News

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American and Latin American rights for Rebecca Zlotowski’s French-language murder mystery movie Vie Privée, starring Jodie Foster as a renowned psychiatrist who investigates the suspicious death of one of her patients.

Foster, who speaks fluent French, is joined in the cast by Auteuil and Efira (Other People’s Children), Mathieu Amalric (Serpent’s Path), Vincent Lacoste (Lost Illusions) and Luana Bajrami (Portrait of a Lady On Fire).

The acquisition follows a slew of deals on the film, which is being sold internationally by Goodfellas.

As announced by Deadline over the weekend, it has sold out in Europe with deals to UK (Altitude), Spain (Caramel Films), Germany (Plaion Pictures), Italy (Europictures), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Frenetic Films), Portugal (Pris Audiovisuais), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), ex-Yugoslavia (McF), Hungary (Cinetel Ltf), Romania (Independenta Film), Poland (Best Film), the Baltics and Cis (Pro:vzglyad).

Danish distributor Another World Entertainment has acquired Scandinavian rights,...

In one of the first major deals unveiled at the European Film Market, Sony Pictures Classics (“I’m Still Here”) has bought “Vie Privée,” a highly anticipated, humor-laced murder mystery movie starring Jodie Foster and directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (“Other People’s Children”), for North America and Latin America territories.

The Oscar winner stars in the film as renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner who mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered. Foster last starred in a French-language film 20 years ago in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Oscar-nominated “A Very Long Engagement.”

Foster, who recently won an Emmy and a Golden Globe her turn in HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country,” stars in “Vie Privée” alongside a flurry of international stars, including Daniel Auteuil and Efira (“Other People’s Children”), Mathieu Almaric (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Vincent Lacoste (“Lost Illusions”) and Luana Bajrami...

Exclusive: Goodfellas has posted a slew of deals for Rebecca Zlotowski’s French-language murder mystery movie Vie Privée, starring Jodie Foster alongside a host of top French talent including Daniel Auteuil and Virginie Efira, and unveiled a first look.

The movie – which shot last fall between Paris and Normandy – is currently in post-production, with an expected festival push this year.

It has sold out in Europe, with deals to UK (Altitude), Spain (Caramel Films), Germany (Plaion Pictures), Italy (Europictures), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Frenetic Films), Portugal (Pris Audiovisuais), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), ex-Yugoslavia (McF), Hungary (Cinetel Ltf), Romania (Independenta Film), Poland (Best Film), the Baltics and Cis (Pro:vzglyad).

Danish distributor Another World Entertainment has struck a multi-territory deal for Scandinavia, covering Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Outside of Europe, it has been acquired for Israel (Lev Cinemas) and Turkey (Yeni Bir Films) and Australia and New Zealand (Transmission)

North America, Latin...

French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski, who’s just wrapped filming of “Vie Privée” starring Jodie Foster in Paris, received the French Cinema Award at a jam-packed ceremony held in an ornate room of the Ministry of Culture on Jan. 16.

The tribute, which is given by the film promotion body Unifrance, was introduced by Gaëtan Bruel, chief of staff of Rachida Dati, the minister of culture, as well as Unifrance president Gilles Pelisson and managing director Daniela Elstner.

Created in 2016, the French Cinema Award honors actors, filmmakers and producers who have contributed to making French cinema shine abroad. Past recipients include actors Juliette Binoche, Virginie Efira and Melvil Poupaud, director Olivier Assayas and producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam, among others.

Zlotowski, who is perfectly bilingual and has worked with a number of international talent, from Natalie Portman to Lily Rose-Depp and more recently Foster, has been actively promoting each movie she...

We know that Beatles fans all have their favorites, and now we want to know yours. For New Year’s, SiriusXM’s The Beatles Channel (Ch. 18) is playing the band’s 100 most popular songs — according to you, the real experts — during the annual “All Together Now” special.

The Beatles ChannelAll Together Now 2024Listen on the App

Listen on the App

Check out the songs listeners voted on for the countdown below, and find out the results by streaming the countdown in full anytime, anywhere, on the SiriusXM app.

Beatles song you voted on

These are the possible song choices for this year’s “All Together Now” countdown:

A Day In The Life

A Hard Day’s Night

A Taste Of Honey

Abbey Road Medley

Across The Universe

Act Naturally

All I’ve Got To Do

All My Loving

All Together Now

All You Need Is Love

And I Love Her

And...

Dead & Company have announced the concert dates of their final tour. The U.S. shows will take place this summer.

The band played their first live shows in 2015. The lineup for their final tour includes former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart (drums) and Bob Weir (guitar and vocals) as well as John Mayer (guitar and vocals), Allman Brothers‘ Oteil Burbidge and Fare Thee Well’s Jeff Chimenti (keyboard).

Dead & Company Concert Setlist

Former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann is not participating in the tour. After “many long discussions,” the band said, “Bill wants you to know that he is in good spirits, good health and he is not retiring.”

>Get Dead & Company Concert Tickets Now!

Setlist

The below setlist comes from the band’s June 3, 2023 performance in Bristow, Virginia.

Here Comes Sunshine

Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

Mr. Charlie

He’s Gone

Brown-Eyed Women

Dear Prudence (The Beatles cover)

Turn On...

Siouxsie Sioux performed for the first time in a decade on Wednesday at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.

While her set was dominated by Banshees songs from “Spellbound” to “Happy House” to their Beatles’ cover of “Dear Prudence,” Siouxsie also performed tracks from her 2007 solo album Mantaray, including “Here Comes That Day” and “Into a Swan.”

The British musician, best known as the lead singer of Siouxsie & The Banshees, last played live at Yoko Ono’s Meltdown festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2013. Later this month, Sioux will head to Pasadena,...

It’s been at least decade since Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and The Banshees fame played a proper live show, but that changes this year! Ahead of the enigmatic musician’s European tour this year, she had a warm-up show in Brussels at the Ancienne Belgique, performing a set that included many a Banshees classic.

Along with some of Siouxsie and The Banshees’ best-known songs like “Spellbound,” “Arabian Nights,” and “Cities in Dust,” Sioux also dug up her covers of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” and Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger.” She also played a few songs from her 2007 solo album Mantaray.

And although Sioux’s hair has gotten a bit tamer since the Banshees’ heyday — and she’s swapped out the winklepicker boots for sensible sneakers — you could say her stage presence is still pretty “spellbinding” (sorry), complete with plenty of high kicks and weirdo moves. Kids, here’s a real “Wednesday dance” for you.

Sex and Longing: Efira Shines in Zlotowski’s Portrait of Missed Opportunities

In a celebrated tradition of quietly personal characterizations French cinema is known for, Rebecca Zlotowski examines one woman’s sudden quest for motherhood she hadn’t been aware she desired until it’s almost too late in Other People’s Children (Les Enfants des Autres). Heretofore, Złotowski’s characterizations have skewed towards transitional periods in the life of young women, such as her 2010 debut Dear Prudence or 2016’s An Easy Girl.

Recruiting Virginie Efira to headline one woman’s surprising quest to engage in the collective experience of birthing a child after falling head over heels for a handsome divorcee and his four year old daughter, Zlotowski adeptly navigates the inevitability of reality obfuscated by love’s rosy tinted glasses.…...

Rebecca Zlowtowski’s longtime cinematographer discusses shooting Other People’s Children, the writer-director’s latest film that stars Virginie Efira and Roschdy Zem and grapples with themes of motherhood and the concept of being child-free. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Lechaptois: I met [director] Rebecca [Zlowtowski] in 2009 when shooting her first feature Belle Epine. I have since shot all her films. Filmmaker: What were your artistic goals on this […]

The post “In Preparation We Talked About Claude Sautet’s Films”: Dp George Lechaptois on Other People’s Children first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Rebecca Zlowtowski’s longtime cinematographer discusses shooting Other People’s Children, the writer-director’s latest film that stars Virginie Efira and Roschdy Zem and grapples with themes of motherhood and the concept of being child-free. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Lechaptois: I met [director] Rebecca [Zlowtowski] in 2009 when shooting her first feature Belle Epine. I have since shot all her films. Filmmaker: What were your artistic goals on this […]

The post “In Preparation We Talked About Claude Sautet’s Films”: Dp George Lechaptois on Other People’s Children first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Bono sang for his mother only once in public before her death in 1974. In an excerpt shared from his upcoming memoir Surrender, out Nov. 1, the musician, who has spent the past few decades of his life on stage, recalled how his mother’s death ultimately pushed him into becoming a rockstar.

In the chapter titled “Iris (Hold Me Close),” named after the U2 song inspired by his mother, Bono recalled the day his mother unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm – the same cause of death shared by two of her...

Click here to read the full article.

Released on Netflix in 2020 after premiering at Cannes the year before, An Easy Girl was an under-the-radar treat — a South-of-France-set coming-of-age film so lusciously tactile and perceptive it felt like a classic as soon as the closing credits began to roll. The writer-director, Rebecca Zlotowski, is back with a more conventional but equally winning work in Venice competition entry Other People’s Children (Les enfants des autres), confirming her gift for investing familiar formulas with freshness and charm, smarts and sexiness.

Anchored by a superb Virginie Efira (Benedetta) as a 40ish high-school teacher whose bond with her boyfriend’s daughter awakens a complicated mix of maternal yearning and midlife frustration, the movie has the typical contours of contemporary Parisian romantic dramedy: Good-looking people embrace, talk, smoke, sip wine, attend casually chic soirees, and embrace some more against the backdrop of a glittering Eiffel Tower...

French director Rebecca Zlotowski makes her Venice Film Festival competition debut on Sunday with drama Other People’s Children, casting the often neglected, sometimes maligned figure of the stepmother in a fresh light.

Virginie Efira stars as an attractive teacher in her 40s with a full and happy life. In the backdrop, however, her biological clock is ticking. When she gets involved with a divorced father, she becomes attached to his young daughter.

Efira is joined in the cast by Roschdy Zem as the father; Chiara Mastroianni, in a small role as his ex-wife and the girl’s mother, and documentarian Frederic Wiseman, who makes a guest appearance as a gynaecologist.

Other People’s Children is Zlotowski’s fifth film after Dear Prudence, Grand Central, Planetarium and An Easy Girl. The filmmaker was last in Venice with Planetarium which played Out of Competition in 2016.

Deadline talked to Zlotowski ahead of the premiere in Venice.

Click here to read the full article.

In what has to be a film festival first, two of the actors in Rebecca Zlotowski’s new drama Other People’s Children, Roschdy Zem and Frederick Wiseman, have their own movies — Zem-directed Our Time and Wiseman’s Un couple — in competition at the Venice Film Festival this year.

It’s Zlotowski’s second trip to the Lido after Planetarium starring Natalie Portman, Emmanuel Salinger and Lily-Rose Depp premiered in Venice in 2016. That opulent period drama, featuring Portman and Depp as a pair of sisters and spiritual mediums touring 1930s France, was a departure for Zlotowski, who won critical praise in France and on the international circuit with her first two features: Belle Epine (2010) and Grand Central (2013), both starring Lea Seydoux.

Other People’s Children features Benedetta star Virginie Efira as Rachel, a 40-something childless school teacher (her gynecologist, played by Wiseman, keeps reminding...

Palme d’Or winning actress Léa Seydoux will star in Happening filmmaker Audrey Diwan’s English-language directorial debut, Emmanuelle, inspired by Emmanuelle Arsan’s novel and based on a script co-developed by Diwan and Rebecca Zlotowski.

The Arsan book follows a young woman’s sexual journey from the arms of her husband to intimate encounters with the wives of his business associates, to further explorations wherein the philosophical and aesthetic facets of eroticism are expounded—and enacted—to the fullest degree.

Diwan’s second feature, Happening, adapted from Annie Ernaux’s book recounting her illegal abortion in the 1960s, received the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival; four César Award nominations, including a win for Most Promising Newcomer for Anamaria Vartolomei; and a BAFTA Award nomination; among other honors. The pic features a cast of stellar emerging French acting talent including Anamaria Vartolomei, Kacey Mottet-Klein and Luana Bajrami.

Diwan’s feature directorial debut,...

Les enfants des autres (Other People’s Children)

Directly after premiering her fourth feature film Une fille facile (An Easy Girl) in the Directors’ Fortnight section, Rebecca Zlotowski moved into the directors’ chair for a six-parter politico-series she co-created called “Savages” and we imagine it is here she nabbed actor Roschdy Zem for what might be a more two-hander drama. After her huge entrance into the film world with 2010’s Belle Epine (Critics’ Week), 2013’s Grand Central (Un Certain Regard), 2016’s Planetarium (Out of Comp in Venice), this more intimate fifth feature (in just over a decade) began lensing in March of 2021 with Virginie Efira (who will have an eventful 2022 with Alice Winocour’s Revoir Paris and Serge Bozon’s Don Juan).…...

Broadcasting

Channel 4 and Sky in the U.K. have extended their pre-existing, long-term commercial partnership in a new multi-year agreement which, according to the companies, will facilitate greater opportunity for collaboration, commercial growth and innovation as broadcasting evolves going forward.

Under the terms of the new deal, Sky customers will have access to even more Channel 4 content as more than 1000 hours of All 4 — Channel 4’s VoD platform — exclusives are integrated into Sky’s current and future TV products. Channel 4 will benefit from under the new terms by opening avenues to new digital ad revenue streams which can support its Future4 strategy.

“When we set out our Future4 strategy last year, we made clear that securing strategic distribution partnerships would be a vital part of ensuring we can maximize our reach and impact with viewers in a digital age, grow our revenues and compete more effectively for the future,” said Alex Mahon,...

On the alternate version of Earth where Covid never happened and the Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, Rage Against the Machine, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and the Who all toured this year, Phish are probably gearing up for their semi-annual Halloween concert where they cover an entire classic album. Fans never know what they’re going to hear until they arrive at the gig, but that doesn’t stop them from engaging in months of feverish speculation in the weeks building up to the big night.

The tradition of wearing...

To celebrate what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday on October 9th, the Morrison Hotel Gallery announced the exhibit In His Life. The show opens Thursday, online and at the Morrison Hotel’s New York and Los Angeles locations by appointment only.

The exhibit traces Lennon’s beginnings with the Beatles in Liverpool, England, their rise to global fame and moments throughout their eight-year career — including their trip to India in 1968 and the making of the White Album. It documents Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono, the several...

Rebecca Zlotowski on intertextuality in An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile): “It’s a reproduction of the prologue of the summer tale by Éric Rohmer, the beginning of La Collectionneuse is Haydée Politoff, the main actress on the beach, shot exactly the same.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

There is nothing easy about being an easy girl in Rebecca Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile), co-written with Teddy Lussi-Modeste, shot by Georges Lechaptois, which is a highlight of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

Naïma (Mina Farid), Sofia (Zahia Dehar), Philippe (Benoît Magimel), and Andres (Nuno Lopes) in An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile)

Naïma (Mina Farid) has just turned 16. She lives in Cannes with her mother who works as a maid in one of the fancy hotels. When her older bombshell cousin Sofia (Zahia Dehar) visits for the summer, a new chapter begins in her life. Naima is in awe...

Over the decades, a diverse array of musicians sat in with the Grateful Dead — everyone from Bob Dylan and Neil Young to Ornette Coleman and Daryl Hall and John Oates found themselves on the same stage with the band, attempting to fit in as best they could. But even in light of that list, Clarence Clemons remains one of their more surprising jam pals.

When the E Street Band went on hiatus at the end of the Eighties, Clemons, who by then had moved to the Bay Area, went in...

Jerry Garcia stayed extremely busy in the fall of 1993. The Grateful Dead spent much of September playing multi-night stands at Boston Garden, New York’s Madison Square Garden, and the Spectrum in Philadelphia, and a little over a month later the guitarist was back in some of the same rooms with his eponymous side band. A gem from that lengthy arena trek, which turned out to be the Jerry Garcia Band’s final East Coast tour, is unearthed in the new live set GarciaLive Volume 11, November 11th, 1993, Providence Civic Center,...

The 58th edition of Cannes Critics’ Week will take place May 15-23.

Cannes Critics’ Week has kicked off the Cannes 2019 season with the revelation of the poster for its 58th edition.

The parallel section, celebrating emerging directors and first and second features, has used its poster this year to highlight its role in promoting rising young actors too

It features French actor Félix Maritaud in his role of a good-hearted but tortured gay prostitute in Camille Vidal-Naquet’s debut Sauvage which premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week last year, courting controversy for some of its hard-core sex scenes.

Maritaud, whose previous...

An Easy Girl (Une fille facile)

French director Rebecca Zlotowski attempts something new with her fourth film, Une fille facile (An Easy Girl), which is described as a romantic comedy. Zlotowski has thus far focused on complex portraits of women in extraordinary situations or emotional circumstances, working with Lea Seydoux on her 2010 debut Belle Epine (aka Dear Prudence) and reuniting with the actress for 2013’s Grand Central, featuring a troubled love triangle (including Denis Menochet and Tahar Rahim) amidst the backdrop of potential radioactive poisoning. Zlotowski’s underrated English debut Planetarium (read review) co-written by Robin Campillo, which featured Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp as a pair of 1930s psychic sisters is the stuff of esoteric arthouse eloquence once prized at the cinema.…...

Company to unveil new films by Rebecca Zlotowski, Guillaume Nicloux and Roschdy Zem during Paris Rendez-vous in January.

Wild Bunch will kick-off sales on a quartet of new French films during the Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris in January including a coming-of-age tale by Rebecca Zlotowski, starring glamour girl and lingerie designer Zahia Dehar, and Guillaume Nicloux’s new collaboration with cult writer Michel Houellebecq and Gérard Depardieu.

Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl co-stars debutant actress Mina Farid as the naïve 16-year-old Naïma, whose eyes are opened to the world of love, sex and human relationships over a summer...

Tony Sokol Nov 26, 2018

Fifty years later, and 107 cuts total and we still can't get enough of The Beatles' White Album.

A half century after their records first premiered, the Beatles are coming up with the numbers. The 50th anniversary reissue of the band's 1968 double album The Beatles debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album is also known the "White Album," which also happened with the two post-breakup "Red" and "Blue" compilation double albums.

When it was first released, The "White" Album spent nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 between Dec. 28, 1968 and March 1, 1969. On March 29, 1969, the last week of its top 10 run, it was at number 5. The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 50th anniversary reissue in 2017 premiered on the Billboard 200 at No. 3 on June 17, 2017. The original 1967 album was at number one for 15 weeks straight from July 1 through Oct. 7, 1967.

further reading: The Beatles: In Defense of Revolution...

There’s a moment on the Beatles’ new “Super Deluxe” edition of the White Album that sums up all the glories of their 1968 masterpiece. And weirdly, that moment is “Good Night.” There’s always been something mysterious about “Good Night” — the album’s orchestral finale. It’s a tender ballad from John, one he always meant for Ringo Starr to sing, without ever explaining to Ringo (or anyone else) why. Many fans dismissed it as a coy joke. But it nearly steals the show on the new box set, in...

In late May, 1968, the Beatles convened at guitarist George Harrison’s English country home with an extraordinary body of raw materials for their next album. The so-called “Esher demos” — 27 songs taped on Harrison’s four-track machine — were at once stark and full, solo acoustic blueprints already outfitted with signature flourishes: double-tracked vocals; John Lennon’s raindrop-arpeggio guitar in “Dear Prudence”; the future guitar solo in “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” hummed by Paul McCartney.

There was evidence too of tension and estrangement: Lennon’s jagged rhythms and aggressive cynicism (“Revolution,...

Idina Menzel unveiled a stunning cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The track will appear as a bonus song on the singer’s upcoming album, Idina: Live, which arrives October 12th.

Menzel’s version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” boasts a simple piano arrangement that’s bolstered perfectly by an organ that sifts in as the song builds. Fittingly, the barebones instrumentation places the emphasis on Menzel’s voice, and the singer delivers a remarkable performance that reaches spine-chilling peaks during the song’s final chorus.

Further jury members are Chang Chen, Robert Guédiguian, Khadja Nin, Léa Seydoux and Andrei Zvyagintsev.

The 2018 Cannes Film Festival (May 8-19) has unveiled the jury for its main competition.

Comprising five women and four men, the Jury features:

Chinese actor Chang Chen, who starred in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Three Times and The Assassin, and Kim Ki-duk’s Breath, which all screened in Competition at Cannes. His other films include John Woo’s Red Cliff and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Writer, director, producer Ava DuVernay, whose features include Disney sci-fi A Wrinkle In Time, Selma, for which she...

While the Competition at the 71st Festival de Cannes (May 8-19) so far includes only three women directors, Cannes has selected many films from women filmmakers in such sidebars as Un Certain Regard, Critics’ Week, and Directors’ Fortnight. And the Competition jury led by president Cate Blanchett is dominated by women.

The jury features five women, four men, seven nationalities, and five continents. They will reveal the winners on Saturday, May 19 during the Closing Ceremony.

The 2018 Jury

Cate Blanchett – President (Australian actress, producer)

Chang Chen (Chinese actor)

Ava DuVernay (American writer, director, producer)

Robert Guédiguian (French director, writer, producer)

Khadja Nin (Burundian songwriter, composer, singer)

Léa Seydoux (French actress)

Kristen Stewart (American actress)

Denis Villeneuve (Canadian director, writer)

Andrei Zvyagintsev (Russian director, writer)

Cannes Biographies (below):

Chang Chen – Chinese actor

Chang Chen made his film debut in the late Edward Yang’s “A Brighter Summer Day.” He rose to...

While the Competition at the 71st Festival de Cannes (May 8-19) so far includes only three women directors, Cannes has selected many films from women filmmakers in such sidebars as Un Certain Regard, Critics’ Week, and Directors’ Fortnight. And the Competition jury led by president Cate Blanchett is dominated by women.

The jury features five women, four men, seven nationalities, and five continents. They will reveal the winners on Saturday, May 19 during the Closing Ceremony.

The 2018 Jury

Cate Blanchett – President (Australian actress, producer)

Chang Chen (Chinese actor)

Ava DuVernay (American writer, director, producer)

Robert Guédiguian (French director, writer, producer)

Khadja Nin (Burundian songwriter, composer, singer)

Léa Seydoux (French actress)

Kristen Stewart (American actress)

Denis Villeneuve (Canadian director, writer)

Andrei Zvyagintsev (Russian director, writer)

Cannes Biographies (below):

Chang Chen – Chinese actor

Chang Chen made his film debut in the late Edward Yang’s “A Brighter Summer Day.” He rose to...

Ava DuVernay, Kristen Stewart, Denis Villeneuve, Chang Chen, Robert Guédiguian, Khadja Nin, Léa Seydoux and Andrey Zvyagintsev have been named members of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival Jury.

They will join Cate Blanchett, who was previously named president of the jury at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.

During the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, the jury is made up of five women and four men, only the third time that women have made up a majority of the jury. All three times have come in the last 10 years.

The jurors are of seven nationalities and from five continents.

Also Read: Cannes Lineup Reaches From Spike Lee to Jean-Luc Godard

Blanchett marks the first female jury president since Jane Campion served in 2014. Other women to take on the role this century include Oscar nominee Isabelle Huppert and Liv Ullmann. It is the 12th time in festival history a woman has headed the jury. Director, screenwriter and actress Jeanne Moreau served twice, with all others putting in one year each.

The Cannes Film Festival will take over the south of France from May 8-19.

See the full bios for the jury members courtesy of the festival organizers below.

Also Read: Cannes Will Welcome Back Lars von Trier, Says Festival Director

Chang Chen – Chinese actor

Chang Chen made his film debut in the late Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day. He rose to fame in the Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000. His film credits include “Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together” (1997), 2046 (2004), “The Grandmaster” (2013), Hou Hsiao-hsien’s “Three Times” (2005) and “The Assassin” (2015), Tian Zhuangzhuang’s “The Go Master” (2006) John Woo’s “Red Cliff” (2008-2009) “The Last Supper” directed by Lu Chuan (2012). In 2017, he returned for Yang Lu’s film Brotherhood of “Blades II” and recently played in “Forever Young” by Fangfang Li.

Ava DuVernay – American writer, director, producer

Nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe and winner of the BAFTA and Emmy, Ava DuVernay is a writer, director, producer and film distributor known for the historical drama “Selma” (2014), the criminal justice documentary “13th” (2016) and the recent Disney cinematic adaptation of the classic children’s novel A wrinkle in Time. Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival’s Best Director Prize for her film “Middle of Nowhere,” DuVernay amplifies the work of people of color and women directors through her film collective Array.

Robert Guédiguian – French director, writer, producer

The work of Robert Guédiguian, an activist filmmaker, celebrates the city of Marseille where he grew up. Acclaimed by critics when he first started directing in the 80s, he met public success with Marius and Jeannette, which won the Prix Louis-Delluc in 1997.

His film credits include “Marie-Jo et ses deux amours” (2002) “Le Promeneur du Champ de Mars” (2004) “Le Voyage en Arménie” (2007) “Lady Jane” (2008) “L’armée du crime” (2009) “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (2011). His latest film in date, “The House by the Sea” (2017), received enthusiastic response from critics and audience.

Khadja Nin – Burundian songwriter, composer, singer

Youngest of a family of eight Khadja Nin studied music at an early age, before leaving Africa to go to Europe. Her albums are a mix of occidental popmusic, African and afro-cuban rhythms. She gained wide recognition and success with “Sambolera Mayi Son.” “Ya…” (“From me to you”) is a wonderful tribute to Mandela and the video of her song “Mama” was directed by Jeanne Moreau. International Artist, she became a Unicef and Acp Observatory on Migration Good Will Ambassador. She was awarded the Prize “Prix de l’Action Feminine” by the African Women’s League in 2016. She has been committed to support ordinary heroes.

Léa Seydoux – French actress

Rising to fame with Christophe Honoré’s “The Beautiful Person” in 2008, Léa Seydoux is an award-winning actress, notably the Palme d’Or for Abdelatif Kechiche’s “Blue is the Warmest Colour” in 2013. She successfully alternates between author and mainstream films. Her film credits include Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Dear Prudence” and “Grand Central,” Benoît Jacquot’s “Farewell, My Queen” and “Diary of a Chambermaid,” Bertrand Bonello’s “Saint Laurent,” Sam Mendes’ “Spectre,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster” and Xavier Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World.”

Kristen Stewart – American actress

Kristen Stewart has been playing roles since an early age and received widespread recognition in 2008 for “The Twilight Saga” film series (2008-12). Her film credit includes “Snow White and the Huntsman” (2012), “Equals” by Drake Doremus (2015) “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” by Ang Lee (2016), and several Festival de Cannes Selections such as “On the Road” by Walter Salles (2012) “Clouds of Sils Maria” (2014) and “Personal Shopper” (2016) both by Olivier Assayas (2014) as well as “Café Society” by Woody Allen. She directed her first short film “Come Swim” in 2017.

Denis Villeneuve – Canadian director, writer

Internationally renowned and recently two-time Academy Award winner for “Blade Runner 2049,” Denis Villeneuve made his debut at the National Film Board of Canada in the early 90’s. His first feature, “Un 32 août sur Terre” (1998) was invited to Cannes. He returned there with “Next Floor” (2008), “Polytechnique” (2009) and the Oscar nominated “Sicario” (2015). In 2010 “Incendies” was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. In 2017, Arrival was nominated for 8 Oscars and 9 BAFTAs, including best movie and best director.

Andreï Zvyagintsev – Russian director, writer

Multi-award winning filmmaker Andreï Zvyagintsev has already become one of the most respected directors in Russian and international cinema. He directed his first feature film in 2003 The Return which won him a “Golden Lion” at the Venice Film Festival. He has continued to write and direct award-winning feature films “The Banishment” (2007), “Elena” (2011) and “Leviathan” (2014). His most recent film “Loveless” won the Jury Prize at the 2017 Festival de Cannes, and was among the nominees at the Golden Globe and 90th Academy Awards.

Read original story Ava DuVernay, Kristen Stewart Join Cate Blanchett on 2018 Cannes Film Festival Jury At TheWrap...

Like an apparition that dissipates back into the ether before it can assume any meaningful shape, Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Planetarium” is a starry-eyed and somnambulant period adventure that captures the spirit of the movies at the expense of their soul. The film, which stars Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp as vagabond sisters who land in Paris between the two great wars of the 20th century, begins with a compellingly morbid notion: Cinema isn’t dead, cinema is death itself. If only Zlotowski’s latest contribution to the medium ever found any life of its own.

A beautiful wisp of an idea that is seldom compelling and almost never coherent, “Planetarium” squanders an irresistibly alluring premise. Loosely inspired by the Fox sisters and other formative figures in the field of Spiritualism, the film clings to Laura (Portman) and Kate (Depp) Barlow as tightly as the siblings cling to each other. Orphaned...

After a relatively quiet couple of years, Natalie Portman is back with a bevy of projects in 2016. Lily-Rose Depp, on the other hand, is celebrity spawn attempting to make a name for herself independent of her famous (and controversial) folks. Together they star in Planetarium from Belle épine’s Rebecca Zlotowski, the first trailer for which is out now. The two actresses play spiritualist sisters who travel the world apparently communing with the dead. In Paris they are picked up by a filmmaker.

Now, mind you, this is the French trailer for the film—which doesn’t yet have a release date in the U.S.—so if you don’t speak the language you’re a bit out of luck. (The lead siblings are American so they do converse in English.) Still, it’s not hard to catch the general drift. Wondrous images, sisterly bickering, the hint of ...

"Tell André to be careful." The first trailer has arrived for the film Planetarium, from French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski, which is premiering at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals coming up. Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp star as sisters in Paris in the 1930s who have the mysterious supernatural ability to connect with ghosts. The two of them put on performances in the city and make movies, but end up in some other trouble. The full cast includes Emmanuel Salinger, Amira Casar, Pierre Salvadori, and Louis Garrel. This looks very French, with luxurious shots of vintage locations plus romance galore. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Rebecca Zlotowski's Planetarium, direct from YouTube: Follows the journey of sisters who are believed to possess the supernatural ability to connect with ghosts. They cross paths with a visionary French producer while performing in Paris. Planetarium is directed by young French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski,...

The bond between two sisters should never be underestimated, but even the tightest bonds can be tested with the prospect of fame and glory. Rebecca Zlotowski’s new film “Planetarium” follows two sisters (Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp) who believe they possess the ability to communicate with the dead. While they’re performing in pre-war Paris, they encounter a visionary French producer that wants to put them on screen. Watch the trailer for the film below. (Note: It doesn’t contain subtitles for the French, but much of it is in English and it’s still worth a look.)

Read More: ‘Planetarium’: Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp Get Dreamy in First Poster

The film is the third feature from Rebecca Zlotowski. She previously directed “Belle Épine,” about a young girl struggling with the death of her mother, which won the Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film in 2010, and “Grand Central,...

We didn’t hear much from Natalie Portman for a few years there, but the actor, producer and now writer/director is back in a big way. After “Knight of Cups” and “A Tale of Lover and Darkness,” her busy 2016 is set to continue with Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Planetarium,” which is se to premiere in Venice before stopping in Toronto as well. Find the film’s first poster below.

Read More: Natalie Portman On Her Directorial Debut And the Advice Terrence Malick Gave Her

Lily-Rose Depp and Emmanuel Salinger co-star in the film, Zlotowski’s followup to “Belle Épine” and “Grand Central,” both of which were headlined by Léa Seydoux. “Planetarium” is the story of two sisters in 1930s France (Portman and Depp) who perform as spiritualists and catch the attention of a film producer.

Read More: First Look: Natalie Portman And Lily-Rose Depp In Rebecca Zlotowski’s ‘Planetarium’

Depp...

In the middle of summer, when moviegoing options are slim, it’s hard to visualize the sheer scope of films that will screen this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival. No single film commands all the buzz, nor can one lineup, and so the first big announcement — featuring the Galas and Special Presentations — can only begin to provide some insight into the titles worthy of anticipation.

Still, there’s a lot to dig through: Oscar hopefuls looking to gain momentum (“The Birth of a Nation,” “Loving” and more detailed here); big-budget studio efforts hoping to earn some upscale cred (Peter Berg’s “Deepwater Horizon,” Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi “Arrival”); veteran filmmakers still pursuing the kind of topics that put them on the map (Oliver Stone’s “Snowden,” Mira Nair’s “Queen of Katwe”).

Beyond these obvious standouts, however, several titles from these programs hold a lot of potential for...

★★★☆☆Rebecca Zlotowski's Grand Central (2013) arrives in UK cinemas this week after bagging the Prix François Chalais at Cannes last year. Zlotowski again anchors her film with the naturalism of Léa Seydoux after working together on her debut film, 2010's Belle Épine. With the backdrop of a nuclear power plant in Austria, Grand Central focuses on the plant's workers and their itinerant existence in a campsite close by. Into this closed community comes Gary (Tahar Rahim), a young man looking for a fresh start and a surrogate family. Taken under the wing of Gilles (Olivier Gourmet) and Toni (Denis Ménochet), Gary appreciates the dignity of hard labour and the comradeship of his fellow colleagues.

Love in the time of great and terrible radiation isn’t a novel concept. Look at Marie and Pierre Curie. Or Bryan Cranston and his coworker wife in Godzilla. Now, the nuclear power from within a French plant is going to spark the beautiful power of desire within Léa Seydoux and Tahar Rahim. It’s science. The trailer for Grand Central, a film directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (Belle Épine) and written by Zlotowski and Gaëlle Macé (Aliyah), is a study of passion over Osha safety standards, which are there for a reason, buddy. Gary (Rahim, A Prophet) is a worker who takes up a job at a nuclear power plant in the French countryside because if Homer Simpson can do it, really then everyone else can, too. He’s quickly introduced to the inherent dangers of his new line of work through the trailer’s whirlwind montage of safety measures and visions of his new friends suiting...

It looks like Marion Cotillard -- featuring in both James Gray's "The Immigrant" and Guillaume Canet's "Blood Ties" -- won't be the only one at Cannes this year with two movies to show off. Fellow French actress Léa Seydoux will strut her stuff in the main competition with the three hour (!) lesbian romance drama "Blue Is The Warmest Color." But flying a bit more under the radar on the Un Certain Regard slate is "Grand Central," where she'll co-star opposite "A Prophet" star Tahar Rahim, in another romance that is throwing off some sparks. The first clip and a couple of new pics have dropped for the movie, and it shows a pretty subtle but undoubtedly charged energy. From writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski ("Belle Épine"), the film will find Rahim playing a man addicted to danger who starts working in a nuclear plant and becomes exposed to dangerous levels of radiation,...

#37. Rebecca Zlotowski’s Grand Central

Gist: Cannes regulars Léa Seydoux, Tahar Rahim, and Olivier Gourmet star in a pic that is being called a complex romance set in the backdrop of France’s nuclear power industry.

Prediction: Zlotowski’s debut Belle Épine (also starring Seydoux) made a huge splash on the Croisette in 2010, with the sta wattage and the early shooting date start in August, I imagine the filmmaker has a chance at graduating into the Directors’ Fortnight section.

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Grand Central

Director: Rebecca Zlotowski

Writer(s): Zlotowski and Gaëlle Macé

Producer(s): Les Films Velvet’s Frédéric Jouve

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Léa Seydoux, Tahar Rahim, Olivier Gourmet, Denis Ménochet

I’m always on the lookout for smart French cinema from up-and-coming talents, and this is exactly where writer/director Rebecca Zlotowski situates herself. Belle Épine, her impressive debut film about teenage rebellion (also starring Léa Seydoux) traveled well on the fest circuit since it premiered in Cannes, and she has managed to parlay this into a sophomore pic that includes supporting talents from the likes of Tahar Rahim, Olivier Gourmet and Denis Ménochet.

Gist: This is being coined as a complex romance set in the backdrop of France’s nuclear power industry.

Release Date: Shooting began in August of ’12 which points to a showing at the Cannes Film Festival in either the Directors’ Fortnight or Un Certain Regard section.

Chicago – One of the annual gems of the Chicago movie scene is the Siskel Film Center’s unmissable European Union Film Festival. It provides local movie buffs with the opportunity to sample some of the finest achievements in world cinema. For many of the festival selections, their EU appearance will function as their sole screening in the Windy City.

This year’s edition, running from March 2nd through the 29th, includes high profile films from world renowned filmmakers like Andrea Arnold (“Wuthering Heights”), Bruce Dumont (“Hors Satan”), Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon (“The Fairy”), Abdellatif Kechiche (“Black Venus”) and John Landis (“Burke & Hare”). Moviegoers will have the opportunity to see the latest work from some of the world’s most acclaimed and beloved actors, including Léa Seydoux (“Belle Épine”), Tahir Rahim (“Free Men”), Colm Meaney (“Parked”), Noomi Rapace (“Beyond”), Andy Serkis (“Burke & Hare”), Isabella Rossellini (“Late Bloomers”) and Ewan McGregor...

[1] Rising French stars Léa Seydoux (Midnight in Paris, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) and Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) are set to lead Grand Central, a France-set contemporary romantic drama by Rebecca Zlotowski. Rahim will play a danger-addicted man whose nuclear facility job exposes him to deadly radiation levels. He's transformed by a forbidden affair with a woman he meets at the plant (Seydoux). Grand Central marks a reunion for Seydoux and Zlotowski, who previously worked together in Zlotowski's directorial debut Belle Épine. Seydoux was also recently cast in Michel Gondry's The Foam of the Days, and will next appear opposite Diane Kruger in March's Farewell, My Queen. Rahim starred last year in Jean-Jacques Annaud's Black Gold, and has just wrapped Joachim Lafosse's Loving Without Reason. Grand Central is expected to begin filming this summer. [Variety [2]] After the jump, Riddick adds to its cast and Sex Bob-omb frontman Stephen Stills boards an indie.

Two of our favorite breakouts of international cinema of the last few years have been Tahar Rahim and Lea Seydoux. The former made a scorching debut in Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet," followed up swiftly with "The Eagle" and "Black Gold," while the latter won a César nomination for "La Belle Persone" and more acclaim for "Lourdes," before making a big American splash last year as Owen Wilson's love interest in "Midnight in Paris" and as the buxom assassin in "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol." So it makes perfect sense that the two are being teamed up together. Variety reports that the Gallic stars will lead "Grand Central," a contemporary romance from writer-director Rebecca Zlotowski, whose 2010 debut "Belle Épine" (also known as "Dear Prudence"), won her acclaim back in France and on the festival circuit, and saw her pick up the Best First Film at...

From today through February 1, we're partnering with the My French Film Festival to show you ten recently released French features (first and second films) and ten French shorts. Presented by Unifrance, the festival invites you to award points to the films you like at the main site — and these points count, as six prizes will be awarded (three for features, three for shorts): the Internet Users Prize, Social Networks Prize and International Press Prize.

Outside of both competitions, we've also got a few extra presentations. The online festival was a hit around the world last year and you won't want to miss this second edition.

A few quick notes on the films, starting with the features:

Rebecca Zlotowski's Belle épine (Dear Prudence), winner of the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc for Best First Film, is "closer to a sobering character study than a classical youth film," finds Chris Cabin in Slant.

The feature debut of writer/director Rebecca Zlotowski, Belle Épine focuses on the coming of age story of an angry girl who wields sex like a weapon.

Léa Seydoux plays Prudence Friedman, a Jewish teen left alone to deal with the death of her mother. With her father away on business and her sister staying with friends, Prudence paces about her empty home like a caged animal. Feeling lost and enraged, she rejects Jewish traditions of mourning and favors rebellion. She shoplifts, tears cloths from mourning mirrors, and seeks out a group of teen bikers, who race the empty streets of Le Havre at night, leather clad and looking for trouble. In short order, she bonds with a fiery redhead named Maryline,who drinks, flirts and is eternally braless. But as Prudence begins to follow her lead, their friendship sours, turning adversarial as Prudence’s devil-may-care attitude and reckless flirtations...