News

French actor Michel Blanc, best known for his roles in Le Splendid troupe comedy films like the 1978 cult classic Les Bronzés (French Fried Vacation) and its subsequent 1979 and 2006 sequels, died early Oct. 4 at 72 of a heart attack following anaphylactic shock, per the Agence France-Presse.

A fixture in French cinema, his death was mourned by president Emmanuel Macron, who wrote on X: “He made us cry with laughter and moved us to tears. A monument of French cinema, Michel Blanc is gone. Our thoughts go out to his loved ones and his acting accomplices.”

The French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, added in a statement: “This morning the sorrow is immense, as great as his talent. In front of the camera of Bertrand Blier, Robert Altman or Pierre Schoeller, Michel Blanc amazed us with the variety of his acting, but also with his talents as a director with films like “Marche à l’ombre...

The Oscar® nominated HBO Documentary Film All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (HBO and Participant’s “Citizenfour”), debuts Sunday, March 19 (9:00-11:00 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

From Participant, All The Beauty And The Bloodshed is an epic, emotional, and interconnected story about internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, groundbreaking photography, archival family snapshots and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid overdose crisis.

The critically acclaimed film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in the main competition, where it became the second documentary ever to win the Golden Lion for best film. It was the only film to play at Venice, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival in 2022. The...

The Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has added to the film community voices addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Organizers said Friday they will not be joining the boycott of Russian cinema called for by numerous Ukrainian figures, but will also not “accept anyone who is in any way associated with Russian state or governmental institutions or who stands in support of military aggression”.

In a statement, the fest condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and expressed support for the embattled nation. Scroll down to read the full statement.

Karlovy Vary will also be holding a special presentation of Vitaly Mansky’s Putin’s Witnesses, which was named best feature-length documentary at Kviff 2018, with proceeds going to the non-profit People in Need. The fest runs July 1-9 this year.

The spa town of Karlovy Vary has been setting up emergency accommodation for Ukrainian refugees this week.

This week the specialty box office saw an incredible performance by yet another faith-based movie. This marks the third time this year – the other two: Witnesses and The Girl Who Believes In Miracles – the limited release space was topped by a religious-themed film.

The Jesus Music (Lionsgate) is a documentary that chronicles the origins of contemporary Christian music and its rise into a multi-billion dollar industry. The film serves as a love letter to all Christian music fans and features intimate interviews with some of the genre’s biggest stars including Amy Grant, Michael Smith, TobyMac, Kirk Franklin and others. The Jesus Music is directed by brothers Andrew and Jon Erwin with Brandon Gregory and Joshua Walsh serving as producers.

The Jesus Music‘s success should come as little surprise given the international popularity of contemporary Christian music.

Premiering on 249 screens, the religious music documentary grossed an impressive $560K, which...

13 films were in the running for prizes in this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival competition, but it doesn’t appear to have been much of a contest at all. In a stunning sweep, Georgian writer-director Dea Kulumbegashvili’s debut feature “Beginning” took four of the jury’s seven prizes, including Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actress for star Ia Sukhitashvili, and finally the Golden Shell for Best Film.

It’s a remarkable haul for a harrowing, avant-garde film that has taken critics by surprise this fall festival season, also landing the Fipresci critics’ prize in Toronto last week. The Franco-Georgian production centers on a close-knit community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in remote rural Georgia, and tracks the growing psychological torment of its leader’s wife (played by Sukhitashvili) in the wake of an extremist attack on their place of worship.

A challenging film to economically distil, it has prompted...

When a show starts with the discovery of fifteen frozen bodies on a bus, you know that things are going to get dark. Witnesses: The Complete Series 2 manages to take viewers into a dark place, but the frozen bodies aren’t the most disturbing thing about this French series.

When fifteen frozen bodies are found on a bus, Detective Sandra Winckler (Marie Dompnier) is given the job of finding out who the victims are. When Catherine Keemer (Audrey Fleurot) turns up on the streets suffering from memory loss, with the only memory being her missing baby boy it is soon revealed that the two events are connected.

The second season of Witnesses weaves a tale not only of murder and kidnap, but also historical abuse of children, and in many ways it could be easy to get lost in all the strands the story creates. Thankfully though this isn’t the case,...