted to Make Sure That My Version Was Additive”: Writer-Director Durga Chew-Bose on Adapting Bonjour Tristesse first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

A snapshot of the most exciting voices working in American and international cinema today––and with a strong focus on newcomers––the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look festival returns this week, taking place March 12-16.

As always, the festival brings together a varied, eclectic lineup of cinema from all corners of the world––including a number of films still seeking distribution, making this series perhaps one of your only chances to see these works on the big screen. Check out our top picks below.

100,000,000,000,000 (Virgil Vernier)

Virgil Vernier’s third fiction feature sees him continuing his examination of characters floating through liminal spaces borne out of capital. He follows sex worker Afine (Zakaria Bouti) spending the Christmas holidays alone in Monaco, where he befriends a woman babysitting the daughter of wealthy parents until the new year. Shooting once again on 16mm, Vernier creates a transfixing mood through...

A yearly highlight of New York programming (and North American options at large), the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look returns on March 12 with an opening-night, US-premiere screening of Durga Chew Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse, closes March 16 with the stateside debut of Giovanni Tortorici’s Diciannove, and in intervening days combines programming of recent cutting-edge highlights with in-person talks and seminars.

First Look’s fixture “Working on It” will run between March 12 and 14, offering “a laboratory for works in progress and dialogues about process, bringing together festival guests, filmmakers, students, writers, and the general public.” Meanwhile, writers and editors from Reverse Shot “will welcome a new cohort for its Emerging Critics Workshop, with writers attending throughout the festival”; submissions may be made here through February 14.

So says Eric Hynes, MoMI’s Senior Curator of Film and First Look’s Artistic Director:

“In so many ways, First Look serves...

The annual First Look festival at the Museum of the Moving Image has unveiled its 2025 program. IndieWire can announce that the 14th edition of the beloved festival will take place March 12-16, and open with Durga Chew-Bose’s “Bonjour Tristesse.” The feature previously debuted at TIFF’s Discovery Program.

The film, which is an adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s novel, centers on 18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerny) who is enjoying the French seaside with her father, Raymond (Claes Bang) and his lover Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). Yet the arrival of her late mother’s friend Anne (Chloë Sevigny) changes everything. Per the official synopsis, “amid the sun-drenched splendour of their surroundings, Cécile’s world is threatened and, desperate to regain control, she sets in motion a plan to drive Anne away with tragic consequences.”

The 2025 lineup will present 38 films, of which 20 are features, including 4 world premieres and 23 U.S. or North American premieres,...

French actress Juliette Binoche has been named President of the Jury for the 2025 edition of the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The honor, which was announced on Tuesday morning Paris time, will fall exactly 40 years after the Oscar-winning The English Patient star first touched down at the festival with André Téchiné’s Palme d’Or contender Rendez-vous in 1985.

Binoche follows in the footsteps of U.S. director Greta Gerwig whose jury feted Sean Baker’s Anora with the Palme d’Or last year.

“I’m looking forward to sharing these life experiences with the members of the Jury and the public. In 1985, I walked up the steps for the first time with the enthusiasm and uncertainty of a young actress; I never imagined I’d return 40 years later in the honorary role of President of the Jury. I appreciate the privilege, the responsibility and the absolute need for humility,” said Binoche.

Greenwich Entertainment has acquired Durga Chew-Bose’s directorial debut, Bonjour Tristesse, starring Chloë Sevigny (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans), Claes Bang (The Square), and Lily McInerny (Palm Trees and Power Lines), on the heels of its premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

Based on the acclaimed 1954 novel from Françoise Sagan — which Otto Preminger previously adapted into a BAFTA-nominated feature — pic will hit U.S. theaters next summer via Greenwich as Elevation releases it in Canada. The film has sold to Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo) Mena (Falcon), Cis (Nashe Kino), Former Yugoslavia (McF MegaCom), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), and Airlines (Skeye), with Universal Pictures distributing internationally.

A Babe Nation Films and Elevation Pictures production, Bonjour Tristesse follows 18-year-old Cécile (McInerny), who at the height of summer, is languishing by the French seaside with her handsome father, Raymond (Bang), and his lover, Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune), when the arrival of her...

Greenwich Entertainment has acquired US rights to Toronto premiere Bonjour Tristesse starring Chloë Sevigny and Claes Bang, which has scored territory sales through Films Constellation.

Durga Chew-Bose directed the Babe Nation Films and Elevation Pictures production, based on Françoise Sagan’s novel.

Films Constellation has licensed rights to Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo) Mena (Falcon), Cis (Nashe Kino), former Yugoslavia (McF MegaCom), and Bulgaria (Cinelibri), with Universal Pictures distributing in other key territories.

Greenwich will release Bonjour Tristesse theatrically in summer 2025 and Elevation distributes in Canada.

Lily McInerny plays 18-year-old Cécile, who is spending the summer by the French seaside...

Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novel “Bonjour Tristesse” introduced generations of readers to a carefree summer spent along the sunny coastline of southern France. At just 18 years old, Sagan captured the melancholy joys and simmering jealousies of adolescence with insight well beyond her years. Her tale of a teenage girl navigating relationships both new and old during a family vacation quickly became a classic.

Two adaptations followed—the first a 1958 film directed by Otto Preminger. Known for his no-holds-barred approach, Preminger brought Sagan’s story of youthful passions and reckless desires to vibrant life. Over half a century later, writer-director Durga Chew-Bose took on the challenge of interpreting this beloved coming-of-age story for a new audience. Her 2024 film update seeks not just to retell Sagan’s plot but to recreate the bittersweet atmosphere and quietly profound insights of those memorable summer days.

Set along the sun-drenched Mediterranean coast that first drew readers in,...

by Matt St Clair

Photo Credit: Giacomo Bernasconi

When the 1958 film adaptation of the novel Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan was released, it was both a beacon for the arrival of star Jean Seberg and a showcase for six-time Oscar-nominated legend Deborah Kerr to play with her star persona. Kerr’s interpretation of the high-strung Anne Larsen was a send-up of her “proper English ladies” casting niché that simultaneously allowed her to play into her sex appeal seen previously in From Here to Eternity and An Affair to Remember.

The newest film adaptation from author-turned-director Durga Chew-Bose follows the same story beat-for-beat...

The Toronto Film Festival kicked off September 5 with a multi-move opening night that included David Gordon Green’s family comedy Nutcrackers starring Ben Stiller. It kicked off a slate of world premieres and buzzy movies across 11 days for the 49th edition of one of North America’s biggest film festivals.

Other key titles making their debuts in Toronto included The Luckiest Man in America starring Paul Walter Hauser, the Amy Adams-starring Nightbitch, theater guru Marianne Elliott’s The Salt Path, DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot and Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck, which won the coveted People’s Choice Award.

Documentaries that made a splash included Elton John: Never Too Late and Paul Anka: His Way.

Click below to read Deadline’s reviews from the ground in Toronto, where the festival wrappred September 15.

The Assessment ‘The Assessment’

Section: Special Presentations

Director: Fleur Fortune

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Olsen,...

London- and Paris-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has added new sales for Cannes Critics’ Week supernatural horror “Animale” by Emma Benestan, ahead of its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest later this month.

“Animale” sold to Scandinavia (Edge Entertainment), Cis (Nashe Kino), the Czech and Slovak republics (Film Europe), Brazil (Belas Artes), and Indonesia (Falcon Pt), adding to the previously announced territories which include Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy (Plaion), Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), former Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), and Middle East and North Africa (Falcon).

Wild Bunch Distribution will release the film in French theaters nationwide on Nov. 27, with O’Brother releasing in Belgium on Dec. 18.

After its world premiere as closing film of the Cannes Critics’ Week, the film has been selected in some of the world’s foremost genre festivals including Fantastic Fest, Sitges Film Festival, MOTELx, and Neuchâtel Intl. Fantastic Film Festival to name a few.

Cate Blanchett thanked Knix, the underwear maker, for sponsoring her TIFF Tribute Award on Sunday night, which was ironic because the Elizabeth and Carol actress apparently went bottomless to the glittering festival event.

“I’m not actually wearing any underwear,” Blanchett revealed, jokingly or not, while wearing a long party dress on stage at the Royal York Hotel. “As Michelle Obama says, when I go low, you go high,” she added during a freestyle acceptance speech without the use of a teleprompter or her cellphone.

On a more serious note, Blanchett paid tribute to fellow women actors. “We have to keep asking questions that open locked doors and knowing our worth — our worth creatively as well as financially — as greater inclusivity on our sets leads to less homogenous and more vibrant storytelling,” she said.

“I think homogeneity is the enemy of everything we make,” Blanchett, also the star of Tár and Blue Jasmine,...

When “Bonjour Tristesse” was first released in 1954, it was an overnight sensation, to the point that it was turned into a film only four years later in 1958. Now, just over 65 years after that, it’s hitting screens once again, thanks to Durga Chew-Bose. However, the director didn’t want to bring it to today’s audience simply for the sake of modernizing a classic.

Originally written by Françoise Sagan, the story centers on Cécile (played in the latest film adaptation by Lily McInerny), a young woman who heads to the south of France to spend the summer with her widowed father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his latest love interest, Elsa (Nailia Harzoune).

Stopping by TheWrap’s 2024 TIFF Studio sponsored by Moët & Chandon and Boss Design with her cast, Chew-Bose explained to TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman that even though the book and first film adaptation came out so long ago...

Whether Brat Summer has ended or not, the Brat girls are continuing to stay booked and busy. For Chloë Sevigny, she will soon be starring in Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and she also just celebrated the premiere of Durga Chew-Bose’s “Bonjour Tristesse” at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The latter is an adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 coming-of-age novel, showcasing the complexities of relationships among women and how they can come to wield influence over one another’s fates.​ Sevigny tells us that the film is “very different” from the book.

“The book is very eternal,” she told IndieWire on the red carpet for the “Bonjour Tristesse” TIFF premiere. “So most of that Lily [McInerny] is having to play. It’s her responsibility, not mine. She’s playing the stakes [laughs]. But I think we capture the essence of the book and the essence of...

1958 was quite the year for French novelist Françoise Sagan, who had not one but two film versions of her works given the Hollywood treatment: A Certain Smile and Bonjour Tristesse. The latter was directed by Otto Preminger to mixed reviews despite a starry cast including David Niven, Deborah Kerr and newcomer Jean Seberg who had made her debut in Preminger’s Saint Joan the year before. She was enthralling, but the Preminger take of Sagan’s coming-of-age tale set on the French Riviera is largely forgotten today. Both studio films had the feel of a lavish soap so popular for these widescreen romantic dramas of the time. Now we have a new take.

Though Bonjour Tristesse has also since been made a couple of times for French TV, this is the first major international film version since Preminger’s, and it is a gorgeous-looking, quite lilting tale of an 18-year-old...

The setting of Bonjour Tristesse is so enticing — a Mediterranean town in the South of France, where a large villa looks out toward the sea — that it instantly draws you into this adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s classic novel. The first film by writer-director Durga Chew-Bose, its story of adolescent longing, jealousy and sexual awakening, updated here to the present, is always glorious to look at — from the brightly colored floor tiles to the glittering water. But once you’re inside, its emotional trajectory is curiously flat, even though the cast includes two usually vibrant actors, Claes Bang and Chloë Sevigny.

The plot is essentially the same one that made Sagan a sensation when the book was published in 1954. The author was just 18, the age of the film’s central character, Cecile (Lily McInerny), whose point of view we largely share. She is on vacation with her father, Raymond (Bang), and his latest young girlfriend,...

The 1958 version of “Bonjour Tristesse” is everything Hollywood seems to be wary of these days: a notoriously mean, allegedly misogynistic filmmaker’s interpretation of a book written by and about a French teenage girl. “He used me like a Kleenex and then threw me away,” Jean Seberg said of director Otto Preminger. Well, get out your hankies for a more sensitive (and plenty chic) take, one that asks: What might an adaptation of “Bonjour Tristesse” look like if it were a woman interpreting Françoise Sagan’s words? Better yet, how might it feel?

Montreal-born writer-director Durga Chew-Bose offers an impressionistic retelling, emphasizing tactile details: the way the Côte d’Azur sun hits the skin, the relief of sitting before an open icebox on a hot summer night, the smell of Dad’s aftershave. While promising, Chew-Bose’s attractive but ultimately hollow debut offers audiences a vicarious vacation to the south of France,...

Filmmaker Jacques Audiard gave virtually no notes when he sent French songwriting and composing duo Clément Ducol and Camille an early draft of his latest film, “Emilia Perez,” but by the time they got to the last page of the script, they were inspired to write a song called “Para.”

The duo will be feted at the at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival with the TIFF Variety Artisan Award, which recognizes a distinguished creative or in this case, creatives, who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment.

Dalmais and Ducol are among the artists being honored at the festival’s Tribute Award fundraising gala on Sept. 8, with Canada’s own Sandra Oh serving as the gala’s honorary chair.

“Emilia Perez,” which premiered at Cannes in May and unspools in TIFF, stars Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón in a genre-defying...

Intoxicating ocean views and cascading sunshine at a seaside villa welcome audiences into Durga Chew-Bose’s feature directorial debut, “Bonjour Tristesse.” The beauty creates a too-good-to-be-true environment — the perfect setting for summer romance, youthful exploration and, also, somehow, something dark and unnerving.

“Bonjour Tristesse” premieres Sept. 5 at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where Chew-Bose is also receiving the TIFF Emerging Talent Award presented by Amazon MGM Studios honor at the Sept. 8 TIFF Gala.

Adapted from the controversial 1954 novel of the same name by Françoise Sagan, who was just 18 when she penned it, the film follows a young Cécile (Lily McInerny) and her widowed father Raymond (Claes Bang) spending the summer in the south of France along with his latest partner, Elsa (Nailia Harzoune). A seemingly perfect holiday is disrupted when Anne ( Chloë Sevigny), an old friend of Cécile’s parents, comes to visit.

Chew-Bose’s rendition is only mildly transformed for modern audiences,...

Zurich Film Festival has revealed a second wave of Gala titles, which includes films starring Tilda Swinton, Sebastian Stan, Nicole Kidman, Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson.

Among the 10 added titles are four world premieres, two international premieres and one European premiere.

Zurich will screen, among others, Ali Abbas’ “The Apprentice,” starring Stan, Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,” starring Swinton, and Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl,” starring Kidman.

Richard Gray’s Western “The Unholy Trinity,” starring Brosnan and Jackson, has its world premiere.

The other world premieres are “Frieda’s Case” by Maria Brendle, “Aiming High – A Race Against the Limits” by Flavio Gerber and Alun Meyerhans, and German epic adventure “Hagen.”

“The fact that we have the opportunity to present so many world and European premieres goes to show that the Zff holds a strong position in the international calendar,” Christian Jungen, artistic director of the festival, said.

Film Constellation has taken international sales rights to “Chaplin, Spirit of the Tramp,” a feature documentary directed by Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter Carmen Chaplin, and set to world premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The documentary delivers an intimate portrait of the iconic English-born Hollywood filmmaker and comedian from within his family, and explores his Romani roots, which inspired the creation of his beloved character the Tramp. The doc boasts interviews, film extracts, home movies and contributions from renowned contemporary Roma artists including Tony Gatlif, Stochelo Rosenberg, Lita Cabellut and Farruquito, among others.

Carmen Chaplin’s directorial feature debut benefits from unprecedented access to the Chaplin estate, thanks to the participation of the Chaplin Office, the Chaplin family and MK2 films. The director spoke to many relatives, including Michael J. Chaplin, Geraldine Chaplin, Victoria Chaplin, Jane Chaplin and Christopher Chaplin.

“The story of my grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, has been told many times,...

British filmmaker Mike Leigh will be feted at this year’s Toronto Film Festival with the TIFF Ebert Director Award for career achievement. The announcement was made this morning by TIFF head Cameron Bailey.

Leigh returns to TIFF this year for the World Premiere of his 23rd film, Hard Truths, screening as part of the Special Presentations programme. He reunites with Academy Award nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies) in the pic which is described as an “intimate study of modern family life.” Hard Truths will be distributed by Bleecker Street in the US and by Mongrel Media in Canada. Leigh has had eight films in Official Selection at the festival, including Another Year, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Mr. Turner.

Named after legendary film critic Roger Ebert, previous recipients of the award include Martin Scorsese, Claire Denis, Ava DuVernay, Wim Wenders, and the late Agnès Varda.

The Canadian festival further announced this...

This year’s Toronto International Film Festival continues to catch some major stars. Today, festival head Cameron Bailey has announced the addition of more more honorees who will be receiving a TIFF Tribute Award at this year’s festival. Those honorees include Academy Award–nominated and renowned British filmmaker Mike Leigh, who will be honored with the TIFF Ebert Director Award.

Leigh will premiere his twenty-third film “Hard Truths,” at the festival, which will screen as part of the Special Presentations program and reunites him with Academy Award nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Secrets & Lies”). Named after legendary film critic Roger Ebert, the award has gone to celebrated visionaries such as Martin Scorsese, Claire Denis, Ava DuVernay, Wim Wenders, and the late Agnès Varda. Past recipients who received the TIFF Ebert Director Award since the TIFF Tribute Awards were introduced include Spike Lee in 2023; Sam Mendes in 2022; Denis Villeneuve in 2021; Chloé Zhao...

Mike Leigh is one of four new honorary awardees for the 2024 Toronto film festival.

UK filmmaker Leigh will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award, a prize previously given to filmmakers including Spike Lee, Sam Mendes, Denis Villeneuve, Chloe Zhao and Taika Waititi.

Leigh’s 23rd film Hard Truths will have its world premiere in the Special Presentations programme at the festival – the eighth time he has screened a film in Toronto Official Selection.

Canadian filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose will receive the TIFF Emerging Talent Award. The Montreal-based filmmaker will present her debut feature Bonjour Tristesse, adapted from Francoise Sagan’s 1954 novel of the same name,...

Mike Leigh is set to received a Tribute Award at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival.

Leigh, who returns to the festival with the world premiere of Hard Truths, will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award on Sept. 8 after earlier bringing films like Another Year, Happy-Go-Lucky and Mr. Turner to the Canadian festival. Prior awards for Leigh include seven Oscar nominations, the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Golden Lion at Venice.

TIFF will also give Canadian director Durga Chew-Bose the TIFF Emerging Talent Award. The Chloë Sevigny-starring adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s classic novel Bonjour Tristesse from Chew-Bose is set to open TIFF’s Discovery program with a world premiere.

Toronto organizers also announced that French songwriting and composing duo Camille Dalmais and Clément Ducol will receive the TIFF Artisan Award for composing the soundtrack for Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez. French director Audiard’s crime musical earned the...

Twenty-four films comprise Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Discovery section this year, featuring 20 world premieres and representing more than 35 countries.

The first- and second-time filmmaker showcase of international cinema will open with Bonjour Tristesse, Durga Chew-Bose’s adaptation of the 1954 coming-of-age novel by the late Françoise Sagan starring Chloe Sevigny.

Selections include Afolabi Olalekan’s Freedom Way, Egil Pedersen’s My Fathers’ Daughter, Laura Carreira’s On Falling, and Pavlo Ostrikov’s U Are The Universe.

Filmmakers who have premiered features in this section include Alfonso Cuarón, Yorgos Lanthimos, Maren Ade, Barry Jenkins, Emma Seligman, and Christopher Nolan.

Dorota Lech,...

The Toronto Film Festival’s Discovery sidebar will debut 24 titles with 20 world premieres as part of its 2024 edition, running from September 5 to 15.

The Discovery programme features titles from more than 25 countries, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Denmark, and Greece. Scroll down for the full list.

World premieres set for the fest include On Falling, the debut film from Edinburgh-based, Portuguese filmmaker Laura Carreira. The film is produced by Jack Thomas-o’Brien of Sixteen Films and Mário Patrocínio of Bro Cinema. Financial backers include BFI, BBC Films, Screen Scotland, and Ica. Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas is handling sales. The film’s story follows Aurora, a Portuguese worker in a Scottish warehouse.

Also set to debut is Bonjour Tristesse, the feature adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s novel directed by Durga Chew-Bose and starring Chloe Sevigny. Film Constellation is handling the film, which follows Cécile, a young woman spending the summer in a villa in...

The Chloe Sevigny-starring adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s classic novel Bonjour Tristesse from director Durga Chew-Bose is set to open the 2024 Toronto Film Festival’s Discovery program with a world premiere, organizers said Wednesday.

Claes Bang, Lily McInerny and French actress Nailia Harzoune also star in the English-language contemporary take by the Canadian writer-turned-director. TIFF’s Discovery program, which focuses on first-time and up-and-coming international directors, is also giving world premieres to Reservation Dogs and Letterkenny star Kaniehtiio Horn’s debut feature and comedy Seeds.

There’s also world premieres for Afolabi Olalekan’s Freedom Way, Egil Pedersen’s My Fathers’ Daughter, Laura Carreira’s On Falling, Pavlo Ostrikov’s U Are The Universe and K’Naan Warsame’s Mother, Mother, co-produced by Alex Kurtzman.

Toronto’s Discovery sidebar over the years has screened debut films for Oscar winners like Sólo Con Tu Pareja, the first feature by Alfonso Cuarón...

The 2024 TIFF Discovery program has been announced, with the buzzy “Bonjour Tristesse” opening the lineup.

Presented by Air France, the Discovery program debuts first-time features and sophomore films from emerging international filmmakers. This year, the festival has 24 titles with 20 world premieres representing 25 countries ranging from Bangladesh to Nigeria.

Durga Chew-Bose’s adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s novel “Bonjour Tristesse” will open the program. The film centers on 18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerny) who is enjoying the French seaside with her father, Raymond (Claes Bang) and his lover Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). Yet the arrival of her late mother’s friend Anne (Chloë Sevigny) changes everything. Per the official synopsis, “amid the sun-drenched splendour of their surroundings, Cécile’s world is threatened and, desperate to regain control, she sets in motion a plan to drive Anne away with tragic consequences.”

Chew-Bose writes and directs the film, which is represented by UTA for distribution sales.

Chloë Sevigny is the latest A-lister to join Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming thriller After the Hunt, re-teaming with the director for a third time after the cannibal love story Bones & All and HBO series We Are Who We Are.

Sevigny joins a cast that includes Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri, and fellow Guadagnino regular Michael Stuhlbarg, with the film due to begin production this summer.

Guadagnino is directing from a script penned by Nora Garrett, which follows a college professor who has to contest with the personal and professional ramifications of a star pupil leveling an accusation against one of her colleagues. All the while, a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.

Amazon MGM is behind the project after worked with Guadagnino on his latest film, Zendaya’s tennis romantic drama Challengers, which has grossed $90 million at the global box office. Imagine Entertainment is set to produce,...

“Cheech and I were on the Paramount lot after we’d done the movie, and we’re kind of trying to figure out what we were going to do next— how we were going to get another movie going,” remembers Tommy Chong of the weeks following the 1978 release of Up in Smoke, the first film from him and comedy partner Cheech Marin. “And Warren Beatty, pulls up in his convertible. He took off his sunglasses and looked at us and he goes, ‘You guys have no idea what you’ve done.’ And we looked at each other like thinking, ‘Oh, what did we do?’ What we did was we pulled a movie out of thin air.”

Up in Smoke, which was made independently by principals with no filmmaking experience, grossed over $100 million at the box office, simultaneously launching and proving the commercial value of the genre, all in one go.