From politics to buzz films, star appearances and deal making, there was – as always – plenty to talk about at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Screen gathers together the major discussion points of this year’s festival.
Muted politics
In the build-up to Cannes, there was much talk about how this year’s festival was set to be the most politically charged edition of recent years, amid Israel’s war on Gaza, festival workers threatening strike action and rumours of bombshell #MeToo accusations set to rock the French industry. The result was far more muted, with the #MeToo accusations quickly...
Muted politics
In the build-up to Cannes, there was much talk about how this year’s festival was set to be the most politically charged edition of recent years, amid Israel’s war on Gaza, festival workers threatening strike action and rumours of bombshell #MeToo accusations set to rock the French industry. The result was far more muted, with the #MeToo accusations quickly...
- 5/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
Memento International has boarded “Gazer,” the debut feature of American filmmaker Ryan J. Sloan which will world premiere at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Set in New Jersey, the paranoia thriller stars Ariella Mastroianni as Frankie, a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. Struggling to perceive time, she uses cassette tapes for guidance and is unable to find steady work with her condition. When a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences that await.
Sloan, who is from New Jersey and previously worked as electrician, pays tribute to New Hollywood’s great masters by revisiting the mystery thriller genre in “Gazer.” Lensed in 16mm stock, the film follows a magnetic character played by Ariella Mastroianni, who stars opposite Marcia Debonis, Renee Gagner, Jack Alberts and Grant Schumacher.
“‘Gazer’ is a redemption story derailed by a revenge story, following flawed characters...
Set in New Jersey, the paranoia thriller stars Ariella Mastroianni as Frankie, a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. Struggling to perceive time, she uses cassette tapes for guidance and is unable to find steady work with her condition. When a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences that await.
Sloan, who is from New Jersey and previously worked as electrician, pays tribute to New Hollywood’s great masters by revisiting the mystery thriller genre in “Gazer.” Lensed in 16mm stock, the film follows a magnetic character played by Ariella Mastroianni, who stars opposite Marcia Debonis, Renee Gagner, Jack Alberts and Grant Schumacher.
“‘Gazer’ is a redemption story derailed by a revenge story, following flawed characters...
- 5/2/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Kino Lorber have picked up all rights in North America to Bruno Dumont’s sci-fi farce The Empire after its triumphant debut at the Berlin Film Festival last month, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize.
Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, and Fabrice Luchini star in the French-language feature, which re-imagines the world of George Lucas’ Star Wars with its epic sci-fi battle of good vs. evil, relocating the action to a sleepy northern France town and filtering the story through the frankly bonkers mind of the director of Slack Bay, Li’l Quinquin and Coincoin and the Extra-Humans. There are plenty of VFX spaceships and lightsaber battles and only a few gratuitous sex scenes (this is a French film after all).
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release for L’Empire later this year 2024, followed by a home video, educational, and digital release across all major platforms.
Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, and Fabrice Luchini star in the French-language feature, which re-imagines the world of George Lucas’ Star Wars with its epic sci-fi battle of good vs. evil, relocating the action to a sleepy northern France town and filtering the story through the frankly bonkers mind of the director of Slack Bay, Li’l Quinquin and Coincoin and the Extra-Humans. There are plenty of VFX spaceships and lightsaber battles and only a few gratuitous sex scenes (this is a French film after all).
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release for L’Empire later this year 2024, followed by a home video, educational, and digital release across all major platforms.
- 3/7/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Bruno Dumont’s recent Berlinale selection The Empire.
‘The Empire’: Berlin Review
Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, and Fabrice Luchini star in the sci-fi farce about extraterrestrial forces who descend on Earth after the birth of a baby in a French village triggers a secret intergalactic war.
The film won the Silver Bear Jury Prize in Berlin and is a Tessalit Productions production in co-production with Red Balloon Film, Ascent Film, Novak Prod, Rosa Filmes, and Furyo Films.
Jean Bréhat and Bertrand Faivre produced, and the co-producers are Dorothe Beinemeier,...
‘The Empire’: Berlin Review
Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin, Lyna Khoudri, and Fabrice Luchini star in the sci-fi farce about extraterrestrial forces who descend on Earth after the birth of a baby in a French village triggers a secret intergalactic war.
The film won the Silver Bear Jury Prize in Berlin and is a Tessalit Productions production in co-production with Red Balloon Film, Ascent Film, Novak Prod, Rosa Filmes, and Furyo Films.
Jean Bréhat and Bertrand Faivre produced, and the co-producers are Dorothe Beinemeier,...
- 3/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Bruno Dumont’s “The Empire,” a sci-fi satire starring Anamaria Vartolomei (“Happening”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”), Lyna Khoudri (“The Three Musketeers”) and Fabrice Luchini.
“The Empire” just world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize. The movie marks Dumont’s follow up to “France,” a dark comedy starring Léa Seydoux which competed at the Cannes Film Festival.
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release later this year, followed by a home video, educational and digital release on all major platforms. The acquisition of “The Empire” marks the sixth time that Kino Lorber has collaborated with Dumont, with previous releases including “Li’l Quinquin,” “Coincoin and the Extra-Humans,” “Slack Bay,” “Camille Claudel 1915” and, most recently, “France.”
The film is set in a quiet and picturesque fishing village in Northern France, where a special...
“The Empire” just world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize. The movie marks Dumont’s follow up to “France,” a dark comedy starring Léa Seydoux which competed at the Cannes Film Festival.
Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release later this year, followed by a home video, educational and digital release on all major platforms. The acquisition of “The Empire” marks the sixth time that Kino Lorber has collaborated with Dumont, with previous releases including “Li’l Quinquin,” “Coincoin and the Extra-Humans,” “Slack Bay,” “Camille Claudel 1915” and, most recently, “France.”
The film is set in a quiet and picturesque fishing village in Northern France, where a special...
- 3/7/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Writers’ Development
The U.K.’s National Film and Television School (Nfts) has partnered with “The Crown” producer Left Bank Pictures on the Nfts Diverse Writers Development Program that kicks off in March 2024. It will select six emerging U.K. screenwriters from under-represented backgrounds to contribute their voices to the entertainment landscape and inject fresh perspectives into scripted drama.
The chosen writers will embark on a paid 10-week program, during which four full series ideas will be developed and pitched, with the aim of creating commercially viable television drama concepts. The participants will work through a curriculum designed by the Nfts. The initiative will connect writers with production executives from Left Bank Pictures and potentially other British production companies.
Applications are open now and close Oct. 31.
Promotion
Alexandre Moreau has been promoted to head of sales at Paris-based company Memento International. The executive will oversee Memento International’s slate of films and strategy,...
The U.K.’s National Film and Television School (Nfts) has partnered with “The Crown” producer Left Bank Pictures on the Nfts Diverse Writers Development Program that kicks off in March 2024. It will select six emerging U.K. screenwriters from under-represented backgrounds to contribute their voices to the entertainment landscape and inject fresh perspectives into scripted drama.
The chosen writers will embark on a paid 10-week program, during which four full series ideas will be developed and pitched, with the aim of creating commercially viable television drama concepts. The participants will work through a curriculum designed by the Nfts. The initiative will connect writers with production executives from Left Bank Pictures and potentially other British production companies.
Applications are open now and close Oct. 31.
Promotion
Alexandre Moreau has been promoted to head of sales at Paris-based company Memento International. The executive will oversee Memento International’s slate of films and strategy,...
- 10/2/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Memento International has closed major sales on Ursula Meier’s Berlin contender “The Line,” and “Boy from Heaven” by Tarik Saleh, the Swedish-Egyptian helmer of “The Nile Hilton Incident.”
A religious and political thriller, “Boy From Heaven” is set in Cairo at a Koranic school following the collapse of a grand imam which marks the start of a ruthless battle for influence.
The movie is headlined by Tawfeek Barhom and Fares Fares, who previously starred in “The Nile Hilton Incident.” Saleh’s Stockholm-based outfit Atmo is producing the movie with Memento.
Memento International has sold the film to Benelux (Cineart), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Greece (Cinobo), Hungary (Vertigo) and Middle East (Falcon). Other territories in negotiation. Memento Distribution will release in France.
The company has also sold “The Line,” Ursula Meier’s drama which is in main competition at the Berlin Film Festival, to a raft of territories,...
A religious and political thriller, “Boy From Heaven” is set in Cairo at a Koranic school following the collapse of a grand imam which marks the start of a ruthless battle for influence.
The movie is headlined by Tawfeek Barhom and Fares Fares, who previously starred in “The Nile Hilton Incident.” Saleh’s Stockholm-based outfit Atmo is producing the movie with Memento.
Memento International has sold the film to Benelux (Cineart), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Greece (Cinobo), Hungary (Vertigo) and Middle East (Falcon). Other territories in negotiation. Memento Distribution will release in France.
The company has also sold “The Line,” Ursula Meier’s drama which is in main competition at the Berlin Film Festival, to a raft of territories,...
- 2/14/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Memento International (“Call Me By Your Name”) has boarded “Legend of Destruction,” a thought-provoking animated feature by Israeli filmmaker Gidi Dar (“Ushpizin”), produced by Lama Films.
The film’s unique visual style is being created from 1,500 original paintings which are edited and animated together. The paintings and art direction are being handled by David Polonsky and Michael Faust, the artists behind the Oscar-nominated “Waltz With Bashir.”
Dar co-wrote the script with Shuli Rand, a veteran Israeli actor with whom he also collaborated on “Ushpizin” which competed at Tribeca in 2004. On top of having co-written “Legend of Destruction,” Rand is also leading the voice cast.
Set in Jerusalem during the first Jewish–Roman War, “Legend of Destruction” follows an oppressive Roman governor who is driven out of the city by the people. Due to rampant social inequalities, corruption and injustice, secret groups of religious fanatics appear and seek to rebel in the name of God.
The film’s unique visual style is being created from 1,500 original paintings which are edited and animated together. The paintings and art direction are being handled by David Polonsky and Michael Faust, the artists behind the Oscar-nominated “Waltz With Bashir.”
Dar co-wrote the script with Shuli Rand, a veteran Israeli actor with whom he also collaborated on “Ushpizin” which competed at Tribeca in 2004. On top of having co-written “Legend of Destruction,” Rand is also leading the voice cast.
Set in Jerusalem during the first Jewish–Roman War, “Legend of Destruction” follows an oppressive Roman governor who is driven out of the city by the people. Due to rampant social inequalities, corruption and injustice, secret groups of religious fanatics appear and seek to rebel in the name of God.
- 6/14/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The French sales agent’s line-up includes the new film by Kamen Kalev, endowed with the Official Selection label, and the forthcoming titles by Leah Purcell, Hany Abu-Assad and Asghar Farhadi. Four features immersed in pre-sales, four more getting virtual market screenings and five completed films: the Memento Films International team, managed by Emilie Georges and guided by head of sales Mathieu Delaunay (aided by Alexandre Moreau), will certainly have a very varied range of ammunition at the Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film Online (22-26 June). One particularly notable recent addition to the slate is February by Bulgaria’s Kamen Kalev, which has just been stamped with the Cannes 2020 Official Selection label. Having already turned heads on the Croisette with Eastern Plays and The Island, in the Directors’ Fortnight in 2009 and 2011, respectively, the filmmaker has himself written the screenplay for his new opus, which follows Petar during three.
The Paris-based association which represents 95% of the French sales companies.
Adef, the Paris-based association which represents 95% of the French sales companies attending the Efm this week, is ringing in a new era, with the appointment of a new executive board led by co-presidents Alexis Cassanet and Bérénice Vincent.
“We’ve appointed a board that is representative of the entire French film export scene, so both the big groups and the independents,” said Cassanet, who is co-head of international sales at Gaumont.
“I represent one of the big groups, Gaumont, while Bérénice comes from the world of independents as a co-founder of Totem Films.
Adef, the Paris-based association which represents 95% of the French sales companies attending the Efm this week, is ringing in a new era, with the appointment of a new executive board led by co-presidents Alexis Cassanet and Bérénice Vincent.
“We’ve appointed a board that is representative of the entire French film export scene, so both the big groups and the independents,” said Cassanet, who is co-head of international sales at Gaumont.
“I represent one of the big groups, Gaumont, while Bérénice comes from the world of independents as a co-founder of Totem Films.
- 2/23/2020
- by 1101431¦Melanie Goodfellow and Jeremy Kay¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Shining bright on the French sales agent’s Berlinale line-up are My Salinger Year as the festival’s opening film and Persian Lessons as a gala screening, as well as the upcoming Asghar Farhadi movie. Tomorrow, the Memento Films International team, headed up by Emilie Georges and now managed by Mathieu Delaunay (with help from Alexandre Moreau), will spring into action at the European Film Market at the 70th Berlinale (20 February-1 March) in a very strong bargaining position.Standing out on its line-up are two titles that will have their world premieres out of competition in the Official Selection: My Salinger Year by Quebec-born director Philippe Falardeau (nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign-language Film in 2012 with Monsieur Lazhar), which will have the honour of opening the Berlinale, with Us actresses Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley starring in the lead roles (the film was staged by Canada’s micro_scope and co-produced by.
Exclusive: Two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi is heading into production on new film A Hero, we can reveal.
The Farsi-language project will enter pre-production in two months and is due to shoot in Shiraz, Iran, this summer. Paris-based Memento Films International will launch world sales next week at the Efm in Berlin, where it is sure to be among the most prized arthouse projects in the market.
Plot details are being kept under wraps on the film, which marks a return to Iran and his native language for The Salesman and A Separation director after Cannes opener Everybody Knows with Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. We hear the drama is suspenseful – in keeping with Farhadi’s oeuvre – and that the director will be working with well known Iranian actors who haven’t worked with him before.
Producers are Farhadi and regular collaborator Alexandre Mallet-Guy of Memento Films Production, which has...
The Farsi-language project will enter pre-production in two months and is due to shoot in Shiraz, Iran, this summer. Paris-based Memento Films International will launch world sales next week at the Efm in Berlin, where it is sure to be among the most prized arthouse projects in the market.
Plot details are being kept under wraps on the film, which marks a return to Iran and his native language for The Salesman and A Separation director after Cannes opener Everybody Knows with Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. We hear the drama is suspenseful – in keeping with Farhadi’s oeuvre – and that the director will be working with well known Iranian actors who haven’t worked with him before.
Producers are Farhadi and regular collaborator Alexandre Mallet-Guy of Memento Films Production, which has...
- 2/12/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Company restructures staff as it enters 15th anniversary year.
Mathieu Delaunay has been promoted to head of sales at Paris-based company Memento Film International (Mfi), replacing Tanja Meissner who is stepping down from the role.
Former sales executive Alexandre Moreau has been promoted to VP of sales and marketing, taking the role previously held by Delaunay. The duo will oversee Mfi’s slate of films and marketing strategy, alongside company CEO and owner Emilie Georges.
The company is also expanding its sales team with the hiring of Derek Lui to lead sales in Asia,. Lui, who was named a Screen...
Mathieu Delaunay has been promoted to head of sales at Paris-based company Memento Film International (Mfi), replacing Tanja Meissner who is stepping down from the role.
Former sales executive Alexandre Moreau has been promoted to VP of sales and marketing, taking the role previously held by Delaunay. The duo will oversee Mfi’s slate of films and marketing strategy, alongside company CEO and owner Emilie Georges.
The company is also expanding its sales team with the hiring of Derek Lui to lead sales in Asia,. Lui, who was named a Screen...
- 1/16/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
France-Finland co-production A Girl’s Room takes €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award.
The 2018 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has named the winners of its Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event awards after a week of presentations and meetings.
More than 400 delegates attended this year’s event.
In the festival’s Baltic Event Co-Production Market, which featured 16 projects, France-Finland feature A Girl’s Room, from director Aino Suni and producers Sébastien Aubert and Ulla Simonen, won the €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award.
The Cannes Marché du Film Producers’ Network Award, which comes with free accreditations to next year’s edition of Cannes, went to...
The 2018 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has named the winners of its Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event awards after a week of presentations and meetings.
More than 400 delegates attended this year’s event.
In the festival’s Baltic Event Co-Production Market, which featured 16 projects, France-Finland feature A Girl’s Room, from director Aino Suni and producers Sébastien Aubert and Ulla Simonen, won the €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award.
The Cannes Marché du Film Producers’ Network Award, which comes with free accreditations to next year’s edition of Cannes, went to...
- 11/30/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
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