Exclusive: Goodfellas has acquired international rights for French director Gaël Morel’s drama To Live, To Die, To Live Again set against the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s, ahead of its world premiere in Cannes.
Rising French actors Victor Belmondo, Lou Lampros and Théo Christine co-star as a romantically entwined trio whose youthful dalliance takes them into life-changing territory with the arrival of AIDS. While they expect the worse, the destiny of each character will take an unexpected turn.
Morel has taken inspiration from his own teenage fears around AIDS in the 1990s as well as research he did for a planned documentary on people who caught the virus and were saved at the last minute by the development of effective antiretroviral therapies.
Michèle Halberstadt and Laurent Pétin produced the film under the banner of their Paris-based film company Arp Sélection, which will also distribute the feature in France.
Rising French actors Victor Belmondo, Lou Lampros and Théo Christine co-star as a romantically entwined trio whose youthful dalliance takes them into life-changing territory with the arrival of AIDS. While they expect the worse, the destiny of each character will take an unexpected turn.
Morel has taken inspiration from his own teenage fears around AIDS in the 1990s as well as research he did for a planned documentary on people who caught the virus and were saved at the last minute by the development of effective antiretroviral therapies.
Michèle Halberstadt and Laurent Pétin produced the film under the banner of their Paris-based film company Arp Sélection, which will also distribute the feature in France.
- 5/2/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Stars: Virginie Ledoyen, Paul Hamy, Sandrine Bonnaire, Francis Renaud | Written by Annelyse Batrel, Ludovic Lefebvre | Directed by Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Two detectives with entirely different work methods are sent to the sleepy French mountain town of Roquenoir. One is investigating a series of gruesome deaths. The other is searching for some missing local children. Soon, they realise their cases are connected… by an old folklore legend of a malevolent creature, the terrifying incarnation of the Soul Eater.
The Soul Eater is a suspenseful tale of small-town horror, very much akin to similar films set in abandoned “ghost” towns. The kinds of towns synonymous with closely guarding its secrets and a weariness of outsiders. And here the audience is very much an outsider, learning what’s happening at the same time as the film’s two protagonists – Franck and Elizabeth – which the film is very much mystery-driven.
However, once the...
Two detectives with entirely different work methods are sent to the sleepy French mountain town of Roquenoir. One is investigating a series of gruesome deaths. The other is searching for some missing local children. Soon, they realise their cases are connected… by an old folklore legend of a malevolent creature, the terrifying incarnation of the Soul Eater.
The Soul Eater is a suspenseful tale of small-town horror, very much akin to similar films set in abandoned “ghost” towns. The kinds of towns synonymous with closely guarding its secrets and a weariness of outsiders. And here the audience is very much an outsider, learning what’s happening at the same time as the film’s two protagonists – Franck and Elizabeth – which the film is very much mystery-driven.
However, once the...
- 3/11/2024
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Magnolia Pictures has acquired Samuel Beckett biopic Dance First for North America, to be released later this year.
The San Sebastian premiere is helmed by The Theory of Everything filmmaker James Marsh, with London and Paris-based outfit Film Constellation representing sales on the title. Studiocanal released in the UK and Ireland last year.
Irish actor Gabriel Byrne plays the Irish literary great, with the film exploring the many parts of his life: Second World War resistance fighter, Nobel Prize-winning playwright, and recluse.
Aidan Gillen, Sandrine Bonnaire, Maxine Peake and Fionn O’Shea star.
Dance First was developed and packaged by 2Le Media,...
The San Sebastian premiere is helmed by The Theory of Everything filmmaker James Marsh, with London and Paris-based outfit Film Constellation representing sales on the title. Studiocanal released in the UK and Ireland last year.
Irish actor Gabriel Byrne plays the Irish literary great, with the film exploring the many parts of his life: Second World War resistance fighter, Nobel Prize-winning playwright, and recluse.
Aidan Gillen, Sandrine Bonnaire, Maxine Peake and Fionn O’Shea star.
Dance First was developed and packaged by 2Le Media,...
- 2/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
You don’t need to have lived in the proverbial middle of nowhere to understand the kind of terror Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s The Soul Eater mines from the fictional Roquenoix. As shot by Simon Roca, this remote hamlet in northeastern France isn’t a ghost town so much as a burial ground where humans and buildings alike are waiting to rot. A grandiose sanatorium once towered over the tree-shrouded hills, bringing in enough cash and tourists to fill the village’s coffers. But when a motorway was built across the valley, the tourists disappeared, the sanatorium was abandoned; and the few who stayed behind were left to wrestle with an ancestral legend and a series of murders that may or may not be connected with it.
The single most terrifying thing in The Soul Eater isn’t the titular devourer, but that spectral, lifeless town where its victims are stranded.
The single most terrifying thing in The Soul Eater isn’t the titular devourer, but that spectral, lifeless town where its victims are stranded.
- 2/2/2024
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
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
French filmmakers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside, Leatherface, The Deep House) are back with The Soul Eater, and we’ve got a new image for you today.
Check it out below, along with a better look at a previously released shot above.
The upcoming movie is an adaptation of the novel by Alexis Laipsker.
In The Soul Eater, “The chilling drama unfolds against the backdrop of a mountain village where an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces following the disappearance of local children and a series of violent and gruesome deaths.”
Virginie Ledoyen (Rabid Dogs, The Beach), Paul Hamy (Get In), and Sandrine Bonnaire star.
The directors reteam with Kandisha cinematographer Simon Roca for their latest.
The Soul Eater is produced by Phase 4 Productions and Place du Marché Productions and will receive a theatrical release in France. No word yet on a US release date. Stay tuned.
Check it out below, along with a better look at a previously released shot above.
The upcoming movie is an adaptation of the novel by Alexis Laipsker.
In The Soul Eater, “The chilling drama unfolds against the backdrop of a mountain village where an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces following the disappearance of local children and a series of violent and gruesome deaths.”
Virginie Ledoyen (Rabid Dogs, The Beach), Paul Hamy (Get In), and Sandrine Bonnaire star.
The directors reteam with Kandisha cinematographer Simon Roca for their latest.
The Soul Eater is produced by Phase 4 Productions and Place du Marché Productions and will receive a theatrical release in France. No word yet on a US release date. Stay tuned.
- 11/27/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
The phrase 'eat the rich' might be partly a joke, but it did originate in France, during the Reign Of Terror - it was pointed out by the leader a commune that, if the poor had nothing left to eat, they would eat those who left them in their poverty. As the phrase, and the recognition of what capitalism and the class system have done to our world, it's perhaps fitting to have a new edition of Claude Chabrol's The Ceremony (La Cérémonie) for our enjoyment and edification. The 1997 film, based on the novel by UK author Ruth Rendell, which itself draws from a true story, tells of Sophie Bonhomme (Sandrine Bonnaire), a young woman who finds employment as a housekepper for the well-off...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/22/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Vivid portrait of the great playwright of inertia points up the contrast with his real-life romantic entanglements and daring work for the French resistance
Director James Marsh has boldly, maybe even sacrilegiously, given us a Hollywoodised biopic of Samuel Beckett. It starts with Beckett surreally escaping the Nobel ceremony to talk in private with a doppelganger confessor – a breezier, more worldly self in a rollneck sweater and jacket – and glumly wondering to whom in his life he should penitentially give the prize money, a guilt list which ushers in the flashbacks.
It isn’t hard to imagine what the man himself would have said about this movie, but though a little hammy, it is well acted and tells the story with verve, tackling the paradox of Beckett’s bleak fictional universe of stymied inaction and his dramatic real life of service in the French resistance and romantic intrigue. There’s a very thoughtful,...
Director James Marsh has boldly, maybe even sacrilegiously, given us a Hollywoodised biopic of Samuel Beckett. It starts with Beckett surreally escaping the Nobel ceremony to talk in private with a doppelganger confessor – a breezier, more worldly self in a rollneck sweater and jacket – and glumly wondering to whom in his life he should penitentially give the prize money, a guilt list which ushers in the flashbacks.
It isn’t hard to imagine what the man himself would have said about this movie, but though a little hammy, it is well acted and tells the story with verve, tackling the paradox of Beckett’s bleak fictional universe of stymied inaction and his dramatic real life of service in the French resistance and romantic intrigue. There’s a very thoughtful,...
- 11/1/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Earlier this year, it was announced that the last horror film from the filmmaking duo of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo would be an adaptation of the Alexis Laipsker novel The Soul Eater (a.k.a. Le mangeur d’âmes), with Virginie Ledoyen (The Beach), Paul Hamy (The Ornithologist), and Sandrine Bonnaire (Women at War) taking on the lead roles. Now Deadline reports that WTFilms will be presenting The Soul Eater, which is currently in post-production, to potential buyers at the upcoming American Film Market. That presentation will include a screening of an early promo of the film. Along with that report comes the unveiling of a creepy first look image, which can be seen at the bottom of this article.
The Soul Eater has the following synopsis: “He didn’t scream. They never scream.” Some well-kept secrets sometimes turn out to be too heavy to bear… When the disappearance...
The Soul Eater has the following synopsis: “He didn’t scream. They never scream.” Some well-kept secrets sometimes turn out to be too heavy to bear… When the disappearance...
- 10/26/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Up next from French filmmaking duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, best known for their ultra-violent slasher Inside and aquatic haunted house tale The Deep House, is an adaptation of grisly thriller The Soul Eater by Alexis Laipsker. Thanks to Deadline, a new image teases the eerie horror feature.
Maury announced production on the film earlier this year via Instagram, the seventh feature film for Maury and Bustillo.
In The Soul Eater, “The chilling drama unfolds against the backdrop of a mountain village where an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces following the disappearance of local children and a series of violent and gruesome deaths.”
The directors reteam with Kandisha cinematographer Simon Roca for their latest.
Virginie Ledoyen (Rabid Dogs, The Beach), Paul Hamy (Get In), and Sandrine Bonnaire star.
The novel’s official synopsis also indicates another bloody genre film for the filmmakers:
“‘He didn’t scream. They never scream.
Maury announced production on the film earlier this year via Instagram, the seventh feature film for Maury and Bustillo.
In The Soul Eater, “The chilling drama unfolds against the backdrop of a mountain village where an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces following the disappearance of local children and a series of violent and gruesome deaths.”
The directors reteam with Kandisha cinematographer Simon Roca for their latest.
Virginie Ledoyen (Rabid Dogs, The Beach), Paul Hamy (Get In), and Sandrine Bonnaire star.
The novel’s official synopsis also indicates another bloody genre film for the filmmakers:
“‘He didn’t scream. They never scream.
- 10/26/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Exclusive: Paris-based genre special WTFilms has boarded Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury’s horror thriller ‘The Soul Eater’ ahead of the AFM.
The chilling drama unfolds against the backdrop of a mountain village where an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces following the disappearance of local children and a series of violent and gruesome deaths.
Virginie Ledoyen (Just the Two of Us) and Paul Hamy (The Last Journey) co-star as two police detectives with very different methods who are sent to investigate the crimes. Sandrine Bonnaire (Happening) joins them in the cast.
The production is adapted from French writer Alexis Laipsker’s bestseller of the same name. WTFilms will screen a first promo for the French-language film which is in post-production.
Directorial duo Bustillo and Maury gained fans in the U.S. for their 2021 English-language supernatural horror The Deep House, which was acquired by Blumhouse Television and Epix for North America,...
The chilling drama unfolds against the backdrop of a mountain village where an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces following the disappearance of local children and a series of violent and gruesome deaths.
Virginie Ledoyen (Just the Two of Us) and Paul Hamy (The Last Journey) co-star as two police detectives with very different methods who are sent to investigate the crimes. Sandrine Bonnaire (Happening) joins them in the cast.
The production is adapted from French writer Alexis Laipsker’s bestseller of the same name. WTFilms will screen a first promo for the French-language film which is in post-production.
Directorial duo Bustillo and Maury gained fans in the U.S. for their 2021 English-language supernatural horror The Deep House, which was acquired by Blumhouse Television and Epix for North America,...
- 10/26/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Oscars are still five months away, but there’s one winner prediction that you can take to the bank. The category of Best Costume Design will be won by a period drama or a fantasy film. In the past 45 years, only one contemporary-set movie has scored the costume prize, with only about one contemporary nominee per decade.
While dressing up monarchs and showgirls and superheroes is a craft that deserves praise, the period/fantasy monopoly also highlights work outside of that mold. And there’s no better recent example of imagination in modern dress than “Passages,” the great drama from director Ira Sachs (“Love Is Strange”), elevated with idiosyncratic, seductive costumes design by Khadija Zeggaï.
Set among the bourgeoisie in modern day Paris, “Passages” focuses on German filmmaker Tomas (Franz Rogowski), who is married to artist Martin (Ben Whishaw) but falls in love with schoolteacher Agathe (Adele Excharpoulous).
The film,...
While dressing up monarchs and showgirls and superheroes is a craft that deserves praise, the period/fantasy monopoly also highlights work outside of that mold. And there’s no better recent example of imagination in modern dress than “Passages,” the great drama from director Ira Sachs (“Love Is Strange”), elevated with idiosyncratic, seductive costumes design by Khadija Zeggaï.
Set among the bourgeoisie in modern day Paris, “Passages” focuses on German filmmaker Tomas (Franz Rogowski), who is married to artist Martin (Ben Whishaw) but falls in love with schoolteacher Agathe (Adele Excharpoulous).
The film,...
- 10/18/2023
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
In a genre not traditionally given to brevity, James Marsh’s literary biopic “Dance First” at least has that on its side: In 100 minutes, it races through the key events and alliances in the life of Irish author and dramatist Samuel Beckett, even finding time for some metaphysical musings alongside the cradle-to-grave checklist. But Beckett’s characteristic terseness — or radical “lessness,” to borrow a title from one of his stories — isn’t a feature of this creditable but ponderous film, which ultimately achieves its efficient runtime by skirting any meaningful engagement with Beckett’s work and literary legacy. What’s left is an anatomy of his unhappiness via a procession of stymied or soured relationships: shot with grace, acted with intelligence, but short on Beckettian daring or wit.
It’s another biopic from Marsh, following 2014’s popular “The Theory of Everything” and 2017’s less-seen “The Mercy,” that resists bringing his...
It’s another biopic from Marsh, following 2014’s popular “The Theory of Everything” and 2017’s less-seen “The Mercy,” that resists bringing his...
- 10/1/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Fionn O'Shea, Gabriel Byrne and James Marsh at the press conference Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival/Jorge Fuembuena The life of Samuel Beckett, although very little of the work, is explored in James Marsh’s Dance First, written by Neil Forsyth. The film, which is the closing night selection at San Sebastian Film Festival dips into the Waiting For Godot author’s life from childhood to death, featuring key performances from Gabriel Byrne and Fionn O’Shea as the author, alongside Sandrine Bonnaire and Léonie Lojkine as his wife Suzanne, with support from the likes of Aidan Gillen and Maxine Peake.
Speaking at the press conference in San Sebastian Gabriel Byrne said that “talking to himself” as the writer interrogates a second version of himself of the film was quite tricky.#
“Technically, it was difficult," he explains, “because usually when you're doing drama, you're talking to somebody else...
Speaking at the press conference in San Sebastian Gabriel Byrne said that “talking to himself” as the writer interrogates a second version of himself of the film was quite tricky.#
“Technically, it was difficult," he explains, “because usually when you're doing drama, you're talking to somebody else...
- 9/30/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
”I adore his cinema,” said festival director José Luis Rebordinos of Hayao Miyazaki. ”He is in my list of all-time favourite directors.”
The 71st edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival opened September 22 with the Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature: The Boy And The Heron. The film screened in the official section out of competition at the Spanish festival, which has registered a 10% increase in industry professionals in its growing market activities.
At the ceremony, conducted mainly in Spanish and Basque, festival director José Luis Rebordinos paid homage to Miyazaki, recipient of one of the two Donostia...
The 71st edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival opened September 22 with the Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature: The Boy And The Heron. The film screened in the official section out of competition at the Spanish festival, which has registered a 10% increase in industry professionals in its growing market activities.
At the ceremony, conducted mainly in Spanish and Basque, festival director José Luis Rebordinos paid homage to Miyazaki, recipient of one of the two Donostia...
- 9/23/2023
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
European pay TV platform Sky has released the trailer for Sky Original film “Dance First,” ahead of its world premiere at San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 30. Film Constellation is handling international sales on the film.
The film is directed by BAFTA and Academy Award winner James Marsh (“The Theory of Everything”) and written by BAFTA winner Neil Forsyth (“Guilt”). “Dance First” will be released in movie theaters in the U.K. and Ireland in November, on Sky Cinema in those countries in December and on Sky Arts and Freeview next year.
In “Dance First,” Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne (“The Usual Suspects”) plays Samuel Beckett with young Beckett played by Fionn O’Shea (“Normal People”) in a sweeping account of the life of this 20th century literary icon. Parisian bon vivant, World War II resistance fighter, Nobel Prize-winning playwright, philandering husband and recluse, Beckett lived a life of many parts.
The film is directed by BAFTA and Academy Award winner James Marsh (“The Theory of Everything”) and written by BAFTA winner Neil Forsyth (“Guilt”). “Dance First” will be released in movie theaters in the U.K. and Ireland in November, on Sky Cinema in those countries in December and on Sky Arts and Freeview next year.
In “Dance First,” Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne (“The Usual Suspects”) plays Samuel Beckett with young Beckett played by Fionn O’Shea (“Normal People”) in a sweeping account of the life of this 20th century literary icon. Parisian bon vivant, World War II resistance fighter, Nobel Prize-winning playwright, philandering husband and recluse, Beckett lived a life of many parts.
- 9/21/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled its lineup for the Industry Selects program of films beyond the official fest lineup and available for worldwide acquisition as each gets an in-person screening for film buyers and industry execs.
Leading the selection is director James Marsh’s Dance First, a biopic with Gabriel Byrne playing the literary giant Samuel Beckett and Sandrine Bonnaire, Maxine Peake, Aidan Gillen and Fionn O’Shea also starring; and director Neil Burger’s Inheritance, a thriller that has a woman played by Phoebe Dynevor learning her father Sam (Rhys Ifans) was once a spy, which puts her at the center of an international conspiracy.
Also picked for market screenings in Toronto is Jimmy Warden’s Borderline, set in 1996 Los Angeles and starring Eric Dane, Ray Nicholson and Samara Weaving as a pop star taken hostage; The Home, a horror pic from Purge series creator James DeMonaco, and starring...
Leading the selection is director James Marsh’s Dance First, a biopic with Gabriel Byrne playing the literary giant Samuel Beckett and Sandrine Bonnaire, Maxine Peake, Aidan Gillen and Fionn O’Shea also starring; and director Neil Burger’s Inheritance, a thriller that has a woman played by Phoebe Dynevor learning her father Sam (Rhys Ifans) was once a spy, which puts her at the center of an international conspiracy.
Also picked for market screenings in Toronto is Jimmy Warden’s Borderline, set in 1996 Los Angeles and starring Eric Dane, Ray Nicholson and Samara Weaving as a pop star taken hostage; The Home, a horror pic from Purge series creator James DeMonaco, and starring...
- 8/21/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fest also announces Connections, Microsessions, and Spotlight sessions.
TIFF has announced the Industry Selects acquisition titles available to buyers during the festival, a 12-strong roster featuring new work from James Marsh, Rebecca Snow, and Neil Burger.
Gabriel Byrne plays literary giant Samuel Beckett in Marsh’s Dance First alongside Sandrine Bonnaire, Maxine Peake, Aidan Gillen, and Fionn O’Shea. Film Constellation represents worldwide rights and the film will close San Sebastian.
Phoebe Dynevor stars with Rhys Ifans for Burger in Inheritance, a thriller about a woman who uncovers her father’s espionage past. CAA Media Finance handles sales.
Snow (Cheating Hitler:...
TIFF has announced the Industry Selects acquisition titles available to buyers during the festival, a 12-strong roster featuring new work from James Marsh, Rebecca Snow, and Neil Burger.
Gabriel Byrne plays literary giant Samuel Beckett in Marsh’s Dance First alongside Sandrine Bonnaire, Maxine Peake, Aidan Gillen, and Fionn O’Shea. Film Constellation represents worldwide rights and the film will close San Sebastian.
Phoebe Dynevor stars with Rhys Ifans for Burger in Inheritance, a thriller about a woman who uncovers her father’s espionage past. CAA Media Finance handles sales.
Snow (Cheating Hitler:...
- 8/21/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Dance First, a biographical drama from The Theory of Everything director James Marsh about the life of Irish Nobel prize-winning playwright Samuel Beckett, will close the 71st San Sebastian Festival.
The feature, which stars Gabriel Byrne as Beckett alongside Sandrine Bonnaire as his longtime partner, and eventual wife, Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil, will close the 2023 San Sebastian festival on Sept. 30. Dance First will screen out of competition at San Sebastian.
Dance First follows Beckett’s life from his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War, through his friendship with fellow Irish literary luminary James Joyce, his rise with such groundbreaking plays as Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Happy Days — which established the Theater of the Absurd movement — to his receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, and his later life as a recluse. Written by Neil Forsyth, the film also features Aidan Gillen as James Joyce...
The feature, which stars Gabriel Byrne as Beckett alongside Sandrine Bonnaire as his longtime partner, and eventual wife, Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil, will close the 2023 San Sebastian festival on Sept. 30. Dance First will screen out of competition at San Sebastian.
Dance First follows Beckett’s life from his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War, through his friendship with fellow Irish literary luminary James Joyce, his rise with such groundbreaking plays as Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Happy Days — which established the Theater of the Absurd movement — to his receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, and his later life as a recluse. Written by Neil Forsyth, the film also features Aidan Gillen as James Joyce...
- 8/21/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
UK director James Marsh’s literary biopic Dance First, starring Gabriel Byrne as iconic Irish writer Samuel Beckett, will close the 71st San Sebastian Film Festival.
The film is sold by London and Paris-based Film Constellation.
As per its synopsis, the biopic touches on various phases in Beckett’s life from “Parisian bon vivant, to World War II Resistance fighter, Nobel Prize-winning playwright, philandering husband and recluse.”
Its focus, however, is on Beckett’s reaction to winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, which was a turning point in his life as he grappled with his own inner demons.
Byrne is joined in the cast by French actress Sandrine Bonnaire as Beckett’s wife.
Marsh has a long relationship with San Sebastian.
His Academy Award-winning documentary for Man on Wire (2009), directed with Simon Chinn, played at the festival in 2008.
Prior to that his early work Wisconsin Death Trip screened in...
The film is sold by London and Paris-based Film Constellation.
As per its synopsis, the biopic touches on various phases in Beckett’s life from “Parisian bon vivant, to World War II Resistance fighter, Nobel Prize-winning playwright, philandering husband and recluse.”
Its focus, however, is on Beckett’s reaction to winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, which was a turning point in his life as he grappled with his own inner demons.
Byrne is joined in the cast by French actress Sandrine Bonnaire as Beckett’s wife.
Marsh has a long relationship with San Sebastian.
His Academy Award-winning documentary for Man on Wire (2009), directed with Simon Chinn, played at the festival in 2008.
Prior to that his early work Wisconsin Death Trip screened in...
- 8/21/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“Dance First,” a portrait of Irish writer Samuel Beckett starring Gabriel Byrne and directed by Oscar winner James Marsh, will close this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival, playing out of competition.
The closing film screening, on Sept. 30, will mark the film’s world premiere.
Byrne, a memorable lead in “The Usual Suspects” and “Miller’s Crossing” who also won a Golden Globe for his performance in “In Treatment,” plays Beckett. The Nobel Prize-winning playwright was a Parisian bon vivant and WWII resistance fighter who became a recluse, living the last years of his life in a single room in a nursing home, ashamed of past actions and convinced that for much of his life he had been a failure.
U.K. director Marsh won an Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2009 with “Man on Wire.” He also directed the Stephen Hawking biopic “The Theory of Everything,” which earned five nominations at the 2015 Oscars,...
The closing film screening, on Sept. 30, will mark the film’s world premiere.
Byrne, a memorable lead in “The Usual Suspects” and “Miller’s Crossing” who also won a Golden Globe for his performance in “In Treatment,” plays Beckett. The Nobel Prize-winning playwright was a Parisian bon vivant and WWII resistance fighter who became a recluse, living the last years of his life in a single room in a nursing home, ashamed of past actions and convinced that for much of his life he had been a failure.
U.K. director Marsh won an Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2009 with “Man on Wire.” He also directed the Stephen Hawking biopic “The Theory of Everything,” which earned five nominations at the 2015 Oscars,...
- 8/21/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Let’s quickly skirt the sinking-stomach realization of how far into 2023 we’re getting––at least this next crop of titles arrive as Barnes and Noble hold another 50%-off sale. If I’m suggesting consumerism smother self-inspection, this of all line-ups might at least make room for compromise: November will bring 4K upgrades for Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven––among the, let’s guess, seven or eight greatest-looking films ever––and Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, as well as an altogether new appearance for Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. Last Picture Show is especially notable: it’ll include the lesser-seen sequel Texasville “presented in both the original theatrical version and a black-and-white version of Peter Bogdanovich’s director’s cut, produced in collaboration with cinematographer Nicholas von Sternberg.”
Almost equal to any of those films, arriving on a new Blu-ray, is Claude Chabrol’s La Cérémonie with Sandrine Bonnaire and Isabelle Huppert.
Almost equal to any of those films, arriving on a new Blu-ray, is Claude Chabrol’s La Cérémonie with Sandrine Bonnaire and Isabelle Huppert.
- 8/15/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Claude Lelouch, the Oscar-winning director of “A Man and a Woman,” is getting ready to direct “Finalement…,” his next film which he says will be a sort of sequel to his BAFTA-nominated film “Happy New Year” and “L’aventure, l’aventure.” The lighthearted movie will reteam Lelouch with Metropolitan FilmExport which is co-producing with Lelouch’s banner Les Films 13, and will distribute in France.
Scored by popular French singer Ibrahim Maalouf, “Finalement…” will boast a large ensemble cast of French stars, including Kad Merad (“Baron Noir”), Elsa Zylberstein (“Simone”), Sandrine Bonnaire, Raphael Mezrahi, Michel Boujenah and Barbara Pravi.
Merad will play a powerful lawyer who sees his life take an unexpected turn after a health issue removes his ability to lie and forces him to speak without any filter. Merad’s character embarks on a road trip across France, from Paris to the Normandie, to the Mont St Michel, Avignon...
Scored by popular French singer Ibrahim Maalouf, “Finalement…” will boast a large ensemble cast of French stars, including Kad Merad (“Baron Noir”), Elsa Zylberstein (“Simone”), Sandrine Bonnaire, Raphael Mezrahi, Michel Boujenah and Barbara Pravi.
Merad will play a powerful lawyer who sees his life take an unexpected turn after a health issue removes his ability to lie and forces him to speak without any filter. Merad’s character embarks on a road trip across France, from Paris to the Normandie, to the Mont St Michel, Avignon...
- 5/21/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Studiocanal has signed a deal with Metropolitan Filmexport for worldwide rights to the entire film catalog of acclaimed French director Claude Lelouch.
The deal, announced at the Cannes Film Market on Saturday, includes more than 40 films, among them such French classics as A Man and a Woman (1966) — winner of the 1966 Palme d’Or, as well as two Oscars, for best international film and best original screenplay — Live for Life (1967), Love Is a Funny Thing (1969), The Crook (1970), Money Money Money (1972), Happy New Year (1973), Bolero (1981), Itinerary of a Spoilt Child (1988) and Les Misérables (1995).
Studiocanal has been handling French TV rights for the Lelouch catalog for the past seven years. The new deal will give the group exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the director’s vast catalog, as well as SVOD, free-on-demand and AVOD rights in France. Metropolitan will continue to distribute Lelouch’s films in theaters, on video and through transactional video-on-demand (Tvod) in France.
The deal, announced at the Cannes Film Market on Saturday, includes more than 40 films, among them such French classics as A Man and a Woman (1966) — winner of the 1966 Palme d’Or, as well as two Oscars, for best international film and best original screenplay — Live for Life (1967), Love Is a Funny Thing (1969), The Crook (1970), Money Money Money (1972), Happy New Year (1973), Bolero (1981), Itinerary of a Spoilt Child (1988) and Les Misérables (1995).
Studiocanal has been handling French TV rights for the Lelouch catalog for the past seven years. The new deal will give the group exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the director’s vast catalog, as well as SVOD, free-on-demand and AVOD rights in France. Metropolitan will continue to distribute Lelouch’s films in theaters, on video and through transactional video-on-demand (Tvod) in France.
- 5/20/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
An Oscar winner for his documentary Man on Wire and the filmmaker behind 2014’s awards juggernaut The Theory of Everything, James Marsh has been away from the big screen for a few years (his last project was the 2018 heist film King of Thieves). But he comes to Cannes with two buzzy projects in the market. In Night Boat to Tangier, he takes on Kevin Barry’s New York Times best-seller with a cast including Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Negga.
That film hasn’t shot yet, but Marsh has already completed a rather different feature, Dance First. A sweeping account of the life of literary icon Samuel Beckett (the title is taken from his ethos, “Dance first, think later”), the film sees Gabriel Byrne as the Nobel Prize winner in a story that covers the many aspects of his younger years: from Parisian bon vivant to WWII resistance fighter and philandering husband.
That film hasn’t shot yet, but Marsh has already completed a rather different feature, Dance First. A sweeping account of the life of literary icon Samuel Beckett (the title is taken from his ethos, “Dance first, think later”), the film sees Gabriel Byrne as the Nobel Prize winner in a story that covers the many aspects of his younger years: from Parisian bon vivant to WWII resistance fighter and philandering husband.
- 5/18/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Leo Maidenberg’s Paris-based company Place du Marché Productions is developing a slate of French and international films and TV series with acclaimed talents, including Daphna Levin, the creator of the Israeli series “Euphoria,” as well as Sarah Kaminsky (“Raid Dingue”) and Leïla Sy (“Banlieusards”).
Maidenberg, who launched Place du Marché in 2018 after a career in diplomacy and made his producing debut with Caroline Fourest’s politically charged action film “Sisters in Arms,” has teamed with Kim Younes at Elvie Productions on a pair of high concept Israeli series.
The first title produced by the two banners is “The Truth,” a police thriller series co-written and directed by Levin, whose credits also include the original Israeli series “In Therapy.” Set in Tel Aviv, “The Truth” opens on the day of the final verdict for the most controversial murder case in Israel, 10 years after the incident which took place in a high school gym.
Maidenberg, who launched Place du Marché in 2018 after a career in diplomacy and made his producing debut with Caroline Fourest’s politically charged action film “Sisters in Arms,” has teamed with Kim Younes at Elvie Productions on a pair of high concept Israeli series.
The first title produced by the two banners is “The Truth,” a police thriller series co-written and directed by Levin, whose credits also include the original Israeli series “In Therapy.” Set in Tel Aviv, “The Truth” opens on the day of the final verdict for the most controversial murder case in Israel, 10 years after the incident which took place in a high school gym.
- 4/21/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The French filmmaking duo of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo caught international attention with their debut feature, the brutal home invasion story Inside, in 2007. Since then, Maury and Bustillo have continued working in the horror genre, making the films Livid, Among the Living, Leatherface (a prequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Kandisha, and The Deep House. Now Maury has taken to Instagram to announce that they have officially started production on their seventh feature, an adaptation of the Alexis Laipsker novel The Soul Eater (a.k.a. Le mangeur d’âmes). Laipsker also celebrated the start of production, tweeting out a promotional image that reveals The Soul Eater stars Virginie Ledoyen (The Beach), Paul Hamy (The Ornithologist), and Sandrine Bonnaire (Women at War). You can take a look at that image at the bottom of this article.
Maury shared an image of a clapperboard that reveals the cinematographer on The Soul Eater is Simon Roca,...
Maury shared an image of a clapperboard that reveals the cinematographer on The Soul Eater is Simon Roca,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
French filmmaking duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, best known for their ultra-violent slasher Inside and aquatic haunted house tale The Deep House, are tackling an adaptation of the grisly thriller The Soul Eater by Alexis Laipsker.
Maury announced on Instagram that production has officially begun on The Soul Eater, the seventh feature film for Maury and Bustillo. Author Laipsker also took to Twitter to share that production is now underway, along with artwork that teases an ominous tone below.
The novel’s official synopsis indicates another bloody genre film for the filmmakers:
“‘He didn’t scream. They never scream.’ Some well-kept secrets sometimes turn out to be too heavy to bear. When the disappearance of children and bloody murders multiply uneventfully in a small mountain village, an old legend shrouded in sulfur resurfaces. Urged on by their respective departments, Commander Guardiano and Captain of the Gendarmerie De Rolan are...
Maury announced on Instagram that production has officially begun on The Soul Eater, the seventh feature film for Maury and Bustillo. Author Laipsker also took to Twitter to share that production is now underway, along with artwork that teases an ominous tone below.
The novel’s official synopsis indicates another bloody genre film for the filmmakers:
“‘He didn’t scream. They never scream.’ Some well-kept secrets sometimes turn out to be too heavy to bear. When the disappearance of children and bloody murders multiply uneventfully in a small mountain village, an old legend shrouded in sulfur resurfaces. Urged on by their respective departments, Commander Guardiano and Captain of the Gendarmerie De Rolan are...
- 3/28/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Second collaboration between French director, screenwriter and actor Slony Sow and French National Treasure, actor Gérard Depardieu after the multi-awarded 2011 short movie “Grenouille d'Hiver” (Winter Frog), “Umami” is co-presented with Alliance Française de Chicago as part of 2023 Francophonie festival – a recurring annual collaboration.
Umami is screening at Asian Pop-Up Cinema Sophia's Choice
Gabriel Carvin (Gérard Depardieu) is a multi-starred chef who has been dedicating all his life to build up his reputation, his fabulous restaurant Chateaux and his palmares of Michelin-like Stars. Stubborn, excessive, self-centred, he has also neglected his family in the process, and alienated the people around him. His eldest son Jean is a chef too, working in the family business, but he never had a chance to do anything out of his father's shadow and his self confidence has dropped to paralysing levels; his youngest son Nino is an idealist and environmentalist who loves travelling and practicing...
Umami is screening at Asian Pop-Up Cinema Sophia's Choice
Gabriel Carvin (Gérard Depardieu) is a multi-starred chef who has been dedicating all his life to build up his reputation, his fabulous restaurant Chateaux and his palmares of Michelin-like Stars. Stubborn, excessive, self-centred, he has also neglected his family in the process, and alienated the people around him. His eldest son Jean is a chef too, working in the family business, but he never had a chance to do anything out of his father's shadow and his self confidence has dropped to paralysing levels; his youngest son Nino is an idealist and environmentalist who loves travelling and practicing...
- 3/23/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
While Agnès Varda explored her own work throughout her career, including in The Beaches of Agnès, her TV series From Here to There, and her final film Varda by Agnès, a new documentary has been announced that will take a look at the late, legendary Belgian-born French director’s massive contributions to the art of cinema.
Variety reports Mk2 Films, Cinétévé Sales, and Varda’s own Ciné-Tamaris have backed Viva Varda!, which will feature never-before-seen archival footage along with interviews from directors, including Atom Egoyan and Audrey Diwan. Helmed by Pierre-Henri Gibert, the film features interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy, and Jonathan Romney. With a French Cinémathèque retrospctive also taking place the fall, here’s hoping the documentary will debut for the occasion.
“With the upcoming homage at the French Cinémathèque, I felt like...
Variety reports Mk2 Films, Cinétévé Sales, and Varda’s own Ciné-Tamaris have backed Viva Varda!, which will feature never-before-seen archival footage along with interviews from directors, including Atom Egoyan and Audrey Diwan. Helmed by Pierre-Henri Gibert, the film features interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy, and Jonathan Romney. With a French Cinémathèque retrospctive also taking place the fall, here’s hoping the documentary will debut for the occasion.
“With the upcoming homage at the French Cinémathèque, I felt like...
- 2/17/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Agnès Varda, the late New Wave cinema legend, is the subject of “Viva Varda!,” a documentary boasting exclusive archive footage and interviews by filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan and Audrey Diwan. Mk2 Films is co-representing the documentary feature with Cinétévé Sales.
“Viva Varda!” will be first portrait of the Honorary Oscar recipient that’s not directed by Varda herself. The last film she directed was “Varda par Agnes,” a documentary shedding light on her own experiences as a filmmaker. Her sprawling career and legacy will be celebrated this fall at the French Cinémathèque.
Pierre-Henri Gibert, a film buff who’s made several documentaries about filmmakers, including Jacques Audiard, explored different aspects of Varda’s life and body of work and conducted insightful interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy and Jonathan Romney, among others.
“Viva Varda!
“Viva Varda!” will be first portrait of the Honorary Oscar recipient that’s not directed by Varda herself. The last film she directed was “Varda par Agnes,” a documentary shedding light on her own experiences as a filmmaker. Her sprawling career and legacy will be celebrated this fall at the French Cinémathèque.
Pierre-Henri Gibert, a film buff who’s made several documentaries about filmmakers, including Jacques Audiard, explored different aspects of Varda’s life and body of work and conducted insightful interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy and Jonathan Romney, among others.
“Viva Varda!
- 2/16/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Julie (Laure Calamy) is on the move. From the moment her alarm clock disturbs her sleeping breath, she’s in constant state of harried, frantic motion—making breakfast, tinkering with the boiler, dropping her kids off at an elderly neighbor’s house while it’s still dark out, running to catch a train, changing into her hotel maid uniform, smoothing sheets, hosing excrement from the walls, and battling her way back home to do it all over again, all too soon.
“Full Time,” written and directed by Eric Gravel, depicts the never-ending sprint that is Julie’s life as a struggling single mom, rendering this social-realist drama as a gritty, heart-pounding thriller, with breathless, naturalistic handheld cinematography by Victor Seguin and an adrenaline-pounding electronic score by Irène Drésel.
There’s something radical about turning a very bad week in the life of a single mom into an action thriller, and...
“Full Time,” written and directed by Eric Gravel, depicts the never-ending sprint that is Julie’s life as a struggling single mom, rendering this social-realist drama as a gritty, heart-pounding thriller, with breathless, naturalistic handheld cinematography by Victor Seguin and an adrenaline-pounding electronic score by Irène Drésel.
There’s something radical about turning a very bad week in the life of a single mom into an action thriller, and...
- 2/2/2023
- by Katie Walsh
- The Wrap
Highest honors go to this stylish, cinematically refined adaptation of a George Simenon thriller. Michel Blanc becomes a person of interest for a murder investigation mainly because he’s disliked and anti-social; Sandrine Bonnaire is the neighbor that he peeps at nightly, to stir his secret passion. Director Patrice Leconte directs with almost perfect control, turning the show into an emotional workout.
Monsieur Hire
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95
Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.
Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
Production Designer: Ivan Maussion
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Film Editor: Joëlle Hache
Original Music: Michael Nyman
Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon
Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman
Directed by Patrice Leconte
We’re fond...
Monsieur Hire
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95
Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.
Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
Production Designer: Ivan Maussion
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Film Editor: Joëlle Hache
Original Music: Michael Nyman
Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon
Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman
Directed by Patrice Leconte
We’re fond...
- 1/28/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
French sales house to market premiere ‘Bright Women’ at Rendez-Vous.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
- 1/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
French sales house to market premiere ‘Bright Women’ at Rendez-Vous.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
- 1/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
This essay is one of several contributed by filmmakers and actors as part of Variety’s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time package.
When I discovered “Vagabond,” I was the same age as Sandrine Bonnaire in the film, about 20 years old. The character of Mona claims only one value: freedom. Whatever the cost, despite hunger, thirst (lack of cigarettes too). Even if it means giving up her life. She categorically refuses the codes that society wants to impose on her.
In writing the film, Agnès Varda, as often, mixes genres. We alternate between Mona and a police investigation looking for traces of the deceased young vagrant, an unfortunate woman whose remains no one claims. It’s an unpredictable chronicle because of the character’s habits. And there’s a documentary flavor, because the director likes to build her fictional stories by making reality a raw material, malleable clay, inviting it into the frame alongside her actors,...
When I discovered “Vagabond,” I was the same age as Sandrine Bonnaire in the film, about 20 years old. The character of Mona claims only one value: freedom. Whatever the cost, despite hunger, thirst (lack of cigarettes too). Even if it means giving up her life. She categorically refuses the codes that society wants to impose on her.
In writing the film, Agnès Varda, as often, mixes genres. We alternate between Mona and a police investigation looking for traces of the deceased young vagrant, an unfortunate woman whose remains no one claims. It’s an unpredictable chronicle because of the character’s habits. And there’s a documentary flavor, because the director likes to build her fictional stories by making reality a raw material, malleable clay, inviting it into the frame alongside her actors,...
- 12/21/2022
- by Audrey Diwan
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based sales house completes string of deals on both films.
Slony Sow’s Franco-Japanese culinary comedy Umami starring Gérard Depardieu has racked up a slew of international sales through Paris-based MPM Premium.
The film has sold across Europe to Jerome Hilal’s brand new distribution label Zinc in France, Neue Visionen in Germany and Austria, Praesens in Switzerland, Vernice in Spain and J&j in the Netherlands.
Rialto has also snapped up the rights in Australia in New Zealand, New Cinema will distribute in Israel and Otaku in the Baltics. In Asia, the film will head to China via Age of Smart Screen Co.
Slony Sow’s Franco-Japanese culinary comedy Umami starring Gérard Depardieu has racked up a slew of international sales through Paris-based MPM Premium.
The film has sold across Europe to Jerome Hilal’s brand new distribution label Zinc in France, Neue Visionen in Germany and Austria, Praesens in Switzerland, Vernice in Spain and J&j in the Netherlands.
Rialto has also snapped up the rights in Australia in New Zealand, New Cinema will distribute in Israel and Otaku in the Baltics. In Asia, the film will head to China via Age of Smart Screen Co.
- 10/11/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Film Constellation is handling world sales on the Sky Original title.
Principal photography has wrapped on James Marsh’s UK film Dance First which stars Irish actor Gabriel Byrne as Samuel Beckett.
The Sky Original film charts the Irish writer’s life, from his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War to his literary rise to winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.
The film will premiere in cinemas and on Sky Cinema in 2023.
Byrne, whose credits include The Usual Suspects and Miller’s Crossing, is joined in the cast by Aidan Gillen, Sandrine Bonnaire,...
Principal photography has wrapped on James Marsh’s UK film Dance First which stars Irish actor Gabriel Byrne as Samuel Beckett.
The Sky Original film charts the Irish writer’s life, from his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War to his literary rise to winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.
The film will premiere in cinemas and on Sky Cinema in 2023.
Byrne, whose credits include The Usual Suspects and Miller’s Crossing, is joined in the cast by Aidan Gillen, Sandrine Bonnaire,...
- 9/8/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
A Cinema Shack: The Tent of Vagabond (2022). Photo credit: Bernd Brundert.While most can hope to live authentically in the one life allotted them, some are able to expand beyond such limitations. One way is through art, which not only arouses an inner life that may stand apart from one's corporeal being, but also extends past any sort of physical life into the realm of the sublime, where it survives so long as there are people willing to appreciate it. The French photographer, filmmaker, and installation artist Agnès Varda is often referred to as having lived three lives, testifying to a career divided into three parts of artistic exploration but which are nevertheless interconnected, ultimately comprising a distinguished whole. Accordingly, Varda favored the triptych across much of her oeuvre and specifically in her installations; the division into three was as consequential to her in application as in theory.In considering...
- 8/11/2022
- MUBI
The Paris-based company is planning a special physical market screening in Tokyo on June 1 for Japanese buyers.
Paris-based sales company MPM Premium has signed a fresh raft of deals on French-Japanese culinary comedy Umami, following its physical market premiere in Cannes.
The film stars Gérard Depardieu as a chef on a mission to create a dish encapsulating the taste of umami, the so-called fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour and bitter that is common in Japanese cuisine.
It has now sold to Switzerland (Praesens), Baltics (Otaku) and airlines (Encore). Previously announced sales include to Germany and Austria (Neue Visionen), Israel...
Paris-based sales company MPM Premium has signed a fresh raft of deals on French-Japanese culinary comedy Umami, following its physical market premiere in Cannes.
The film stars Gérard Depardieu as a chef on a mission to create a dish encapsulating the taste of umami, the so-called fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour and bitter that is common in Japanese cuisine.
It has now sold to Switzerland (Praesens), Baltics (Otaku) and airlines (Encore). Previously announced sales include to Germany and Austria (Neue Visionen), Israel...
- 5/25/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Aidan Gillen, who played Littlefinger in “Game of Thrones,” and Sandrine Bonnaire, a best actress winner at Venice for “La cérémonie,” have joined Gabriel Byrne in Samuel Beckett biopic “Dance First,” directed by Oscar-winner James Marsh.
Film Constellation has closed pre-sales on the film in Australia/New Zealand (Icon), Italy (Bim Distribuzione), Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nos Audiovisuais), Greece (Filmtrade), Hungary (Vertigo Media), former Yugoslavia (Discovery) and Taiwan (Cai Chang). Pay TV outlet Sky developed the film as a Sky Original in the U.K.
Marsh, best-known for “The Theory of Everything,” for which Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar, and Oscar-winner “Man on Wire,” will start shooting the film on May 30 in Budapest.
“Dance First’s” cast also includes Fionn O’Shea, who will play the young Beckett. He appeared in “Handsome Devil,” “Dating Amber” and “Normal People,” and will be seen next in “Masters of the Air.” The film is written by Neil Forsyth.
Film Constellation has closed pre-sales on the film in Australia/New Zealand (Icon), Italy (Bim Distribuzione), Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nos Audiovisuais), Greece (Filmtrade), Hungary (Vertigo Media), former Yugoslavia (Discovery) and Taiwan (Cai Chang). Pay TV outlet Sky developed the film as a Sky Original in the U.K.
Marsh, best-known for “The Theory of Everything,” for which Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar, and Oscar-winner “Man on Wire,” will start shooting the film on May 30 in Budapest.
“Dance First’s” cast also includes Fionn O’Shea, who will play the young Beckett. He appeared in “Handsome Devil,” “Dating Amber” and “Normal People,” and will be seen next in “Masters of the Air.” The film is written by Neil Forsyth.
- 5/19/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
This review of “Happening” was first published May 5 before the film’s opening in NYC and Los Angeles.
Rarely has there been a narrative film that feels more current than “Happening,” a French drama about the trials of a young women attempting to get an abortion — in 1963.
Audrey Diwan (“Losing It”) based her second film, the top prize-winner at last year’s Venice Film Festival, on Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical novel of the same name. Though this is one woman’s story, Diwan (who cowrote the script with Marcia Romano) directs it with an urgency that makes clear: it could be anyone’s.
Well, not anyone, of course. But certainly anyone who finds herself pregnant without access to safe and legal abortion, which is the case for Anne (an excellent Anamaria Vartolomei). Until the moment her calendar reveals the unavoidable truth, Anne is no different from her best friends, Hélène...
Rarely has there been a narrative film that feels more current than “Happening,” a French drama about the trials of a young women attempting to get an abortion — in 1963.
Audrey Diwan (“Losing It”) based her second film, the top prize-winner at last year’s Venice Film Festival, on Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical novel of the same name. Though this is one woman’s story, Diwan (who cowrote the script with Marcia Romano) directs it with an urgency that makes clear: it could be anyone’s.
Well, not anyone, of course. But certainly anyone who finds herself pregnant without access to safe and legal abortion, which is the case for Anne (an excellent Anamaria Vartolomei). Until the moment her calendar reveals the unavoidable truth, Anne is no different from her best friends, Hélène...
- 5/13/2022
- by Elizabeth Weitzman
- The Wrap
Wow, now there’s some epic movie “subject matter” timing, almost on par with The China Syndrome (in theatres when the news on Three Mile Island broke). Now, mind you this film’s set over 60 years ago, and it’s based on a celebrated novel from 2000. But it couldn’t be released at a better time. Oh, and it arrives after receiving many significant awards, particularly the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion last year. And though its themes have dominated US headlines for the last couple of weeks, a very long time ago in a foreign land it was still a most dire and morally fraught Happening.
That aforementioned time is 1960 and that land in France, in a medium-sized city far from bustling Paris. Twenty-year-old Anne (Anamarie Vartolomei) is living on the campus of what we might call a “junior college”, but only miles away from her folks Gabrielle...
That aforementioned time is 1960 and that land in France, in a medium-sized city far from bustling Paris. Twenty-year-old Anne (Anamarie Vartolomei) is living on the campus of what we might call a “junior college”, but only miles away from her folks Gabrielle...
- 5/13/2022
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
‘Happening’ Is an Award-Winning French Drama About Abortion. It’s Also the Most Urgent Movie of 2022
“Can you help me?”
It’s the first sentence you hear in Happening, filmmaker Audrey Diwan’s loose adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s semi-memoir–ish novel, and given that the opening credits are still rolling over a black background, it’s hard to say who’s asking whom for what. But it’s definitely a female voice, and belongs to one of the three young woman getting ready for a night out. Two of them are ribbing each other about their outfits, their looks, their chances of getting lucky; the other,...
It’s the first sentence you hear in Happening, filmmaker Audrey Diwan’s loose adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s semi-memoir–ish novel, and given that the opening credits are still rolling over a black background, it’s hard to say who’s asking whom for what. But it’s definitely a female voice, and belongs to one of the three young woman getting ready for a night out. Two of them are ribbing each other about their outfits, their looks, their chances of getting lucky; the other,...
- 5/5/2022
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
After winning the Golden Lion at Venice 2021, followed by actress Anamaria Vartolomei scoring Best Female Newcomer at the 2022 Césars, Audrey Diwan’s harrowing abortion drama “Happening” is finally coming to a theater near you. And it couldn’t be more urgent or timely.
The film will open in American theaters the same week that the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is reportedly on the verge of reversing the court’s 1973 decision in favor of Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal across the United States. Now, 24 red states are preparing abortion restrictions. The frightening reality of France in 1963 in “Happening” has suddenly become, not a distant memory, but a stark portent of things to come.
“Happening” is immersive, luring us close to the experience of a 23-year-old student trying to get an illegal abortion back in 1963: a taboo, repressed, internal, silent journey. She cannot even tell...
The film will open in American theaters the same week that the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is reportedly on the verge of reversing the court’s 1973 decision in favor of Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal across the United States. Now, 24 red states are preparing abortion restrictions. The frightening reality of France in 1963 in “Happening” has suddenly become, not a distant memory, but a stark portent of things to come.
“Happening” is immersive, luring us close to the experience of a 23-year-old student trying to get an illegal abortion back in 1963: a taboo, repressed, internal, silent journey. She cannot even tell...
- 5/4/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Winner at the Venice film festival, Audrey Diwan’s film captures the panic of an unwanted pregnancy before the legalisation of abortion in provincial France
Here is a brutal Handmaid’s Tale from our recent European past: a situation that still exists in many parts of the world, longed for by reactionary nostalgists elsewhere. Happening is the admirable French drama from director and co-writer Audrey Diwan which won the Golden Lion at last year’s Venice film festival; it is an impeccably produced movie, faintly old-fashioned in its vehement emotional message, adapted from an autobiographical novel by Annie Ernaux.
The setting is provincial France in 1963, just before the permissive society and the pop culture revolution – and certainly before the legalisation of abortion, which did not happen in France until 1975. Newcomer Anamaria Vartolomei plays Anne Duchesne, a very talented student of literature who in one scene stuns her professor and classmates by knowing what “anaphora” is.
Here is a brutal Handmaid’s Tale from our recent European past: a situation that still exists in many parts of the world, longed for by reactionary nostalgists elsewhere. Happening is the admirable French drama from director and co-writer Audrey Diwan which won the Golden Lion at last year’s Venice film festival; it is an impeccably produced movie, faintly old-fashioned in its vehement emotional message, adapted from an autobiographical novel by Annie Ernaux.
The setting is provincial France in 1963, just before the permissive society and the pop culture revolution – and certainly before the legalisation of abortion, which did not happen in France until 1975. Newcomer Anamaria Vartolomei plays Anne Duchesne, a very talented student of literature who in one scene stuns her professor and classmates by knowing what “anaphora” is.
- 4/20/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The feature stars Gérard Depardieu as a top chef in search of the ultimate dish encapsulating the taste of umami.
Paris-based sales company MPM Premium has posted a quartet of first deals on French-Japanese comedy Umami, starring Gérard Depardieu as a top chef on a culinary mission.
The film has sold to Germany and Austria (Neue Visionen), Israel (New Cinema), Dutch-speaking Benelux (J&j Films) and Spain (Vercine). France is currently under discussion.
Depardieu plays a renowned chef in search of the ultimate dish encapsulating the taste of umami, the so-called fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour and bitter. The challenge...
Paris-based sales company MPM Premium has posted a quartet of first deals on French-Japanese comedy Umami, starring Gérard Depardieu as a top chef on a culinary mission.
The film has sold to Germany and Austria (Neue Visionen), Israel (New Cinema), Dutch-speaking Benelux (J&j Films) and Spain (Vercine). France is currently under discussion.
Depardieu plays a renowned chef in search of the ultimate dish encapsulating the taste of umami, the so-called fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour and bitter. The challenge...
- 2/18/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Happening Review — Happening (2021) Film Review from the 44th Annual Sundance Film Festival, a movie directed by Audrey Diwan and starring Anamaria Vartolomei, Kacey Mottet Klein, Luana Bajrami, Louise Orry-Diquero, Louise Chevillotte, Pio Marmai, Sandrine Bonnaire, Leonor Oberson, Anna Mouglalis, Madeleine Baudot, Alice de Lencquesaing and Fabrizio Rongione. Set in the early 1960’s, the [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Happening: An Unflinching, Well Acted Look at a Delicate Topic [Sundance 2022]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Happening: An Unflinching, Well Acted Look at a Delicate Topic [Sundance 2022]...
- 1/26/2022
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
The year is 1963. The location is Angoulême, France. The woman is Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei), a bright student faced with the weight of the world when she discovers she has an unwanted pregnancy. Facing the country’s strict anti-abortion laws, Anne’s predicament puts not only herself in danger, but also any doctor who’d be willing to help her achieve the procedure for which she’s desperate. So begins Happening, Audrey Diwan’s Golden Lion-winning adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s semi-autobiographical 2000 novel of the same name (L’événement).
While comparing Happening to Eliza Hittman’s masterful 2020 abortion drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always skirts reductive, there’s something to be said for the similar way in which Diwan observes her main character. While her aesthetic may boast some grander flourishes than Hittman’s neorealism, there is nevertheless a vérité style to Diwan’s approach that places us right up against Anne for...
While comparing Happening to Eliza Hittman’s masterful 2020 abortion drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always skirts reductive, there’s something to be said for the similar way in which Diwan observes her main character. While her aesthetic may boast some grander flourishes than Hittman’s neorealism, there is nevertheless a vérité style to Diwan’s approach that places us right up against Anne for...
- 1/24/2022
- by Mitchell Beaupre
- The Film Stage
Other Angle is launching sales on Melissa Drigeard’s “Hawaii” with Berenice Bejo and Jeremy Guez’s “Kanun” at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris which is happening this week as an in-person event in the French capital.
“Hawaii”is headlined by an ensemble cast including The Artist” actor Bérénice Béjo. The movie follows nine friends who gather every year in their friend Thomas’ hotel in Hawaii. Following a nuclear attack alert, they believe that their last moments are upon them and their friendly annual meeting turns into shouting match. But after finding out the nuclear threat was a false alert, they have to spend the remaining eight days of vacation together. The movie is produced by Romain Legrand and Vivien Aslanian at Marvelous Productions. Warner Bros. will release it in France.
“Kanun” is a thriller directed by Jérémie Guez whose credits include “Brothers by Blood” and “A Bluebird in My Heart.
“Hawaii”is headlined by an ensemble cast including The Artist” actor Bérénice Béjo. The movie follows nine friends who gather every year in their friend Thomas’ hotel in Hawaii. Following a nuclear attack alert, they believe that their last moments are upon them and their friendly annual meeting turns into shouting match. But after finding out the nuclear threat was a false alert, they have to spend the remaining eight days of vacation together. The movie is produced by Romain Legrand and Vivien Aslanian at Marvelous Productions. Warner Bros. will release it in France.
“Kanun” is a thriller directed by Jérémie Guez whose credits include “Brothers by Blood” and “A Bluebird in My Heart.
- 1/11/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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