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This interview has been edited by Linda Marric for length and clarity

In his latest film, When Autumn Falls (2024), prolific French filmmaker François Ozon continues his exploration of intricate human dynamics with electric storytelling and sharp satirical humour. Set in a picturesque Burgundy village, the narrative centres on Michelle (Helene Vincent), a retired grandmother who anticipates a visit from her daughter and grandson. An innocent mistake disrupts her plans, triggering a series of unintended events that intertwine the past and present, challenging familial bonds and personal convictions.

The film showcases Ozon’s signature storytelling style, once again blending elements of drama and dark humour to delve into the complexities of ageing, family, and the unforeseen consequences of seemingly trivial actions.

We were delighted to speak to the director of 8 Women (2002), Swimming Pool (2003), Potiche (2010), Frantz (2016) and countless other titles – he wrote and directed 24 films in as many years – about his...

Music Box Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “When Fall Is Coming,” a mystery-filled thriller directed by French auteur François Ozon.

Represented internationally by Playtime, “When Fall Is Coming” premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival, where it won best screenplay and supporting actor for Pierre Lottin.

The movie had its U.S. premiere at the Palm Springs Festival and will next screen at Rendez-Vous With French Cinema on March 7. Music Box Films will release “When Fall Is Coming” in New York at the Film Forum on April 4 and is planning a national expansion. Home entertainment release plans will be announced this summer.

“When Fall Is Coming” revolves around the tumultuous life of Michelle (Hélène Vincent), who lived in Paris and has retired to a quiet existence in Burgundy. “The voracious hostility of her adult daughter Valérie (Sagnier) remains Michelle’s great puzzlement: how can a child for...

Three top production designers will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with movie contenders. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Monday, November 18, at 4:00 p.m. Pt; 6:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Marcus James Dixon and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.

RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

Emilia Perez

Synopsis: In Mexico, a lawyer receives an unexpected offer to help a feared cartel boss retire from his business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he’s always dreamed of being.

Bio: Emmanuelle Duplay’s career has included “By the Grace of God,” “Aline,” “Forever Young,...

The Hellacopters have announced the new album Overdriver, due out January 31st via Nuclear Blast. The cover art can be seen below.

The LP follows 2022’s Eyes of Oblivion and marks the second studio album from the Swedish hard rockers since reuniting in 2021. The new album was recorded at Strawberry Studio and The Honk Palace and is the first Hellacopters record entirely produced by frontman Nicke Andersson. The cover art was created by German illustrator Max Löffler.

Overdriver will also arrive as The Hellacopters celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2025. Per the album’s press release, they “could have a few more tricks up their sleeves … so keep your eyes peeled!”

The band continues its resurgence after breaking a lengthy hiatus that began in 2008. Before that, The Hellacopters were one of the more prolific bands of the late-’90s/2000s garage-rock revival, releasing a steady stream of records, including the acclaimed...

Following a pair of box office hits “Black Box” and “A Perfect Man,” hot French filmmaker Yann Gozlan is now directing Cécile de France (“The Young Pope”), Lars Mikkelsen (“House of Cards”) and French music icon Mylène Farmer in “The Residence,” a tense psychological thriller revolving around AI.

Gaumont is co-producing and handling international sales on the high-concept movie whose first still is being unveiled by Variety. Gaumont’s EVP of international sales and distribution Alexis Cassanet and his team will be teasing the buzzy French project to buyers at the AFM.

Set in a near future, “The Residence” follows Clarissa (De France), a novelist with writer’s block who joins a prestigious, state-of-the-art artist residency where she’s been assigned an AI assistant named Dalloway (Farmer). The latter quickly becomes more than a simple assistant and turns into a true confidante for Clarissa. Feeling unsettled by Dalloway’s increasingly intrusive presence,...

Studiocanal’s Scandi powerhouse Sam Productions, co-founded by star writers Adam Price, Søren Sveistrup and producer Meta Louise Føldager Sørensen, is gearing up for an expansive slate of event series most-likely to shake the Kingdom of Denmark and take global viewers by storm.

“We’re working on our biggest slate ever,” said Sørensen, credited for more than 60 films and series, including the Oscar-nominated “A Royal Affair,” “The Wife,” starring Glenn Close, and Lars von Trier’s Cannes winner “Melancholia.”

Toplining Sam’s TV projects is “By the Grace of God,” Denmark’s own version of “The Crown” based on the life of Queen Margrethe II from her birth in 1940 until her abdication earlier this year. Filming of the blockbuster series, ordered by Danish commercial pubcaster TV2, is due to start in August 2025. Sara Namer serves as producer.

Based on an original idea by Sveistrup, the biggest-ever fiction drama about the Danish ruling monarchs,...

Ozon and a stellar cast serve up an entertaining, if shallow caper that shades a little too close to #MeToo

François Ozon has directed plenty of complex, demanding and serious dramas: Everything Went Fine, Summer of 85 and By the Grace of God, along with adaptations of Fassbinder. But he also has a sweet tooth for breezy, silly, crowd-pleasing theatrical comedies like this one. Watching it is like being force-fed a large box of chocolates; moreish, though. There is certainly an amazing blue-chip cast of French movie-acting royalty, including Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini and André Dussollier.

The Crime Is Mine is adapted from a 1934 French stage comedy called Mon Crime by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil which has already spawned two different madcap Hollywood versions in the 30s and 40s, respectively starring Carole Lombard and Betty Hutton. Nadia Tereszkiewicz plays Madeleine, an impecunious would-be stage star, engaged to wealthy young...

A retired woman of a certain age (Hélène Vincent), who wants nothing more than to look after her perfect poppet of a grandson (Garlan Erlos), is devastated when her daughter (Ludivine Sagnier) removes access to him, all because of a silly mycological mistake in the delicious, sinister and deadly funny When Fall Is Coming. True to protean form, writer-director François Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women) offers with this blackly comic thriller a tonal swerve into naturalism and away from the screwball energy of his last feature, the period-set courtroom caper The Crime Is Mine.

Nevertheless, this has a number of Ozonian elements that devotees of the prolific French auteur will cherish: intentional plot holes that keep things spicily ambiguous; characters who appear boringly bourgeois but are hiding secret pasts or proclivities or both; a tiny dash of the supernatural; and an irony in all its forms that runs through everything. Hardcore...

Some people are just better off dead. That’s the ultimate conclusion of the prolific French filmmaker François Ozon’s new domestic drama When Fall Is Coming, receiving its world premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival this week, but delivered with such sly delicacy, such slippery grace — no, actually, such sweetness — that there is simply no arguing with it.

Those qualities — delicacy, grace and sweetness — are largely encapsulated within the tidy person of Michelle. Michelle is the heroine of her own small but satisfying life and quite a few other lives besides, a woman with the time and inclination to be kind. On the day we meet her, she is driving her best friend to the prison where her son Vincent (Pierre Lottin) is being held. Visiting a prison is draining. Michelle waits outside, ready to listen to Marie-Claude...

French sales and distribution company Shellac will launch international sales for the upcoming Catholic Church sexual abuse documentary “The Deposition” at Locarno before releasing the film in France this October. Accompanying the announcement, Variety has been given exclusive access to the film’s trailer, seen above.

“The Deposition” is the story of a young boy named Emmanuel who, in 1993, told his parents that he was molested by a popular new priest in the village named Hubert. At the time, his parents chose to keep the boy’s allegations a secret.

Thirty years later, Emmanuel’s father, Robert, can no longer bear the guilt and confronts Hubert, who denies everything. Several months later, after speaking with a government-commissioned report on sexual violence within the Catholic Church, Emmanuel is encouraged to share his story with the authorities.

For over three hours, Emmanual shares his account with the local police, recording the entire encounter on his phone.

The Fall Of Sir Douglas Weatherford, the debut feature from Scottish filmmaker Seán Dunn, has been boarded by France’s Charades for international sales, excluding UK and Ireland. Mubi will release the film theatrically in the UK and Ireland.

Screen can also exclusively reveal a first-look image.

Ozark’s Peter Mullan and The Greatest Showman’s Gayle Rankin star in the Scotland-shot dark comedy, which was produced by Alex Polunin for the UK’s Ossian Pictures, Scott Macaulay for New York-based Forensic Films and Jennifer Monks for UK outfit The Fold, and developed with BBC Film which co-financed the project alongside the BFI Filmmaking Fund,...

Disney+ has unveiled the trailer for “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld,” the streamer’s highly anticipated original series starring Daniel Brühl as the iconic fashion designer.

Produced by Gaumont (“Lupin”) and Jour Premier, the six-part series chronicles the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. It will be available to stream on Disney+ in France and international territories, and on Hulu in the U.S., on June 7. “Becoming Karl” world premiered at Canneseries, where it received a standing ovation and warm reviews.

The lushly lensed series opens in 1972, when the 38-year-old Lagerfeld is a ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public. He falls in love with a sultry dandy, Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), who inspires him to challenge himself and act on his ambition to become the world’s most famous French fashion designer. He faces off Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), who reigned supreme with...

Playtime (“Son of Saul”) is reteaming with celebrated French directors François Ozon (“By the Grace of God”) and sister duo Delphine and Muriel Coulin (“17 Girls”) on their respective upcoming films, “When Fall Is Coming” and “The Quiet Son.”

“When Fall is Coming” marks Ozon’s follow up to “The Crime Is Mine.” The film stars Hélène Vincent (“The Specials”), Josiane Balasko (“Back to Mom’s”), Ludivine Sagnier (“Lupin”) and Pierre Lottin (“Notre-Dame on Fire”).

The film tells the story of Michelle, who is enjoying a peaceful retirement in a charming Burgundy village near her longtime friend Marie-Claude. She eagerly anticipates her grandson Lucas spending the school vacation with her, but things don’t go as planned. Feeling lonely, Michelle loses her sense of purpose, until Marie-Claude’s son gets out of prison.

The film is self-produced by Ozon through his vehicle Foz. Diaphana Distribution will release it in France.

After keeping a fairly low profile as president of France’s leading commercial network TF1 Group for seven years, Gilles Pelisson, the discreet Harvard-educated executive, is ready for showtime. He has been propelled into the spotlight to promote French film and TV in his new role as president of Unifrance, succeeding Serge Toubiana last summer.

While participating in his first big gig for Unifrance at the Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris (which wraps Tuesday), Pelisson showed he had enough swagger to mingle with French stars and industry professionals alike, as well as deliver speeches about the prospects for French movies and TV series with both authority and conviction.

In the space of one week during the Rendez-Vous, he handed out the French Film Award to “By the Grace of God” actor Melvil Poupaud, and presented Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan with the best international co-production prize at the Lumiere Award on Monday.

Melvil Poupaud, an actor in Francois Ozon’s “By the Grace of God” and Maiwenn’s “Jeanne du Barry,” will receive the French Cinema Award from Unifrance, the French promotion organization.

The ceremony will be held on Jan. 18 at the Culture Ministry during the Rendez-Vous With French Cinema market. The French Cinema Award was created in 2016 to honor actors, filmmakers and producers who have contributed to making French cinema shine abroad. Past recipients include actor Juliette Binoche, director Olivier Assayas and producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam, among others.

Poupaud started his career as a child actor in the 1980 and has worked with auteurs such as Raoul Ruiz, Eric Rohmer, James Ivory and Ozon, with whom he has made four movies. His latest film directed by Ozon, “By the Grace of God,” won the Silver Bear in Berlin and earned him a Cesar nomination for best actor. He also worked with several well-established female directors,...

American Idol judge Katy Perry got shade during season 21, but Top 8 finalist Oliver Steele doesn't think she deserved it. Katy faced criticism for a joke that contestant Sara Beth Liebe perceived as mom-shaming during her audition. This happened even though she later tried to convince the singer to stay, rather than quitting Hollywood Week to go home to her children. Katy was also booed for the first time in her tenure on the show, after telling finalist Nutsa to tone down her performances. Additionally, Katy was questioned when she focused on who was eliminated (rather than feedback for contestant Wé Ani) when the Top 20 finalists were revealed.

In an Instagram post, Oliver defended and praised Katy. The singer was saved by Katy during the Judges' Song Contest. Oliver wrote, "Katy is not a bully, nor does she shame people."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Oliver...

Spoiler Alert: This article contains details of the winner of American Idol Season 21.

American Idol has crowned its new winner after finalists Iam Tongi, Megan Danielle and Colin Stough battled it out one last time for America’s vote.

After all the votes, America crowned Tongi as their new Idol following performances onstage that included “Making Memories of Us,” “Cool Down,” “I’ll Be Seeing You” and “Don’t Let Go.”

Danielle also took the stage to perform songs like “God Whispered Your Name,” “Faithfully” and “Dream Girl.”

Stough placed in third place after performing “Stupid Boy” and “Either Way.”

Throughout the night, the stage of American Idol was graced by many stars. Pitbull and Lil Jon were joined by the Top 12 contestants for “Give Me Everything” and “Jumpin.”

TLC and Lucy Love took us back to remember some of the trio’s hits like “No Scrubs,” “Creep” and “Waterfalls.”

Kevin Cronin...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Neon releases the film in select theaters on Friday, October 13.

They say trends come in threes. And so, nipping on the heels of Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” and Cedric Kahn’s Directors’ Fortnight breakout “The Goldman Case,” Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” make a compelling case that the courthouse has become the most fertile ground in contemporary French cinema, offering incisive auteurs both motive and opportunity to put social structures on trial. As it calls the institution of marriage to the stand, Triet’s piercing film, which went on to win the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes, holds the ambient tensions and illogical loose ends of domestic life against the harsh and rational light of a legal system that searches for order in chaos.

Rounding out her own impressive hat trick,...

Music Box Films has acquired the US distribution rights to “The Crime is Mine” (“Mon Crime”). François Ozon directs the comedy of errors starring newcomers Rebecca Marder and Nadia Terezkiewicz, alongside Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon, and André Dussolier.

Music Box is aiming for a theatrical release later this year with a home video release to follow.

The picture, based on George Berr and Louis Verneuil’s 1934 play, concerns a struggling actress (Terezkiewicz) and her roommate (Marder), an unemployed attorney in 1930’s Paris. Madeleine ends up on trial for the murder of a movie producer, while Pauline serves as both defense counsel and media circus ringmaster to both of their mutual benefit. Their post-acquittal life of fame, fortune and glory is eventually undercut by certain revelations.

“The Crime is Mine” marks Music Box Films’ fifth collaboration with director Ozon, following “Potiche,” “Frantz,” “By the Grace of God” and “Summer of 85.

Music Box Films has picked up the U.S. rights to The Crime Is Mine, the post #MeToo comedy from French director François Ozon and which stars Rebecca Marder, Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Isabelle Huppert.

A theatrical release is planned for later this year for the period film, with a home entertainment release to follow, the distributor said in an announcement timed for the start of the Cannes Film Festival.

Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon, and André Dussolier round out the ensemble cast for The Crime is Mine, which follows struggling actress Madeleine, played by Tereszkiewicz, and her best friend and roommate Pauline (Rebecca Marder), an unemployed lawyer in 1930s Paris.

Madeleine secures fame after standing trial for the murder of a lascivious movie producer, with Pauline serving as defense counsel and media circus ringmaster. The Crime is Mine is adapted from a 1934 play by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil.

Music Box...

Music Box Films has bought U.S. rights to “The Crime Is Mine” (“Mon Crime”), a period comedy by French helmer François Ozon.

“The Crime Is Mine” stars Rebecca Marder and Nadia Tereszkiewicz, who just won the Cesar Award for female newcomer, alongside Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon and André Dussolier. Music Box Films plans a theatrical release for later this year, followed by a home entertainment rollout.

Adapted from a 1934 play by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil, “The Crime Is Mine” follows struggling actress Madeleine (Tereszkiewicz), and her best friend and roommate Pauline (Marder), an unemployed lawyer in 1930s Paris. Madeleine ascends to fame after standing trial for the murder of a movie producer, with Pauline serving as defense counsel and media circus ringmaster. Upon Madeleine’s acquittal, a new life of fame, wealth and tabloid celebrity awaits — until the truth comes out.

The acquisition marks Music Box Films’ fifth collaboration with Ozon,...

Melvil Poupaud: "They are doing a little retrospective of my work at the Fi:af, French Institute, and I have a masterclass at NYU." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Nicolas Pariser’s The Great Game (Le Grand Jeu); Éric Rohmer’s A Tale Of Summer (Conte d'été); François Ozon’s By The Grace Of God (Grâce à Dieu); Charles de Meaux’s The Lady In The Portrait (Le Portrait Interdit); two from Raúl Ruiz, Genealogies Of A Crime (Généalogies d'Un Crime) and Treasure Island (L'Île Au Trésor); Zoe R Cassavetes’ Broken English, and Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways will all be screened in Magnetic Melvil Poupaud.

François Ozon's By the Grace of God in Magnetic Melvil Poupaud Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The CinéSalon series opens on Tuesday, March 7 with Carine Tardieu’s The Young Lovers (Les Jeunes Amants) at 7:30pm followed by a Q&a with Melvil Poupaud inside Florence Gould Hall...

The cinema release schedule in March is, in two words, quite random.

Not only is there Scream 6, a horror sequel fast-tracked following the success of a fifth outing released just 13 months ago, but there’s 65, a post-apocalyptic dinosaur thriller fronted by Adam Driver, who’d be the first to admit he’s an unexpected choice for lead.

Elsewhere, there’s a sports comedy following four Tom Brady-obsessed NFL fans, played by screen titans Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field, a Dungeons & Dragons adaptation starring Hugh Grant, and a sequel to (checks notes) the DC film Shazam! – as we said: random.

Ti West’s X sequel, Pearl, will also finally be released in the UK, an inexplicable six months after it came out in America.

Then there is the below five films, which we believe sit top of the peak. Here are the five films...

Melvil Poupaud and Marion Cotillard in Arnaud Desplechin’s Brother And Sister (Frère Et Sœur) screening in Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Photo: Shanna Besson/Why Not Productions

In the first instalment with Melvil Poupaud (who is being honoured at the French Institute in New York next month) we discuss the dark side of Arnaud Desplechin’s Brother And Sister (Frère Et Sœur), Mathieu Amalric in A Christmas Tale and Kings And Queens, Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning, a touch of François Ozon’s By The Grace Of God, James Joyce’s The Dead, Eric Rohmer’s A Summer’s Tale, and Woody Allen’s Coup De Chance with Lou de Laâge, Niels Schneider and Valérie Lemercier.

Melvil Poupaud with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I always understood that the most gratifying thing when you’re an actor is when a great director such as Eric Rohmer...

The Unifrance cocktail event at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, held in partnership with Variety, saw a heady mix of film executives and artists mingle at the sea terrace of the plush Excelsior hotel.

Presiding over proceedings was Unifrance executive director Daniela Elstner and artists present included director Romain Gavras and actor Ouassini Embarek, whose film “Athena” is in the main competition at the festival. Also attending were actor Swann Arlaud, César winner for “Bloody Milk” and “By the Grace of God,” who is at Venice with his new film “Beating Sun,” by Philippe Petit, who was also present; and filmmaker Audrey Diwan, who won the Venice Golden Lion last year for “Happening” and is serving on the jury this year.

Jean-Paul Salomé and Bertrand Faivre, the director and producer respectively of Horizons strand selection “The Sitting Duck,” were also present as was “The Blessed” filmmaker Sofia Djama, who...

More than 20 years after adapting a Rainer Werner Fassbinder play called “Waters Drops on Burning Rocks” into a movie, François Ozon has made this gender-flipped adaptation of one of Fassbinder’s greatest films, “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,” in an attempt to understand Fassbinder’s real-life struggle with the power plays of love.

Fassbinder’s “Petra von Kant” was shot very quickly on a very low budget, and he used a lot of long takes; every camera movement in Fassbinder’s version of this material feels so ultra-controlled that watching it is like getting tied up in an S & M dungeon or getting slowly strangled by a python. Ozon shoots his own “Peter von Kant” with a casualness that can feel frivolous, and he uses very conventional short takes for shot/reverse shot conversations.

Fassbinder’s “Petra von Kant” revolves around a lesbian love triangle that consists of...

Francois Ozon, whose latest film, “Peter von Kant,” opened the Berlinale, is already shooting his next movie, “Madeleine,” with a flurry of stars including Isabelle Huppert, Dany Boon and Fabrice Luchini.

The project, which is believed to be his most ambitious since “8 Women,” is being introduced to buyers at Cannes by Playtime and has already sparked strong interest. The plot is being kept under wraps, but Playtime is presenting the script to select buyers.

Ozon is one of the few bankable European directors whose films have opened at major festivals and traditionally sell around the world, including in the U.S.

“Madeleine” reteams Ozon with his regular producers, Eric and Nicolas Altmayer at Mandarin Cinema. Gaumont will be distributing the film in France, according to Satellifacts.

The cast also includes Rebecca Marder, the rising French star of Arnaud Desplechin’s “Tromperie” and Sandrine Kiberlain’s “Une jeune fille qui va bien.

Following its world premiere as the Berlin Film Festival opener, Francois Ozon’s “Peter von Kant” has been acquired by Strand Releasing for U.S. distribution.

Represented in international markets by Playtime, the critically acclaimed movie is inspired by Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s cult film “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,” with Denis Menochet playing the tormented filmmaker, opposite Isabelle Adjani, who stars as his muse.

Ozon previously told Variety that the movie was a “universal tale of passion, timely as ever” and “explores the relationships of domination, control and submission in the creative world.”

“Peter von Kant” marks Ozon’s sixth movie that played in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. He won the Silver Bear for his 2018 film, “By the Grace of God,” and “8 Women” 20 years ago. He also debuted “Water Drops on Burning Rocks,” another adaptation of a Fassbinder work, at the festival in 2000.

Playtime...

The breath of life and beating heart at the center of countless, Russian nesting doll layers of artifice and art-house reference, actor Denis Menochet doesn’t just anchor “Peter von Kant,” he makes the Francois Ozon project a film. Because without its venerable lead, this twenty-first feature from France’s most prolific modern director might be something of a lark — and wrangles it into a deep-in-the-weeds pseudo-biopic of the German filmmaker himself.

In some ways a sort of spiritual — if admittedly much less audacious — cousin to Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There,” “Peter von Kant” looks to explore an artist through the prism of his own creations, pulling up the script to Fassbinder’s 1972 film (itself adapted from an earlier play) and Ctrl+H-ing each character with analogues for the director and those in his orbit. And so, in this telling, Peter von Kant is a hard-partying, West German director at...

François Ozon, the prolific and provocative French director who won the Berlinale’s 2018 Golden Bear Award with “By the Grace of God,” is returning to the festival with “Peter von Kant” which will world premiere on opening night. A twist on Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s cult film “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,” Ozon’s movie has Denis Menochet playing the tormented filmmaker, opposite Isabelle Adjani, who stars as his muse. Like the original film, “Peter von Kant” is about a film about love, jealousy and domination. It’s Ozon’s sixth movie in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Ozon’s Berlin films include 2000’s “Water Drops on Burning Rocks,” another adaptation of a Fassbinder work, and “8 Women,” which won the Silver Bear 20 years ago. The director discussed his artistic ambition for the “Peter von Kant” with Variety.

This is your second Fassbinder-based project. Why is Fassbinder...

Peter Von Kant

Having recently crossed off the name of Sophie Marceau on his working with great French actresses bingo card with his last film (Tout s’est bien passé), his latest project, which began filming earlier last year, features the iconic Isabelle Adjani and the participation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder protégé Hanna Schygulla. Selected as the opening film for the next edition of the Berlin Intl. Film Festival, François Ozon makes a rare entry into biopic and film about a film genre and reteams with his By the Grace of God cinematographer Manuel Dacosse.

Gist: An adaptation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, the character of Petra von Kant is instead a male character (played by Denis Menochet).…...

The 72nd edition of the Berlin International Film Festival will open with François Ozon drama Peter Von Kant, starring Denis Menochet, Isabelle Adjani and Hanna Schygulla.

The French-language film will play as part of the international Competition and get its world premiere on February 10, 2022, at the Berlinale Palast.

The feature is an adaptation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s heralded film Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, 1972). The French filmmaker turns the character of Petra von Kant into a man and a filmmaker in a nod to Fassbinder.

Berlin organizers this morning announced protocols and restrictions for the in-person event, which will be shortened by three days and run with 50% capacity in cinemas.

The event remains one of the few festivals still on course to go ahead in-person at the start of 2022 after Sundance and Palm Springs were forced to cancel their physical...

The Berlin Film Festival has its opening film in François Ozon’s “Peter von Kant.”

The film, which stars Denis Menochet, Isabelle Adjani and Hanna Schygulla, is part of the fest’s International Competition and will have its world premiere on Feb. 10 at the Berlinale Palast. Variety revealed on Tuesday that the festival is planning to go ahead as an in-person event, and organizers provided further details of the plan on Wednesday.

“We are beyond thrilled to welcome back François Ozon to the festival and are happy to launch our next edition with his new film,” said Berlin artistic director Carlo Chatrian. “For this year’s opening, we were looking for a film that could bring lightness and verve into our somber daily lives. ‘Peter von Kant’ is a theatrical tour de force around the concept of lockdown. In the hands of Ozon, the kammerspiel becomes the perfect container for love and jealousy,...

The aim is for greater emphasis on executive production and co-production.

London-based international sales, production and finance company Protagonist Pictures, whose titles include Censor and Venice’s Official Competition, has restructured its team, with three new appointments and a slew of promotions.

Alexis Hamaide joins as marketing manager from L’Avventura Studio in Paris, former Carnaby International and WestEnd Films exec Jonathan Walik has been appointed sales executive and Isabel Ivars, who has previously worked at Wide Management and Films Boutique is the new library and festivals manager.

“Our new roles reflect the shifting landscape of film financing and Jonathan,...

Mars Films, the Paris-based distribution company that released Oscar winners “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight,” has finalized its restructuring plan with minority shareholder Vivendi Content, a branch of Universal Music Group and Canal Plus Group’s parent company.

Founded by Stephane Celerier and Valerie Garcia in 2007, the once thriving company has been in the process of financial restructuring and monitoring since Aug. 2019.

Vivendi, which had acquired a 30% stake in the company back in 2015, will convert its €11.2 million ($13 million) debt into equity and is acquiring Mars Films’ library of more than 200 titles for all rights in France.

The Mars catalogue includes hit French co-productions such as “La Famille Belier,” the hit French heart-warming comedy that was remade into “Coda,” “Two is a Family” with Omar Sy, Fred Cavayé’s “Le jeu”; and award-winning indies such as Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” Asif Kapadia’s “Amy,...

Early in “Everything Went Fine,” ailing 85-year-old André asks — instructs, really — his daughter Emmanuèle to help him end his life. After a brief period of understandable panic, she takes the assignment more or less in stride, give or take the odd cry behind closed bathroom doors. “Why would your father ask this of his daughter?” her bewildered husband asks her in bed one night. “That’s why, because I’m his daughter,” she replies, seemingly amazed he has to ask. Thus does François Ozon’s tender-hearted but cool-headed euthanasia drama effectively divide the world into people who understand this and people who don’t, while remaining sympathetic to all parties.

Adapted from French writer Emmanuèle Bernheim’s memoir of her father’s death, this elegantly written, persuasively performed drama finds the ever-unpredictable Ozon in his plainest, most pragmatic gear as a filmmaker. The results are cinematically low-key, but a tony cast of familiar faces,...

Naomi Watts is set to star in and executive produce the English-language remake of the hit Austrian psychological thriller “Goodnight Mommy,” set up at Amazon Studios.

The streamer will mount the remake with indie prestige label Animal Kingdom and production company Playtime. Released in 2014, the original film became a cult classic and was selected as the Austrian entry for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards.

Matt Sobel (“Take Me To The River”) is directing from a script by Kyle Warren. David Kaplan, Joshua Astrachan, Valery Guibal and Nicolas Brigaud-Robert are producing. In addition to Watts, the original film’s directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz will serve as executive producers.

Playtime acquired the remake rights and developed the new film with Playtime. Amazon is financing and releasing worldwide.

“Goodnight Mommy” follows twin brothers who, when sent to stay with their mother, are surprised to find her swathed in bandages from a recent procedure.

The physical experience of the cinema in 2020 has been a fragmented stop and start scenario. Not being able to visit the cinema has been discouraging, but in putting this mix together I was reminded, pandemic aside, there have been new movies worth getting excited about and distinctive music and sounds to accompany them. Over the 1 hour, 39 minute run time this mix stops and starts in different mood zones, symmetrical to the year it represents. Between pieces of original score and soundtrack are voices and sounds, sometimes of hope, sometimes more sinister. Meandering in pace, this mix is a snapshot of feelings, as quickly as they come they move into different territory. We open with extracts from Garrett Bradely’s Time, these echoes of childhood and family swirl forward years as if inside a sonic time capsule. We hear voices weave in and out, “lots of things changed since the beginning of this tape.

Gaumont has come on board “Fantasies,” a sex-themed French comedy headlined by Monica Bellucci (“Spectre”), Carole Bouquet (“For Your Eyes Only”) and Karine Viard (“Famille Belier”).

Directed by David and Stephane Foenkinos, the omnibus film follows six couples and revolves around their intimate lives and fantasies, from role-playing to exhibitionism and abstinence.

Besides Bellucci, Bouquet and Viard, the film stars Suzanne Clément (“Mommy”), Jean-Paul Rouve (“C’est la Vie!”), Joséphine Japy (“Love at Second Sight”), Denis Podalydès (“An Officer and a Spy”), Céline Sallette (“The Returned”), Nicolas Bedos (“Mr & Mrs Adelman”), Ramzy Bedia (“Lost Bullet”), Alice Taglioni (“Claire Darling”), Joséphine de Meaux (“Dheepan”) and William Lebghil (“C’est la Vie!”)

“Fantasies” is in post-production and will be released in France by Gaumont during the second semester of 2021. Gaumont is handling international sales on the movie and will introduce it to buyers at the American Film Market, which kicks off Monday.

“With its glamorous cast,...

The director on waiting 35 years to film the perfect gay love story, and how French cinema is coping with Covid

French writer-director François Ozon, 52, is famous for his prodigious output. He directed his first full-length feature, Sitcom, in 1998, and his 19th, Summer of 85, a love story about two teenage boys in a Normandy seaside town, is out in the UK this month. In between, his diverse output includes the musical 8 Women, the retro comedy Potiche, the Ruth Rendell adaptation The New Girlfriend and last year’s By the Grace of God.

What were you doing in the summer of ’85?

What was I doing? I think I went to Spain with a friend – I can’t remember exactly, I’d have to ask my parents. The film was going to be called Summer of 84. I changed the title because of Robert Smith of the Cure. I absolutely wanted to use their song In Between Days,...

Fanny Ardant, Melvil Poupaud, Cécile de France and Florence Loiret-Caille lead the cast of this feature film by Agat Film & Ex Nihilo and Karé Productions, which is sold by mk2 Films. Since 14 September, Carine Tardieu has been shooting The Young Lovers, her 4th full-length film after In Mom’s Head, The Dandelions and Just To Be Sure (unveiled in the Directors’ Fortnight in 2017). Starring in the cast are Fanny Ardant (recently awarded the Best Supporting Role César for her part in La Belle Époque and touring cinemas as of 28 October courtesy of DNA), Melvil Poupaud, Belgium’s Cécile de France (recently nominated...

After a trio of films that saw François Ozon feeling out the far extremes of his interest and ability — 2016’s monochrome interwar melodrama “Frantz,” the winking De Palma-esque mindfuck “Double Lover,” and last year’s journalistic Catholic priest exposé “By the Grace of God” — the precocious and pétillant “Summer of 85” finds the prolific French auteur circling back to the kind of lurid, playful, and unapologetically queer psychodramas that first made him famous in the late ’90s. But it wouldn’t be right to characterize this stormy coming-of-age story as a return to form, as that would imply some kind of desperate scramble back to the safety of the shore.

In truth, Ozon was never off his game so much as he was simply testing the outer limits of the board. And his 19th feature isn’t a retreat back to the Patricia Highsmith-inflected likes of “See the Sea,...

Music Box plans 2021 theatrical release.

Music Box Films has picked up François Ozon’s Summer Of 85 (Été 85), the TIFF selection and coming-of-age story that premiered in virtual Cannes.

Music Box plans a 2021 theatrical release on the first love drama, and previously handled Ozon’s Potiche, Frantz, and By The Grace Of God.

Summer Of 85 centres on 16-year-old Alexis (Félix Lefebvre) and David (Benjamin Voisin), the mysterious and handsome 18-year-old who saves him when his boat capsizes on the coast of Normandy.

Alexis thinks he has met the person of his dreams, but their relationship may not last more than one summer.

Music Box Films has scooped U.S. rights to French auteur Francois Ozon’s “Summer of 85,” a highlight of Cannes 2020’s Official Selection which is set to play at Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals. The film is represented in international markets by the Paris-based company Playtime.

“Summer of 85” marks Ozon’s follow up to “By The Grace of God,” the winner of Berlin’s 2019 Silver Bear Award. “Summer of 85” reunites Ozon with Music Box, the U.S. distributor of “By The Grace of God,” “Potiche” and “Frantz.”

Music Box is planning to release the film theatrically next year, followed by a release on home entertainment.

Inspired by Aidan Chambers’ novel “Dance On My Grave,” “Summer of 85” is a poignant tale of first love. The film follows 16-year-old Alexis (Félix Lefebvre) and David (Benjamin Voisin), the mysterious and handsome 18-year-old who saves him when his boat...

The musical will feature Mathieu Amalric, Mélanie Thierry, Josiane Balasko, Maïwenn, Denis Lavant and Jalil Lespert. An Sbs production sold by Pyramide. On Monday 24 August, brothers Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu began shooting on Tralala, their 8th feature after, amongst others, To Paint or Make Love (in competition in Cannes in 2005), Le Voyage aux Pyrénées (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs 2008), Happy End (Piazza Grande in Locarno 2009), Love is the Perfect Crime (Toronto 2013) and 21 Nights with Pattie (Best Screenplay award in San Sebastian in 2015). The cast includes Mathieu Amalric (soon to appear in The French Dispatch), Mélanie Thierry (nominated in the Best Actress category at the 2019 Césars for Memoir of War; recently seen in Da 5 Bloods), Josiane Balasko (nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 2020 Césars for By the Grace of God; soon in La pièce rapportée), Maïwenn (in cinemas on October...

Camille Cottin, Swann Arlaud, Patrick d’Assumçao and Anne-Lise Heimburger star in the cast of this Les Films du Cap production set to be sold by Other Angle Pictures. Since 29 July, shooting has been underway on Mona Achache’s Cœurs vaillants, the director’s third feature film after The Hedgehog and Les Gazelles. Stealing focus in the cast are Camille Cottin, Swann Arlaud (the winner of the 2018 Best Actor César for Bloody Milk and the 2020 Best Supporting Role gong for By the Grace of God, also at his best in The Bare Necessity, and whom we’ll...

Not since the summer of 2003, when François Ozon unveiled Sapphic sizzler “Swimming Pool” at the Cannes Film Festival, has the French director seduced audiences quite as brazenly as he does in “Summer of 85,” which was also set to premiere at Cannes, before the global coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation of the 2020 edition. Undaunted, the film opened July 14 in French theaters, which have rebounded faster than those of the U.S., with a festival premiere planned for San Sebastián in the fall.

(HIV was already ravaging the gay community, but it wasn’t till the death of Rock Hudson in October 1985, a few months after the film is set, that many acknowledged the crisis). The nostalgia here is undercut by tragedy, though no virus is to blame in what feels like Ozon’s response to “Call Me by Your Name” — his own effervescent account of two souls who found one another for a single season,...

By Beryl Liu, International InternCannes Competiton’s ‘Summer of 85’’/ ‘Ete 85’, the new film from French director François Ozon, and the first feature from the Cannes 2020 official selection will be theatrically released by Diaphana in France on July 14th.

Additional international territorial rights have already been licensed to September for Benelux, Camera for Denmark, Filmladen for Austria and Edge for Sweden.

Playtime (known as Films Distribution until September 2017) is a Paris-based hybrid finance, venture investment, and international sales company active since 1997. Committed to amplifying diverse voices around the world the past 20 years, the company has made a name for itself in the marketplace as a high end sales agency selling feature films to international distributors and broadcasters. Playtime is dedicated to award-winning directors and innovative art-house films from around the world, and to discovering new filmmakers. Playtime is also an active co-producer, under the Playtime Production banner, and has recently...

Tokyo-based Flag Co. has acquired all Japanese rights to François Ozon’s “Summer of 85” from Playtime. The film is one of the highlights of the Cannes’ 2020 Official Selection and is also screening at the online market.

“Summer of 85” marks Ozon’s anticipated follow up to “By The Grace of God” which won the Silver Bear Award at Berlin last year. A prestigious filmmaker, Ozon is also considered a ‘Cannes regular,” having presented four movies in the Official Selection before, notably the critically acclaimed “Swimming Pool” which competed in 2003.

A screen adaptation of Aidan Chambers’ novel “Dance On My Grave,” “Summer of 85” tells the love story of Alexis and David. When 16-year-old Alexis capsizes off the coast of Normandy, he is saved heroically by 18-year-old David. Immediately, Alexis feels he might just have met the best friend of his dreams. Both Alexis and David make great promises to...

“Call Me by Your” what? François Ozon’s new film “Summer of 85,” based on the latest international trailer, looks to be the gay summer-of-love story to end them all. The queer romance, set in 1985, boasts a killer soundtrack including The Cure and Bananarama, gorgeous cinematography, a coastal setting, striped T-shirts, and, of course, a beautiful cast, led by French cinema favorites Félix Lefebvre, Benjamin Voisin, Philippine Velge, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Melvil Poupaud, and Isabelle Nanty. Check out the latest international trailer below.

“Summer of 85” was originally set to world-premiere as part of the (canceled) 2020 Cannes Film Festival competition lineup. It’ll still carry the festival branding as it rolls out in French theaters beginning July 14, as with other would’ve-been competition films including Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers,” Francis Lee’s own queer romance “Ammonite,” and many more.

Here’s the official synopsis:...