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Exclusive: Studiocanal has revealed a first image for Vincent Maël Cardona’s tense behind-closed-doors thriller No One Will Know as it launches sales on the title at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.

The huis close follows the clients and bar staff of a shabby cafe outside Paris in the early hours of the morning, who enter into a deadly pact when an elderly regular comes in and wins €294 million in the lottery.

Cardona has gathered a high-profile ensemble cast featuring Pio Marmaï (The Three Musketeers duology and The Ties That Bind Us), Sofiane Zermani (Hunting With Tigers), Panayotis Pascot (Loup Garous), Lucie Zhang and Joseph Olivennes (Magnetic Beats).

They are joined by Pulp Fiction star Maria de Meideros as the bar’s tough-talking, streetwise, eccentric landlady who stumbles in on the dangerous plan, which ultimately send all the participants on a bloody downward spiral.

The...

Dubai-based sales company Mad World has acquired worldwide rights to Maja Ajmia Zellama’s Têtes Brûlées, ahead of its world premiere at the Berlinale.

Parent company Mad Solutions has also taken distribution rights for the Middle East and North Africa on the film, which will play in the Generation 14plus strand of the festival in February.

The Belgian film centres on a 12-year-old girl named Eya who has to face the sudden death of her older brother Younès, with whom share shared an inseparable bond. As she grieves, Eya’s draws on her creativity, resilience and the support of Younès...

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the lineup of projects for Venice Immersive, the Extended Reality (Xr) section of the event. The program, which will include 63 projects from 25 countries, takes place on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7.

There are 26 projects in Competition, including 19 world premieres and seven international premieres.

There are 30 projects playing Out of Competition, including the best works that have been released or premiered elsewhere since the last edition of the Venice Film Festival; this section is divided into: Best of Experiences (10 projects), and Best of Worlds (20 projects), created by independent artists on the VRChat social platform, an ecosystem of virtual worlds presented in guided tours.

There are seven projects developed during the Biennale College Cinema – Immersive: one project produced thanks to the grant from this year’s eighth edition, six projects developed within the international workshop of the eighth, seventh, sixth and fifth editions.

The Venice International Film Festival 2024 lineup is slowly coming into view, with the Venice Immersive Xr – Extended Reality section now revealed.

The festival, which will take place from August 28 through September 7, includes 360° videos, virtual and mixed reality and Xr works of any length for the Venice Immersive program. Launched in 2017, the section represents one of the first competitions for works in Extended Reality in an A-list festival. The 81st annual festival’s Venice Immersive section is presented with support from VRChat.

The Venice Immersive program included 63 projects from 25 countries, with 26 of those projects being in competition. The festival also boasts seven 7 projects developed during the Biennale College Cinema – Immersive offering.

A trio prizes will be awarded to Venice Immersive projects from the jury. The prizes are: the Venice Immersive Grand Prize, the Venice Immersive Special Jury Prize, and Venice Immersive Achievement Prize.

The international Venice Immersive jury is preceded over by president Celine Daemen,...

From Jekyll and Hyde to the Wolfman, to much more recent twists on atavistic transformations, the concept of shape-shifting has always been a popular one in fiction — with storytellers turning the dial up or down on the potential social commentary therein, according to taste and preference. In “Animale,” the closing film of this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week section, director Emma Benestan is rather more interested in the interpersonal dynamics navigated by 22-year-old female bull-runner Nejma (Oulaya Amamra) than in really savouring some promising horror implications. She gives Dr. Jekyll center stage, as it were, rather than getting too involved with Mr. Hyde.

Nejma works at a ranch in Camargue, France, where bulls are raised to compete in the arena for baying crowds of exhilarated spectators. It is a traditionally masculine environment: From the bulls to the men who wrangle them, the emphasis is on displays of physical strength and ferocity.

A first clip has been unveiled for Emma Benestan’s “Animale,” which closes the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week strand this year.

The film is set in the Camargue region of the south of France, where daring youths participate in the local tradition of bull running. Only one woman, 22-year-old Nejma, takes her place in the arena. Taunting and evading the animals with increasing boldness, Nejma seeks to prove herself the equal of the men – inside and outside of the arena. But both situations put Nejma at risk, as a different threat looms over the community of riders: a bull is on the loose and young men are being killed. The film is designed as a supernatural fable that blends with the classic body horror, and the revenge thriller.

After several shorts and a documentary, “Animale” is Benestan’s second fiction feature after the acclaimed “Fragile” aka “Hard Shell, Soft Shell...

Cannes Critics’ Week, the sidebar dedicated to first and second films, will open with Jonathan Millet’s psychological thriller “Ghost Trail” and wrap with Emma Benestan’s genre film “Animale.”

“Ghost Trail” and “Animale” are two of the 11 features slated for Critics’ Week, which runs alongside the Cannes Film Festival.

The sole U.S. film of the selection is Constance Tsang’s “Blue Sun Palace,” a bittersweet film about two Chinese immigrants living in Queens who bond following a tragic death and find meaning in each other’s company. “As humble and dignified as its characters, this first, realistic and intimate, film sheds light on a community that is little seen,” said Ava Cahen, Critics’ Week’s artistic director. “Blue Sun Palace” stars Lee Kang-sheng whose recent credits include “Twisted Strings.”

Besides the opening and closing films, the Special Screenings section will comprise of Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s “Across the...

Writer-director Adura Onashile draws out brilliant performances in story of a frightened parent restricting her child’s adventures into independence

This crushingly intimate drama occupies a space barely larger than a bedroom in the rundown council house where much of the story unfolds. Even on its few ventures outside, the location filming is delivered in tight closeups, the environment beyond the figures little more than colourful smeary blurs of light. You would hardly know it was shot in Glasgow.

The people at the centre of the story are young mother Grace and her pubescent daughter Ama (Le’Shantey Bonsu), immigrants from a non-specified country, now living in the aforementioned council flat. We learn that Grace gave birth to Ama at 14 and seems petrified about her daughter leaving the safety of their flat; it’s implied but never stated outright that Ama may have been conceived via rape or incest. At any rate,...

Films Boutique will handle international sales on Filipino master Lav Díaz’s “Essential Truths of The Lake,” one of the highest-profile titles in the just announced main International Competition at this year’s Locarno Festival.

The Berlin and Lyon-based production-sales company’s fifth collaboration with Diaz following, among others, Venice Golden Bear Winner “The Woman Who Left” and Berlin Silver Bear Winner “Lullaby To A Sorrowful Mystery,” “Essential Truths of The Lake” marks a prequel to Diaz’s ‘When The Waves Are Gone’ that premiered out of competition at Venice last year.

It reprises the character of the ethically conflicted police lieutenant Hermes Papauran, one of the best investigators of the Philippines. When asked what drives a man to search for the truth, Papauran says dejectedly that maybe he just wants to keep inflicting pain on himself.

Faced with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody murders and brazen lies, he...

Sales banner Best Friend Forever has unveiled the teaser for Ramata Toulaye-Sy’s buzzed-about Senegalese drama “Banel & Adama,” which is the sole feature debut slated for the competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The lushly lensed female emancipation drama, set to bow on May 20, takes place in a remote village of Northern Senegal where Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. Longing for a home of their own, they have decided to live apart from their families. When Adama refuses his blood duty as future chief and informs the village council of his intentions, the whole community is disrupted and chaos ensues.

The film was shot in Pulaar language with a cast of local non-professional actors, including Khady Mane, Mamadou Diallo, Binta Racine Sy and Moussa Sow.

Toulaye-Sy said she wanted the film to tell a tragic love story that would be relatable to everyone. The helmer, who studied...

Three months ago, Doha’s new Downtown Msheireb district was the throbbing heart of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar as one of its main fan zones.

Quiz any local on the street or in its cafes and shops about what it was like, and their faces light up as they recount how packed it was and the magical atmosphere.

Billed as the world’s first sustainable downtown regeneration project, the pedestrianized neighborhood is now acting as the backdrop to the Doha Film Institute’s annual Qumra talent incubator, alongside the I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art (Mia).

The event, which kicked off on Friday, aims to hothouse 44 film and series projects in various formats and stages of production. All the projects are recipients of the Dfi’s generous grant program

The focus is on Middle East and North African filmmakers but there are also projects from further afield...

Best Friend Forever has boarded Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s debut feature “Banel & Adama,” a lushly lensed Senegalese female emancipation drama. Now in post, the movie is expected to have its world premiere later this year.

‘Banel & Adama’ is set a remote village of Northern Senegal where Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. Longing for a home of their own, they have decided to live apart from their families. When Adama refuses his blood duty as future chief and informs the village council of his intentions, the whole community is disrupted and chaos ensues.

Sy studied at France’s prestigious film school La Femis and previously directed the short film “Astel” which played at Toronto, New Directors/New Films and Clermont, where it won the Special Jury award, among 80 festivals to date. Ramata, meanwhile, previously co-wrote “Our Lady of the Nil” which played at Toronto, and “Sibel” which played at Locarno and Toronto.

It’s five years since Theresa May, then the United Kingdom’s first prime minister of the Brexit era, coined the term “citizen of nowhere” to denigrate residents of the country who identified themselves more globally. Those three words swiftly became a media catchphrase to encapsulate the Conservative government’s apparent hostility toward immigrants; liberal-minded multinationals adopted the term as a badge of pride. Yet for the disenfranchised émigré who can’t go home again, but hasn’t found home in the U.K. either, it’s not such an easy label to claim: Transplanted to working-class Glasgow from West Africa, shorn of any sense of belonging anywhere, the wary, vulnerable mother and daughter at the heart of Adura Onashile’s tender character study “Girl” respond by making their world as small as possible — barely stretching beyond the front door of their shabby council apartment.

The gradual, pained steps they...

France’s broadcasting group, France Televisions, launched Slash, a niche platform skewing millennials, as part of its efforts to keep its brand relevant among younger viewers. In five years, the service has become one of France’s biggest showcases of daring scripted content created by and starring diverse talents.

Slash, which is accessible on the pubcaster’s streaming service France.tv and is headed by former screenwriter Sened Dhab, has been consistently delivering hit shows. Recent examples include Noé Debré’s Brexit-themed political satire “The Parliament,” Simon Bouisson’s “Stalk,” a thriller about cyber bullying, and “Skam,” the local adaptation of the Norwegian series about troubles teenagers.

Although the platform’s content is primarily aimed at adolescents and young adults, a number of shows have become popular among older demographics. Dhab told Variety that shows commissioned by Slash stand out because they tend to be “edgier, engaging and have a different...

Exploring Paris’ working-class suburbs with a fresh set of eyes while reframing the immigrant experience under a more incisive lens, a dynamic generation is blazing new trails in French cinema.

And if artists like “Saint Omer” filmmaker Alice Diop, “Athena” co-writer Ladj Ly, and “The Gravity” writer/director Cedric Ido share little in common but age – interestingly enough, all were born within one or two years of one another – the group’s shared spotlight in Venice and Toronto certainly reflects a rise in opportunity for diverse perspectives.

“Today, we do see renewal,” says Unifrance managing director Daniela Elstner. “There’s an altogether new breath, a young generation looking to change, to dare, and to propose new kinds of films, [and with that] a willingness on the part of festival programmers to welcome these filmmakers into main competitions a little bit faster than before.”

Of course, opportunities tend to compound and build, so before...

For those familiar with Gerard Depardieu‘s stellar career, it would be fair to say he’s carved out a reputation as one of continental Europe’s finest-ever actors. The stage and screen veteran’s mere presence is one of the few things Robust has going for it, saving this comedy-drama (questionable claims in themselves) from obscurity.

Robuste – to give it its French title, and if you’re bothered about the extra letter – constantly meanders and never truly comes to life. It threatens to pick up around 30 minutes in, but in doing so flatters to deceive. All in all, a disappointing debut feature from filmmaker Constance Meyer.

Georges (Depardieu) an ageing, neurotic actor, strikes up an unlikely professional relationship with Aissa (Deborah Lukumuena), a female security officer who’s also trying to make her mark in the world of wrestling, and the pair become support units for one another as...

Bio-documentary is co-directed by ex-rapper Melanie Diams, ‘Divines’ director Houda Benyamina and writer Anne Cissé.

Former French rapper Diam’s cut a swathe through France’s male-dominated underground rap scene of the 2000s with her feminist and social activist lyrics to become one of the country’s most popular mainstream artists.

She found herself in the eye of a media storm and public backlash in 2009 after weekly news magazine Paris Match ran images of her emerging from a mosque in full hijab and robe, following her decision to convert to Islam and withdraw from public life.

The ex-rapper, who was...

The new additions bring the total number of films in Official Selection to 68.

The Cannes Film Festival has added two new titles to the Official Selection of its 75th edition running May 17 to 28.

Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Spanish-French rural thriller The Beasts (As Bestas) has joined the Cannes Première section and the documentary Salam will debut as a Special Screening.

The new additions bring the total number of films in Official Selection to 68.

Denis Ménochet and Marina Foïs star as a French couple who move to a village in the northern Spanish region of Galicia in a bid to be closer to nature,...

Eleven of the projects are debut features.

European development programme Less Is More (Lim) has selected 16 feature film projects for its 2022 scheme, plus the 12 ‘development angels’ who will follow the development of the projects, and four tutors who will provide guidance to the selected teams.

Among the titles are Bethan, the debut feature of UK writer-director Zillah Bowes; and Deborah Viegas’ Brazilian-Portuguese debut feature Young Woman Seen From Behind.

Scroll down for the full list of projects, filmmakers and development angels

Eleven of the 16 films are from debut filmmakers, with four from second-time directors and one – Christian Volckman’s Herself – from a third-time filmmaker.

Producer and financier Anton has hired Leslie Chen as senior VP, international distribution and sales and has elevated consultant Louis Balsan to executive VP, international distribution and acquisitions.

They will be part of Anton’s German office and will report into Paris-based Cécile Gaget, president of international production and distribution. Chen and Balsan will be at the upcoming 2022 Berlinale and European Film Market where Anton is launching international sales on horror thriller “All Fun And Games,” starring Asa Butterfield and Natalia Dyer, co-produced with Agbo. Anton is also co-selling Claire Denis’ “Both Sides Of The Blade” with Wildbunch, which is premiering in competition at the festival.

Chen was previously AGC Studios’ senior VP of Asian sales and distribution, overseeing big budget projects such Roland Emmerich’s “Moonfall” and Pierre Morel’s “Freelance” and has had prior stints in China with Im Global and Huayi Brothers Media Corporation.

Balsan has been...

New films from Cristian Mungiu, Abderrahmane Sissako, Bertrand Bonello and Nikolaj Arcel have also receieved funding.

French director Houda Benyamina’s All For One and Austrian Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero are two of the 37 European co-productions set to receive of a share of Eurimage’s latest round of funding, totalling €9.1m ($10.3).

Benyamina’s All For One will receive €500,000, the largest share of funding, The co-production between France and Belgium (Versus Production) is the second feature from from Benyamina, whose debut Divines won the Caméra d’Or in Cannes 2016. Her latest title is a Three Muskateers-style adventure, with a female focus.

New films from Cristian Mungiu, Abderrahmane Sissako, Bertrand Bonello and Nikolaj Arcel have also receieved funding.

French director Houda Benyamina’s All For One and Austrian Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero are two of the 37 European co-productions set to receive of a share of Eurimage’s latest round of funding, totalling €9.1m ($10.3).

Benyamina’s All For One will receive €500,000, the largest share of funding, The co-production between France and Belgium (Versus Production) is the second feature from from Benyamina, whose debut Divines won the Caméra d’Or in Cannes 2016. Her latest title is a Three Muskateers-style adventure, with a female focus.

Unexpected friendship tale co-stars Gérard Depardieu and Divines discovery Déborah Lukumuena.

Paris-based company Indie Sales has unveiled first deals on Constance Meyer’s debut feature Robust, which world premiered as the opening film of Cannes’ Critic’s Week in July.

It has sold to Austria (Polyfilm), Belgium and Luxembourg (Athena), Canada (K Films), Portugal (Films4You), Switzerland (First Hand), and the UK and Ireland (606 Distribution).

The film stars Gérard Depardieu as an ageing actor in decline, opposite Divines discovery Déborah Lukumuena as a semi-professional wrestler hired to be his bodyguard. The seemingly disparate pair discover they have a lot in common.

While France has a deeply entrenched cinema tradition, drama series have been gaining tremendous ground within the country’s cultural landscape within the past few years, with some of the country’s biggest producers, stars and filmmakers venturing into ambitious television projects. The 3-month-old merger of UniFrance and TV France Intl., the country’s film and audiovisual promotion organizations, into a single entity is probably the best illustration of this blended world.

The growing presence of global streaming services, especially Netflix, in the TV space has played a key role in bolstering a talent drain, catapulting French stars, such as Omar Sy with the Gaumont-produced show “Lupin,” to international recognition. Although Sy broke through a decade ago with the smash hit French comedy “Intouchables,” “Lupin” allowed him to reach many more viewers around the world. Another example is Tahar Rahim, who became known around the world after starring in...

Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “I and the Stupid Boy,” the new title in the Prada-commissioned Miu Miu Women’s Tales short film series directed by women, was unveiled Sept. 4 at the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section.

The short by Ben Hania, who directed the Oscar-nominated “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” is a tale of male-female power, sexuality and shame — with a biting, feminist twist.

In “I and the Stupid Boy,” the protagonist, Nora, is a striking young woman, newly in love. All dressed up, she takes a short cut through an abandoned building, on the way to her date, only to run into Kevin, her ex, who pulls up in a scooter and starts to harass her.

Nora is played by Oulaya Amamra, who won the 2017 César Award for best emerging actress for her role in the film “Divines” by Houda Benyamina, set in the Paris banlieu.

When we first meet Alma (Déborah Lukumuena) and Margot (Souheila Yacoub), they are at each other’s throats. They are onstage, two of a gang of young hopefuls trying out for a plum role in a semi-experimental Parisian theatre piece, but the fight is not part of their audition. It is real, and yet at the same time, unreal.

There is something unconvincing in Margot’s ginned-up outburst, in the way it gets physical but not really, in the high theatrics of squaring off and flouncing out. And if we immediately realize why — outside the two embrace, laughing, gasping at the audacity of their ruse to get the attention of the play’s director — this opening, with its themes of performativity, showmanship and friendship so ferocious it can look like conflict, is the exactly appropriate in media res introduction to Anaïs Volpé’s first feature “The Braves” — perhaps even in...

Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Jacques Audiard and rising director Léa Mysius reminisce about presenting their respective debut features, “See How They Fall” and “Ava,” at Cannes’ Critics’ Week in an exclusive video celebrating the 60th anniversary of the sidebar.

Under the helm of Charles Tesson since 2011, Critics’ Week, which is dedicated to first and second films, has showcased more dozens of emerging filmmakers over the years. Some of them will have their latest movies unspool in competition at the festival. These include Audiard with “Paris, 13th District” which was co-written with Mysius and Celine Sciamma, as well as Julia Ducournau (“Raw”) with “Titane,” and Nadav Lapid (“The Kindergarten Teacher”) with “Ahed’s Knee.”

Audiard and Mysius are two of the 60 talents and artists who have shared testimonies about Critics’ Week brought to their lives and careers through videos and letters. Critics’ Week is unveiling these tributes throughout the month of June.

The film is co-produced by companies behind Caméra d’Or winner Divines and Cannes Jury Prize winner Les Misérables.

Paris-based company Indie Sales has boarded Vincent Maël Cardona’s debut feature Magnetic Beats, which has been selected for this year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection.

Set in Brittany in the 1980s, the film follows a group of friends working in a free radio station. Jerome leads it with unique charisma while his younger brother Philippe, the technical genius, lives in the shadow.

When Philippe is called up for military service and drafted to West Berlin, he has no choice but to leave.

Paris-based company Indie Sales has boarded Vincent Le Port’s debut feature “Bruno Reidal — Confession of a Murder,” which is set to world premiere in competition at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, the festival’s parallel strand dedicated to first and second films.

The film will also vie for a Caméra d’Or award. Le Port is a former student from La Fémis film school who previously directed the short “Le gouffre” which won the prestigious Prix Jean Vigo.

Based on a true story, “Bruno Reidal – Confession of a Murder” is set in a French village in 1905, and follows a young seminarian, Bruno Reidal, who murders a boy before surrendering immediately to authorities. While being investigated, he starts a dialogue with doctors who try to understand his lethal impulse, and identify past events which could have led him to commit this atrocious crime.

The movie is co-produced by Stank, the producer banner of Le Port,...

Critics’ Week, the Cannes Film Festival parallel strand dedicated to first and second films, follows the official selection’s lead in announcing an expanded lineup after taking a year off.

The 2021 program — which marks the sidebar’s 60th edition — will feature 13 world premieres, seven of them in competition, chosen from nearly 1,000 films by Charles Tesson, artistic director, and his committee. The lineup is heavy on French talent, with no American directors in the mix.

Constance Meyer’s “Robust” (previously titled “Misfit”), a drama-comedy starring Gérard Depardieu and Déborah Lukumuena (“Divines”), will open the 2021 edition of Critics’ Week. Set in contemporary Paris, “Robust” stars Depardieu as a lonely film star in decline, who forms an unexpected bond with Aïssa, a semi-pro wrestler earning a living as a security officer.

Leyla Bouzid’s “A Tale of Love and Desire” will close the edition and will also be part of the Special Screenings section,...

Parallel section will showcase 13 first and second features and 10 short films.

Cannes Critics’ Week 2021 has unveiled the line-up of its 60th edition, following last year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, running July 7 to 15 alongside the Cannes Film Festival.

It will showcase 13 features, seven of them in competition, as well as 10 short films.

French director Constance Meyer’s debut feature Robust, co-starring Gérard Depardieu opposite Divines discovery Déborah Lukumuena will open the section on July 7. Depardieu plays an ageing actor star in decline who hires Lukumuena’s character, a semi-professional wrestler, as a bodyguard at short notice. The seemingly disparate...

Albert Dupontel’s “Bye Bye Morons” won seven prizes, including best film and director, at the 46th Cesar Awards which took place as an in-person, yet socially distanced event at the Olympia concert hall in Paris on March 12. The ceremony was held in the presence of nominees only.

“Bye Bye Morons” also won awards for best supporting actor for Nicolas Mairé, original screenplay, cinematography and set design, as well as a prize voted on by high school students. A dark comedy, “Bye Bye Morons” stars Virginie Efira as a seriously ill woman on a mission to reunite with her long-lost child with the help of a man who’s having a burnout. Efira,

Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affair(s),” which was nominated for 13 awards, picked up the best supporting actress nod for Emilie Dequenne.

The best actor nod went to Sami Bouajila for his performance in Mehdi M. Barsaoui’s Tunisian drama “A Son.

Less Is More (Lim), a European development scheme for limited-budget feature films, has unveiled its selection of 16 projects, a majority of which are from women filmmakers and talents coming from theater, visual arts or documentary.

In spite of the pandemic, the 7th edition received as many as 350 applications from more than 70 countries. The final roster includes projects from territories that were not represented in previous editions, such as Uganda, Vietnam and South Africa.

Among the projects selected are “I Love My Guodoheaddji,” set in the Arctic Circle within Norway’s Sámi community; “I Matter,” about a Romany community in Romania, and “A Song That Slays,” set in a Pokot tribe in Kenya. Other projects explore a cult in Czech Republic (“Goddess), sex addiction in Lithuania (Sofia’s World), and Celtic tales (“Birds of a Feather…).

Lim, which develops first, second and third feature projects, is organized by the Groupe Ouest,...

The company unveiled its French slate for the first half of 2021 at the online edition of Unifrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

Paris-based mk2 films has launched sales on Robert Guédiguian’s youthful 1960s West Africa-set love story Mali Twist at this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, which is running online from January 13 to 15.

The company has unveiled a first look image (see above) of the feature set against the backdrop of the febrile atmosphere of post-Colonial Mali, where youngsters danced to rock and roll music in the capital of Bamako against a backdrop of dreams of political renewal.

Indie Sales has acquired Constance Meyer’s feature debut “Misfit,” a drama-comedy headlined by Gérard Depardieu and Déborah Lukumuena, the rising star of Houda Benyamina’s “Divines.”

Shot in Paris, the film revolves around George, an aging and lonely film star in decline, and Aïssa, a semi-pro wrestler earning a living as a security officer. When Aïssa is hired to temporarily replace George’s bodyguard, a singular bond between them takes hold. Despite their differences, George and Aïssa are more similar than they thought initially.

Indie Sales will launch international sales on “Misfit” at UniFrance’s Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, which kicks off Jan. 13.

Now in post, “Misfit” is produced by Isabelle Madelaine with her Paris-based outfit Dharamsala, whose credits include Alice Winocour’s “Proxima” and Claire Burger’s “Real Love.”

“Misfit” will be delivered this summer. Diaphana Distribution will distribute the film in France.

Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales CEO and co-founder,...

It’s been 25 years since “La Haine” made the banlieue a staple of French cinema. On the back of Mathieu Kassovitz’s cinematic Molotov cocktail, movies such as “Girlhood,” “Divines,” “Cuties” and “Les Miserables” have made the concrete jungles on the outskirts of Paris a haven for cineastes. But none of them are quite like Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh’s remarkable “Gagarine,” which mixes French social realism with Latin American magical realism before adding a dose of stardust from space movie classics, “Solaris,” “2001” and “Star Wars.”

“Gagarine” was a Cannes Official Selection label, unveiling at the Marché du Film Online, where it was a buzz title for Totem Films, selling out around the planet. The Haut et Court production is currently playing in competition at the Cairo Film Festival.

The film is a skillful blend of reality and fiction, making use of archive material and an exciting young French...

Yasin Houicha and Oulaya Amamra lead the cast of the filmmaker’s first full-length work, a Unité production set to be distributed in France by Haut et Court. Having kicked off on 31 August, filming on Emma Benestan first feature Fragile wrapped in Sète yesterday, 13 October. Hailing from La Fémis’s Editing Department, the director previously drew attention with her numerous short films, in particular the fiction offering Goût bacon and the documentary Un monde sans bêtes. Distinguishing themselves at the head of the cast are Yasin Houicha and Oulaya Amamra (the winner of the Best New Hope César and the Best Newcomer Lumières award in 2017 for Divines, similarly well-received in The World is Yours, Farewell to the Night and The Salt...

Otta wide range of films from international filmmakers, including several Oscars winners, are available for streaming online.Tnm StaffTwitterStaying inside during the pandemic hasn’t been easy, but watching movies online through a host of streaming services has been a welcome distraction to our mounting boredom. But perhaps you’ve caught up with all the latest releases in Indian cinema, from Gulabo Sitabo to Ponmagal Vandhal. And you’ve finally finished those pending Hollywood classics you’ve always wanted to watch, like the Godfather trilogy or every Avengers movie in order of release. Fear not, because there’s much more to see. Indian cinema and Hollywood films in English generally dominate pop culture in our country, but there’s a wide range of films from international filmmakers that are finally getting the attention they deserve. Tnm has put together a list of films from international filmmakers to stream on your next movie night.

Film was among 56 titles selected for the special Cannes 2020 label.

Paris-based sales company Totem Films has unveiled more than a dozen fresh deals on Cannes 2020 label title Gagarine, which was one of the buzziest arthouse titles in the virtual Cannes market, running June 22-26 last week.

In Europe, it has sold to Austria (Polyfilm), Benelux (Cinéart), Denmark (Angel Films), Officine Ubu (Italy), Finland (Cinemanse), Greece (Weird Wave), Norway (Selmer Media), Poland (Best Film), Spain (Karma Films), Sweden (Folkets Bio), Switzerland (Filmcoopi) and ex-Yugoslavia (Megacom).

In the rest of the world, it has sold to Australia (Madman), Brazil (Vitrine), Israel (Lev Cinemas...

Netflix has debuted the full trailer for Damien Chazelle’s limited series ‘The Eddy’ featuring Andre Holland and Tahir Rahim.

The eight-episode drama that takes place in the vibrant multicultural neighbourhoods of modern-day Paris. Once a celebrated jazz pianist in New York, Elliot Udo (André Holland) is now the co-owner of struggling club The Eddy, where he manages the house band fronted by lead singer and on-again-off-again girlfriend Maja (Joanna Kulig).

As Elliot learns that his business partner Farid (Tahar Rahim) may be involved in some questionable practices at the club, secrets begin to come to light that have also been concealed from Farid’s wife Amira (Leïla Bekhti), and when Elliot’s troubled teenage daughter Julie (Amandla Stenberg) suddenly arrives in Paris to live Directed by Academy Award® winner Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Emmy Award® winner Alan Poul (Tales of the City), Houda Benyamina (Divines) and Laïla Marrakchi...

After his intense breakthrough drama Whiplash, Damien Chazelle stayed in the world of music with La La Land and now he’s set to return to it with The Eddy, a new limited series coming from Netflix next month. The first trailer has now arrived, previewing the first two episodes (out of eight total) directed by Chazelle himself.

Starring André Holland and Cold War break-out Joanna Kulig, the Paris-set drama follows a once-famous musician who now runs a small Jazz club, but his past comes back to haunt him. Created and scripted by Jack Thorne, it looks to have the energy we’ve come to know from Chazelle as he explores some familiar themes with hopefully a fresh spin.

Other directors helming episodes include Houda Benyamina (Divines), Laïla Marrakchi (Marock), and Alan Poul (The Newsroom). See the trailer below for the film also starring Amandla Stenberg, Leila Bekhti, and Tahar Rahim.

“What’s happening must spark a renewal.”

French screenwriter and script consultant Antoine Le Bos is the founding CEO of Le Groupe Ouest, a residential initiative which specialises in screenwriting coaching and project development. It is based on the rugged Coast of Legends in Brittany in western France.

Since its creation in 2006, Le Groupe Ouest has worked with more than 800 filmmakers from 50 territories worldwide and supported the development of hundreds of projects including the Cannes Camera d’Or winner Divines, Locarno Golden Leopard winner Godless and more recently Sundance grand jury prize winner Yalda, A Night Of Forgiveness.

Its flagship...

Philippe Garrel’s modus operandi since 2013’s Jealousy has been unfussy, melancholic, black-and-white tales of Parisian men in the throes of romance, typically under 75 minutes. His latest, The Salt of Tears, which played in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, stretches to 100 minutes, but retains much of the lo-fi monochrome aesthetic, here centering on a cocky, shaggily attractive 20-something whose predilection for spurning women won’t win admirers from the MeToo generation.

But The Salt of Tears, with its title that sounds like a philosophical tract by Sartre, is a distant, ruminative film that refrains from wallowing in snide judgments of its characters. Perhaps to its fault, it’s a sober, adult, sincere film that seeks to consider some truth of the fallacy present in all human relationships.

The story follows trainee carpenter Luc through a trio of romantic misadventures, as he moves from the French countryside for something akin to a sentimental Parisian education.

In today’s TV news roundup, Marla Gibbs and Reggie Watts have been cast in guest roles on “One Day at a Time” and Netflix released the premiere date and teaser for “The Eddy.”

Castings

Marla Gibbs and Reggie Watts have been cast in guest roles on PopTV’s “One Day at a Time.” The two actors will both be featured in the Halloween themed episode titled, “One Halloween at a Time” as new neighbors in the building whose apartments Elena and Syd visit for trick-or-treating. Gibbs will appear as “Mrs. Jones” and Watts as “Mr. Mann.”

Dates

The third and final season of “Future Man” will premiere on Hulu on April 3. In the forthcoming installment, the motley trio messes with time one last time to clear their names after being convicted of time crimes and sentenced to death by entertainment. Created and executive produced by Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir,...

Handsome twentysomething Luc is a trainee joiner, a craft inherited from his doting single dad: a man at once proud of his son’s continuation of their trade, and hopeful that he’ll do something greater with it. When Luc asks his father if he ever wanted to design furniture rather than simply build it, the reply is simple and resigned: “It’s all been done already.” Six decades and 28 features into his career, French writer-director Philippe Garrel seems to be saying something similar with his latest, “The Salt of Tears”: A minor romantic roundelay that deviates little from the essential template of his last three films, it’s very much the work of an artist less preoccupied with innovation than with signature craftsmanship.

Which is not to say “The Salt of Tears,” even within its narrow bracket of ambition, is an especially careful or well-turned example of Garrel’s form.

Streaming giant officially announces collaborations with Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Fanny Herrero and Julien Leclercq.

Steaming giant Netflix officially opened its new French headquarters in Paris on Friday in a move that Netflix chairman and CEO Reed Hastings said signalled a long-term commitment to the country.

Hastings, who flew into Paris to celebrate the official launch, said the new French office would enable Netflix ”to work even more closely with the French creative community on great shows and films that are made in France and watched all around the world.”

Some 40 staff are due to be based at the new French offices...

Netflix continued to make strides in its European expansion on Thursday, unveiling a swanky multi-floor Paris office and announcing 20 new French shows and movies in the pipeline.

Located in the heart of the city and staffed with 40 employees, Netflix’s office launch attracted French industry figures, including producers and filmmakers working with or looking to work with Netflix.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who was on hand at the event, said the service will be stepping up its investment locally and will target high-profile talent in 2020. New titles include the film “Big Bug,” directed by “Amelie” director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Penned by Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant, “Big Bug” is a comedy set in the future starring Elsa Zylberstein, Isabelle Nanty and Manu Payet.

Jeunet participated in the first roundtable organised for the event, along with the directors Julien Leclercq and Leïla Sy, as well as rapper-turned-actor Kery James, and Sara May, director...

Le sel des larmes

2020 will see the premiere of the 27th feature by French auteur Philippe Garrel with The Salt of Tears, which reunites him with scribes Jean-Claude Carriere and Arlette Langmann. Dp Renato Berta (who lensed Garrel’s last two feature) is on board, as is producer Edouard Weil (who previously produced A Burning Hot Summer and Frontier of Dawn for the director). Garrel’s youthful cast consists of Louise Chevillotte (who made her debut in Lover for a Day and has since starred in Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms and Verhoeven’s upcoming Benedetta), Oulaya Amamra (Cesar winner for 2017’s Divines), Souheila Yacoub, Andre Wilms and newcomer Logann Antuofermo.…...

Netflix dominant. No women in writing, directing categories. No Robert De Niro.

Monday’s Golden Globe nominations has predictably got tongues wagging. Here we highlight six of the key talking points to emerge from the film categories.

The 77th Golden Globe Award will take place in Hollywood on January 5, 2020.

Netflix leads the field – and awards season

Netflix emerged as the dominant distributor on Monday with 17 film nominations in all, earning its first ever Golden Globes best film nominations – four in fact – and extending a rich vein of form that has seen the streaming giant and its films claim the lion...

Funa Maduka, Netflix’s director of international original films and acquisitions, is to leave the streaming giant Friday, Variety has confirmed.

Her acquisitions included films that brought the company early awards recognition, such Houda Benyamina’s “Divines,” a Cannes Camera d’Or winner and Golden Globes nominee, and Ildiko Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul,” a Golden Bear winner at Berlin and an Academy Awards nominee. Other titles she brought to the company included “Happy As Lazzaro,” “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” and “I Lost My Body.”

Scott Stuber, Netflix’s VP of original film, said: “Funa has been integral to building our international film catalog. She has a great creative eye and the ability to connect deeply with filmmakers. We’re excited to see what challenge she takes on next – and know that whatever Funa does, she’ll continue helping storytellers from around the world have their voices heard.