News

And now, we wait. The bulk of precursor nominations have poured in, and Oscar voting is newly underway. Aside from the final BAFTA roster, most of what’s left is merely a swift march to January 23, nomination day. A couple of films in particular are making well-timed streaming premieres that function as end-of-the-road campaign strategies.

The contender to stream this week: “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”

This Oscar-shortlisted documentary co-directed by spouses Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, who also made 2013’s “American Promise,” follows the eponymous poet and activist through years of civil-rights evolutions. If Black women can withstand the hardships of Earth, Giovanni posits, maybe they can survive in space, too. “Going to Mars” is more experimental than the average biography, which makes sense for such an elusive figure. The film won a jury prize at Sundance and has an Independent Spirit Award nomination. It’s newly streaming on Max.

I’ll admit I didn’t expect to see an overt Vertigo homage in the middle of this rather matter-of-fact Isabelle Huppert procedural. Fixating for a second on the bun on the back of her noticeable-through-the-runtime blonde wig, La Syndicaliste affords some time, in the middle of all its backroom dealings and court hearings, to ponder her as a star and film history. For all the dramatic proceedings surrounding her, the icon––who’s essentially been anointed France’s Meryl Streep (though far less annoying and mechanical a performer)––is given some opportunities to “serve” throughout; chiefly she looks very poised answering her cell phone.

She portrays real-life figure Maureen Kearney, who as a rep on behalf of the nuclear-workers union was a figure under constant threat from the country’s corporate establishment. But despite the nation shifting from the right-wing Sarkozy to left-wing Hollande in the early goings of its narrative,...

Isabelle Huppert is one of cinema’s most fearless and compelling performers: she can be both powerfully raw and impenetrably composed at once. It is even more impressive that such an intimidating and disarming onscreen presence is disarmingly cheerful and warm in person. She is also a workhorse and appearing in four films this year, including a pair of December releases: her second collaboration with Jean-Paul Salomé (following 2019’s La Daronne), La Syndicaliste, and the upcoming murder mystery romp The Crime is Mine, directed by François Ozon.

La Syndicaliste is an elegant, ambiguous true-crime story that explores women in the workplace, corporate greed, and the slippery nature of truth. Huppert plays Maureen Kearney, a union rep for the massive nuclear company, Areva, who becomes a whistle-blower when she learns of the company’s secret deal with China that threatens thousands of French jobs. While the film has all the trademarks...

Comedy of Power: Huppert Shines in Whistleblower Expose from Salomé

Making a rare appearance in a ‘based on a true story’ film, Isabelle Huppert elevates a character study in whistle-blowing with La syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck), a reunion with her Mama Weed (2020) director Jean-Paul Salomé. It’s also rather an anomaly for the consummately bustling actor in how she’s somewhat cast against type as a resilient but fragile personality.

Based on the 2019 publication from investigative journalist Caroline Michel-Aguirre, corruption, violence, and political intrigue swirl maliciously in this tale of blatant misogyny following the sexual assault against a woman whose position allowed her access to the president, ultimately forced to clear her own name against charges of filing a false report.…...

Brainstorm Media has picked up Ivan Sen’s crime drama Limbo ahead of its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival on Monday.

The Australian noir, which bowed in Berlin, will be released as part of a partnership between Brainstorm Media and Music Box Films. Limbo has Simon Baker starring as a jaded detective investigating the cold case murder of a local Indigenous girl.

As truths about the murder begin to unfold, Baker’s character gains more insight into the unsolved case from the victim’s fractured family, the surviving witnesses and the reclusive brother of the chief suspect.

“Limbo explores the deeper impact of a crime on an Indigenous family through the eyes of a white policeman. The source of these ideas has largely come from my personal experience, from family members and friends who have been victims of crime. I have witnessed their struggle not only for justice,...

Kino Lorber has bought U.S. rights to Jean-Paul Salomé’s true life thriller “The Sitting Duck,” starring Isabelle Huppert as the French union organizer and whistleblower Maureen Kearney.

Represented in international markets by The Bureau Sales, “The Sitting Duck” world premiered at Venice where it won the Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Prize. The film will open theatrically in France in March, and Kino Lorber is planning a U.S. theatrical release later this year, followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms.

“The Sitting Duck” has now been sold around the world. The Bureau Sales has closed deals for Canada (Axia Films Inc.), UK (Modern Films), Germany/Austria (Weltkino Filmverleih Gmbh), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), France (Le Pacte), Spain (Wanda Vision S.A.), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi Zurich Ag), Greece (Cinobo), Portugal, Bulgaria (Beta Film Ltd.), Hungary (Ads Service Ltd.), Romania (Transilvania Film), Israel (Forum Film Ltd.

Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Bernard-Henri Lévy just days before he is elected President of Ukraine Photo: Yann Revol, courtesy Cohen Media Group

Bernard-Henri Lévy on Wednesday, April 20 moved up our scheduled time to meet from 3:00pm (New York time) to 2:30pm so he could watch from the start the final French presidential debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. The election is today, Sunday April 24.

In The Will To See (Une Autre Idée Du Monde), co-directed with Marc Roussel, produced by Kristina Larsen, and executive produced by Emily Hamilton, Bernard-Henri Lévy takes us up close to many of the never-ending crises around the world.

Bernard-Henri Lévy: “I was in Ukraine a few days ago. Before that I was in the area of Odessa, Mykolaiv, I continue to go.” Photo: Cohen Media Group

This must-see documentary, shot by Olivier Jacquin and Roussel is dedicated to Paris Match Managing...

Film studio STX has placed a subsidiary company containing the rights to Gerard Butler’s 2020 film “Greenland” into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Filed on Feb. 28 in Louisiana by ErosSTX President and General Counsel Noah Fogelson, the motion asks the bankruptcy court for relief in the form of time — time for STX to pay its creditors and to find the capital to co-finance and co-produce a sequel to the disaster movie, co-starring “Homeland” actress Morena Baccarin.

Under the moniker Fso Jones LLC, the bankruptcy filing lists the “Greenland” rights at $50 million in assets and up to $500 million in liabilities. As Variety previously reported, STX is in the midst of a sales process that includes private investment firm The Najafi Companies and, recently, suitors like Lionsgate.

“Fso Jones is the entity that owns the global distribution rights in the sequel to our film ‘Greenland’ which had tremendous success both domestically and throughout the international markets.

La Syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck)

Jean-Paul Salomé moves the pendulum from crime caper to crime thriller but with biopic elements in his second consecutive project with Isabelle Huppert. With a newly added supporting cast, a 2022 shoot is imminent. Entering his third decade of filmmaking, La Syndicaliste (which will be known by international auds as “The Sitting Duck“) quickly follows La Daronne (aka Mama Weed) – which surprisingly didn’t receive any prestige film festival premiere but played extremely well at the French box office.…...

Isabelle Huppert, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Elle,” is set to reteam with French director Jean-Paul Salomé (“Mama Weed”) on the French thriller “The Sitting Duck.”

The movie, produced by Bertrand Faivre at Le Bureau and co-produced by Bettina Brokemper at Heimatfilm, boasts a stellar cast, which also includes Benoit Magimel, Marina Fois, Alexandra Maria Lara, Grégory Gadebois and François-Xavier Demaison.

Huppert previously starred in Salomé’s crime comedy “Mama Weed” as a French-Arabic translator for the Paris drug police who becomes a savvy wholesale pusher.

The French star will this time star as Maureen Kearney, a whistleblower who is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina. Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. But the investigation uncovers new elements leading Maureen to become a suspect.

The Bureau Sales (“True Things”) will launch the...

Universal Pictures has released a trailer for Jennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me,” heading to theaters on February 11, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The romantic comedy follows Lopez as Kat, a music superstar, who marries a complete stranger (Owen Wilson) during a concert after she finds out that her boyfriend Bastian (played by musician Maluma) is cheating on her. The trailer also shows the pair seemingly falling in love — although the arrangement is only supposed to last for three months. The cast also includes Sarah Silverman, Jameela Jamil and Jimmy Fallon.

In a teaser that Lopez shared with fans on Instagram Monday, the actress is singing a track called “On My Way” with a caption reading, “Every heartbreak was a yellow brick road.” Two other songs from the film are titled, “Pa’ Ti” and “Lonely,” which Lopez and Maluma recorded together for the movie’s soundtrack.

“Marry Me” was directed by Kat Coiro,...

Sofía Vergara is set to star in a Netflix limited series about notorious drug trafficker Griselda Blanco, Variety has learned.

Titled “Griselda,” the series chronicles the real life of savvy and ambitious Colombian business woman who created one of the most profitable drug cartels in history. A devoted mother, Blanco’s lethal blend of charm and unsuspecting savagery helped her expertly navigate between family and business leading her to become widely known as the Black Widow and the Cocaine Godmother.

The show will consist of six 50-minute episodes.

“Griselda Blanco was a larger-than-life character whose ruthless but ingenious tactics allowed her to rule a billion dollar empire years before many of the most notorious male kingpins we know so much about,” Vergara said. “We are thrilled to have found the perfect partners in Eric, Andrés and Netflix to help us bring this story of her life to the screen.”

It...

Acclaimed screenwriter and producer Terence Winter has signed with Lbi Entertainment for management.

Winter joins rep and partner Scott Greenberg at the Rick Yorn-run firm. Greenberg departed his longtime post at CAA last summer.

A mainstay in prestige dramas, Winter’s television career includes seven years as an executive producer on the HBO flagship “The Sopranos” and “Boardwalk Empire,” for which he served as creator and showrunner. An Emmy winner, Winter co-wrote the fan favorite “Sopranos” episode “Pine Barrens,” for which he also nabbed one of several WGA Awards.

He’ll next serve as writer and executive producer on the anticipated STX film “The Godmother,” in which Jennifer Lopez will portray infamous Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco for director Reed Morano.

In 2013, Winter received a best adapted screenplay Academy Award nomination for Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Additional film credits include rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s breakout film,...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on the new film “Mama Weed,” a French Film distributed by Music Box Films of Chicago. In select theaters including Music Box Theatre beginning July 16th, 2021, and through Video On Demand July 23rd.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Mama Weed features notable French actor Isabelle Huppert as the aptly named Patience, an Arabic translator for the French police. While interpreting a case, she happens upon a stolen cache of high quality hashish, and steals it herself to take care of her financial woes. This puts her in between her employers, and the cartel that’s very angry that lost their stash.

“Mama Weed” is in select theaters (see local listings) and through Video On Demand July 23rd. Featuring sabelle Huppert, Hippolyte Girardot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovére and Irs Bry. Screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Salomé and Hannelore Cayre. Directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. Not Rated.

Click here...

With a body of work that rivals any performer’s across the history of film, French actress Isabelle Huppert can swan in and out of challenging material with nary a scratch to her matchless reputation. Often, her cool intensity and versatility is what makes that material work, most recently exemplified in her Oscar-nominated turn in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle.” But sometimes you get what amounts to a perfect fit of risk and skill, leading to sheer delight. That’s the case with the fleet French crime comedy “La Daronne,” translated with a winking nudge into colloquial English, and toward its particular narrative, as “Mama Weed.”

No, Huppert is not on the toking end in director Jean-Paul Salomé’s film (not that she couldn’t rock a pot comedy), but rather the dealing side. Huppert plays Patience Portefeux, a widow with money problems and a mother with dementia in an expensive assisted home,...

UniFrance, the French film promotion org headed by Serge Toubiana and Daniela Elstner, is launching the International French Cinema Fest on Bastille Day at the Cannes Film Festival.

The event aims at shining a light on some of France’s latest productions whose release plans were disrupted due to the pandemic.

Spanning over 30 countries, the International French Cinema Fest is being organized in partnership with distributors and exhibitors around the world who will host 50 premiere screenings of select French movies ahead of their theatrical release in key territories, including the U.S. and the U.K. Other countries involved in the initiative include Argentina, the Baltic States, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.

“This is a unique occasion to (re)invigorate the collective experience of watching movies, on a global scale,” said Elstner, who worked closely with Gilles Renouard, the co-managing director of UniFrance,...

There’s something off about Mama Weed. On a more superfluous level, there’s the translation from La daronne—the original French title and the street name its protagonist comes to earn, itself an informal term for “mother”—to the title and nickname used in its United States release. Textually, problems emerge from the myriad supporting characters, virtually all of whom play like narrative props. The script seems uninterested in its conflict; the filmmaking lacks the style to glue its pieces together. That shines a light on, and strands, our title character.

She’s Patience (Isabelle Huppert), an Arabic-fluent French translator working for the police’s narcotics unit. At first, she’s humble: a woman proficient in her professional life but underpaid, a widow and mother to two daughters (Iris Bry and Rebecca Marder). She’s behind on her rent and hopes to afford her own mother (Liliane Rovère) better...

Mama Weed (La daronne) Brainstorm Media/Music Box Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Jean-Paul Salomé Writer: Hannelore Cayre, Hannelore C;ayre, Jean-Paul Salomé, based on Hannelore Cayre’s novel “The Godmother” Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Hippolyte Giradot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovère, Iris Bry Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/10/21 Opens: […]

The post Mama Weed Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Muriel Sauzay, Pathe Intl.’s former head, and Agnès Mentré, Wild Bunch’s former acquisition topper, have launched Maremako, a Paris-based banner banner with a special interest in adaptations and remakes.

The company’s first slate includes an English-language remake of “Stalk” with Endeavor Content, in association with Drake’s DreamCrew and Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Prods.; and “French Love,” a anthology series with Noemie Saglio (Netflix’s “The Hook Up Plan”) showrunning and Richard Grandpierre’s Eskwad producing. “Stalk” follows a teenage hacker who gets hazed in his freshman year at a prestigious engineering school and sets off to take his revenge by cyber-stalking his tormentors.

“French Love,” meanwhile, will be based on the highly popular Elle magazine weekly column “C’est mon histoire” (It’s My Story). The column, which boasts one of the highest readerships of French women’s magazine segments on love stories in France,...

After offering up our picks for the best films of the first half of the year, we enter the second half with a strong release slate. Arriving this July is a stellar set of documentaries, a few promising wide releases, new films from some of the century’s most prolific directors, and much more. Check out my picks below.

15. Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)

Before an eventual Criterion release, Janus Films will bow the debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri, which recently played at Berlinale, New Directors/New Films, and more. David Katz said in his review, “Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven and Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express have been directly cited by the filmmakers as inspirations for Eyimofe, and I would also mention Amores Perros for its interleaving structure and top-to-bottom dissection of a megalopolis, teeming with...

Isabelle Huppert is a living legend in the world of film. There’s no denying that. And judging by the footage seen in the trailer for “Mama Weed,” it appears she’s having more fun than ever before in the new crime film.

Read More: The Best Film Performances Of The Decade [2010s]

“Mama Weed” stars Huppert as a translater for the Paris police. And while on duty, she discovers a drug dealer has been apprehended but the police weren’t able to find his stash of weed.

Continue reading ‘Mama Weed’ Trailer: Isabelle Huppert Is An Unlikely Drug Kingpin In Jean-Paul Salomé’s Crime Film at The Playlist.

"What are you, small-timers?" Music Box Films has released an official US trailer for an indie drug dealer dark comedy called Mama Weed, originally known as La Daronne (or The Mum) in French. This already opened in France last year, and is finally getting a US release this summer. The German title for this is also Eine Frau mit berauschenden Talenten, which translates to A Woman with Intoxicating Talents - a much more enticing title, too. Ha! A translator working for the police gets involved in the other side of drug dealing. Her involvement in his business quickly escalates and she finds herself in possession of a huge store of hash and the insider knowledge required to move it. So she switches sides and gets the nickname "Mama Weed". Isabelle Huppert stars as Patience Portefeux, with a cast including Hippolyte Girardot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovère, Iris Bry, and Nadja Nguyen.

Legendary actress Isabelle Huppert is partaking in quite a bit of fun for a new French crime comedy. Mama Weed, directed by Jean-Paul Salomé, finds the star playing a French-Arabic translator for the Paris police anti-narcotics unit who gets caught up in the drug game to pay for the mounting bills to take care of her aging mother. Opening last fall in France to a successful box office, the film has been picked up by Music Box Films for a U.S. theatrical release on July 16, followed by a VOD release from Brainstorm Media on July 23rd. Ahead of the debut, we’re pleased to exclusively premiere the U.S. trailer.

Based on “The Godmother,” the acclaimed novel by Hannelore Cayre, and nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay César Award, Huppert plays Patience Portefeux, a translator for the Paris police by day, looking in on her aging mother in the evenings.

Jennifer Lopez and her production company Nuyorican Productions has signed into a first look film and TV deal with Netflix.

Through the creative partnership, Lopez and Nuyorican will produce a slate of films and series, both scripted and unscripted, focusing on diverse female actors and filmmaking talent.

Lopez will star in two upcoming Netflix features, “The Mother” directed by “Mulan” director Niki Caro, and “The Cipher,” which is based on a book by Isabel Ojeda Maldonado.

“I am excited to announce my new partnership with Netflix. Elaine, Benny and I believe there is no better home for us than a forward leaning content creation company that seeks to defy conventional wisdom and directly market to the millions across the globe who no longer view art and entertainment with the kind of boundaries and limitations of the past,” Lopez said in a statement. “We at Nuyorican Productions are thrilled to find like-minded partners in Ted Sarandos,...

Music Box Films and Brainstorm Media have acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Mama Weed,” Jean-Paul Salomé’s crime comedy starring Isabelle Huppert.

Sold by France’s Le Pacte, the movie stars Huppert as Patience Portefeux, a French-Arabic translator for the Paris drug police who stumbles into a massive store of marijuana and becomes a savvy wholesale pusher no one ever saw coming.

Music Box Films will release the film in theaters July 16, with Brainstorm Media handling the digital and home entertainment releases, slated for July 23.

The deal was negotiated by Brainstorm’s Michelle Shwarzstein, head of distribution, and Le Pacte’s Camille Neel, head of international sales, with Music Box Films’ head of acquisitions Brian Andreotti.

“Isabelle Huppert gives a delightfully unexpected performance in this hidden gem of a film that we are thrilled to share,” said Shwarzstein. “We are also very excited to continue our great track record...

STX Films has named Nasim Cambron executive vice president of publicity, Adam Fogelson, chairman of STX films motion picture group, announced Thursday.

Cambron rejoins STX Films to oversee all feature film publicity for the studio, after a stint as publicity manager in Netflix’s feature film division. In her new role, Cambron will coordinate communication efforts across all of STX’s internal divisions, including the digital marketing, creative, media, home entertainment and distribution departments. Cambron will report to Keri Moore, STX Films’ president of marketing.

“This is a homecoming for us and for Nasim,” Fogelson said. “She is an exceptional publicity leader and the right choice to lead our film PR team. Having worked with her for years, we have seen firsthand the kinds of results she has generated on behalf of our films and filmmakers, and we know the best is yet to come. We are thrilled to have her back.

Nasim Cambron, who was integral to the launch of such STX hits as Hustlers and the Bad Moms franchise, has rejoined the studio, this time as EVP of Publicity.

In her new position, Cambron will oversee all feature film publicity for the studio and coordinate communication efforts across STX’s internal divisions, including the digital marketing, creative, media, home entertainment, and distribution departments. Cambron will report to Keri Moore, STXfilms President of Marketing.

She will begin work on a feature slate that includes Queenpins, starring Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Vince Vaughn, and Paul Walter Hauser; a new action comedy directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Jason Statham, Hugh Grant, Aubrey Plaza, and Josh Hartnett; The Marsh King’s Daughter, starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn; American Sole, starring Pete Davidson, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Camila Mendes, Offset, and Bad Bunny; The Godmother, starring Jennifer Lopez; Muscle, starring Vin Diesel and directed...

She was previously executive vice president since 2017

STXfilms has promoted Keri Moore to be its president of marketing, upping her from executive vice president, a role she has held since 2017.

Moore has been with the studio since its launch and has overseen advertising and brand development on STX releases including “Hustlers,” “The Upside,” “The Gentlemen,” “The Gift,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Den of Thieves,” “The Edge of Seventeen,” “Molly’s Game,” the “Bad Moms” films and more recently, “Greenland” and “The Mauritanian.”

She is currently overseeing marketing for a slate including the Kristen Bell comedy “Queenpins,” a new action-comedy directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Jason Statham, “The Marsh King’s Daughter” starring Daisy Ridley, “American Sole” starring Pete Davidson,“The Godmother” starring Jennifer Lopez, “Violence of Action” starring Chris Pine and “Muscle” starring Vin Diesel and directed by F. Gary Gray.

“Keri has been with STX since the beginning and is incredibly deserving of this expanded role,...

STXfilms, a division of Bob Simonds’ Eros STX, has promoted Keri Moore to president of marketing.

Moore previously served as executive vice president in the department, taking the full post after colleague Alissa Grayson’s departure to Warner Bros. Pictures.

“Keri has been with STX since the beginning and is incredibly deserving of this expanded role,” said Adam Fogelson, chairman of the STXfilms motion picture group. “She’s smart, creative, strategic and exceptionally hard working and she is enormously well-respected by filmmakers and peers. I’m thrilled that we’re able to recognize her many contributions to our overall success with this well deserved promotion.”

Moore has overseen creative advertising and brand development for STXfilms since the studio’s launch, working on titles like “Hustlers,” “The Upside,” “The Gentlemen,” “Bad Moms” and most recently the hit “Greenland” and awards season player “The Mauritanian.”

“I feel extraordinarily fortunate to be surrounded by such a talented,...

STXfilms has promoted Keri Moore to president of marketing after she oversaw creative advertising for STX releases Hustlers, The Upside, The Gentlemen, The Gift and more recently Greenland.

Moore has served as executive vp since the studio launched in 2017. “Keri has been with STX since the beginning and is incredibly deserving of this expanded role,” Adam Fogelson, chairman of the STXfilms Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.

Moore is currently overseeing marketing for a slate that includes Queenpins, The Marsh King’s Daughter, American Sole, The Godmother, Muscle and Violence of Action, starring Chris Pine.

“I feel extraordinarily fortunate to ...

STXfilms has promoted Keri Moore to president of marketing after she oversaw creative advertising for STX releases Hustlers, The Upside, The Gentlemen, The Gift and more recently Greenland.

Moore has served as executive vp since the studio launched in 2017. “Keri has been with STX since the beginning and is incredibly deserving of this expanded role,” Adam Fogelson, chairman of the STXfilms Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.

Moore is currently overseeing marketing for a slate that includes Queenpins, The Marsh King’s Daughter, American Sole, The Godmother, Muscle and Violence of Action, starring Chris Pine.

“I feel extraordinarily fortunate to ...

In the wake of STXfilms co-President of Marketing Alissa Grayson heading to Warner Bros as their new EVP of Global Publicity, the studio has raised Keri Moore to President of Marketing.

Moore has overseen Creative Advertising and Brand Development for STXfilms since the studio’s launch and, most recently served as EVP, a post she has held since 2017. She has overseen creative advertising on all STX releases including Hustlers, The Upside, The Gentlemen, The Gift, I Feel Pretty, Den of Thieves, The Edge of Seventeen, Molly’s Game, the Bad Moms franchise, and more recently the STX hit Greenland, which opened #1 in 29 international markets and the award season favorite The Mauritanian.

Moore is currently overseeing marketing for a slate including Queenpins, starring Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Vince Vaughn, and Paul Walter Hauser; a new action-comedy directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Jason Statham, Hugh Grant, Aubrey Plaza and Josh Hartnett; The Marsh King’s Daughter,...

Isabelle Huppert in Mama Weed Photo: Courtesy of Fff The French Film Festival's fff@home has announced an online programme to run from March 12 to 27.

The selection includes titles from last year's Covid-hit edition, including Jean-Paul Salomé’s César-nominated quirky crime caper, Mama Weed, starring Isabelle Huppert as a French-Arabic police translator.

Other films screening, include the multi-César nominated Love Affair(s), directed by Emmanuel Mouret and Lucas Belvaux's Home Front, which features Gérard Depardieu.

Also included is Régis Roinsard’s whodunnit The Translators, Anne Fontaine's police thriller Night Shift and Justine Triet's romantic comedy In Bed With Victoria.

The films are available to watch for 48 hours across three weekends.

Richard Mowe, director and co-founder of the Festival, said: “We wanted to make sure that audiences did not miss out on some of the most anticipated films of the Festival due to the Covid disruption … and now...

Emmanuel Mouret’s Les Choses Qu’On Dit, Les Choses Qu’On Fait, aka Love Affair(s), leads France’s César Award nominations with a total 13 including each of the top acting categories as well as Best Director and Best Film. The official 2020 Cannes Film Festival selection is followed by Albert Dupontel’s comedy/drama Adieu Les Cons (Bye Bye Morons) and François Ozon’s Eté 85 (Summer Of 85) with 12 each. The latter was released locally last summer and played Toronto in September.

Other titles to make the cut this morning include the Oscar shortlisted Two Of Us (Deux) from Filippo Meneghetti with Best Actress nods for leads Martine Chevallier and Barbara Sukowa as well as Best Original Screenplay and Best Debut Feature.

In the Foreign Film category are Sam Mendes’ 1917, Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round (also Oscar shortlisted on Tuesday), Jan Komasa’s La Communion...

Reda Kateb and Naidra Ayadi also star in the cast of Thomas Kruithof’s second feature film, which is produced by 24 25 Films and sold by Elle Driver. Thomas Kruithof has kicked off filming in the Paris region on his second full-length work: Promises. Discovered via The Eavesdropper (2017), the filmmaker has drawn together a cast composed of Isabelle Huppert (recently well-received in Mama Weed and whom we’ll be seeing next year in Joan and Caravaggio’s Shadow), Reda Kateb and Naidra Ayadi (crowned Best Female New Hope at the 2012 Césars thanks to Poliss; likewise drawing attention in the series Black Spot). Written by Thomas Kruithof and Jean-Baptiste Delafon (of the series Baron...

Jean-Paul Salomé: 'I really liked that and also the tone of the comedy which was fun but also criticised certain aspects of society' Photo: Unifrance Jean-Paul Salomé first worked as a trainee for legendary director Claude Lelouch. He scored his cinema debut with the comedy Les Braqueuses in 1993 then created a new cinematic adaptation of Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre and an updated adaptation of the iconic tale of the gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin. These were followed by Female Agents, The Chameleon, and Playing Dead. Mama Weed (La Daronne) is his latest feature with Isabelle Huppert as a drug dealing police translator. It opens the curtailed French Film Festival at Chichester Cinema at New Park and Aberdeen Belmont Filmhouse tomorrow (Wednesday 4 November). The filmmaker is in conversation with Festival director Richard Mowe.

What were the elements of Hannelore Cayre’s best-selling novel that persuaded you to make a film of it?...

Opening night film Mama Weed will still screen at Aberdeen Belmont Filmhouse and Chichester Cinema at New Park More than 200 screenings at the 28th edition of the French Film Festival UK - due to start nationwide tomorrow (Wednesday 4 November) - will be postponed or rescheduled in the light of the latest coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

The opening film Mama Weed (La Daronne), starring Isabelle Huppert and directed by Jean-Paul Salomé, originally set to screen at London Ciné Lumière and Edinburgh Filmhouse will take place, if possible, at a later date. The Wednesday screening at Aberdeen Belmont Filmhouse and Chichester Cinema at New Park will continue as billed with a recorded welcome by the director and will mark its UK premiere.

In common with many international festivals, the French Film Festival has organised a week of online screenings (fff @ home) in collaboration with Festival Scope. Many of the titles will be UK premieres.

Get your lighters out and start practicing your French because Isabelle Huppert’s about to roll you a big fat juicy spliff in Mama Weed (La Daronne), the new crime dramedy from director Jean-Paul Salomé.

Cleverly conceived and amusingly performed, if never quite as funny as it could be, the film has the Oscar-nominated Huppert playing a seasoned police interpreter who transforms into a drug kingpin nearly overnight. As crazy as that sounds, Salomé’s portrait of a middle-aged woman trying to make ends meet on her own, and selling hundreds of kilos of narcotics to do so, proves to be a ...

Get your lighters out and start practicing your French because Isabelle Huppert’s about to roll you a big fat juicy spliff in Mama Weed (La Daronne), the new crime dramedy from director Jean-Paul Salomé.

Cleverly conceived and amusingly performed, if never quite as funny as it could be, the film has the Oscar-nominated Huppert playing a seasoned police interpreter who transforms into a drug kingpin nearly overnight. As crazy as that sounds, Salomé’s portrait of a middle-aged woman trying to make ends meet on her own, and selling hundreds of kilos of narcotics to do so, proves to be a ...

Isabelle Huppert in Mama Weed Photo: Courtesy of Fff The 28th edition of the French Film Festival UK has been announced as a hybrid event, combining physical screenings in 25 towns and cities with an online selection.

The festival, which runs until December 17, will open on November 4 with the UK premiere in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen of the comedy thriller Mama Weed (La Daronne), starring Isabelle Huppert, who is expected to introduce the film virtually from Paris. The screenings will be followed by a recorded Q and A with director Jean-Paul Salomé. An innovation this year (in common with many international festivals) will be a week of online screenings (fff @ home) in collaboration with Festival Scope. Many of these titles will be UK premieres.

Richard Mowe, Festival Director and Co-Founder, commented: “Although many blockbusters have been postponed until next year and multiplex cinemas have either closed or restricted their schedules,...

“Mama Weed,” Jean-Paul Salomé’s comedy starring Oscar-nominated actor Isabelle Huppert as a French-Arabic translator working for the anti-drug squad in Paris, has been thriving at the box office in France, Germany and Austria.

“Mama Weed,” based on Hannelore Cayre’s popular novel, follows the story of Patience Portefeux (Huppert), who gets embroiled in a failed drug deal, inheriting a pile of marijuana. While keeping her job with the anti-drug squad, Portefeux crosses to the other side and becomes a well-known drug dealer.

Represented in international markets by Paris-based outfit Le Pacte, “Mama Weed” has sold more than 400,000 tickets so far in France, where it was released on Sept. 9. It marks the sixth-best box office score for a French film since theaters reopened on June 22. Now in its sixth week, “Mama Weed” is still playing in more than 300 theaters in France.

“Mama Weed” also had a strong opening in Germany and Austria,...

Read about all the leading titles coming to cinemas.

France, opening Wednesday October 7

Mainstream French comedies and dramas topped the release schedule in France once again this week, in the absence of US studio titles.

The biggest release of the week was romantic comedy The ABCs Of Love for Ugc Distribution on some 480 prints. Rising star Vincent Dedienne plays a thirtysomething babysitter, who unwittingly gets entangled in the parent teacher association of the school that his nine-year-old charge attends but finds love along the way.

Other local features included long triangle drama Dreamchild, starring Jalil Lespert, Louise Bourgoin and Mélanie Doutey...

After an underwhelming start to the year, France has redeemed its status as Europe’s largest nation of cinemagoers, with the national box office bolstered by a tide of local movies that have sustained admissions despite the near absence of big Hollywood movies.

So far, 2020 has been a banner year for French fare, and local distributors — who were initially reluctant to release movies when theaters reopened in June after a three-month shutdown — have taken note. Upon news of Universal’s postponement of James Bond film “No Time to Die” to next spring, Gaumont immediately scheduled in the freshly vacant Nov. 11 Bond slot “Aline” (pictured), Valerie Lemercier’s anticipated movie about Celine Dion. Gaumont will give “Aline” a wide release, treating it as a French blockbuster.

Among the French and European sleeper hits that have been driving the box office are family movies like “Les blagues de Toto,” “Bigfoot Superstar,” French...

The short answer is strong local films and major state subsidies.

Mourir Peut Attendre, which translates as ‘Dying Can Wait’ is the French title for the James Bond film No Time To Die, and unexpectedly apt.

As in the rest of the world, French exhibitors had high hopes for the new Bond title as the only major US production left on the release calendar for this autumn, as they battle to stay afloat in the face of historically low admissions and a lack of crowd-drawing blockbusters.

The move of the Bond film to April 2021 is a huge blow but unlike...

‘Mama Weed’ starring Isabelle Huppert, is also opening in France.

France, opening Wednesday September 9

The French box office appeared to be on route to recovery in the first week of September thanks to the launch of Tenet and a wider range of titles on release generally. It now remains to be seen if this momentum can be sustained with further US studio releases remaining elusive and the country on high alert following a spike in Covid-19 cases.

French cinemas this week will mainly be reliant on local films to draw spectators.

This week’s biggest release is Jean-Paul Salomé’s...

After being shuttered for almost three months, France’s movie theaters will be allowed to reopen on June 22, confirmed France’s prime minister Édouard Philippe in a televised address on Thursday.

Philippe said cinemas will be permitted to reopen everywhere across France on June 22 (or June 24 since releases are scheduled every Wednesday in the country), while restaurants, bars and gardens will reopen on June 2. Exhibitors will have just under four weeks to prepare for the restart and coordinate accordingly with distributors. Jocelyn Bouyssy, the boss of Cgr Cinemas, France’s second largest cinema circuit, said most exhibitors in France were expecting a reopening in early July and will hardly have any movies to show during the first week of relaunch.

Meanwhile, French exhibitors have drafted health guidelines for welcoming moviegoers, which were submitted to the health minister last week for approval. Some of the guidelines include capping admissions to 50% of auditorium capacities.

Amazon Prime has scooped French Svod rights to Matteo Garrone’s “Pinocchio” with Roberto Benigni which will be debut on the streamer in France on May 4.

The streaming service acquired “Pinocchio” from Jean Labadie’s distribution company Le Pacte, which had to cancel the film’s theatrical release on March 18 as cinemas shuttered on March 15 due to the coronavirus crisis.

Le Pacte had spent a large sum in P&a to promote the film on the heels of its world premiere out of competition at the Berlinale. The deal with Amazon Prime is believed to have covered those costs and was approved by right holders. Meanwhile, Le Pacte is still committed to releasing Jean-Paul Salomé’s “Mama Weed,” a crime comedy starring Isabelle Huppert, in theaters later this year.

“Pinocchio” is the second European movie picked up by Amazon Prime from a French company during the shutdown of theaters. Amazon...

Wide French theatrical release in March was cancelled due to Covid-19 lockdown.

Paris-based distributor Le Pacte has sold French rights for Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio to Amazon Prime Video, after being forced to delay a planned wide theatrical release due to the Covid-19 lockdown in France.

It is a significant and rare move for the French distributor, which had been due to launch the film across France on March 18, to coincide with the midterm school holiday period.

Le Pacte hastily pulled the release on March 6 as the Covid-19 outbreak intensified in the country. On March 14, French cinemas were...

Wide French theatrical release in March was cancelled due to Covid-19 lockdown.

French distributor Le Pacte has sold French rights for Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio to Amazon Prime Video, after being forced to delay a planned wide theatrical release due to the Covid-19 lockdown in France.

It is a significant and rare move for the Paris-based distributor, which had been due to launch the film with a wide theatrical release across France on March 18, to coincide with the midterm school holiday period.

Le Pacte hastily pulled the release on March 6, however, as the outbreak intensified in the country.

Distributors welcome measure but say they still aim to release their films theatrically.

The French government passed a temporary measure on Friday (March 20) softening France’s strict media chronology as part of a larger emergency bill aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the economic fallout.

The main aim of the bill was to give the French authorities greater power to restrict movement and gatherings as the country battles to slow the spread of Covid-19, but it also included a number of measures aimed at protecting jobs and supporting the economy.

France’s exhibitors and distributors have been hard hit...