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Season One of the French comedy series “Sex (Re)Education” (originally titled “Septieme Ciel”) hits the sweet spot for relatable, engaging character comedy. The premise of playful sex and budding romance at a senior living home could easily have veered into a couple of extremes – cloying sentimentality, or raunchy wisecracking akin to “The Golden Girls”. I feared the former; might have enjoyed the latter, and was completely satisfied with this relatively low-key middle ground.

The series opens with cranky old Jacques (Feodor Atkine) being shunted to private care for her house by his daughter (Irene Jacob), largely because he can’t stand her husband of 20 years, and his wife’s death two years earlier ramped up deployment of his curmudgeonly side. He wanted no part of senior living, despite the upscale look and amenities of the facility until approached by coquettish Rose (Sylvie Granotier), who arouses an attitudinal 180… among other things.

For Apc Studios, “The Eclipse,” an atmospheric, procedural mystery thriller set in a rural community on France’s Aubrac plateau, could well offer a winning formula for international buyers at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre and beyond.

The series turns on a mystery that originates during an evening eclipse when 17-year-old Luca accidentally shoots his girlfriend, Nour. When he leaves to seek help, the young girl disappears. Manue and Johanna, two local women cops, are dispatched on an investigation that will ultimately impact their own families.

Summing up the show, Apc states in its tagline: “An effective whodunit taking us to a never-seen-before, magnificent French countryside. The duo of female cops, mothers and friends, turn a small community inside out.”

Emmanuelle Guilbart, Apc’s joint CEO and founder, says the company picked up the six-part series “for many reasons,” mainly related to its pedigree. Namely, it was commissioned by...

Have A Good One (Hago) has boarded “Split,” a series created and directed by well-respected French feminist author Iris Brey ahead of its world premiere in competition at Series Mania Festival.

“Split” was produced by Fabienne Servan-Schreiber et Charlotte Ortiz at Paris-based Cinétévé for the French broadcaster France Televisions’ digital platform Slash.

The show revolves around Anna, a 30 year-old stuntwoman who falls in love with a famous actress during a film shoot. The attractive cast includes Alma Jodorowsky (“The Serpent”), Jehnny Beth, Ralph Amoussou, and Pauline Chalamet.

Hago is also attending Series Mania with “Sex (re) Education” (“Septième Ciel”) and will be pitching the show at the Coming Next from France session.

The series, produced by Henri Debeurme and Aurélia Grossmann’s Next Episode, was awarded best TV series at the Fiction Festival of La Rochelle last year. It premiered on Ocs in January and pulled some of the pay TV channel’s highest ratings.

Benoît Poelvoorde, Justine Lacroix and Steve Tientcheu lead the cast of this Haut et Court production which is co-produced by Tarentula and set to be sold by mk2 Films. The first clapperboard is set to slam on 22 March for Normale, Olivier Babinet’s 4th feature-length movie after two titles unveiled in Cannes’ Acid competition in 2010 and 2016 (the fiction film Robert Mitchum est mort and the documentary Swagger which was also nominated at the Césars), and Fishlove (which just won India Hair a nomination for 2021’s Best New Actress César). The lead roles will be played by Belgium’s Benoît Poelvoorde, Justine Lacroix (revealed via Real Love) and Steve Tientcheu (recently brilliant in Night of the Kings and Les Misérables). Adapted by Juliette Sales, Fabien Suarez and Olivier Babinet (the first two having notably written all three...

“All my life is loving you,” is a line of dialogue that, on the page, looks worn thin with familiarity, a little like the trite English title of Claire Burger’s solo directorial debut, “Real Love.” But to reveal that the words are spoken not by a pining lover during the dash-to-the-airport climax of a romantic comedy, but by a father unwittingly tripping on ecstasy, to his two teenage daughters and his estranged wife, is to hint at the nature of this gorgeous film’s gentle miracle, which is to take its well-worn, soapy setup and rinse it of cliché, so it comes up new and shining.

Floodlit by a superlatively sympathetic performance by Belgian actor Bouli Lanners, Burger’s partly autobiographical film, which she also wrote, starts in the aftermath of a departure. After two decades of marriage, and the raising of their two girls, Armelle (Cécile Remy-Boutang) has...

The 17th Marrakech International Film Festival (Nov 30 – Dec 08) has set a jury comprising Suspiria star Dakota Johnson, Indian actress Ileana D’Cruz (Barfi!), Lebanese filmmaker and visual artist Joana Hadjithomas (I Want To See), Brit director Lynne Ramsay (We Need To Talk About Kevin), Moroccan director Tala Hadid (House In The Fields), French director Laurent Cantet (The Class), German actor Daniel Brühl (Rush) and Mexican director Michel Franco (April’s Daughter). As previously revealed, director James Gray will serve as jury president.

A total of 80 films will unspool at the festival, with Julian Schnabel’s Van Gogh biopic At Eternity’s Gate among gala screenings and also the festival’s opener. Other galas include Roma, Green Book and Capernaum while special screenings include Wildlife, Her Smell and Birds Of Passage. The official competition, galas and special screenings are listed below.

The festival will also feature tributes to Robert DeNiro, Robin Wright,...