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Paris-based Bac Films is launching a slate of new acquisitions at the UniFrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, including Nicolas Pariser’s “Alice And The Mayor” with Fabrice Luchini, and Antoine de Bary’s concept comedy “My Days of Glory” with Vincent Lacoste.

“Alice And The Mayor” stars Luchini as Paul Théraneau, a prominent French mayor who has run out of ideas after thirty years in politics and enlists the help of a brilliant young philosopher, Alice (Anais Demoustier). The film revolves around their relationship which ultimately shakes the mayor’s convictions.

Marie Garrett, Bac Films’s VP of international sales, said a scene from “Alice And The Mayor” will be shown to buyers at the UniFrance showcase. The executive said the film could almost be described as a philosophical drama dealing with the existential crisis that politicians can experience.

A popular French actor, Luchini starred in “Courted,” “Ma Loute” and “A Man in a Hurry.

★★★☆☆ "We won't get the truth," Court President Racine (Fabrice Luchini) tells his assembled jury. "Our job is to apply the law. Show people what they can and cannot do." This baldly-stated realism and modesty could just as easily apply to Christian Vincent's slick if not world-shattering comedy Courted - the French title L'hermine, literally 'ermine', is much less sloppy. Racine is a reserved man, cordially disliked by court functionaries who think him something of a cold fish and gleefully pass on gossip about him in the loos. To make matters worse, he is also suffering from a flu and the stress of a messy divorce.

Venezuelan filmmaker Lorenzo Vigas' "From Afar" has taken the top prize of the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival which comes to a close this weekend.

"From Afar" follows a middle-aged gay man (Alfred Castro) who cruises the streets of Caracas searching for young companions. Luis Silva also stars.

Alfonso Cuaron led the jury which handed the Silver Lion to Pablo Trapero 's "The Clan," the Grand Jury Prize to Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson's "Anomalisa," and a Special Jury Prize to Emin Alper's "Frenzy".

Other awards include Fabrice Luchini ("L’Hermine") for best actor, Valeria Golino ("Per Amor Vostro") for best actress, and Christian Vincent ("L'Hermine") for best screenplay.

In the 'Venice Horizons' sub-category, Jake Mahaffy's "Free In Deed" took best film while Gabriel Mascaro's "Neon Bull" scored a Special Jury Prize. Brady Corbet's "The Childhood Of A Leader" scored a best...

The full lineup for the Venice Film Festival has been revealed, and includes new films by Martin Scorsese, Jerzy Skolimowsky, Frederick Wiseman, Marco Bellocchio, Tsai Ming-liang, Aleksandro Sokurov and more.CompetitionFrenzy (Emin Alper, Turkey/France/Qatar)Heart of a Dog (Laurie Anderson, Us)Blood of My Blood (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)Looking for Grace (Sue Brooks, Australia)Equals (Drake Doremus, Us)Remember (Atom Egoyan, Canada/Germany)Beasts of No Nation (Cary Fukunaga, Us)Per amor vostro (Giuseppe M. Gaudino, Italy/France)Marguerite (Xavier Giannoli, France/Czech Republic/Belgium)Rabin, the Last Day (Amos Gitai, Israel/France)A Bigger Splash (Luca Guadagnino, Italy/France)The Endless River (Oliver Hermanus, South Africa/France)The Danish Girl (Tom Hooper, UK/Us)Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman/Duke Johnson, Us)L'attesa (Piero Mesina, Italy)11 Minutes (Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland)Francofonia (Aleksandr Sokurov, France/Germany/Netherlands)The Clan (Pablo Trapero, Argentina/Spain)Desde alla (Lorenza Vigas, Venezuela/Mexico)L'hermine (Christian Vincent,...

On the heels of yesterday's Toronto Film Festival announcement, this morning we get the lineup for the 2015 Venice Film Festival and, as always, there's a little crossover with some films set to premiere on the Lido ahead of their Toronto (and/or Telluride premieres). Some of the titles not screening at Toronto (at least not yet) that will premiere at Venice include Baltasar Kormakur's Everest, which is serving as the opening night film, Drake Doremus' Equals starring Kristen Stewart, A Bigger Splash from Luca Guadagnino, Go With Me directed by Daniel Alfredson, Dito Montiel's Man Down, Amy Berg's Janis as well as a new, 16-minute short film from Martin Scorsese titled The Audition and a Brian De Palma documentary directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow. There's also buzz building for The Childhood of a Leader directed by Brady Corbet and starring Robert Pattinson and Berenice Bejo.