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Laure Calamy, the Cesar prizewinning star of “My Lover, My Donkey & I,” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” actor Laurent Lafitte lead the ensemble cast of “The Party’s Over,” a satirical comedy which has been boarded by France TV Distribution ahead of the EFM.

Directed by Antony Cordier (“Gaspard at the Wedding”) the movie also stars Ramzy Bedia (“Asterix & Obelix : The Middle Kingdom”), Élodie Bouchez (“Beating Hearts”), Sami Outalbali (“A Tale of Love and Desire”) and Noée Abita (“Sink or Swim”).

This film is produced by Cheyenne Federation, a well-established banner whose credits include Julien Leclercq’s remake of “The Wage of Fear” which was a hit on Netflix.

The movie revolves around Mehdi, 25, who is invited to spend a quiet summer with his girlfriend Garance and his in-laws in the south of France, and sees their trip turn into chaos after a conflict breaks out between Garance’s...

Exclusive: Here’s your first look at Diane Kruger and Anamaria Vartolomei in Merteuil, Max’s anticipated reimagining of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liasions).

We can reveal today that the series will be titled The Seduction in all territories outside of France and will launch in the second half of 2025. Filming continues in France until the end of this month.

Also starring are Vincent Lacoste, Lucas Bravo, Julien De Saint Jean, Noée Abita, Fantine Harduin, and Patrick d’Assumçao.

The synopsis reads: “To be the hero of your own story, you sometimes have to be the villain in others. Marquise de Merteuil, betrayed by Valmont, embarks on a daring journey to become Paris’ leading courtesan.”

Max has described its first French Original drama as a free adaptation of Laclos’s steamy novel and “an exploration of the price of emotional and sexual freedom — in...

Set against the backdrop of an Italian summer, Carlo Sironi’s sophomore film explores the chance encounter of two teenage girls who navigate their relationship with an unpredictable future. Its simplicity shines through, allowing facial expressions and shy utterances to weave a story that feels oddly nostalgic — not for bygone summers but for those that might have been.

Clara (Maria Camilla Brandenburg) receives treatment at a summer camp. She participates in group activities but usually prefers to stay solitary. Her expression seems longing, if not dejected. She meets Irène (Noée Abita) at the pool on a quiet afternoon, and they bond, sharing ice cream. They talk about their therapy, yet the nature of their condition remains ambiguous. But the heartache is palpable throughout their muted summer moment — the first of many. It's a faint distress signalling an ailment that prevents them from enjoying their teenage years.

As they prepare to leave.

Over the past few years Italian cinema has been making strides in the global arena and 2024 looks likely to bolster its international standing. New works by top auteurs Paolo Sorrentino and Luca Guadagnino will be launching from the festival circuit just as a fresh crop of directors comes to fore, starting with Margherita Vicario, whose first film “Gloria!” scored a Berlin competition slot.

Below is a compendium of new Italian movies set to hit this year’s fest circuit.

“Another End” – Gael García Bernal and Renate Reinsve (“The Worse Person in the World”) star as lovers caught in an unusual bind in Italian director Piero Messina’s sci-fi film “Another End” which is competing in Berlin. This second feature by Messina – whose first feature, “The Wait,” launched with a splash in the 2015 Venice competition – is set in a near-future when a new technology exists that can put the consciousness of...

Italy’s Fandango Sales has taken global distribution rights outside Italy to Carlo Sironi’s coming-of-age drama “My Summer With Irène,” which will premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation section.

Sironi, whose first feature “Sole” made a splash on the international fest circuit, is back with this relationship drama starring rising French indie star Noée Abita (“Slalom”) and Maria Camilla Barandenburg (“Slam Italia”) playing two 17-year-olds named Clara and Irène who both have health issues. Shortly after meeting, they run away together to an island where they experience an unforgettable summer.

“Sole,” a love story intertwined with a baby trafficking plot and commentary on Italy’s surrogacy law, went to Venice and Toronto in 2019, catching the eye of master Vittorio Taviani, who chose Sironi as his on-stage partner for Berlin’s 2020 On Transmission director-on-director talks.

Sironi was among Variety’s 10 European Directors to Watch in 2020.

“Summer With Irène...

French filmmaker Charlène Favier who broke out with the Cannes 2020 Label Slalom (read review) is currently in week 2 of production on her sophomore feature Oxana and we’ve got a social media glimpse into some of the young actresses that have boarded the project. We might not know the hierarchy in terms of casting and who landed the lead part but among the names we’ve found Albina Korzh, Lada Korovai, Louka Meliava, Yoann Zimmer and we’re delighted to learn that Noée Abita has reteamed with the director as well. We’ve also learned that The Worst Ones (aka les pires) cinematographer Eric Dumont is part of the creative team.…...

Perhaps it’s presumptuous to say, but I sensed during The Passengers of the Night that I was watching another film in the line of The Fabelmans or (God forbid) Belfast: a nostalgic reverie inspired by lockdown-enforced personal reflection. Though in this case, with Full Moon in Paris taking for Mikhaël Hers the place of whatever child-friendly movie little Stevie Spielberg or Kenny Branagh were gazing up at in wonder, with that film’s star Pascale Ogier and the way her life was tragically cut short curiously haunting the proceedings of this ostensible family drama.

A film that can be accurately described as very French (archival footage of Jacques Rivette from the Claire Denis-directed documentary even appears), and furthermore evoking Renoir, Pialat, and (for a more recent comparison) Mia Hansen-Løve in its elliptical yet always character-driven narrative, Hers’ film is a case of one that never quite shatters...

"To the pleasure of your company. Here with me." KimStim Films has debuted a new official US trailer for the French indie drama called The Passengers of the Night (also known as Les Passagers de la Nuit), which will finally be out in theaters this summer. The film first premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival last year, but it hasn't made much of an impact since then despite playing at many other international fests. Set in 1981 in Paris, this is sort of an autobiographical tale of a French family and their interactions. Left by her husband, Elisabeth finds herself alone, responsible for the day-to-day care of her two children. She picks up a job on a night-time radio show, where she meets the free-spirited Talulah, a youngster she decides to take under her wing. The French drama "is filled with small acts of kindness that have profound effects." Charlotte Gainsbourg stars as Elisabeth,...

Italy’s Kino Produzioni, the indie shingle that co-produced 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” is ramping up production with new films by emerging Italian filmmakers Carlo Sironi, Laura Luchetti and Irene Dionisio, as well as also Dutch director Michiel Van Erp and Argentine filmmakers María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat.

“We reached a turning point last year that started out well with the ‘Alcarràs’ victory,” said Kino chief Giovanni Pompili, speaking at the EFM. He noted that in 2022, the Rome-based outfit shot four films, “which for us was pretty challenging, but worked out well.”

Meanwhile, the Kino team has grown. Producer Lara Costa-Calzado, who has been working for a decade between the U.S. and Europe on films such as Eliza Hittman’s Silver Bear winner “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Sally Potter’s “The Roads Not Taken” and Halina Rejin’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” has joined Kino as head of production.

La vie sauvage

With only a handful of shorts under her belt, for her directorial debut, French filmmaker Victoria Musiedlak landed the likes of Noée Abita, Anders Danielsen and François Morel. Production on La vie sauvage took place this past November in Paris and lasted until January 4th.

Gist: Nora, 26, is a graduate and still lives with her parents. While Nora has no field experience, she finds herself in charge of a 19-year-old boy, accused of having murdered a girl from his residence. From her first police custody to the follow-up of the instruction, Nora discovers the cruelty of the world around her, in her intimate and professional life.…...

Proving it’s not too late for some Berlinale shopping, Deadline reports that the KimStim folks landed comp title Les Passagers de la nuit – Mikhaël Hers’ fourth feature film after he preemed Amanda (read review) in Venice 2018. Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as a recently divorced mother battling to keep her family afloat, the film also sees perfs from Quito Rayon Richter, Noée Abita, Megan Northam, Thibault Vinçon and Emmanuelle Béart. Look for a theatrical release in 2023.

Gainsbourg stars as a woman whose marriage is coming to an end, leaving her to support her two teenage children on her own.…...

Directors’ Fortnight entry “The Five Devils” centers on a young, nearly wordless girl named Vicky (first-timer Sally Dramé) who has a strange and extraordinary gift: she can reproduce any scent she finds, which she then bottles up in a collection of labeled jars. Those captured scents include those of other people, and one of them is her mother, Joanne (Adèle Exarchopoulos), with whom she has a parasitic relationship.

The film shares DNA with writer/director Léa Mysius’ (co-writing with Paul Guilhaume) film “Ava,” a Critics’ Week entry in 2017 about a 13-year-old girl who learns she’s losing her hearing. The filmmaker has a keen interest in the five senses (hence this film’s title) but also domestic discord, as the reappearance of Vicky’s aunt Julia (Swala Emati) throws things out of orbit in their small Alpine nestled at the feet of the mountains. Once Vicky captures Julia’s scent,...

The Passengers of the Night Trailer — Mikhaël Hers‘ The Passengers of the Night / Les Passagers de la Nuit (2022) movie trailer has been released by Madman Films. The Passengers of the Night trailer stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Noée Abita, Quito Rayon Richter, Megan Northam, Thibault Vinçon, and Emmanuelle Béart. Crew Maud Ameline, Mariette Désert, and [...]

Continue reading: The Passengers Of The Night (2022) Movie Trailer: Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Radio Show Job Brings an Inspirational Presence into Her Life...

"I often think of moments we spent together. They're like gifts." Madman Films in Australia has debuted an official trailer for a French indie drama titled The Passengers of the Night, ahead of it premiere at the Sydney Film Festival in June. The film first screened at the Berlin Film Festival, but it didn't really pick up any great reviews. Set in 1981 in Paris, this is sort of an autobiographical tale of a French family. Left by her husband, Elisabeth finds herself alone, responsible for the day-to-day care of her two children. She picks up a job on a night-time radio show, where she meets the free-spirited Talulah, a youngster she decides to take under her wing. "This heart-warming film is filled with small acts of kindness that have profound effects." Charlotte Gainsbourg stars as Elisabeth, joined by Noée Abita as Talulah, Quito Rayon Richter, Megan Northam, Thibault Vinçon, and Emmanuelle Béart.

This year’s ceremony was uncharacteristically devoid of controversy after politically-charged editions in 2020 and 2021.

Xavier Giannoli’s costume drama Lost Illusions was the big winner at the 47th Cesar awards of France’s Academy of Cinema and Arts and Sciences on Friday evening (25), winning best film, adapted screenplay, costume and supporting actor among others.

The adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s19th-century novel premiered in competition at Venice last year. It was the frontrunner at the nomination stage, making it into 15 of the 24 César categories.

The other big winner of the evening was Leos Carax’s English-language musical Annette. Carax won best director,...

There’s something about French films. The impeccably styled but lived-in interiors, the laid-back sensuality that feels like real-people sex, the cigarettes upon cigarettes upon cigarettes. The country’s entire oeuvre (has the word ever been more apropos?) feels like a smoky exhalation of the words “le cinéma.” That said, French films get away with certain things American films wouldn’t dare, for better or for worse. In “The Passengers of the Night” (“Les passagers de la nuit”), which stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as a newly divorced mother, meaning takes a backseat to mood, and character development happens on a whim. Still,

The film opens on election night in 1981. As the winds of change sweep the streets of Paris, bursting with youthful optimism, Elisabeth (Gainsbourg) is on the precipice of a less welcome change. Her marriage over, and she is filled with uncertainty about how to support her two teenage kids,...

It’s May 10, 1981, and Paris is celebrating. French political junkies might know the cause for this revelry, but for the rest of us, the reason seems to matter less than the electric atmosphere enveloping the streets as people dance to the sound of honking car horns. Grainy, scene-setting archival footage is interspersed with the main action here and elsewhere in Mikhaël Hers’ period piece, which stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as a single mother looking to rediscover herself after being left by her husband. An airy, low-key drama that doesn’t suffer for its lack of narrative tension, “The Passengers of the Night” further proves the old adage about the journey mattering more the destination.

We first meet Élisabet (Gainsbourg) at her lowest: unemployed, recently single and responsible for two teenagers (Quito Rayon-Richter and Megan Northam) whose father has walked out on the family. That may sound like the setup for something dire,...

Ceremony for awards voted on by 4,363 members of the César academy will take place on February 25.

Xavier Giannoli’s literary adaptation Lost Illusions is the frontrunner in the nomination stage of the 47th edition of France’s César awards, followed by Leos Carax’s Annette and Valérie Lemercier’s Aline.

France’s Academy of Cinema and Arts and Sciences unveiled the nomination list online on Wednesday morning (January 26), ahead of the ceremony scheduled to take place on February 25.

Giannoli’s adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s eponymous 19th-century novel, which premiered in competition at Venice last year, was nominated in...

Update: Xavier Giannoli’s Illusions Perdues (Lost Illusions) leads nominations for the 2022 César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscar. The Venice premiere scored 15 mentions, followed by Leos Carax’s Annette, which opened the Cannes Film Festival last year and has 11 nominations. They are followed by Valérie Lemercier’s Aline, the musical dramedy inspired by the life of Céline Dion which also debuted in Cannes and has 10 nods. (Scroll down for the full list of nominations.)

Interestingly, the three films that France shortlisted for the International Feature Academy Award race came in on the lower end. Cédric Jiminez’s Bac Nord (The Stronghold) took seven nominations, while Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening settles for four, tying Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane.

The latter was France’s eventual entry to the Oscars, but did not make the shortlist. It was also shut out of the Best Film category at the Césars today.

The complete lineup for the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, taking place February 10-20, 2022, has been unveiled and it’s a major collection of some of our most-anticipated films of the year. As teased yesterday, Claire Denis’ Fire (which now has the title Avec amour et acharnement (aka Both Sides of the Blade)) will premiere in competition, alongside Hong Sangsoo’s The Novelist’s Film, Carla Simón’s Summer 1993 follow-up Alcarràs, Ulrich Seidl’s Rimini, Rithy Panh’s Everything Will Be Ok, and more.

Elsewhere in the festival is Bertrand Bonello’s Coma, Dario Argento’s Dark Glasses, Andrew Dominik’s Nick Cave & Warren Ellis doc This Much I Know To Be True, Peter Strickland’s Flux Gourmet, Gastón Solnicki’s A Little Love Package, Quentin Dupieux’s Incredible But True, plus new shorts by Lucrecia Martel, Hlynur Pálmason, and more. Also recently announced was the Panorama section, which will open...

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival (February 10-20) revealed its Competition line-up on Wednesday, scroll down for the full list.

As previously announced, the International Competition opens this year with François Ozon’s Peter Von Kant. Joining the Ozon pic today were 17 further features, including new films from Hong Sang-soo, Claire Denis, Ulrich Seidl, and Rithy Panh.

This marks Denis’ first time in Berlin’s Competition, having been a regular at Cannes over the years, while her last film High Life debuted at Toronto. The director’s new movie Both Sides of the Blade (previously known as Fire) stars Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon.

South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo picked up the Silver Bear for Best Director in 2020 for movie The Woman Who Ran. His latest pic is The Novelist’s Film, which Berlin Artistic Director today said celebrates chance encounters.

The Competition program is 17 world premieres plus one international premiere,...

Films by auteurs Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo and Rithy Panh are part of the lineup in competition at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival.

Berlin’s 2022 selection spans 18 movies, seven directed by women, which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. The films originate from 15 countries, with 17 serving as world premieres. Two of the films are first features, both from women.

Artistic director Carlo Chatrian discussed the thematic throughline of “human and emotional bonds” across the selection, with the family unit serving as a key focal point in a number of movies. More than half are set in the present time, and two are within the pandemic era.

The festival hosts 12 returning filmmakers, eight of whom are in competition and five of whom already hold a Bear from Berlin.

The festival will go ahead as an in-person event, albeit with seating capacity in movie theaters reduced to 50% and without any parties or receptions.

Les passagers de la nuit (Night Birds)

His film festival bingo card includes Locarno (2010’s Memory Lane), Rotterdam (2016’s This Summer Feeling), and Venice (2018’s Amanda – read review) and you can bet your bottom dollar with the star wattage in the trio of Emmanuelle Béart, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Noée Abita that his fourth feature will be heading to a major European comp premiere as well. Mikhaël Hers‘ Les passagers de la nuit (Night Birds) began production back in February of 2021 (not too obvious during the pandemic) for a set in the 80’s drama. Co-written alongside the prolific scribe Maud Ameline, this is the third project collab between Hers and Nord-Ouest Films’ Pierre Guyard.…...

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.

Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi)

Following his early days of being an assistant for Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi’s career soon blossomed, leading to a few collaborations between the two monumental figures of Iranian cinemas––one of which, Crimson Gold, is now available on The Criterion Channel. The masterful 2003 character study, scripted by Kiarostami after he told the tenets of the story to Panahi while sitting in traffic, stars unprofessional actor Hossain Emadeddin in his sole performance. Following a pizza delivery driver who witnesses the sharp class divide and political terror playing out in his society, Kiarostami and Panahi brilliantly preview the brutal ending from the start as the pieces then cogently and subtly fall into place as to why a man would...

MK2, the venerable family-owned film group which operates a leading arthouse multiplex chain in France and Spain, is emerging from the pandemic stronger, cooler and more ambitious than ever.

Nathanaël and Elisha Karmitz, who succeeded their father Marin at the helm of the company in 2005, have galvanized the MK2 brand with activities ranging from films, art, publishing, technology and lifestyle. The common threads between all these ventures are a taste for singularity, curation and a socially-minded approach.

After scoring big at Cannes in 2019 with Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” and Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which competed and won prizes, MK2 Films will again boast a fairly large presence for the festival’s comeback edition with nine films across several selections, including the competition with Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” the new Cannes Premiere section with Andrea Arnold’s “Cow,” Un Certain Regard...

Slalom Kino Lorber Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Charlène Favier Writer: Charlène Favier, Marie Talon Cast: Noée Abita, Jérémie Renier, Marie Danarnaud, Muriel Combeau, Maïra Schmitt, Axel Auriant Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/6/21 Opens: April 9, 2021 Take it from me. If you have ever taught […]

The post Slalom Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Photo: ‘Slalom’/Mille et une Productions Just like its source material, the film ‘Slalom’ has been slowly garnering attention in a way that no one can ignore anymore. With the pressures of stardom and becoming a professional skier on the line, ‘Slalom’ follows a young girl and her relationship with her much older coach as she begins to gain national attention. As the film progresses, the relationship between Lyz Lopez (played by Noée Abita) and her coach Fred (Jérémie Renier) grows into something much more sinister and dangerous. Related article: Watch: Hollywood Insider CEO Pritan Ambroase On The #metoo Revolution & Powerful Questions That Need Answers While the tension between Renier and Abita is clear, and it’s easy to guess what happens next, the events in the film are still gut-wrenching and hard to watch. Renier plays Fred better than any other actor could, with such a self-assuredness that it...

Lionsgate’s Voyagers isn’t your ordinary “the human race is in danger” sci fi romp.

Written and directed by Neil Burger Voyagers follows a group of young men and women bred specifically to have a great level of intelligence and obedience as they embark on an expedition to colonize a distant planet.

Sounds like good, safe fun, right? Well, if it was it wouldn’t be a movie worth watching.

It doesn’t take long for the young group of what could be manufactured automatons to start to uncover disturbing secrets about the mission. As things begin to unravel, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive natures. As a result, the entire ship becomes chaos in space as they’re consumed by fear, lust, and the insatiable hunger for power.

Voyagers stars Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead, Chanté Adams, Isaac Hempstead Wright,...

A chilling, controlled pressure cooker of a film, Charlène Favier’s Slalom brings attentive nuance to a story of psychological and sexual abuse. Set amongst the slopes of the French alps, the Cannes-selected drama centers on Lyz Lopez (Noée Abita), a 15-year-old skiing prodigy whose life is more or less controlled by her callous instructor Fred (Jérémie Renier). With his predatory advances shrouded and twisted in the mutual desire for competitive success and filtered through the young girl’s initial intrigue, Favier expertly delves into the psychological prison that soon becomes her daily existence. Far from a one-note #MeToo message movie, Slalom brings a poignant sense of restraint with fleshed-out characters for a thoroughly unnerving experience.

Clearly Fred’s favorite student, Lyz becomes ostracized by her fellow pupils in this high-stakes training program, with no one wanting to date her much less befriend her. Leaving only room in her life for skiing,...

"I told you. Hard work pays off." Kino Lorber has released a new official US trailer for a French film titled Slalom, which was supposed to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival last year before it was cancelled. Under the guidance of a strict ex-champion, a promising 15 year old girl named Lyz trains as a professional skiing star. She ends up becoming an object of desire for the coach. The director uses "brilliant camera work to stage a highly topical story about the crossing of boundaries in the field of world-class sports... She takes a deep look into the psyche of a young athlete who unexpectedly finds herself faced with the fact that even the biggest dream is not worth any price. The story of an emancipation." Starring Noée Abita as Lyz, with Jérémie Renier as Fred, Marie Denarnaud, Muriel Combeau, Maïra Schmitt, and Axel Auriant. This looks very, very...

French actress Noée Abita burst onto the scene with a remarkable display in coming-of-age drama Ava, and it was clear right away that we were dealing with an actress who could go right to the very top. Her latest performance, in the brilliant drama Slalom is one that shows maturity, and confirms our belief was unfounded. To mark the film’s release, exclusively on Curzon Home Cinema, we had the pleasure to speak to Abita, as part of the annual UniFrance event Rendezvous with French Cinema. Watch the full interview with the talented performer below, complete with a translator:

Synopsis

Under the guidance of a strict ex champion, a promising 15 year old girl trains as a professional skiing star.Will she be able to endure the physical and emotional pressures?

Slalom is released exclusively on Curzon Home Cinema from 12th February

The post French star Noée Abita on her tough...

Dark and disturbing undercurrents are never far from the surface in Charlène Favier’s assured debut feature set agains the backdrop of the world of highly competitive skiing.

The bright blue skies and glistening snowscapes of Val d’Isère only serve to pinpoint the traumas facing 15-year-old Lyz (played by newcomer Noée Abita) whose sporting ambitions lead her to an elite Alpine instruction school. There she’s confined far from friends and family to concentrate on her skills.

It’s a febrile and claustrophobic atmosphere in which the young girl falls under the tutelage of a chilling Jérémie Renier as the perpetually sardonic coach who takes advantage of the girl’s impressionable psyche and his position of power and influence over her.

Favier dials down the histrionics to concentrate on the manipulative way the coach plays around with the girl’s fragile emotions, reducing her to a despairing wreck.

Although...

Noée Abita in Slalom. Charlène Favier: 'I wanted to put the audience inside the feelings of the young girl. She is lost in this place which is weird, beautiful and a nightmare all at the same time' Photo: UniFrance “Woo-hoo Reechard!” yells filmmaker Charlène Favier down the Zoom-line from a virtual Paris as part of the 23rd UniFrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema earlier this year. We’ve been Facebook buddies since her first film Slalom started the rounds in festivals and previews all over France towards the end of last year yet because of cinema closures has still to be released on its home ground.

It’s the first time we have spoken in person - a moment to treasure. Favier is a compulsive social media practitioner. Only a few hours after our interview she has been posting pictures of herself on the train back to Marseille, where she now lives.

A French teen ski champion navigates sexual exploitation by her male coach in Charlène Favier’s difficult but impressive debut

Is this a tale of abuse, or forbidden love? Or is there something insidious in asking that question, suggesting an ambiguity that will err leniently on the side of love? Slalom is the debut feature by director and co-writer Charlène Favier, who has indicated that it is drawn from personal experience and her own teen years growing up in the ski resort of Val-d’Isère in south-eastern France. It is impeccably acted and beautifully shot, although I wondered if it is burdened by a softcore-tasteful aesthetic and a tactful reluctance to take its own narrative implications very far. The movie finishes on an unresolved chord, as if we have left the story months or years before the actual scandalous denouement. But it is arguably faithful to the mood of messy...

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Noée Abita, Quito Rayon-Richter and Emmanuelle Béart star in the cast of this Nord-Ouest Films production sold by mk2 Films. Monday 1 February saw the first clapperboard slam on Les passagers de la nuit, Mikhaël Hers’ 4th feature film after Memory Lane (which screened in Locarno’s Filmmakers of the Present section in 2010), This Summer Feeling (gracing Rotterdam’s Big Screen Award competition in 2016) and Amanda.The cast assembled by the director comprises Charlotte Gainsbourg, Noée Abita (much remarked in Ava, at her best in Sink or Swim and the winner of the...

Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affairs” won best film at the 26th Lumieres Awards, which are prizes given by France-based members of the foreign press. The film weaves together a series of romantic tales with an ensemble cast including Camelia Jordana and Niels Schneider.

This year, the ceremony became a televised event. The show was broadcast on Canal Plus and hosted by French journalists Laurie Cholewa and Laurent Weil with the participation of several voting journalists. The Lumieres event traditionally kicks off France’s awards season.

Filippo Meneghetti’s romance “Two of Us,” which represents France in the international feature film race at the Oscars, won two prizes, including best first film, and best actress for the duo Martine Chevallier and Barbara Sukowa. The feature debut follows Nina and Madeleine, two pensioners who have hidden their deep and passionate love for many decades and see their bond put to the test...

Debut film was one of 15 titles feted with a Cannes 2020 label selection last year.

Kino Lorber has acquired US and English-speaking Canada rights to French filmmaker Charlène Favier’s drama Slalom and plans to release it theatrically in April.

Set against the ski resorts of the French Alps, the debut feature stars rising French actress Noée Abita as a young alpine skiing champion who falls prey to her coach, played by Jérémie Renier.

The film was one of 15 first features to be feted with a Cannes 2020 label selection last year.

”Slalom may thrill with hyper ski action but it wins...

Les cinq diables

France’s Léa Mysius continues her ascension with her sophomore directorial project Les cinq diables. Starring Adele Exarchopoulos, Moustapha Mbengue and reteaming with actress Noée Abita from her 2017 debut Ava, the project is produced through her Trois Brigands Productions and F for Film. Mysius also reunites with her writer and Dp Paul Guilhaume on the project. Mysius’ feature debut Ava played in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2017, winning the Sacd Prize. She’s also written the screenplays for Arnaud Desplechin’s Ismael’s Ghosts (2017) and Oh, Mercy! (2019) as well as Andre Techine’s Farewell to the Night (2019).…...

Awards ceremony will take place on January 19, 2021.

Italian director Filippo Meneghetti’s debut feature Two Of Us leads the nominations in the 26th edition of France’s Lumière awards, which were unveiled online today (December 14).

The awards, which are voted on by some 130 international correspondents hailing from 40 countries, are France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes.

In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has delayed numerous releases this year, they have retained their traditional time slot and the awards ceremony will take place on January 19, 2021, in line with previous years.

Meneghetti’s Two Of Us is also France’s submission...

"I wanna see what you're made of or you go home!" Jour 2 Fete has released the official French trailer for an indie drama titled Slalom, which was originally set to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year before it was cancelled. Under the guidance of a strict ex-champion, a promising 15 year old girl named Lyz trains as a professional skiing star. But will she be able to endure the physical and emotional pressures? Director Charlène Favier uses "brilliant camera work to stage a highly topical story about the crossing of boundaries in the field of world-class sports. With the focus invariably on her protagonist, she takes a deep look into the psyche of a young athlete who unexpectedly finds herself faced with the fact that even the biggest dream is not worth any price. The story of an emancipation." Starring Noée Abita as Lyz, with Jérémie Renier,...

The coldest and most unforgiving movie about skiing this side of “Downhill Racer” — and just as fascinated by the loneliness of bombing down the slopes with the world at your back — Charlène Favier’s “Slalom” is . From the opening moments of her debut feature, Favier pivots between powerlessness and control with the same breakneck agility that her teenage heroine navigates the gates on each run; the film moves in one direction (downhill), and it leans into every turn like it’s already charted the fastest course to the bottom. But predictability can be a necessary ingredient for precision, and “Slalom” is so effective because of how well it tucks into the heart of its story, as though shaving a few milliseconds off its running time might be the difference between victory and a lifetime of victimhood.

Fifteen-year-old Lyz Lopez has been accepted to a super-competitive ski training academy in the French Alps.

Standing out on the line-up are Slalom by Charlène Favier, Josep by Aurel, Last Words by Jonathan Nossiter and Home Front by Lucas Belvaux, all bearing the Official Selection label. Founded in February following the merger of the international sales teams at Jour2Fête and Doc & Film (see the news), The Party Film Sales will be moving things up a gear at the Marché du Film Online (22-26 June) of the Cannes Film Festival, as the company managed by Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier, and headed up by sales directors Clémence Lavigne and Samuel Blanc, will be negotiating deals for four films bearing the Cannes 73 Official Selection label. Two of them will be screened at the market. Slalom by Charlène Favier will be wagering everything on its pair of lead actors (Noée Abita and Belgium’s Jérémie Renier) and on its moving story (about a young woman trying to escape.

Produced by Trois Brigands and F comme Film and sold by Wild Bunch, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Noée Abita and Moustapha Mbengue lead the cast of this second feature film by the director of Ava. On 16 March, in Bourg-d'Oisans, the first clapperboard will slam on Les Cinq Diables, the second feature film by Léa Mysius following on from Ava. Leading the cast are Adèle Exarchopoulos (whom we’ll be seeing in French cinemas as of 20 May in Mandibules and on 16 December in Bac Nord, and who’ll take part in the second round of filming on Carpe Diem once...

Following our top 50 films of 2019, we’re sharing personal top 10 lists from our contributors. Check out the latest below and see our complete year-end coverage here.

The end of the decade has spurred reflection on what defined the last ten years in cinema as streaming wars commenced and the future of the theatrical experience was further questioned. It’s still too early to deduce such matters with any long-lasting clarity, so for now, I’ll take a look back at my perspective on the previous year in cinema.

Before we get to new films, my favorite few days inside a cinema in 2019 was at The Nitrate Picture Show at the George Eastman Museum and one can see my 100 favorite new-to-me films throughout the year. After the staggering first viewings of the sprawling masterpieces Berlin Alexanderplatz, Sátántangó, War and Peace, Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, Les Vampires, and Celine and Julie Go Boating,...

Les cinq diables

France’s Léa Mysius has been working on several projects but looks to have her sophomore film Les cinq diables potentially completed in time for release in 2020. Starring Adele Exarchopoulos and reteaming with actress Noée Abita, the project is produced through her Trois Brigands Productions and F for Film. Mysius reunites with her writer and Dp Paul Guilhaume on the project. Mysius’ feature debut Ava played in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2017, winning the Sacd Prize. She’s also written the screenplays for Arnaud Desplechin’s Ismael’s Ghosts (2017) and Oh, Mercy! (2019) as well as Andre Techine’s Farewell to the Night (2019).…...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

Adam (Rhys Ernst)

There’s a specific kind of warm, crowd-pleasing aesthetic–often in the coming-of-age subgenre–that seems to find a home among the Sundance programming more so than any other festival. A few years ago, Sean Baker’s Tangerine heralded a major breakthrough for transgender representation in cinema and broke this mold in formally compelling ways. For better or worse, Adam has now arrived to fit more in the aforementioned lighthearted, simplistic, but ultimately empathetic dramedy conceit. – Jordan R. (full review)

Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes

Age Out (A.J. Edwards)

The only thing worse than never getting your happy ending is having it...

Bac Films, the Paris-based film group behind the Venice Horizons title “My Days of Glory,” has bolstered its international sales division with a new team topped by Marine Goulois and Andrea Dos Santos.

Goulois previously worked at Snd, the sales arm of the commercial network M6, and Les Films du Losange, while Dos Santos worked at Orange Studio and Alfama Films. They will head the international sales division together.

Goulois, who has a track record handling both prestige auteur movies such as Michael Haneke’s films at Les Films du Losange, and high-concept genre or comedy movies at Snd, will also be in charge of international acquisitions.

The new team will be completed by Juliette Béchu, who will work on sales, and Marine Dorville, who will be the festival manager.

“Our ambition is to continue to develop an international lineup of independent European cinema, high-profile English-language projects and animated feature,...

A thematic follow-up to his fiction debut The Demons (2015), Genèse is linked to Philippe Lesage’s earlier film in more ways than one – from a further exploration of the same generational themes, to the re-working of some crucial educational milestones and the role they play in shaping a person, to even a surprising appearance of some old characters. There’s a distinctive and original inter-filmography exchange between the two, which speaks volumes of the Montreal-based director’s supremely insightful and personal screenwriting after his documentary work earlier in his career.

Well-received in Locarno last summer, thanks to nuanced, convincing performances from young stars Théodore Pellerin and Noée Abita (here playing half-siblings undergoing parallel journeys of sentimental education), the award-winning film is wrapping up its festival-circuit tour with a stop in Rotterdam for Iffr, where I caught up with filmmaker to discuss teenagehood, the perils of love, and the genesis of his own storytelling style.

We’ve been singing the praises of Philippe Lesage’s stunning coming-of-age film Genesis since last fall, where Zhuo-Ning Su caught it at Hamburg Film Festival. The Canadian drama follows the lives of half-siblings Guillaume (Théodore Pellerin) and Charlotte (Noée Abita) as they traverse first love, desire, and danger. Both actors give genuine breakthrough performances, with Pellerin on the rise, starring in the next film from Eliza Hittman. Film Movement picked up the film for an August release and now a new trailer has arrived.

Zhuo-Ning Su said in his review, “In the grand scheme of things, teenage love affairs–together with all the raptures, jitters, devastations associated with them–probably don’t count that much. But then again probably everyone can relate to the sheer groundbreaking force of that first quickening of the heart, of that blinding rush of hormones that compels us to act with a recklessness that...

Amazon Prime Video has acquired second-window rights to “Apnea” (“Une Île”), the French female-powered fantasy series which competed at Series Mania and won best French show.

“Apnea” will premiere on Arte and will roll out on Amazon Prime Video in France shortly after. The series will not be available on the streaming service outside of France.

“Apnea,” written by Gaia Guasti and Aurélien Molas, is headlined by an international cast, including Laetitia Casta, Noée Abita, Sergi Lopez, Manuel Severi and Alba Gaia Bellugi. Julien Trousselier directed the series.

The series was produced by Nicole Collet (“Mafiosa”) at Image et Compagnie, and co-produced by Arte France. Lagardère Studios Distribution is handling international sales.

Inspired by the mermaid myth, “Apnea” is a fantasy-filled murder mystery set in a quaint fishing village on a Mediterranean isle.

Isabelle Bertrand , Amazon Prime’s content acquisition manager for France, told Variety that the streaming service had...