Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. Today we’re talking to French execs Clément Calvet and Jérémie Fajner, founders of Paris-based production and distribution company Superprod Group. The group is on the rise with a recent high-profile company acquisition, an eclectic multi-format slate and embrace of cutting-edge Usd pipeline technology pioneered by Pixar which is giving it the edge.
It’s hard to define Paris-based content company Superprod. Launched in 2010 with an accent on animation, the group has since branched out into live action, working on original in-house content and commissions across all formats.
The company’s eclectic slate spans hit animated series Batwheels and Paddington and the upcoming update of iconic Dutch children’s character Miffy as well as French live action drama series Panda and feature...
It’s hard to define Paris-based content company Superprod. Launched in 2010 with an accent on animation, the group has since branched out into live action, working on original in-house content and commissions across all formats.
The company’s eclectic slate spans hit animated series Batwheels and Paddington and the upcoming update of iconic Dutch children’s character Miffy as well as French live action drama series Panda and feature...
- 4/17/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Paris-based Pulsar Content has taken on world sales rights to Colombian director Camila Beltrán’s debut feature Mi Bestia, which is making its world pemeire in Cannes’ Acid 2024 line-up.
Set in Bogotá in 1996, the film follows a 13 year-old girl grappling with adolescence as everyone around her grows frightened of an approaching red moon lunar eclipse said to bring the devil to earth.
Mi Bestia is produced by the filmmaker’s Colombia-based production house Felina Films with France’s Films Grand Huit, and Colombia’s Inercia Películas and Ganas Producciones. Beltrán, whose experimental short films have been shown across festivals including Locarno and Clermont-Ferrand,...
Set in Bogotá in 1996, the film follows a 13 year-old girl grappling with adolescence as everyone around her grows frightened of an approaching red moon lunar eclipse said to bring the devil to earth.
Mi Bestia is produced by the filmmaker’s Colombia-based production house Felina Films with France’s Films Grand Huit, and Colombia’s Inercia Películas and Ganas Producciones. Beltrán, whose experimental short films have been shown across festivals including Locarno and Clermont-Ferrand,...
- 4/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
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...
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...
- 3/26/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Nolita Cinema’s musical Hear Me Love, starring France’s biggest pop star Clara Luciani in her first lead role, has started shooting in Paris as part of a revival of the film musical in France.
Set between Paris and Rome’s Cinecitta’s Studios in the 1970s, Hear Me Love (Joli Joli) follows a struggling writer looking for inspiration for his second novel who falls in love with a famous movie star. It is the fifth feature by French film and theatre director Diastème and is being scored by composer Alex Beaupain.
Ginger & Fed is selling the film...
Set between Paris and Rome’s Cinecitta’s Studios in the 1970s, Hear Me Love (Joli Joli) follows a struggling writer looking for inspiration for his second novel who falls in love with a famous movie star. It is the fifth feature by French film and theatre director Diastème and is being scored by composer Alex Beaupain.
Ginger & Fed is selling the film...
- 2/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Shudder has picked up North America, UK & Ireland and Australia & New Zealand to David Moreau’s continuous shot genre title MadS from French outfit Pulsar Content.
The film shot in five takes over five days. It is set on a summer night and follows a teen who stops to see his dealer, tries a new drug and sets out to party, but ends up picking up an injured woman as the night takes a shocking, surreal turn.
MadS stars newcomers Milton Riche, Laurie Pavy and Lucille Guillaume.
Pulsar Content is at the EFM with Michele Placido’s Eternal Visionary about the life of Luigi Pirandello,...
The film shot in five takes over five days. It is set on a summer night and follows a teen who stops to see his dealer, tries a new drug and sets out to party, but ends up picking up an injured woman as the night takes a shocking, surreal turn.
MadS stars newcomers Milton Riche, Laurie Pavy and Lucille Guillaume.
Pulsar Content is at the EFM with Michele Placido’s Eternal Visionary about the life of Luigi Pirandello,...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Pulsar Content has boarded “Mikado,” a heartwarming family film written and directed by Baya Kasmi, who previously directed “Iʼm All Yours” and “The (in)famous Youssef Salem.”
“Mikado” is produced by Karé Production (“The Presidentʼs Wife”) and Films Grand Huit (“Disco Boy”). The film stars Felix Moati (“No Manʼs Land”) alongside Ramzy Bedia (“Donʼt Die Too Hard!”) and Vimala Pons (“Vincent Must Die”), who previously worked with Kasmi.
Pulsar Content will be launching international sales at the European Film Market with an exclusive promo-reel.
The film follows Mikado and Laetitia, who lead an alternative lifestyle aboard a van with their home-schooled children Nuage and Zephir. One day, their van breaks down, forcing them to lead a somewhat “normal” life over summer.
“We immediately fell in love with Bayaʼs script,” said Pulsar Content co-founders Gilles Sousa and Marie Garrett. “It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, and a wonderful role for Felix Moati.
“Mikado” is produced by Karé Production (“The Presidentʼs Wife”) and Films Grand Huit (“Disco Boy”). The film stars Felix Moati (“No Manʼs Land”) alongside Ramzy Bedia (“Donʼt Die Too Hard!”) and Vimala Pons (“Vincent Must Die”), who previously worked with Kasmi.
Pulsar Content will be launching international sales at the European Film Market with an exclusive promo-reel.
The film follows Mikado and Laetitia, who lead an alternative lifestyle aboard a van with their home-schooled children Nuage and Zephir. One day, their van breaks down, forcing them to lead a somewhat “normal” life over summer.
“We immediately fell in love with Bayaʼs script,” said Pulsar Content co-founders Gilles Sousa and Marie Garrett. “It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, and a wonderful role for Felix Moati.
- 2/7/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Paris-based Pulsar Content has acquired world sales rights for Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar’s U.S. road movie Silver Star, co-starring Grace Van Dien and Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, for a launch at the upcoming EFM.
The production sees French duo Bessis and Amar reunite behind the camera for the first time since their 2013 SXSW breakout Swim Little Fish Swim, having first sparked attention with 2011 short film Checkpoint.
Johnson plays a young African-American Civil War reenactor freshly out of jail, who learns that the lives of her estranged parents are at risk and tries to help them by robbing a bank.
In her botched robbery attempt, she takes a hostage named Franny (Van Dien), who turns out to be a charmingly impulsive pregnant teenager with nothing left to lose.
Together, they embark on a twisted electric chase through scenic American landscapes, clashing and struggling...
The production sees French duo Bessis and Amar reunite behind the camera for the first time since their 2013 SXSW breakout Swim Little Fish Swim, having first sparked attention with 2011 short film Checkpoint.
Johnson plays a young African-American Civil War reenactor freshly out of jail, who learns that the lives of her estranged parents are at risk and tries to help them by robbing a bank.
In her botched robbery attempt, she takes a hostage named Franny (Van Dien), who turns out to be a charmingly impulsive pregnant teenager with nothing left to lose.
Together, they embark on a twisted electric chase through scenic American landscapes, clashing and struggling...
- 2/1/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Paris and Los Angeles-based sales agency has boarded films by Nicolas Benamou, Artus and Christophe Duthuron
Paris and Los Angeles-based Other Angle Pictures has boarded three French comedy dramas: Nicolas Benamou’s We Should Have Gone to Greece, Artus’ A Little Something Extra and Christophe Duthuron’s Happiness Therapy.
The company will launch sales for all three films at this week’s Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris in the French capital.
We Should Have Gone to Greece is the latest feature from Benamou, known for co-directing local and international hit comedies Babysitting and Babysitting 2 with Philippe Lacheau, 2020’s Mystery in St. Tropez,...
Paris and Los Angeles-based Other Angle Pictures has boarded three French comedy dramas: Nicolas Benamou’s We Should Have Gone to Greece, Artus’ A Little Something Extra and Christophe Duthuron’s Happiness Therapy.
The company will launch sales for all three films at this week’s Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris in the French capital.
We Should Have Gone to Greece is the latest feature from Benamou, known for co-directing local and international hit comedies Babysitting and Babysitting 2 with Philippe Lacheau, 2020’s Mystery in St. Tropez,...
- 1/16/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Ginger & Fed, the new international film sales arm of Federation Studios headed by former TF1 Studio boss Sabine Chemaly, will launch several high profile titles at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, including “The Future Awaits,” Niels Tavernier’s WWII-set drama based on the true story of a Holocaust survivor. Ginger & Fed will also bow sales on “Riviera Revenge,” a heartwarming comedy starring André Dussollier (“The Crime is Mine”), Sabine Azéma (“Tanguy”) and Thierry Lhermitte (“The Dinner Game”), along with continuing deals on “Rachel’s Game,” “Survive” and “Oldies and Goodies.”
Produced by Yves Darondeau at Bonne Pioche Cinema (“March of the Penguins”), “The Future Awaits” tells the story of Tauba Birenbaum, whose testimony was collected in July 1997 to become part of Steven Spielberg’s Institute for Visual History. The film opens in July 1942, during the Vel’ d’Hiv’ Roundup of Jewish families in Paris. 13-year-old Tauba and her parents, who are Polish Jews,...
Produced by Yves Darondeau at Bonne Pioche Cinema (“March of the Penguins”), “The Future Awaits” tells the story of Tauba Birenbaum, whose testimony was collected in July 1997 to become part of Steven Spielberg’s Institute for Visual History. The film opens in July 1942, during the Vel’ d’Hiv’ Roundup of Jewish families in Paris. 13-year-old Tauba and her parents, who are Polish Jews,...
- 1/15/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 1/15/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Chevrollier is behind hit French series including Oussekine and international hit thriller The Bureau
Paris-based sales house Pulsar Content has hopped aboard Antoine Chevrollier’s Block Pass and will kick off sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris which takes place from January 16-23.
Block Pass is the anticipated debut feature from Chevrollier, who is well known as a series director in France. His credits including police brutality drama Oussekine, spy thriller The Bureau and political drama Baron Noir.
The film is produced by Nicolas Blanc’s Agat Films and reteams the director with Oussekine star Sayyid El Alami alongside fresh face Amaury Foucher,...
Paris-based sales house Pulsar Content has hopped aboard Antoine Chevrollier’s Block Pass and will kick off sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris which takes place from January 16-23.
Block Pass is the anticipated debut feature from Chevrollier, who is well known as a series director in France. His credits including police brutality drama Oussekine, spy thriller The Bureau and political drama Baron Noir.
The film is produced by Nicolas Blanc’s Agat Films and reteams the director with Oussekine star Sayyid El Alami alongside fresh face Amaury Foucher,...
- 1/10/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
"Rule Number 1 – the less you know about the target, the better." IFC Films has revealed an official trailer for an assassin film called American Star, directed by Spanish filmmaker Gonzalo López-Gallego. There are no American actors in this movie, however, and the title is actually a reference to big shipwreck called the "American Star", which really exists and can be found on the west coast of the Fuerteventura island in the Canary Islands – which is where this film was shot and it also takes place. This 2024 films follows an assassin on his final assignment on Fuerteventura, who remains on the island while his target is delayed in arriving. He becomes drawn to the people he meets and a ghostly shipwreck which complicates his mission greatly when the target arrives. Ian McShane stars + produces, with Nora Arnezeder, Adam Nagaitis, Fanny Ardant, Oscar Coleman, Andres Gertrudix, and Thomas Kretschmann. This really doesn't look that bad,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes” won best film at the 17th edition of Leffest Lisboa Film Festival, which announced awards Saturday night.
Marking Erice’s first feature film since his 1992 docudrama “The Quince Tree Sun” and garnering almost universal positive reviews – Variety called it “an aching ode to film, time and memory” – following its world premiere at Cannes, “Close Your Eyes” has screened at Toronto, Busan, BFI London and New York.
During Leffest, in a session moderated by Paulo Branco, 83-year old Erice took part in a conversation with preeminent 64-year old Portuguese helmer, Pedro Costa, whose short “The Daughters of Fire,” was a Cannes Special Screening and also had its Portuguese premiere at the fest.
Erice remarked during the event, one fest highlight, that both he and Costa are working in the shadow of two great filmmakers – “Don Luis Buñuel” and “Don Manoel de Oliveira” – and he added...
Marking Erice’s first feature film since his 1992 docudrama “The Quince Tree Sun” and garnering almost universal positive reviews – Variety called it “an aching ode to film, time and memory” – following its world premiere at Cannes, “Close Your Eyes” has screened at Toronto, Busan, BFI London and New York.
During Leffest, in a session moderated by Paulo Branco, 83-year old Erice took part in a conversation with preeminent 64-year old Portuguese helmer, Pedro Costa, whose short “The Daughters of Fire,” was a Cannes Special Screening and also had its Portuguese premiere at the fest.
Erice remarked during the event, one fest highlight, that both he and Costa are working in the shadow of two great filmmakers – “Don Luis Buñuel” and “Don Manoel de Oliveira” – and he added...
- 11/19/2023
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has announced details of this year's selection of films from Saudi Arabia, alongside the Arab Spectacular and Red Sea: Competition features strands. Collectively, these strands will showcase the rich and varied work by established and new filmmakers from the region, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation.
The third edition of the Rsiff – running from 30 November to 9 December – providesa unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures, and expanding horizons while welcoming stories from all walks of life. It is a comprehensive cinematic platform that promotes diversity in all facets of filmmaking, elevating it beyond just a film screening event. These ideas of diversity, connection, and cultural exchange are manifested in this year's theme; “Your Story, Your Festival”.
While celebrating cinema on a global scale, Red Sea Iff throws a spotlight on films made in the...
The third edition of the Rsiff – running from 30 November to 9 December – providesa unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures, and expanding horizons while welcoming stories from all walks of life. It is a comprehensive cinematic platform that promotes diversity in all facets of filmmaking, elevating it beyond just a film screening event. These ideas of diversity, connection, and cultural exchange are manifested in this year's theme; “Your Story, Your Festival”.
While celebrating cinema on a global scale, Red Sea Iff throws a spotlight on films made in the...
- 11/10/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Polish actress and singer Joanna Kulig and French icon Fanny Ardant are co-starring in “Island,” a psychological thriller by Italian-German writer director Nora Jaenike filmed on the Italian island of Elba.
Filming on the mostly English-language atmospheric noir wrapped on Nov. 4 on the island, which is located off the coast of Tuscany. Kulig, who won a best actress European Film Award for her performance in Pawel Pawilkowski’s Oscar-nominated “Cold War,” plays Joanna, a woman in her 40s married to a rich and controlling bedridden man. Through an encounter with Ada (Ardant) Joanna begins “a process of emancipation that will push her to do things that she had never thought of,” according to a provided synopsis. See a first-look image from the film above.
Italian actor Marco Rossetti, who stars in hit local medical drama “Doc — Nelle tue mani,” is among the feminist thriller’s other key cast members. The...
Filming on the mostly English-language atmospheric noir wrapped on Nov. 4 on the island, which is located off the coast of Tuscany. Kulig, who won a best actress European Film Award for her performance in Pawel Pawilkowski’s Oscar-nominated “Cold War,” plays Joanna, a woman in her 40s married to a rich and controlling bedridden man. Through an encounter with Ada (Ardant) Joanna begins “a process of emancipation that will push her to do things that she had never thought of,” according to a provided synopsis. See a first-look image from the film above.
Italian actor Marco Rossetti, who stars in hit local medical drama “Doc — Nelle tue mani,” is among the feminist thriller’s other key cast members. The...
- 11/10/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Other Angle Pictures was founded by Olivier Albou and Laurence Schonberg.
France’s Other Angle Pictures has expanded its footprint into the US market with a new Los Angeles-based arm focused on distribution, production and international sales of French features with a focus on crowd-pleasing comedies and more commercial dramas.
The company, founded by longtime French film executive Olivier Albou and his wife Laurence Schonberg in 2008, is looking to tap into its network of US producers and buyers looking for French remakes and original content. The company intends to acquire titles independently and release them in association with US distribution partners in limited theatrical release.
France’s Other Angle Pictures has expanded its footprint into the US market with a new Los Angeles-based arm focused on distribution, production and international sales of French features with a focus on crowd-pleasing comedies and more commercial dramas.
The company, founded by longtime French film executive Olivier Albou and his wife Laurence Schonberg in 2008, is looking to tap into its network of US producers and buyers looking for French remakes and original content. The company intends to acquire titles independently and release them in association with US distribution partners in limited theatrical release.
- 11/7/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced the bulk of its lineup from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), signaling that the event is forging ahead with its third edition despite the Israel-Hamas war that has caused cancellations of several movie celebrations across the Arab world.
The fest’s third edition, set to run Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore, will feature a slew of films from the Mena region and comprise 11 feature films from Saudi, underlining the local film industry’s growth. This year’s theme is “Your Story, Your Festival”.
There are two Saudi films in the 17-title competition dedicated to features from the Arab world as well as Africa and Asia. They are “Norah,” a drama by first-time helmer Tawfik Alzaidi set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height, and Ali Alkalthami’s bold comedy “Mandoob...
The fest’s third edition, set to run Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore, will feature a slew of films from the Mena region and comprise 11 feature films from Saudi, underlining the local film industry’s growth. This year’s theme is “Your Story, Your Festival”.
There are two Saudi films in the 17-title competition dedicated to features from the Arab world as well as Africa and Asia. They are “Norah,” a drama by first-time helmer Tawfik Alzaidi set in 1990s Saudi Arabia, when conservatism was at its height, and Ali Alkalthami’s bold comedy “Mandoob...
- 11/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled its selection of 36 movies from Saudi Arabia, as well as its Arab Spectacular and Red Sea: Competition lineups for this year’s third edition.
“Collectively, these strands will showcase the rich and varied work by established and new filmmakers from the region, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation,” organizers said on Monday.
The program will put a spotlight on films made in the Middle East and North Africa region, featuring 36 feature-length and short films from Saudi Arabia. “The lineup includes internationally recognized talent plus new voices; from Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp which opened at Cannes with support from the Red Sea International Film Financing arm, to Kaouther Ben Hania with Four Daughters, nominated as Tunisia’s submission for international feature at the forthcoming Academy Awards,” the festival said. “Further directors selected...
“Collectively, these strands will showcase the rich and varied work by established and new filmmakers from the region, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation,” organizers said on Monday.
The program will put a spotlight on films made in the Middle East and North Africa region, featuring 36 feature-length and short films from Saudi Arabia. “The lineup includes internationally recognized talent plus new voices; from Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp which opened at Cannes with support from the Red Sea International Film Financing arm, to Kaouther Ben Hania with Four Daughters, nominated as Tunisia’s submission for international feature at the forthcoming Academy Awards,” the festival said. “Further directors selected...
- 11/6/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, will have a special screening at the festival
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival will take place from November 30-December 9 in the port city of Jeddah under the theme ’Your Stories, Your Festival.’
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in the Mena region and includes 36 feature length and short films from Saudi Arabia, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation.
The Competition strand includes 17 films from Asia,...
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival will take place from November 30-December 9 in the port city of Jeddah under the theme ’Your Stories, Your Festival.’
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in the Mena region and includes 36 feature length and short films from Saudi Arabia, including documentaries and titles produced by the Red Sea Film Foundation.
The Competition strand includes 17 films from Asia,...
- 11/6/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, will have a special screening at the festival
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival, which takes place from November 30-December 9, will also give special screenings to Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, which was supported by Red Sea’s financing arm and opened Cannes, and to Dhafer L’abidine’s Saudi-uae co-production To My Son, which world premieres at the festival.
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in...
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Red Sea Iff) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition and Arab Spectacular strands.
The festival, which takes place from November 30-December 9, will also give special screenings to Maïwenn’s historical romance Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, which was supported by Red Sea’s financing arm and opened Cannes, and to Dhafer L’abidine’s Saudi-uae co-production To My Son, which world premieres at the festival.
Red Sea Iff’s line-up throws a spotlight on films made in...
- 11/6/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
AFM slate also includes a blend of local drama, comedy and thriller titles.
Orange Studio will kick off sales at AFM for Like A Prince, the debut feature from actor Ali Marhyar about a star boxer attempting a career comeback in a French chateau after a bar fight gone wrong.
Like A Prince stars Ahmed Sylla as the titular athlete who is sentenced to community service at the prestigious Château de Chambord following a bar fight that injures him and threatens his career. There, amidst horses, strange bosses and knight-inspired stunts, he meets a foster child with a knack for...
Orange Studio will kick off sales at AFM for Like A Prince, the debut feature from actor Ali Marhyar about a star boxer attempting a career comeback in a French chateau after a bar fight gone wrong.
Like A Prince stars Ahmed Sylla as the titular athlete who is sentenced to community service at the prestigious Château de Chambord following a bar fight that injures him and threatens his career. There, amidst horses, strange bosses and knight-inspired stunts, he meets a foster child with a knack for...
- 10/30/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Pascal Breton’s Federation Studios has launched an international theatrical sales label, Ginger & Fed, teaming up with former TF1 Studio sales executive Sabine Chemaly’s Ginger Films on the new division.
Chemaly will head up the new group, handling both film acquisitions and international sales, focusing on titles with theatrical potential in various international territories. She will work together with Federation’s sales team of Monica Levy, Guillaume Pommier, Sarah Zarka, Lucile Avezard and Jeromine Ader, as well as the company’s business affairs, servicing and marketing teams.
The first project under the new label will be Survive, a post-apocalyptic thriller from Monkey Pack, the Federation Studios-owned producers of Coralie Fargeat’s 2017 action horror hit Revenge. Frédéric Jardin is directing with Émilie Dequenne (Love Affair(s)) and Andreas Pietschmann (Dark) starring as a couple celebrating their son’s birthday on their boat in the middle of the ocean. But when...
Chemaly will head up the new group, handling both film acquisitions and international sales, focusing on titles with theatrical potential in various international territories. She will work together with Federation’s sales team of Monica Levy, Guillaume Pommier, Sarah Zarka, Lucile Avezard and Jeromine Ader, as well as the company’s business affairs, servicing and marketing teams.
The first project under the new label will be Survive, a post-apocalyptic thriller from Monkey Pack, the Federation Studios-owned producers of Coralie Fargeat’s 2017 action horror hit Revenge. Frédéric Jardin is directing with Émilie Dequenne (Love Affair(s)) and Andreas Pietschmann (Dark) starring as a couple celebrating their son’s birthday on their boat in the middle of the ocean. But when...
- 10/26/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
First slate to include Rachel’s Game, Oldies But Goodies, Survive.
Powerhouse Paris-based media group Federation Studios has joined forces with veteran sales executive Sabine Chemaly to launch international film sales company Ginger & Fed.
The new venture, a partnership between Federation and Chemaly’s Ginger Films, will take on acquisitions and international sales for both in-house and third party films.
The feature-focused foray is an extension of Federation’s existing distribution of fiction, documentary and children’s programming and presence in production via global companies like Bonne Pioche, Cheyenne and Monkey Pack (Robin & Co) in France, Vertigo in the UK,...
Powerhouse Paris-based media group Federation Studios has joined forces with veteran sales executive Sabine Chemaly to launch international film sales company Ginger & Fed.
The new venture, a partnership between Federation and Chemaly’s Ginger Films, will take on acquisitions and international sales for both in-house and third party films.
The feature-focused foray is an extension of Federation’s existing distribution of fiction, documentary and children’s programming and presence in production via global companies like Bonne Pioche, Cheyenne and Monkey Pack (Robin & Co) in France, Vertigo in the UK,...
- 10/26/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
It follows the recent rescheduling of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival.
This year’s Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) in Egypt has been cancelled due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The festival confirmed that the decision had been made by Egypt’s ministry of culture and comes less than a month before it was due to open. The 45th edition of Ciff was scheduled to take place from November 15-24 alongside the Cairo Film Industry Days.
In a short statement, organisers said: “Minister of Culture Dr. Neven El-Kelany has decided to postpone the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival…...
This year’s Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) in Egypt has been cancelled due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The festival confirmed that the decision had been made by Egypt’s ministry of culture and comes less than a month before it was due to open. The 45th edition of Ciff was scheduled to take place from November 15-24 alongside the Cairo Film Industry Days.
In a short statement, organisers said: “Minister of Culture Dr. Neven El-Kelany has decided to postpone the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival…...
- 10/18/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
It follows the recent rescheduling of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival.
The upcoming 45th Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) in Egypt has been postponed due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The festival confirmed that the decision had been made by Egypt’s ministry of culture and comes less than a month before it was due to open. It was scheduled to take place from November 15-24 alongside the Cairo Film Industry Days.
In a short statement, organisers said: “Minister of Culture Dr. Neven El-Kelany has decided to postpone the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival… The new...
The upcoming 45th Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) in Egypt has been postponed due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The festival confirmed that the decision had been made by Egypt’s ministry of culture and comes less than a month before it was due to open. It was scheduled to take place from November 15-24 alongside the Cairo Film Industry Days.
In a short statement, organisers said: “Minister of Culture Dr. Neven El-Kelany has decided to postpone the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival… The new...
- 10/18/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Producer is France’s Ts Productions, whose credits include Golden Bear-winner ’On The Adamant’.
France TV Distribution has taken worldwide rights to Giulio Callegari’s debut feature Robot T-0 now in production in France. It is selling the film at Rome’s Mia film market this week.
Callegari is best known in France for co-writing and co-creating Canal+ hit series All the Way Up (Validé) and as a co-writer on French anthology film Selfie that explored humans’ relationship with technology.
Robot T-0 is set in a near future where robots have replaced humans in every household. The film follows a...
France TV Distribution has taken worldwide rights to Giulio Callegari’s debut feature Robot T-0 now in production in France. It is selling the film at Rome’s Mia film market this week.
Callegari is best known in France for co-writing and co-creating Canal+ hit series All the Way Up (Validé) and as a co-writer on French anthology film Selfie that explored humans’ relationship with technology.
Robot T-0 is set in a near future where robots have replaced humans in every household. The film follows a...
- 10/13/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Nadine Labaki heads “Back to Alexandria” in Tamer Ruggli’s debut feature that allowed him to celebrate Egyptian women.
“I am very close to my mother, who is Egyptian. I don’t know if you know many Egyptian women, but they are exuberant, dominant and endearing.”
In a story based on his mother’s experiences, Sue (Labaki) returns home after 20 years. Her eccentric mom, Fairouz (Fanny Ardant), is dying. She gets into a pink Cadillac and starts driving to Alexandria, talking to Fairouz every step of the way. Even though it’s just in her head.
“This relationship between a mother and a daughter… There is so much depth to it and so much conflict, or at least that was the case in my family,” says Ruggli.
“In the end, this film is about loss and how we can deal with it. When we lose a parent, there are so many things left unsaid.
“I am very close to my mother, who is Egyptian. I don’t know if you know many Egyptian women, but they are exuberant, dominant and endearing.”
In a story based on his mother’s experiences, Sue (Labaki) returns home after 20 years. Her eccentric mom, Fairouz (Fanny Ardant), is dying. She gets into a pink Cadillac and starts driving to Alexandria, talking to Fairouz every step of the way. Even though it’s just in her head.
“This relationship between a mother and a daughter… There is so much depth to it and so much conflict, or at least that was the case in my family,” says Ruggli.
“In the end, this film is about loss and how we can deal with it. When we lose a parent, there are so many things left unsaid.
- 9/28/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
"The Palace" is a new 'black comedy' feature directed by Roman Polanski ("Chinatown"), starring Oliver Masucci, Fanny Ardant, John Cleese, Joaquim de Almeida, Barbareschi, Milan Peschel, Bronwyn James, Fortunato Cerlino, Michelle Shapa and Mickey Rourke, with a North American theatrical release Tba:
"...the film takes place on 'New Year's Eve' 1999, where a dinner party at the 'Gstaad Palace' takes an unexpected turn.."
Click the images to enlarge...
"...the film takes place on 'New Year's Eve' 1999, where a dinner party at the 'Gstaad Palace' takes an unexpected turn.."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 9/20/2023
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
The director won the Oscar for best international feature in 2001 with ‘No Man’s Land’
Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanović has been named president of the international competition jury for the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival.
Tanović is best known for 2001’s No Man’s Land which won the Oscar for best international feature and 2016’s Death In Sarajevo which picked up the jury grand prix at the Berlinale. His other credits include 2013’s Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker and 2010’s Cirkus Colombia.
Ciff also revealed that Tamer Ruggli’s debut Back To Alexandria starring Fanny Ardant...
Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanović has been named president of the international competition jury for the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival.
Tanović is best known for 2001’s No Man’s Land which won the Oscar for best international feature and 2016’s Death In Sarajevo which picked up the jury grand prix at the Berlinale. His other credits include 2013’s Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker and 2010’s Cirkus Colombia.
Ciff also revealed that Tamer Ruggli’s debut Back To Alexandria starring Fanny Ardant...
- 9/19/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Bosnian director and screenwriter Danis Tanović, whose “No Man’s Land” won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, has been selected as the president of the Official Competition Jury at the 45th edition of the Cairo Film Festival.
As well as the Oscar, “No Man’s Land” won best screenplay at Cannes in 2001. Tanović has also directed films such as 2005’s “L’enfer,” starring Emmanuelle Béart, 2009’s “Shell Shock,” starring Colin Farrell and Paz Vega, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2013, and “Death in Sarajevo,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2016.
Amir Ramsis, director of the festival, said Danis Tanović had been “crowned in cinema history with major international awards from the Academy, Cannes and Berlin.” He added: “I am delighted that our festival has always given its audience the opportunity to interact with names that...
As well as the Oscar, “No Man’s Land” won best screenplay at Cannes in 2001. Tanović has also directed films such as 2005’s “L’enfer,” starring Emmanuelle Béart, 2009’s “Shell Shock,” starring Colin Farrell and Paz Vega, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2013, and “Death in Sarajevo,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale in 2016.
Amir Ramsis, director of the festival, said Danis Tanović had been “crowned in cinema history with major international awards from the Academy, Cannes and Berlin.” He added: “I am delighted that our festival has always given its audience the opportunity to interact with names that...
- 9/18/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Superprod Animation Moves Into Tween Fare With ‘Heroic Football’
French animation studio Superprod has announced new series Heroic Football, set against a fantasy land in which soccer is its only salvation. The project brings together a host of French animation talent including writers Guillaume Mautalent and Sébastien Oursel (Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia). They are joined by Antoine Charreyron, who directed Batwheels, produced at Superprod Animation for Warner Bros Animation, as well as the movie The Prodigies and cult-animated series Galactik Football. Art director Florent Auguy is also attached. Superprod will present the 26 x 22 minutes series at Cartoon Forum 2023 in Toulouse on September 20. The series marks the company’s first foray into animation aimed at the tween demographic. “Each project we undertake is a chance to delve into fresh realms. With Heroic Football,...
French animation studio Superprod has announced new series Heroic Football, set against a fantasy land in which soccer is its only salvation. The project brings together a host of French animation talent including writers Guillaume Mautalent and Sébastien Oursel (Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia). They are joined by Antoine Charreyron, who directed Batwheels, produced at Superprod Animation for Warner Bros Animation, as well as the movie The Prodigies and cult-animated series Galactik Football. Art director Florent Auguy is also attached. Superprod will present the 26 x 22 minutes series at Cartoon Forum 2023 in Toulouse on September 20. The series marks the company’s first foray into animation aimed at the tween demographic. “Each project we undertake is a chance to delve into fresh realms. With Heroic Football,...
- 9/18/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The 19th Zurich Film Festival promises to be a star-studded affair with plenty of Hollywood A-list talent attending.
Todd Haynes will be honored with the festival’s A Tribute to… Award and will present his film “May December.” Previous recipients include Paolo Sorrentino, Wim Wenders, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Michael Haneke, Oliver Stone, Maïwenn and Luca Guadagnino.
“It’s a real honor to celebrate this master of American cinema. Todd Haynes is renowned for his elegant mise-en-scène and his ability to get the best from his actors and actresses,” said festival director Christian Jungen.
Ethan Hawke will be present with his film “Wildcat.” As previously announced, Jessica Chastain will receive the festival’s Golden Icon Award. Diane Kruger will receive the Golden Eye prize.
The festival’s feature film competition for first, second and third works will see “Ama Gloria,” “Enea,” “Fair Play,” “Femme,” “Hesitation Wound,” “How To Have Sex,...
Todd Haynes will be honored with the festival’s A Tribute to… Award and will present his film “May December.” Previous recipients include Paolo Sorrentino, Wim Wenders, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Michael Haneke, Oliver Stone, Maïwenn and Luca Guadagnino.
“It’s a real honor to celebrate this master of American cinema. Todd Haynes is renowned for his elegant mise-en-scène and his ability to get the best from his actors and actresses,” said festival director Christian Jungen.
Ethan Hawke will be present with his film “Wildcat.” As previously announced, Jessica Chastain will receive the festival’s Golden Icon Award. Diane Kruger will receive the Golden Eye prize.
The festival’s feature film competition for first, second and third works will see “Ama Gloria,” “Enea,” “Fair Play,” “Femme,” “Hesitation Wound,” “How To Have Sex,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Swiss festival programmes 148 films for this year’s edition.
The Zurich Film Festival (Zff) has unveiled a line-up of 148 films for its 2023 edition which takes place from September 28 to October 8.
The festival’s Focus Competition – which showcases feature films and documentaries from Germany, Austria and Switzerland - has six world premieres. They include Swiss films The Driven One by Piet Baumgartner, a long-term study of students at the elite university Hsg St. Gallen, and road movie Return To Alexandria by Zurich-based Tamer Ruggli, which stars Nadine Labaki and Fanny Ardant.
Scroll down for Focus and Feature Film Competition line-up
Other...
The Zurich Film Festival (Zff) has unveiled a line-up of 148 films for its 2023 edition which takes place from September 28 to October 8.
The festival’s Focus Competition – which showcases feature films and documentaries from Germany, Austria and Switzerland - has six world premieres. They include Swiss films The Driven One by Piet Baumgartner, a long-term study of students at the elite university Hsg St. Gallen, and road movie Return To Alexandria by Zurich-based Tamer Ruggli, which stars Nadine Labaki and Fanny Ardant.
Scroll down for Focus and Feature Film Competition line-up
Other...
- 9/14/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
It’s hard to believe that it’s now over 60 years since Roman Polanski teamed with Jerzy Skolimowski for the landmark 1962 Polish thriller Knife in the Water. But it’s even harder to believe that these two giants of international cinema reunited more recently to pool their braincells and come up with The Palace, the most terrible, joyless farce since the heyday of the ’70s British sex comedy. Forget for a moment, if you can, the furor surrounding Polanski’s controversial status as a fugitive from justice and concentrate instead on the fact that the Venice Film Festival, in its infinite wisdom, went ahead and booked this entirely dreadful offering anyway, deeming it somehow worthy of a prestigious Out of Competition slot.
The setting is The Palace, a plush Alpine hideaway where the jet set of Europe are gathering to see in the year 2000. There are fears that the Y2K...
The setting is The Palace, a plush Alpine hideaway where the jet set of Europe are gathering to see in the year 2000. There are fears that the Y2K...
- 9/3/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
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.
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.
- 9/2/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli and Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
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.
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.
- 9/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow and Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
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...
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...
- 9/2/2023
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
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.
- 9/2/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
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...
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...
- 9/2/2023
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
As any critic will tell you, when you’re watching a comedy with an audience, it doesn’t matter how bad the movie is — even the jokes that are making you groan are going to provoke laughter. (That’s why comedies are always screened with a crowd; the studios want the audience giggles to rub off on you.) But at the Venice Film Festival, when I saw “The Palace,” Roman Polanski’s garish debacle of an ensemble comedy, I was sitting in the Sala Darsena, which seats 1400 (and was full), and on the rare occasion when a line in the movie got laughs, it was literally coming from about six people. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard a giant theater this deadly silent for a movie that’s working this strenuously to amuse you.
Polanski, if you look back over his credits, has an astoundingly consistent track...
Polanski, if you look back over his credits, has an astoundingly consistent track...
- 9/2/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 9/2/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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,...
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,...
- 9/2/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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,...
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,...
- 9/2/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
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,...
“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,...
- 9/2/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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...
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...
- 9/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The French film is about one night in the life a teenager.
Paris-based sales company Pulsar Content has boarded French filmmaker David Moreau’s continuous shot genre film MadS and will kick off sales at Toronto later this month.
MadS, was filmed in a single take over just five days in the Grand Est region of northeastern France this summer and is in post-production with expected delivery in early 2024.
Yohan Baiada’s Paris-based Les Enfants Terribles, who co-produced 2023 Pathé blockbuster Asterix & Obelix : The Middle Kingdom, produced the film in co-production with Goodfellas and in association with Digital District.
Paris-based sales company Pulsar Content has boarded French filmmaker David Moreau’s continuous shot genre film MadS and will kick off sales at Toronto later this month.
MadS, was filmed in a single take over just five days in the Grand Est region of northeastern France this summer and is in post-production with expected delivery in early 2024.
Yohan Baiada’s Paris-based Les Enfants Terribles, who co-produced 2023 Pathé blockbuster Asterix & Obelix : The Middle Kingdom, produced the film in co-production with Goodfellas and in association with Digital District.
- 9/1/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Roman Polanski still has no trouble finding an audience in Europe, regardless of the ongoing debates in the U.S. over his proper place in the film culture of past and present.
French sales outfit Goodfellas has inked a slew of deals for the 90-year-old director’s upcoming dark comedy The Palace, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
Distribution agreements are set for Spain (Vértigo Films), Germany (Weltkino), Greece (Spentzos), Portugal (Nos Lusomondo), Benelux (Paradiso Films), Bulgaria (Beta Film), Yugoslavia (McF), Hungary (Cirko), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Pilot Films), the Baltics (Best Film), Cis (Pro:vzglyad) and Israel (United King).
The Palace takes place in Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace luxury hotel and centers its black comedy on the interactions between the venue’s serving staff and the wildly wealthy guests who stay there during the run-up to a New Year party to ring in the new millennium...
French sales outfit Goodfellas has inked a slew of deals for the 90-year-old director’s upcoming dark comedy The Palace, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
Distribution agreements are set for Spain (Vértigo Films), Germany (Weltkino), Greece (Spentzos), Portugal (Nos Lusomondo), Benelux (Paradiso Films), Bulgaria (Beta Film), Yugoslavia (McF), Hungary (Cirko), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Pilot Films), the Baltics (Best Film), Cis (Pro:vzglyad) and Israel (United King).
The Palace takes place in Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace luxury hotel and centers its black comedy on the interactions between the venue’s serving staff and the wildly wealthy guests who stay there during the run-up to a New Year party to ring in the new millennium...
- 9/1/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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.
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.
- 8/31/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
If a film festival falls in the middle of a strike, will anyone come? What could have been a purely philosophical question has become a stark reality for the 80th Biennale, which, despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, is still hoping to pack its red carpet with A-list celebrities.
Several hot-ticket titles in Venice this year, including Michael Mann’s Ferrari starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz, and Luc Besson’s Dogman with Caleb Landry Jones, have secured interim agreement waivers from SAG-AFTRA to allow affiliated talent to do promotion and publicity at the festival. And the actors union last week explicitly encouraged its members to promote approved projects, as a way to support the indie industry. Films from the streamers or the studios, so-called “struck productions,” cannot get interim agreement waivers from the unions.
Waiver or not, however, it remains to be seen if the talent will actually show up.
Several hot-ticket titles in Venice this year, including Michael Mann’s Ferrari starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz, and Luc Besson’s Dogman with Caleb Landry Jones, have secured interim agreement waivers from SAG-AFTRA to allow affiliated talent to do promotion and publicity at the festival. And the actors union last week explicitly encouraged its members to promote approved projects, as a way to support the indie industry. Films from the streamers or the studios, so-called “struck productions,” cannot get interim agreement waivers from the unions.
Waiver or not, however, it remains to be seen if the talent will actually show up.
- 8/31/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sales to kick off this week in Venice.
France TV Distribution has boarded Sylvain Desclous’ sensual French thriller The Victoria System (Le Système Victoria) and will kick off sales in Venice.
Based on popular French author Eric Reinhardt’s best-selling novel of the same name, Desclous’ third fiction feature is currently in production and stars Damien Bonnard and Jeanne Balibar, who also shared the screen in Ladj Ly’s Oscar-nominated debut feature Les Misérables.
The passion-filled story of power, sex and capitalism follows a man (Bonnard) overseeing the construction of the highest tower ever built in France whose life is...
France TV Distribution has boarded Sylvain Desclous’ sensual French thriller The Victoria System (Le Système Victoria) and will kick off sales in Venice.
Based on popular French author Eric Reinhardt’s best-selling novel of the same name, Desclous’ third fiction feature is currently in production and stars Damien Bonnard and Jeanne Balibar, who also shared the screen in Ladj Ly’s Oscar-nominated debut feature Les Misérables.
The passion-filled story of power, sex and capitalism follows a man (Bonnard) overseeing the construction of the highest tower ever built in France whose life is...
- 8/31/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
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