News

The recently uncovered social media posts by “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón in which she attacked, among various things — Islam, George Floyd and a more diverse Oscars — have thrown an unexpected wrench into the awards race.

Within hours of the historic tweets being resurfaced and translated into English, Gascón apologized, saying she was “deeply sorry.” Things spiraled further over the weekend, when the actress did an interview with CNN en Español, booked without Netflix’s involvement, and addressed the situation (once again) in an Instagram post.

But by then, awards soothes had already started rewriting their predictions, and Netflix’s French-made Spanish-language musical about a Mexican drug kingpin who undergoes gender-affirming surgery — previously an awards frontrunner, winning multiple Golden Globes and leading the Oscar nominations with 13 — was being scrubbed from lists.

Almost all the attention since has focused on how this new scandal could impact the Oscars, where Netflix...

In one of the most prominent #MeToo cases in the French film industry, director Christophe Ruggia has been found guilty of the sexual assault of Portrait of a Lady on Fire actress Adèle Haenel. Ruggia was given a two-year custodial sentence to be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet and an additional two-year suspended sentence.

The prosecution had requested a five-year prison sentence with a three-year suspended sentence. Ruggia’s lawyers called the ruling “unjustified” and said they would appeal.

Haenel first went public with her sexual assault allegation against Ruggia in 2019 in an interview with French investigative website Mediapart. She accused the director of sexually assault and molestation over the course of three years, starting when she was 12 and he was 36, and Ruggia cast her in his 2001 feature The Devils. Haenel played the lead role in the film, a story of a brother and sister who turn to incest,...

French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia, who was accused in 2019 by “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actor Adele Haenel of having sexually abused her when she was a minor, was found guilty of sexual assault by a Paris court. He received a four-year sentence, including two years under house arrest and two years suspended.

In November 2019, Haenel alleged in an interview with investigative magazine Mediapart that she had been abused by Ruggia during and after the filming of the movie “Les Diables” (“The Devils”) in the early 2000s, when she was between 12 and 15 years old. She then filed a police complaint against the director.

Ruggia repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In December, the Paris prosecutor requested a five-year sentence, including two years under house arrest with electronic monitoring and three years suspended.

Haenel, who is now 35, was France’s first prominent star to accuse a filmmaker of sexual assault in the country’s #MeToo movement.

It really shouldn't be news that France is promising not to "spotlight" actors and filmmakers accused of sexual assault at the César Awards—its version of the Oscars—next month. But it's 2025 and this writer is American, so it's not just news—it's a massive, envy-inducing update.

The move isn't...

Emma Mackey y Vicky Krieps protagonizan la película. © Caramel Films

Ya se han dado a conocer las películas que competirán por el Oso de Oro en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Berlín –más conocido como Berlinale– en su 75 edición, que se celebrará del 13 al 23 de febrero.

Entre las películas a concurso está Agua salada, el debut como directora de Rebecca Lenkiewicz, la guionista detrás de títulos como Ida, Al descubierto y Colette.

Esta ópera prima, basada en la aclamada novela Leche caliente de Deborah Levy, se traslada –o más o menos, porque la grabación fue en Grecia– al abrasador paisaje almeriense. Almería se convierte en un lienzo épico para una íntima exploración del sexo, el amor y los lazos que nos unen a todos.

El filme sigue a Sofía y su madre, Rose, en su viaje desde Gran Bretaña hasta la costa de Almería. Lejos de la rutina y el control de su madre,...

It’s hard to say The Boy and the Heron isn’t Hayao Miyazaki’s magnum opus. The 2024 drama film captivated audiences worldwide and earned its storied director his second Academy Award. Aside from its gorgeous visuals, Ghibli’s latest masterpiece drew in audiences with a multilayered story of human resilience and transformation. Its brightly colored fantasy settings often mask the semi-autobiographical narrative, but its jarring visions of war-torn Japan infrequently return audiences to the film’s roots. Now, it’s not an exaggeration to say The Boy and the Heron is hard to beat. It has Studio Ghibli’s outstanding visual appeal supporting the work of a master storyteller.

In a world where traditional animation is a sadly fading art, Miyazaki’s genre-blending epic stands high above many of its competitors. However, its themes and ideas are far from new. While there are few films capable of delivering them...

The trial of French director Christophe Ruggia, who is accused of sexually assaulting Portrait of a Lady on Fire actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor, kicked off in Paris on Monday.

The two-day hearing comes five years after Haenel went public in 2019 with accusations against Ruggia in an interview with investigative website Mediapart, accusing him of sexually assaulting her as a teenager after he cast her in his 2002 feature The Devils.

She said Ruggia assaulted her over the course of three years, beginning with the shoot of the film in 2001, when she was 12 and he was 36, and continuing into the promotional and festival tour. Ruggia has denied the accusations.

Adèle Haenel supporters

Haenel arrived in court looking somber but determined. Female rights activists gathered outside, with placards bearing the slogan ‘Adele, On Te Croit’ (Adele We Believe you).

On taking to the stand for the first time, Ruggia...

A new take on Sega's House of the Dead is in the works with Paul W.S. Anderson, the filmmaker behind the financially successful Resident Evil movie series. The news comes 21 years after the first House of the Dead feature film adaptation was met with universal criticism upon release.

Per Deadline, Anderson is set to write and direct a new feature film based on House of the Dead, the Sega-owned video game franchise. Anderson is also going to produce alongside producing partner Jeremy Bolt, with whom he previously collaborated on Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, and Monster Hunter adaptations. Sega's Toru Nakahara is also producing alongside Story Kitchen's Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg, and Dan Jevons. Timothy I. Stevenson will be on board as an executive producer.

Related The First Cinematic Zombies Were Part of a Powerful Anti-War Film

Abel Gance's J'Accuse premiered in 1919 and introduced the world to the idea of zombies,...

Roman Polanski’s film An Officer and a Spy is to receive its UK premiere, five years after winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and despite being frozen out of the UK and American film market due to the director’s criminal past.

The Times newspaper reports that the UK Jewish Film Festival will host the first public screening of the film, which explores the real-life Dreyfus affair in France at the beginning of the 20th century.

The chief executive of the UK Jewish Film Festival Michael Etherton told The Times that the subject matter of the film with its theme of anti-Semitism was “highly relevant,” and said:

“And as a festival increasingly faced with silence, which often amounts to censorship of British Jewish culture, we don’t ourselves want to be censoring art. We want to give audiences the choice of whether they want to...

When it comes to separating art from the artist, you might find yourself between a rock and a hard place—or perhaps between a director’s chair and a moral conundrum. Zoë Kravitz is no stranger to the fact that admiring Roman Polanski’s films is a bit controversial, to say the least.

In a recent Esquire profile, the Blink Twice writer/director tackled the elephant in the room: Can we keep loving the art that controversial figures create while still condemning their actions? Well, in Kravitz’s world, it’s all about the art, even if it means accepting that sometimes “somebody bad was involved in something good”.

Zoë Kravitz in Kimi (2022) | Credit: HBO Max

Especially poignant was her defense of Roman Polanski’s work. After all, he directed cinematic treasures like Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant, films Kravitz adores despite their creator’s not-so-favorable reputation.

Zoë Kravitz’s...

Amazon Prime Video has set the launch date and unveiled art for Mélanie Laurent’s upcoming heist romance “Freedom” (“Libre”) starring Lucas Bravo (“Emily in Paris”).

The movie, which will launch exclusively on Prime Video on Nov. 1 across more than 240 countries, reteams the streamer and the acclaimed actor-turned-filmmaker following “The Mad Women’s Ball” which world premiered at Toronto Film Festival in 2019.

Based on a true story of a renowned French gangster of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, “Freedom” stars Bravo as Bruno Sulak, a highly charming criminal à la Arsène Lupin who orchestrated daring heists without firing a single shot. The film also charts Sulak’s cat-and-mouse game with George Moréas (Yvan Attal), a tenacious police commissioner, as well as his numerous escapes from prison and relationship with lover Annie, who is played by newcomer Léa Luce Busato.

Thomas Dubois, head of French originals at Amazon Studios, said working...

On the second night of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Judith Godrèche told the mostly female crowd assembled on a beach next to the Palais, “This film is for you!” The French actor-director was presenting her short “Moi Aussi,” a last-minute addition to the festival lineup that covers sexual misconduct in the French film industry. Godrèche has become something of an ambassador to the fledgling movement after she came forward in February with claims that she was preyed upon and groomed as a minor by directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, allegations they both deny. The beach screening kicked off what many hope will be a sweeping French #MeToo reckoning.

But the festival and its accompanying film market also will feature several men who have been the subject of #MeToo allegations that range from sexual harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence. The awkward presence of such actors as Shia Labeouf and James Franco,...

Picture Perfect Entertainment head Patrick Wachsberger arrives on the Croisette with key pre-sales in the bag on his hot-ticket French adaptation of The Incredible Shrinking Man starring Jean Dujardin.

Production began in Brussels last week on the feature based on the Richard Matheson novel and Universal’s 1957 black and white film about a man who faces danger at every turn after he is exposed to radiation and insecticide and shrinks to less than one inch tall.

Dujardin, who won the Oscar for The Artist, reunites with his 99 Francs director Jan Kounen.

Deals have closed in Germany (Leonine), Italy (Rai), Latin...

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...

Zombies weren't always brain-craving; the idea was introduced in 1985, a turning point in zombie history. George A. Romero defined modern zombies, using them as a metaphor for social-political issues. The Return of the Living Dead introduced brain-craving zombies, cementing the concept in horror film history.

While zombies have become a staple of the horror genre, their time has been relatively short in the media. Unlike other monsters like vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, zombies are a modern construct created on the screen as opposed to literature, at least as the fresh-hungry monsters we know them as today. While it is almost universal knowledge that the living dead crave brains, this concept was only introduced as recently as 1985 and is only one of a few stepping stones that have led to zombies as we view them today in movies, TV, and video games.

We will look at the history of zombies, from voodoo to re-animated corpses,...

Six months after world-premiering to poor reviews at the Venice Film Festival, Roman Polanski’s latest film “The Palace” has been acquired by a French distribution company, Swashbuckler Films.

The Paris-based banner, which specializes in classic movies, is hoping to release “The Palace” on May 15. The company’s owner, Sebastien Tiveyrat, told Variety he hasn’t yet obtained the exhibition visa from the National Film Board and hasn’t started contacting exhibitors in France to book theaters.

Although Polanski’s inclusion at the Venice festival sparked a controversy due to the fact that he’s still currently facing sexual assault allegations, “The Palace” sold across many territories, including Germany, Russia, Hungary, Estonia, Bulgaria and French-speaking Switzerland where it came out between September and January. The black comedy will next open in Portugal on April 4. Goodfellas handles international sales on the movie.

“The Palace” takes place during New Year’s Eve...

A defamation trial against controversial director Roman Polanski is underway in Paris.

The 90-year-old Franco-Polish filmmaker is being sued by British actor Charlotte Lewis, who is claiming he defamed her by calling her sexual assault allegations against him a “heinous lie” in a 2019 interview with Paris Match magazine.

Lewis first came forward with her allegations against Polanski in 2010, alleging that the director had sexually assaulted her in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old. Lewis said she had traveled to Paris for a casting call, and she later appeared in Polanski’s 1986 movie “Pirates.”

Polanski has been accused of sexual assault by several women, beginning in 1977 when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting 13-year-old Samantha Gailey. He entered a plea bargain and plead guilty to one charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, later fleeing the U.S. and continuing his career in Europe. He remains a fugitive from the U.

Actress and director Judith Godrèche made an appeal at the French César Awards on Friday for a new era of truth around the issue of sexual abuse and harassment in France’s cinema world after decades of silence and denial.

“For some time now, voices have been unleashed, the idealized image of our fathers has been shattered, power almost seems to be in a state of turmoil, could it be possible for us to look at the truth in the eye?,” she said in scheduled address.

“To take on our responsibilities? To be actors, actresses of a world that is questioning itself?, “ she asked. “For some time now, I’ve been talking and talking, but I can’t hear you, or only a little. Where are you? What are you saying? A whisper. Half a word.”

Her appearance at the César ceremony comes three weeks after the actress filed an...

Orange Studio has boarded true-crime-tinged psychological thriller “An Ordinary Case” and will launch sales at this week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris. Top-lined, co-written and directed by French cinema stalwart Daniel Auteuil, this pulled-from-the-headlines drama also boasts “Borgen” and “Westworld” star Sidse Babett Knudsen alongside acclaimed actor Grégory Gadebois (“An Officer and a Spy”).

Auteuil adapted the feature from the work of Jean-Yves Moyart – a jurist-turned-blogger-turned-bestselling author who wrote of his experiences in the French legal system – and will star as Jean Monier, a disillusioned lawyer defending a man accused of murdering his wife. While all signs point to the accused’s guilt, Monier remains steadfast in his presumption of innocence. What begins as an ordinary case turns out to be anything but.

Following in the footsteps of Alice Diop’s Venice and César winner “Saint Omer,” of Cédric Kahn’s Cannes-acclaimed “The Goldman Case,” and of Justine Triet’s...

Acclaimed director Wang Bing, this year’s guest of honor at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, will be using his IDFA platform to highlight nonfiction cinema of his native China.

The festival, which runs from Nov. 8-19, announced the 10 films Bing has selected to be screened at IDFA – one of the perquisites of being named guest of honor. Among the documentaries he’s choosing to highlight are Old Men (1999), directed by Lina Yang; Wheat Harvest (2008), directed by Tong Xu, and IDFA Bertha Fund-supported Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan, “documenting the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.” (Scroll to see Bing’s full top 10 list).

Director Wang Bing attends the Cannes Film Festival May 19, 2023.

The documentaries chosen by Bing “and their politics are subtle in their film language,” IDFA noted in a release, “representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.

The Palace, Roman Polanski's latest film, received a dismal 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine negative reviews from approved critics. This suggests it may be a major disappointment in his body of work. Critics describe The Palace as tasteless, lacking in style and fun, and a major misfire. Some even go as far as saying the film is so bad that it tarnishes Polanski's genius. Despite a 3-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, The Palace faces challenges with distribution and a bleak future. It remains to be seen if the film can overcome initial obstacles and find an audience.

Recently, The Palace by Roman Polanski had an unfortunate start at the Venice Film Festival, reflected by a bleak 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This dismal score is based on a total of ten reviews, all submitted by Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics, and all expressing their unanimous displeasure for the film.

The Palace, the newest movie from Roman Polanski, has landed with a heavy splat with its debut on Rotten Tomatoes.

Following the movie's premiere at Venice Film Festival, The Palace has opened with the unwanted score of 0%. This is based on nine total reviews submitted by Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics, with each one of them unanimous with their displeasure for the film. It's possible the number will rise after more reviews are submitted, though it's also worth noting that those that are currently live are not kind on the movie whatsoever, suggesting The Palace is particularly bad.

Related: Emma Stone's Poor Things Debuts With Perfect Score at Rotten Tomatoes

"[The Palace is] a film that wears its bad taste like a mink coat while offering little in terms of fun, less still in terms of style," writes Rory O'Connor of The Film Stage. THR reviewer Jordan Mintzer agrees, labeling the movie a "major misfire.

Roman Polanski’s black comedy “The Palace” was given a tepid three-minutes of applause when it world premiered in the Palazzo del Cinema’s Sala Grande on Saturday night.

Producer Luca Barbareschi, French star Fanny Ardant and other key cast members including German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Portugal’s Joaquim de Almeida and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”) stood up and took a bow, but the audience’s response seemed to be more polite than exited, though there were occasional bursts of laughter during the screening.

Before the film’s premiere “The Palace” set designer Tonino Zera received Venice’s Campari Passion for Film prize from artistic director Alberto Barbera.

Polanski directed the black comedy from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa Piaskowska. “The Palace” takes place during New Year’s Eve in 1999, when a dinner party at Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace hotel takes an unexpected turn.

Roman Polanski’s Venice Film Festival feature The Palace received a 3 minute ovation tonight at its world premiere screening.

The Palace unfolds against the backdrop of Switzerland’s luxury Gstaad Palace hotel and revolves around the chasm between its ultra-rich clients and those who serve them in the lead-up to a lavish New Year Party on the eve of 2000.

Featuring Mickey Rourke, Fanny Ardant and John Cleese in the ensemble cast, the film took inspiration from Polanski’s own stays at the Gstaad Palace. He wrote the screenplay with Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski and producer Ewa Piaskowska. Longtime collaborator Alexandre Desplat composed the score.

As we revealed earlier this week, the film has closed multiple distribution deals in international markets.

There remains fierce debate in the film world and beyond over whether Polanski should be endorsed or not as an artist while 1973 charges of unlawful sex with a minor in the U.

Venice film festival: Set in a hotel on New Year’s eve in 1999, this dismal comedy finds room for John Cleese, Mickey Rourke and Fanny Ardant, but you’ll want to run for the hills

You may need a stiff drink to get through the entirety of Roman Polanski’s new film; you may find you need several – whatever dulls the pain. Playing out of competition at the Venice film festival, the 90-year-old director’s latest (last?) production is a ghastly, flaccid hotel farce that starts with a conversation about armageddon and ends with a dog having sex with a penguin. As grand finales go, The Palace’s closing shot is as memorable as “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown”, or the slow swoop from the Dakota at the end of Rosemary’s Baby. But – and I can’t stress this enough – not in a good way.

It’s too easy...

In The Palace, guests of a luxury hotel prepare to celebrate the turn of the millennium. The caviar is tasted. The fireworks are readied. Soon (you guessed it) indulgence shifts to debauchery. The director, if you haven’t heard, is Roman Polanski, a filmmaker whose marketability in Europe seems to endure almost in spite of its continued non-existence in Britain and the United States. The Palace was made on a budget of €17,000,000, boasts an Alexandre Desplat score and a starry cast, and was shot in the Gstaad Palace of Switzerland, where a basic single room will set you back a grand a night. The Palace premiered this week at the Venice Film Festival, where Polanski’s last film, An Officer and A Spy, opened to cautiously positive reviews in 2019, ultimately winning him the Silver Lion for Best Director. At the time you could almost feel the critical consensus straining against its better judgment.

Setting aside all the necessary caveats about art and artists, Roman Polanski’s “The Palace” throws a greater fact into stark relief. For all the digital ink we spill, journalists and critics are more often than not responsive to wider industry forces, and in Polanski’s case – as in the wider European industry — something has definitely shifted.

Heck, you could even the place the specific date to Feb. 28, 2020 – the night Polanski’s Venice Grand Jury Prize winner “An Officer and a Spy” won best director at France’s Cesar awards, prompting boos, a few notable walkouts, and a clash between protesters and police out in the streets. Two weeks prior, the French academy’s board of directors resigned in scandal.

So the fact that Polanski’s 2019 film has yet to find U.S. distribution is not a particular surprise; the fact that his follow-up, “The Palace,” has had similar tough...

For an admirer of his work, writing about a new movie by Roman Polanski is like facing a minefield of unsolvable questions: Can this film be judged like the others given the director’s criminal record and tarnished reputation? Is it possible to praise a work of art if certain parts of an artist’s life are reprehensible, or should the two be separated? Should Polanski still be allowed to make movies? Should this movie even be written about?

Those questions would be harder to answer if Polanski, who’s now 90, made something on the level of say, Chinatown or Rosemary’s Baby. Or even something like The Tenant or Frantic or Repulsion or his debut feature, Knife in the Water, which came out over 60 years ago and earned him his first Oscar nomination.

But the director’s latest, The Palace, leaves little room for ambiguity. It’s the worst thing...

Roman Polanski’s Italian producer Luca Barbareschi used the Venice press conference for The Palace, Polanski’s latest black comedy, as an opportunity to blast U.S. streamers for not backing the controversial director.

Noting that Polanski’s back catalog, including such films as Chinatown, The Ghostwriter and Rosemary’s Baby, is carried on many U.S. platforms, he chastized the streamers for not investing in the director’s latest production.

“I don’t understand why all the platforms: Paramount+, Amazon, Netflix, have Polanski’s [older movies] that are making millions for them,” he said. “Why won’t they produce Polanski’s new movie?”

The Palace is set at Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace luxury hotel and examines the interactions between the hotel’s serving staff and the phenomenally wealthy guests in the run-up to a New Year’s Eve party to ring in the new millennium of 2000. Mickey Rourke, John Cleese, Fanny Ardant,...

The cast, producers and collaborators of Roman Polanski’s The Palace showed their support for the filmmaker here in Venice today during a press conference for the movie that world premieres out of competition this evening.

Polanski himself is not on the Lido as it remains unclear whether he would be subject to Italy’s extradition treaty with the U.S. The selection of The Palace has sparked debate in the film world, which remains split over whether Polanski should be celebrated as an artist while 1970s charges of unlawful sex with a minor in the U.S. remain unresolved.

This is the second time in recent years that the filmmaker has been in official selection in Venice. However, following 2019’s prizewinning drama An Officer and a Spy, he’s back with a comedic movie.

The satire pokes fun at the ultra-rich and is set against the backdrop of Switzerland’s luxury Gstaad Palace Hotel,...

Roman Polanski’s Italian producer Luca Barbareschi got emotional at the press conference for “The Palace,” a black comedy that is the director’s new work and premieres at the Venice Film Festival today.

“It’s been very difficult to make this film,” said Barbareschi, a multi-hyphenate who also stars in “The Palace.” “Polanski is not easy [to finance]” he added, noting that “there is a hole – France – in the middle of this film,” since French companies refused to participate in its production.

Polanski’s previous film, “An Officer and a Spy,” a period drama about the Dreyfus affair, scooped the Grand Jury Prize at Venice, won best director at the Cesar Awards and was one of the highest grossing French films of 2019. But the film’s Cesar win sparked such a massive scandal in France that it prompted a complete overhaul of the leadership of the awards org.

Now that “The Palace” got made,...

Actor, producer and director Luca Barbareschi is at the Venice Film Festival this year as one the main representatives of Roman Polanski’s new film The Palace.

The satire, poking fun at the ultra-rich against the backdrop of Switzerland’s luxury Gstaad Palace Hotel and featuring Mickey Rourke, Fanny Ardant and John Cleese in the ensemble cast, world premieres Out of Competition in a gala screening on Saturday.

Its selection for Venice’s 80th edition has sparked debate in the film world, which remains split over whether Polanski should be celebrated as an artist while 1970s charges of unlawful sex with a minor in the U.S. remain unresolved.

The director, who turned 90 in August, has not travelled to Italy, where it remains unclear whether he would be subject to Italy’s extradition treaty with the U.S., while a number of the film’s international stars including John Cleese...

Exclusive: Roman Polanski’s dark comedy The Palace has sold to a host of key territories ahead of its Venice premiere, with distributors getting behind the film in spite of the controversy surrounding the director.

Goodfellas has unveiled deals to Benelux (Paradiso Films), Spain (Vértigo Films), Germany (Weltkino), Greece (Spentzos) and Portugal (Nos Lusomondo) in Western Europe.

Eastern and Central European distributors have also snapped up the film with sales to Bulgaria (Beta Film), Yugoslavia (McF), Hungary (Cirko), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Pilot Films), the Baltics (Best Film) and Cis (Pro:vzglyad). United King has acquired Israeli rights, while Teleview has taken Middle East.

The Palace will be launched theatrically in Italy on September 28 by 01 Distribution. Its parent Rai Cinema is a key partner on the production alongside lead producer Luca Barbareschi.

Lausanne-based Cab Productions, which is also a producer, holds Swiss rights. Tomasz Przybecki is handling Polish rights in a deal brokered by Barbareschi.

Exclusive: Deadline can reveal the international trailer for Roman Polanski’s ensemble dark comedy The Palace ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.

Shot against the backdrop of Switzerland’s luxury Gstaad Palace hotel, the film unfolds in the lead-up to a lavish New Year Party on the eve of 2000.

Mickey Rourke is unveiled as a demanding client with a Trump-style blond wig; Fanny Ardant as a wealthy marquise fretting over her constipated chihuahua, and John Cleese as a business magnate, who pitches up with his much-younger, new bride (Bronwyn James) and a live penguin.

The motley assortment of guests seeing in the new millennium also features a party of wealthy Russians (who tune into Vladimir Putin’s real-life News Year’s Eve Speech declaring he had been made interim president following Boris Yeltsin’s resignation), and a former porn star.

In the backdrop, the...

Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera has shown once again that he is not scared to court controversy.

The festival head has given Roman Polanski a safe festival berth for his new movie The Palace at Venice, in a selection that is likely to spark debate alongside the inclusion of Woody Allen’s Coeur de Chance.

They are among 12 films due to play Out of Competition at the 80th edition running August 30 to September 9.

Barbera told Italian journalists in a Q&a after the main lineup announcement that Polanski, who turns 90 in August, will not make the trip to the Lido, while Woody is down to attend.

Related: Venice Is Still Hopeful That Its Red Carpet Will Be Full Of Stars If Movies Such As ‘Ferrari’, ‘Priscilla’ & More Are Granted SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreements

The Palace will still make for a starry red carpet with its ensemble cast featuring Oliver Masucci,...

Lido red carpets may be star-deprived this year, but that didn’t stop the Venice Film Festival from arranging a gorgeous constellation of new movies from supernova directors. (The full lineup is here.)

The SAG-AFTRA strike work stoppage means, of course, that competition directors like Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”), David Fincher (“The Killer”), Sofia Coppola (“Priscilla”), Ava DuVernay, Saverio Costanzo (“Finalmente L’Alba”), and Michel Franco (“Memory”) will have to do the talking at press conferences and attend step-and-repeats without their actors, if they’re willing. It’s tricky for multihyphenates like Bradley Cooper, who directs and stars as Leonard Bernstein in Netflix’s “Maestro;” IndieWire hears he will sit this festival out.

Among the Venice film stars who will not be waving to the paparazzi from water taxis are Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Carey Mulligan, Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Jacob Elordi, Aunjanue Ellis, Lily James, Joe Keery,...

Updated, 1:53 Am: Amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, what the Venice Film Festival may lack in star acting talent turning up on the Lido, it certainly looks to be making up for in marquee directors — including what might prove to be some lightning-rod choices. Scroll down for the full list of titles announced this morning.

Revealing the lineup for the 80th edition today, fest chief Alberto Barbera said that the program already had been finalized by the time of the SAG-AFTRA work stoppage, and only lost one U.S. film, Challengers which had been due to open the proceedings.

All other American movies invited “have been confirmed and will be present in the festival,” he said. Those include a handful of competition titles from Netflix: the Bradley Cooper-helmed and starring Maestro, Pablo Larrain’s El Conde and David Fincher’s The Killer. Also in are A24’s Priscilla from Sofia Coppola,...

Kohn’s Corner is a weekly column about the challenges and opportunities of sustaining American film culture.

This week provided a confluence of contentious developments for the film industry, and I’m not talking about the ongoing writers strike. First reviews of “The Flash” dropped ahead of the movie’s release and while they’re definitely mixed, the movie doesn’t seem destined for the dustbin despite its ostracized lead. Ezra Miller’s assault charges haven’t gone away, but that hasn’t deterred Warner Bros. from hurtling toward the theatrical release plan and mitigating Miller’s scandal however it can.

Miller, of course, stayed out of the spotlight while the studio ramped up buzz. Tracking for the June 16 release in the unremarkable $70 million-$75 million range, which means it may not be the summer’s most profitable blockbuster. However, the hype machine ensured that audiences won’t cancel “The Flash” alongside its troubled star.

Italy’s 01 Distribution has announced a September 28 release for Roman Polanski’s new feature The Palace, fueling speculation that the film will world premiere at the upcoming edition of the Venice Film Festival (August 30-September 9).

The distributor, which had previously set an April date for the work which came and went, announced the new release date via its social media accounts on June 7 and revealed the artwork for the film.

È il 31 Dicembre 1999 e al lussuoso The Palace Hotel fervono i preparativi per il Capodanno più atteso di sempre. Ospiti milionari da tutto il mondo si preparano ad entrare nel Nuovo Millennio, tra vezzi, vizi e stravaganze. #ThePalace, di #RomanPolanski, dal 28.09 al cinema. pic.twitter.com/bkSRBtqs1R

— 01Distribution (@01Distribution) June 7, 2023

The move immediately sparked suggestions that the film is headed to Venice, where last film An Officer And A Spy also world premiered in 2019.

Artistic director Alberto Barbera...

Roman Polanski’s “The Palace” has been set for release in Italian theatres in September, prompting speculation that the controversial director’s black comedy set in a posh hotel in the Swiss Alps resort of Gstaad on the eve of the new millennium could be launching from the Venice Film Festival.

Italy’s Rai Cinema, which is a main backer of Polanski’s new film, has slated a September 28 local release date via its 01 Distribuzione unit for “The Palace,” which has an ensemble cast including Mickey Rourke, John Cleese and Fanny Ardant. Other key cast members include German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”); Portugal’s Joaquin De Almeida; the U.K.’s Bronwyn James (“The Dig”) and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”).

The Palace/Courtesy Rai Cinema

Besides announcing the release date, production company Eliseo Entertainment and Rai Cinema have also issued a dippy decadent poster...

Exclusive: Leo Leigh’s directorial debut Sweet Sue and Vincent Perez’s fencing film The Edge Of The Blade are among six international films set to get their world premiere at the upcoming Filmfest München (June 23 – July 1), which this year celebrates its 40th edition. Scroll down for full list and details.

The large summertime festival has been known for premiering German films but this year has collated a stronger collection of global debuts, partly inspired by the launch at the event last year of Marcelo Gomes’ Brazilian film Paloma.

The six international debuts — heralding from U.S., Canada, UK, France, and Israel — are each looking for a German distributor. Directors and talent will be attending the screenings.

Leigh is the son of celebrated British auteur Mike Leigh. His BBC Films-backed comedy-drama, sold by HanWay, follows a woman back on the dating scene who embarks on a relationship with a...

Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux is responding to French actress Adèle Haenel’s claims that the annual festival has supported “sexual aggressors” like director Roman Polanski and actor Gerard Depardieu.

Haenel, who publicly announced her retirement from acting in March 2022, penned an open letter last week slamming the Cannes Film Festival for protecting sexual abusers. “They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” Haenel wrote. “It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They preferred that we disappear and die in silence.”

She added that Cannes was “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs” and claimed that the French industry effectively “canceled” its own #MeToo movement.

Now, Cannes festival director Fremaux defended the festival from Haenel’s “radical” and “false” comments.

“She’s very radical, but it’s an erroneous comment,” Fremaux said. “It’s misplaced. She didn’t think that when she came to...

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actress Adèle Haenel is calling out the French film industry for supporting known sexual abusers.

Haenel wrote an op-ed letter for French publication Télérama in which she denounced the “general complacency” toward “sexual aggressors” like actor Gerard Depardieu, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct by 13 women, and director Roman Polanski, who raped then-13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977.

“They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” Haenel wrote (via The Hollywood Reporter). “It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They preferred that we disappear and die in silence.”

Doubling down on her retirement from movies, she added that the French industry has effectively “canceled” its own #MeToo movement over the years, writing, “You have the money, the strength, and all the glory [but] you won’t have me as a spectator. I cancel you from my world.”

Haenel previously accused French...

French actress Adèle Haenel, the star of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, has announced her retirement from the movie business, saying the complacency and indifference of the French industry to the #MeToo movement is behind her decision.

In a letter published on media news site Télérama on Tuesday, Haenel she wanted to use the public declaration of her retirement from the film business as a way to call out the “general complacency” within the French industry “vis-à-vis sexual aggressors.”

Despite several high-profile examples of sexual abuse and misconduct within the French film industry, many of which came to light in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Haenel says the powers that be have chosen to ignore and ostracize women who have come forward to sound the alarm. “They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats,” she writes in her Télérama letter, referencing three of the most prominent French film figures accused of abuse.

Samantha Geimer is once again defending Roman Polanski, who raped her in 1977 when she was 13 years old. Geimer has often spoken out in support of Polanski, although this time she did it in an interview with France’s Le Point magazine that was conducted by none other than Polanski’s wife, the actor Emmanuelle Seigner.

Polanski was arrested in 1977 for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He accepted a plea bargain and only served 42 days in prison. He fled the United States in 1978 while still under probation after his legal team got word that he was going to face imprisonment on additional charges. He was detained by Swiss police decades later in 2009 while traveling to the Zurich Film Festival in an attempt by the United States to extradite him. The Swiss court ultimately rejected the request and released Polanski.

“Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was...

Daniel Brühl is set to star as late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld in “Kaiser Karl,” the anticipated Disney+ original series which Gaumont (“Lupin”) is currently producing. The show is currently shooting in France, Monaco and Italy.

The six-part series will chronicle the rise of Karl Lagerfeld through the world of 1970s Parisian high fashion. In 1972, a 38-year-old Karl Lagerfeld aspired to become the most famous French fashion designer, at a time when Yves Saint Laurent reigned supreme. Lagerfeld went on to become the head designer and creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his own label.

The series will also explore the rivalry between Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent’s partner Pierre Berge, as well as his love story with Jacques de Bascher.

Along with depicting the clan rivalries and ego battles of the high fashion world, the series will also portray the epic partying and decadence, tragic love affairs and...

Woody Allen might still be persona non grata for many in the U.S., but international distributors will likely be clamoring to see his new film, Coup de Chance, which will be presented to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market.

WestEnd Films, in collaboration with Gravier Productions, will kick off sales for the film in Berlin next week.

Allen’s 50th feature marks the director’s French-language debut and features an ensemble cast of local stars, including Lou De Laâge (The Innocents), Valérie Lemercier (Aline), Melvil Poupaud (Summer of 85) and Niels Schneider (Heartbeats).

In a statement, Allen called the the movie a “story of romance, passion and violence set in contemporary Paris. Shot all over the city and a little bit in the countryside, it evolves around a romance between two young people who are old friends and devolves into marital infidelity and ultimately crime.”

The movie reunites Allen...

Los Angeles, Feb 3 (Ians) Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who fell from grace in France since the premiere of his last film ‘An Officer and a Spy’ in competition at Venice in 2019, is back with ‘The Palace’ that could make a surprise splash on the festival circuit.

Polanski, who fled the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, was leading a pleasant life in France for decades until he came back into the global spotlight with the Lido premiere of ‘An Officer and a Spy’ and scooped the Grand Jury Prize, reports Variety.

Shortly after the movie’s Venice bow, Polanski faced new allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denied. When he went on to win best director at France’s Cesar Awards, the country’s equivalent of the Oscars, industry outcry prompted a complete overhaul of the leadership of the awards.

As per Variety,...

Since premiering his last film “An Officer and a Spy” in competition at Venice in 2019, Roman Polanski has fallen from grace in France. But he’s now back with a new movie called “The Palace” that could make a surprise splash on the festival circuit.

Polanski, who fled the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, was leading a pleasant life in France for decades until he came back into the global spotlight with the Lido premiere of “An Officer and a Spy” and scooped the Grand Jury Prize.

Shortly after the movie’s Venice bow, Polanski faced new allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies. When he went on to win best director at France’s Cesar Awards, the country’s equivalent of the Oscars, industry outcry prompted a complete overhaul of the leadership of the awards org. The scandal sparked the...

“The Crime Is Mine,” the new star-studded film by revered French director Francois Ozon, has been boarded by a raft of major distributors in key markets.

Represented by Playtime, the crowd-pleasing comedy had its world premiere on the opening night of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris and drew laughter throughout the screening, along with a long ovation.

Lushly lensed in an idealized Paris of the 1930s, “The Crime Is Mine” brings together a sprawling cast, led by a pair of up-and-coming actors, Nadia Tereszkiewicz (“Forever Young”) and Rebecca Marder (“Simone”), alongside Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini, André Dussolier, Dany Boon and Félix Lefebvre.

“The Crime Is Mine” has been acquired for Canada (Sphere Films), Spain (Caramel), Italy (Bim), Greece (Filmtrade), Germany (Welkino), Austria (Filmladen) Benelux (September Films), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), Hungary (Vertigo), Baltics, Cis (A-One), Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic), Romania (Independenta Film) and Former Yugoslavia (McF).

Playtime scored these deals after...