News

Rolling off the streaming debut of its first French original series “The Confidante” and docu “Breaking the Bank,” Max announced two new French shows, and a Spring launch in Turkey during a panel discussion at Content London.

In Turkey, Max will bring together BluTV, a local SVOD service which it acquired last year, with HBO Originals, as well returning seasons of BluTV’s beloved local productions, Türkiye streaming originals, Warner Bros. movies, DC Universe, and true crime and documentaries.

Max is already present in 74 markets with over 110 million subscribers. The streamer will bow in “three of the biggest European markets coming in 2026,” the company said.

The inaugural slate of the service in Turkey will include “Prince” season 3 and “Magarsus” season 2. It will also include “The First Gokturk,” a fantasy anthology weaving Turkish and nomadic history, created by Alper Çağlar.

Deniz Şaşmaz Oflaz, Wbd’s VP of local original productions, local...

Gilles Pélisson, the President of Unifrance, says the halo effect of the Paris Olympics will boost the country’s film and TV sectors.

The French capital hosted a successful Games and currently has the ongoing Paralympics. With the indie film and international TV sectors facing challenges, could the shine from Olympics rub off on the French business? Pélisson thinks so.

“The tourism industry is saying that welcoming the Olympics to France is going to be beneficial for the entire country for the next three-to-five years. I believe that if there is one hot country at the moment [it is France] because we can capitalize on Paris,” he said.

Unifrance promotes French TV and film internationally. Its President, Pélisson, is the former Group CEO and Chairman of French commercial TV giant TF1. He was speaking after figures for French TV exports were unveiled at the Rendez Vous event in Le Havre. The numbers told...

In realizing the latest incarnation of “Zorro,” producer Marc Dujardin found inspiration in the classic 1950s series starring Guy Williams, the absurd premise of super hero tales, and the fond childhood dreams he shared with brother Jean, who portrays the buttoned-up mayor of early 19th-century Los Angeles, Don Diego de la Vega, and his masked and care-free alter ego.

“Zorro” stormed into Le Havre on Thursday, where it closed the Unifrance Rendez-Vous market with a highly anticipated premiere, followed by a dance floor-pumping Alta California-themed fiesta, replete with delectable Spanish and Mexican cuisine à la normande.

Produced by Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64 for France Télévisions and Paramount+, “Zorro” offers a comedic yet straight take on the legendary swashbuckler of old California.

The series sees Don Diego becoming mayor of Los Angeles with the hope of improving his beloved city. Facing growing, unstoppable corruption, however, he decides to again suit...

Noé Debré will receive the inaugural French TV Disruptor Award from Deadline at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous market in Le Havre. The writer and director will accept the award as his Paramount+ and France Télévisions series Zorro comes to market, starring Jean Dujardin as the iconic masked hero.

Debré co-created the series with Benjamin Charbit. It comes on the heels of his hit show Parlement. He has wrapped work on the fourth and final season of that series, a Franco-German-Belgian copro, which follows Samy Kantor, a young assistant trying to find his way through the labyrinthine inner workings of the European Parliament.

With Zorro, Debré has taken classic U.S.-originated IP and given it a French action-comedy twist for Paramount+ (selected territories) and France Télévisions. On the small screen, his upcoming projects include an adaptation of ‘Vivre avec nos morts’ (‘Living With Our Dead’) for streamer Max. It tells the...

Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast is a mesmerising and thought-provoking cinematic experience that blends elements of intelligent sci-fi, romance, and psychological thriller. Bonello’s distinct directorial style, combined with a compelling narrative and strong performances, makes this a standout in the sci-fi genre.

Set in a dystopian future where emotions have come to be regarded as dangerous liabilities, The Beast stars Léa Seydoux as Gabrielle, a troubled young woman grappling with her intense feelings in a society that prioritises rationality over feelings.

1917 and True History of the Kelly Gang star George MacKay plays Louis, Gabrielle’s enigmatic love interest, whose presence complicates her path to freedom from her own inner turmoil and doubts about her future.

Through a series of scenarios taking place throughout the ages – Paris at the turn of the 20th century and LA, 100 years later – the lovers’ interactions are fraught with tension, desire, and existential dread as...

Gad Elmaleh (fan of Nanni Moretti and Woody Allen films) on the set of Stay With Us (Reste Un Peu) with his parents

Stand-up comedian Gad Elmaleh, the director and star of Stay With Us (co-written with Benjamin Charbit) plays a version of himself who explores a lifelong fascination with the Virgin Mary. After living in America, Gad returns to Paris, where he is welcomed by his parents, played by the actor’s actual mother and father, Régine and David, his sister Judith and old friends, which include the actor Roschdy Zem (star of Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy! with Léa Seydoux and Sara Forestier). Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, Simone Veil, and Henri Bergson get a shoutout as Gad reflects on some wide-ranging questions on faith as he meets with a priest (Father Barthélémy played by Nicolas Port), a rabbi (Pierre-Henry Salfati), a nun (Catherine Thiercelin), a theologian (Frédéric Lenoir), and...

The Beast is like a slow-twisting knife to the side of our existence, its point sharpened with care by writer-director Bertrand Bonello and guided with the utmost precision so as to not puncture any vital organs — we are alive, but in undeniable pain. Indeed, arriving at a time when humanity is at its most anxious, emotionally exhausted, and existentially frustrated, the film offers zero reprieve as it deals with grand questions of love, death, and loneliness. Yet, at the risk of premature exclamation, it stands as one of the most rewarding movies you'll see this year.

Loosely adapted from the 1903 Henry James novella, The Beast in the Jungle, The Beast stars Léa Seydoux as Gabrielle, a woman who decides to undergo an emotional purification procedure that will eliminate her ability to experience any and all strong feelings. It's the year 2044, and it has since been deemed that humans' capacity for...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the U.S. release of “The Beast,” a science fiction film about the inherent psychological/emotional carriage within us all, co-written and directed by Bertrand Bonello. In select theaters now (see local listings). At Chicago’s Music Box Theatre on April 12th.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

The film involves a woman named Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) who in 2044 is about to embark on a “DNA cleansing” to take away the trauma her past lives had endured. While going through the process she meets Louis (George MacKay) who gives her a sense of deja vu. It turns out that this couple has been together in a 1910 sense (Belle Époque Paris) and a 2014 sense (in Los Angeles). As the story of those three encounters play out within her cellular energy, the evolution of Gabrielle seems to have something to do with her connection to Louis.

”The Beast...

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...

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...

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...

Paramount+ and France Télévisions have confirmed their pact on upcoming, working-titled series Zorro starring Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin as the iconic masked vigilante.

The partners revealed a first image of The Artist actor Dujardin in the role in a release and said the show will launch later this year on Paramount+ before being broadcast on France Télévisions.

Paramount+ has also acquired rights for the UK, Italy, Germany and Latin America. France tv distribution is handling sales for all other territories.

News of Dujardin’s and Paramount+’s involvement in the show broke in the French media late last year but today’s release was the partners’ first official confirmation of their co-production and distribution deal.

The new show is set in 1821 and sees Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro become mayor of Los Angeles to improve his beloved city.

However, the city is facing financial trouble due to a local...

Paramount+ has boarded “Zorro” (working title), an adventure comedy series starring Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning actor of “The Artist,” as the iconic character of Diego de la Vega.

Created by Benjamin Charbit (“Gagarine”) and Noé Debré (“Dheepan”), the anticipated show was bought by Paramount+ for France, the U.K., Italy, Germany and Latin America.

In the eight-part series, Dujardin stars opposite well-known Italian comedian Salvatore Ficarra, and French actors, including Audrey Dana, André Dussollier, Eric Elmosnino and Grégory Gadebois. The show will premiere on Paramount+ before rolling out on the pubcaster France Télévisions.

The series unfolds in 1821 as Don Diego de la Vega becomes mayor of Los Angeles and has to face off a corrupt businessman, Don Emmanuel.

Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64 and Julien Seul at Bien Sûr Productions are producing the series which is penned by Charbit, Debré and Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud (“Le Test”). It’s directed by Jean-Baptiste Saurel...

Federation Studios has nabbed worldwide distribution rights to French political comedy and Series Mania winner Under Control.

The six-part series took home the award for Best Series in the French category at the Lille festival last week. Federation, which had Bardot and Six Women in competition for the same award, will now take it to the international market.

It follows Marie Tessier, a 45-year-old director of the fictional Ngo Doctors of the World, who is appointed France’s Secretary of State, just as five Europeans, including two French people, are taken hostage by terrorists in Sahel. She immediately goes rogue while striving to make it look like everything’s under control.

The show is produced by Ex Nihilo and written by Charly Delward in collaboration with Erwan Le Duc and César Award nominee Benjamin Charbit. Cast includes Léa Drucker, Samir Guesmi and Laurent Stocker.

Cohen Media Group Gagarine Directed by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh Written by Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh and Benjamin Charbit Starring Alseni Bathily, Lyna Khoudri Finnegan Oldfield, Jamil McCraven (Nocturama), Farida Rahouadj and Denis Lavant Opens on Friday, April 1 in theaters in New York, Los Angeles and other top …

The post Gagarine by Fanny Liatard & Jérémy Trouilh – Opens April 1st NY+LA appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Titles from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Lithuania, and Italy also selected.

Cannes 2020 official selection title Gagarine, and Halina Reijn’s Dutch thriller Instinct are two of the six titles nominated for the European Discovery 2020 Prix Fipresci.

The prize is presented annually as part of the European Film Awards (Efa) to a director for a first full-length feature film.

Written and directed by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, and co-written by Benjamin Charbit, Gagarine is about a teenager who fights to save his home town – named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – from demolition. France’s Totem Films sold US rights to Cohen Media Group...

Les Sauvages (Savages) Topic.com Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Rebecca Zlotowski Writer: Sabri Louatah (novels & screenplay); Rebecca Zlotowski, Benjamin Charbit, David Elkim Cast: Roschdy Zem, Amira Casar, Marina Foïs, Dali Benssalah, Sofiane Zermani, Souheila Yacoub, Shaïn Boumedine, Kadri Islands, Carima Amarouche, Lyna Khoudri, Farida Rahouadj Screened […]

The post Les Sauvages Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Gagarine

Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh make their directorial debut with Gagarine (based on their 2015 short), produced by Julie Billy and Carole Scotta. Their feature stars Alséni Bathily, Jamil Mc Craven, Lyna Khoudri (remarkable in 2019’s Papicha), Finnegan Oldfield, Farida Rahouadj and the iconoclast Denis Lavant. Winner at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand film festival for shorts, Liatard and Trouilh have received acclaim for this year’s “Blue Dog” and “La République des enchanteurs” in 2017.

Gist: Co-written by Benjamin Charbit (The Trouble With You), 17-year-old Youri, native of the Gagarine housing project in Ivry-sur-Seine, dreams of a space conquest while awaiting the return of his mother.…...

Studiocanal has come on board “Bac Nord” from Cedric Jimenez (“The Man With the Iron Heart”), a French crime thriller with Gilles Lellouche set in the dangerous northern neighborhoods of Marseille.

The movie reteams Studiocanal with Hugo Sélignac and Vincent Mazel at Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, the Paris-based company behind the Cesar-nominated “Sink or Swim,” one of France’s highest-grossing local movies in 2018, and “In Safe Hands,” both of which were handled by Studiocanal.

“‘Bac Nord’ marks our fifth collaboration with Hugo Selignac, a talented and ambitious French producer,” said Nicolas Dumont, Studiocanal’s exec VP of French production, theatrical distribution and home entertainment. Dumont cited Lellouche’s “Sink or Swim,” Jeanne Herry’s “In Safe Hands,” Francois Damiens’s “Mon Ket” and Romain Gavras’ “The World Is Yours.”

Studiocanal is co-producing the film with France 2 Cinéma and has acquired all rights, including the international sales.

“Bac Nord” will follow a police...

France’s top producer Hugo Selignac, who had a banner year in 2018 with “Sink or Swim” and “In Safe Hands,” is set to produce the next projects of high-profile filmmakers Cedric Jimenez (“The Man With the Iron Heart”) and Quentin Dupieux (“Deerskin”).

Jimenez’s project, “Bac Nord,” is an ambitious thriller following a police brigade working in the dangerous northern neighborhoods of Marseille, where the level of crime is higher than anywhere else in France.

“Bac Nord” will be headlined by a strong cast of French stars, including Gilles Lellouche, the director “Sink of Swim” and actor of “Little White Lies 2,” as well as Francois Civil (“Wolf’s Call”), who just won the Chopard Trophy Award for rising talent; Karim Leklou, who earned a Cesar nomination for best newcomer for his performance in “The World Is Yours”; Adele Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Color”); and Kenza Fortas, who just won...

The Trouble With You (En Liberté!) star Pio Marmaï with director Pierre Salvadori: "Write it down. I prefer being a bastard." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

New York's 2019 uniFrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema opening night film at the Film Society of Lincoln Center was Pierre Salvadori's The Trouble With You (En Liberté!), co-written with Benoît Graffin and Benjamin Charbit, starring Adèle Haenel and Pio Marmaï with Audrey Tautou, Vincent Elbaz, and Damien Bonnard. The morning after the première, Pierre Salvadori and Pio Marmaï joined me for a conversation on rehearsing a scene to find the "right rhythm and logic", editors Isabelle Devinck (Salvadori's In The Courtyard) and Géraldine Mangenot, Claude Lelouch's La Bonne Année with Lino Ventura, and Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

Pierre Salvadori on Pio Marmaï's character: "The thing about Antoine is that he is running after a chimera to catch back the time." Photo: Anne-Katrin...

Domestic violence drama earns four prizes in Paris.

Xavier Legrand’s domestic violence drama Custody (Jusqu’à La Garde) was named best film at the 44th Cesar Awards in Paris on Friday (23).

Legrand’s feature directorial debut and Venice 2017 Silver Lion winner began the night on a field-leading 10 nominations alongside Gilles Lellouche’s comedy Sink Or Swim (Le Grand Bain), and also won awards for Legrand’s original screenplay, best actress Lea Drucker, and editor Yorgos Lamprinos.

Jacques Audiard was named best director for The Sisters Brothers at the ceremony in the Salle Pleyel, presided over by Kristin Scott Thomas.

After winning best director at the Venice Film Festival, Jacques Audiard’s The Sisters Brothers” picked up three awards, including best film, director and cinematography, at the 24th Lumières Awards, France’s équivalent to the Golden Globes. The ceremony took place on Monday at the Institut du Monde Arabe.

Although it has not made its way into the awards season in the U.S. despite its fall festival bow, the movie is well-positioned in France where it will be vying for nine Cesar Awards, France’s équivalent to the Oscars, on Feb. 22.

Produced by Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not, “The Sisters Brothers” stars starring Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly and Jake Gyllenhaal.

“The Sisters Brothers” won over Jeanne Herry’s adoption drama “In Safe Hands,” Mikhaël Hers’ “Amanda,” Alex Lutz’s “Guy” and Emmanuel Mouret’s “Mademoiselle de Joncquières.”

Xavier Legrand’s heart-pounding domestic violence drama “Custody” won best first film.

Jacques Audiard’s dark comedy western won best film and best director.

Jacques Audiard’s dark comedy western The Sisters Brothers, co-starring John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix, won best film and best director at the 24th edition of France’s Lumière awards on Monday evening.

In a third prize for Audiard’s English-language debut, Benoît Debie, who was also nominated for his work on Gaspar Noé’s Climax, won best cinematography.

The Sisters Brothers was a front-runner at the nomination stage alongside comedy of manners Mademoiselle de Joncquières, adoption drama Pupille and Venice-winning divorce drama Custody although there were no stand-out favourites this year.

Playtime, the Paris-based co-production and sales company which will be presenting Francois Ozon’s anticipated “By the Grace of God” in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, has acquired three offbeat French comedies: Geraldine Nakache’s “I’ll Go Where You Go,” “The Bare Necessity” with Fanny Ardant, and Valerie Donzelli’s “Our Lady of Paris.”

“Our Lady of Paris” marks Donzelli’s fifth feature film, following “Marguerite & Julien,” which competed at the Cannes Film Festival; “Hand in Hand”; “Declaration of War,” which played at Cannes’ Critics’ Week and earned six Cesar nominations; and “Queen of Hearts.”

Donzelli stars in the film as Maud Crayon, a failing architect and single mom of two who unexpectedly wins the contest to spearhead the renovation of the esplanade of Notre-Dame de Paris, and who has to deal with a pair of exes – both of whom she still has feelings for.

Written by...

Lumières are the Golden Globes of France.

A mixed bag of nominations for the 24th edition of France’s Lumière awards was unveiled in Paris on Monday (Dec 17).

Jacques Audiard’s Us-set, English-language The Sisters Brothers, period comedy-drama Mademoiselle de Jonquières, adoption drama Pupille and Venice-winning relationship drama Custody came out as the front-runners with four nominations each.

Following with three nominations each were Alex Lutz’s comedy-drama Guy, about a man who discovers he is the illegitimate son of a fading variety star and decides to follow him on tour; comedy The Trouble With You, sexual abuse drama Little Tickles,...