Léa Seydoux and Melvil Poupaud in One Fine Morning: 'I found myself blushing in our first love scene. I suppose it was my natural shyness coming through.' Photo: Mubi Who would have thought that Léa Seydoux whom some directors have regarded as an object of desire and representing a certain kind of sex appeal, would have baulked at getting intimate with her leading men.
Yet over a collective chinwag in Paris the current star of Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning (Un beau matin) and normally a glamorously assured model for luxury brand Louis Vuitton, confessed she blushed so profusely during a read-through with James Bond Daniel Craig for No Time To Die she had to take a break. “I had to say, ‘I love you’ and became red in the face. He gave me a strange look and I had to call a halt because I was...
Yet over a collective chinwag in Paris the current star of Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning (Un beau matin) and normally a glamorously assured model for luxury brand Louis Vuitton, confessed she blushed so profusely during a read-through with James Bond Daniel Craig for No Time To Die she had to take a break. “I had to say, ‘I love you’ and became red in the face. He gave me a strange look and I had to call a halt because I was...
- 2/17/2023
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Duo are behind Dominik Moll’s ’The Night of the 12th’
Haut et Court’s Carole Scotta and Barbara Letellier were named best producers of the year at the 16th annual edition of France’s Academy of Film Arts & Sciences’ Daniel Toscan du Plantier Prize held on Monday night (February 14) in Paris.
The duo are notably behind Dominik Moll’s investigative drama The Night Of The 12th, which has been sweeping awards season in France, winning the Best Film Lumiere Award and nominated for 10 César awards.
A swanky gala dinner celebrated the winning pair along with the finalists for the prize,...
Haut et Court’s Carole Scotta and Barbara Letellier were named best producers of the year at the 16th annual edition of France’s Academy of Film Arts & Sciences’ Daniel Toscan du Plantier Prize held on Monday night (February 14) in Paris.
The duo are notably behind Dominik Moll’s investigative drama The Night Of The 12th, which has been sweeping awards season in France, winning the Best Film Lumiere Award and nominated for 10 César awards.
A swanky gala dinner celebrated the winning pair along with the finalists for the prize,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Pathé has signed a three-year co-production and co-financing deal with Logical Pictures to strengthen its ambitious film production strategy.
The family-owned company operates France’s leading multiplex chain and runs one of the country’s most successful film studios. 2023 looks to be Pathé’s biggest year in a while with three major French releases: Guillaume Canet’s “Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and Martin Bourboulon’s two-part epic saga “The Three Musketeers.” Both based on cult franchises, “Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and “The Three Musketeers” are budgeted in the 70 million range (about seven times more than the high bracket of a medium-size film in France). This is just the beginning of a new era for Pathé, which will need financial munitions to limit risks and continue delivering these splashy films on a regular basis for years to come.
Through the partnership, Pathé will be able to tap...
The family-owned company operates France’s leading multiplex chain and runs one of the country’s most successful film studios. 2023 looks to be Pathé’s biggest year in a while with three major French releases: Guillaume Canet’s “Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and Martin Bourboulon’s two-part epic saga “The Three Musketeers.” Both based on cult franchises, “Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and “The Three Musketeers” are budgeted in the 70 million range (about seven times more than the high bracket of a medium-size film in France). This is just the beginning of a new era for Pathé, which will need financial munitions to limit risks and continue delivering these splashy films on a regular basis for years to come.
Through the partnership, Pathé will be able to tap...
- 1/26/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Eau-forte
Breaking onto the scene in the thick of the pandemic with 2020’s The Swarm (Critics’ Week selection), Just Philippot continues to find inspiration in the elements that surround us and from his own library lifting award-winning Sundance-selected short Acide for the long-form. Production on his sophomore film took place in March of last year, and with post work could resurface in Cannes. Guillaume Canet, Laetitia Dosch, Patience Munchenbach and Marie Jung are among the players the French filmmaker enlisted. Eau-forte (aka Blame in on the Rain) was produced by Yves Darondeau, Clément Renouvin, Jérôme Seydoux and Ardavan Safaee.
Gist: In the middle of a heat wave, an ominous cloud appears and with it, a lethal acid rain.…...
Breaking onto the scene in the thick of the pandemic with 2020’s The Swarm (Critics’ Week selection), Just Philippot continues to find inspiration in the elements that surround us and from his own library lifting award-winning Sundance-selected short Acide for the long-form. Production on his sophomore film took place in March of last year, and with post work could resurface in Cannes. Guillaume Canet, Laetitia Dosch, Patience Munchenbach and Marie Jung are among the players the French filmmaker enlisted. Eau-forte (aka Blame in on the Rain) was produced by Yves Darondeau, Clément Renouvin, Jérôme Seydoux and Ardavan Safaee.
Gist: In the middle of a heat wave, an ominous cloud appears and with it, a lethal acid rain.…...
- 1/17/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Further titles include Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s ’The Beasts’ and Chie Hayakawa’s debut ‘Plan 75’.
Venice titles including Fyzal Boulifa’s Morocco-set drama The Damned Don’t Cry and Penelope Cruz-starring melodrama L’Immensità are among the prestige international titles on UK-Ireland distributor Curzon’s 2023 slate.
The line-up represents filmmakers from Italy, Spain, Japan, France and the UK.
“The past year has been a difficult one for international film in the UK,” said Louisa Dent, Curzon Film managing director, “but we remain absolutely committed to championing the best cinema from around the world.”
UK filmmaker Boulifa’s second feature, after debut Lynn + Lucy,...
Venice titles including Fyzal Boulifa’s Morocco-set drama The Damned Don’t Cry and Penelope Cruz-starring melodrama L’Immensità are among the prestige international titles on UK-Ireland distributor Curzon’s 2023 slate.
The line-up represents filmmakers from Italy, Spain, Japan, France and the UK.
“The past year has been a difficult one for international film in the UK,” said Louisa Dent, Curzon Film managing director, “but we remain absolutely committed to championing the best cinema from around the world.”
UK filmmaker Boulifa’s second feature, after debut Lynn + Lucy,...
- 12/20/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The historical drama is a follow-up to ‘Coda’ for Vendôme Films and Pathé.
Following their Oscars triumph with Coda, France’s Vendôme Films and Pathé have been quietly laying the ground work for the North American release of follow-up production, Second World War drama Farewell, Mr. Haffmann.
Directed by Fred Cavayé and starring Daniel Auteuil, Gilles Lellouche and Sara Girardeau, the French-language film has been well received by audiences on the festival circuit in North America.
It most recently won the audience award at the Gold Coast International Film Festival following awards at the Ottawa Film Festival (jury’s prize...
Following their Oscars triumph with Coda, France’s Vendôme Films and Pathé have been quietly laying the ground work for the North American release of follow-up production, Second World War drama Farewell, Mr. Haffmann.
Directed by Fred Cavayé and starring Daniel Auteuil, Gilles Lellouche and Sara Girardeau, the French-language film has been well received by audiences on the festival circuit in North America.
It most recently won the audience award at the Gold Coast International Film Festival following awards at the Ottawa Film Festival (jury’s prize...
- 11/21/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
For France’s premiere film and television trade industry publication, it wasn’t a good look.
The cover photo of the Sept. 30 issue of Le Film Français, a must-read for Gallic filmmakers, featured seven men — Pathé President Jérome Seydoux, surrounded by actors Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, François Civil and Pio Marmaï, and actor-directors Guillaume Canet and Danny Boon —under the headline “Objective: Reconquest.”
The backlash was immediate.
“No women, no diversity. Classy!” tweeted French actress Alexandra Lamy (You Choose!). Audrey Diwan, director of Venice Film Festival winner Happening, added ironically, “If we’re bothering you guys, just let us know.”
The magazine quickly apologized, but for many, the incident was illustrative of how far the French industry still has to go.
Si on vous gêne, n’hésitez pas à le dire pic.twitter.com/e0fEZwuGrb
— Audrey Diwan (@AudreyDiwan) September 30, 2022
“The Film Français...
For France’s premiere film and television trade industry publication, it wasn’t a good look.
The cover photo of the Sept. 30 issue of Le Film Français, a must-read for Gallic filmmakers, featured seven men — Pathé President Jérome Seydoux, surrounded by actors Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, François Civil and Pio Marmaï, and actor-directors Guillaume Canet and Danny Boon —under the headline “Objective: Reconquest.”
The backlash was immediate.
“No women, no diversity. Classy!” tweeted French actress Alexandra Lamy (You Choose!). Audrey Diwan, director of Venice Film Festival winner Happening, added ironically, “If we’re bothering you guys, just let us know.”
The magazine quickly apologized, but for many, the incident was illustrative of how far the French industry still has to go.
Si on vous gêne, n’hésitez pas à le dire pic.twitter.com/e0fEZwuGrb
— Audrey Diwan (@AudreyDiwan) September 30, 2022
“The Film Français...
- 11/2/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The cover of French film paper Le Film Français was slammed by ’Happening’ director Audrey Diwan.
The cover of influential French film paper Le Film Français, featuring an image of only white males as representative of the country’s film business, has sparked a debate over diversity – or lack thereof – in the French film industry.
The cover photo for the magazine’s weekly issue released on Friday featured the headline “Objective: Reconquest” and a photo of seven industry power players including Pathé president Jérôme Seydoux surrounded by actors Vincent Cassel, Guillaume Canet, François Civil, Pierre Niney, Dany Boon and Pio Marmai.
The cover of influential French film paper Le Film Français, featuring an image of only white males as representative of the country’s film business, has sparked a debate over diversity – or lack thereof – in the French film industry.
The cover photo for the magazine’s weekly issue released on Friday featured the headline “Objective: Reconquest” and a photo of seven industry power players including Pathé president Jérôme Seydoux surrounded by actors Vincent Cassel, Guillaume Canet, François Civil, Pierre Niney, Dany Boon and Pio Marmai.
- 10/3/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
French film and TV trade ‘Le Film Français’ has posted a public apology after the cover photo for its latest weekly publication featuring seven men prompted anger from top female cinema professionals in France, including Venice Golden Lion winner Audrey Diwan and actress Alexandra Lamy.
Alluding to the annual conference of France’s National Federation of French Cinemas (Fncf) in Deauville this week, the cover photo for the September 30 issue features Pathé President Jérome Seydoux, surrounded by Pio Marmaï, Guillaume Canet, Vincent Cassel, François Civil, Pierre Niney and Danny Boon under the headline of “Objective: Reconquest”.
‘Le Film Français’ is a must-read for the French film industry so it was not long before the cover started prompting reactions from top female film professionals in the sector as it landed in their mailboxes on Friday morning.
Director and screenwriter Diwan, who won Venice’s top prize last year for abortion drama Happening,...
Alluding to the annual conference of France’s National Federation of French Cinemas (Fncf) in Deauville this week, the cover photo for the September 30 issue features Pathé President Jérome Seydoux, surrounded by Pio Marmaï, Guillaume Canet, Vincent Cassel, François Civil, Pierre Niney and Danny Boon under the headline of “Objective: Reconquest”.
‘Le Film Français’ is a must-read for the French film industry so it was not long before the cover started prompting reactions from top female film professionals in the sector as it landed in their mailboxes on Friday morning.
Director and screenwriter Diwan, who won Venice’s top prize last year for abortion drama Happening,...
- 9/30/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Pathé, which operates France’s leading cinema circuit, is planning to enter the Paris stock exchange in 2024, Variety has confirmed. The company’s president, Jérôme Seydoux, revealed the group’s long-gestated listing project in an interview with the French publication Les Echos.
Seydoux said the company suffered a loss of approximately €100 million during the financial years 2020 and 2021, mainly due to the fact that theaters in France were shut down for a total of 300 days during the pandemic. While it ruffled feathers by selling “Coda” to Apple at Sundance in 2021 in a splashy 25 million deal, the company was one of the rare French studios which maintained its release plans for major local productions during the health crisis, for instance Martin Bourboulon’s “Eiffel” with Romain Duris and Emma Mackey, and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “Notre Dame on Fire.”
Entering the Paris stock exchange should allow Pathé to pursue its ambitious plans to...
Seydoux said the company suffered a loss of approximately €100 million during the financial years 2020 and 2021, mainly due to the fact that theaters in France were shut down for a total of 300 days during the pandemic. While it ruffled feathers by selling “Coda” to Apple at Sundance in 2021 in a splashy 25 million deal, the company was one of the rare French studios which maintained its release plans for major local productions during the health crisis, for instance Martin Bourboulon’s “Eiffel” with Romain Duris and Emma Mackey, and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “Notre Dame on Fire.”
Entering the Paris stock exchange should allow Pathé to pursue its ambitious plans to...
- 9/12/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Notre-Dame On Fire Trailer — Jean-Jacques Annaud‘s Notre-Dame On Fire / Notre-Dame brûle (2022) movie trailer has been released by Pathe. The Notre-Dame On Fire trailer stars Samuel Labarthe, Jean-Paul Bordes, Mikael Chirinian, Jérémie Laheurte, Chloé Jouannet, and Pierre Lottin. Crew The screenplay is written by Jean-Jacques Annaud and Thomas Bidegain. Produced by Jérôme Seydoux. Plot Synopsis Notre-Dame [...]
Continue reading: Notre-dame On Fire (2022) Movie Trailer: Fire-fighters Fight a Blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Film...
Continue reading: Notre-dame On Fire (2022) Movie Trailer: Fire-fighters Fight a Blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Film...
- 6/20/2022
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Pathé subsidiary Cinémas Pathé Gaumont — one of Europe’s largest exhibition chains — operates 133 theaters with more than 1,300 screens throughout France, the Benelux region and Switzerland. Which means that when it comes to market growth, this industry leader must look beyond building new multiplexes.
“The network of theaters in our principal territories is now very dense,” says Cinémas Pathé Gaumont CEO Aurélien Bosc. “Our priority is to consolidate our position within those territories while revitalizing the filmgoing experience.”
Since taking over in 2018, Bosc has overseen a strategy of inner consolidation and outward development.
In 2019, the circuit owned by Jérôme Seydoux acquired the French group CineAlpes and the Benelux-based EuroScoop, adding 22 more locations to its roster. At the same time, Bosc and his team have seized opportunities across the African continent, where they have a number of upcoming greenfield developments in Tunisia, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Morocco.
Still, the exhibitor’s biggest...
“The network of theaters in our principal territories is now very dense,” says Cinémas Pathé Gaumont CEO Aurélien Bosc. “Our priority is to consolidate our position within those territories while revitalizing the filmgoing experience.”
Since taking over in 2018, Bosc has overseen a strategy of inner consolidation and outward development.
In 2019, the circuit owned by Jérôme Seydoux acquired the French group CineAlpes and the Benelux-based EuroScoop, adding 22 more locations to its roster. At the same time, Bosc and his team have seized opportunities across the African continent, where they have a number of upcoming greenfield developments in Tunisia, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Morocco.
Still, the exhibitor’s biggest...
- 5/10/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Nestled in a former theater whose facade was sculpted by Auguste Renoir, the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé is dedicated to the preservation, restoration and promotion of film heritage belonging to historical French production company and exhibitor Pathé.
Named after the company’s co-chairman, Jérôme Seydoux, the institution is a nonprofit organization founded in 2006. Designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, the shell-shaped building opened to the public in 2014 and is home to the only cinema theater in France dedicated to silent movies. Two films are screened there every day to live music.
“When we received Pathé’s silent movie catalog in 2015, my husband and I decided to show these movies from around the world because we believe very strongly in the transmission of film heritage,” says the foundation’s president, Sophie Seydoux, the wife of Jérôme.
The foundation also houses 125 years of historical archives, including thousands of posters, catalogs and movie scripts,...
Named after the company’s co-chairman, Jérôme Seydoux, the institution is a nonprofit organization founded in 2006. Designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, the shell-shaped building opened to the public in 2014 and is home to the only cinema theater in France dedicated to silent movies. Two films are screened there every day to live music.
“When we received Pathé’s silent movie catalog in 2015, my husband and I decided to show these movies from around the world because we believe very strongly in the transmission of film heritage,” says the foundation’s president, Sophie Seydoux, the wife of Jérôme.
The foundation also houses 125 years of historical archives, including thousands of posters, catalogs and movie scripts,...
- 5/10/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
Sian Heder’s heartwarming family film “Coda” not only scored a historic Oscar for Deaf actor Troy Kotsur, it’s also the first English-language remake of a French film to win the best picture Academy Award.
Acquired by Apple Studios at the 2021 Sundance in a record-breaking 25 million deal, “Coda” is based on the 2014 French box office hit “La Famille Bélier,” about a teenage girl with a singing talent who is the only hearing member of a Deaf family. Like most remakes, the underdog movie could have died off after sitting on a shelf for too long had it not been for the all-star team of French producers with U.S. ties who shepherded the project.
Besides Jérôme Seydoux at Pathé Films, which fully financed the movie, “Coda’s” lead producers are Philippe Rousselet, who worked for many years at Warner Bros. in L.A. and produced “Lord of War” and...
Acquired by Apple Studios at the 2021 Sundance in a record-breaking 25 million deal, “Coda” is based on the 2014 French box office hit “La Famille Bélier,” about a teenage girl with a singing talent who is the only hearing member of a Deaf family. Like most remakes, the underdog movie could have died off after sitting on a shelf for too long had it not been for the all-star team of French producers with U.S. ties who shepherded the project.
Besides Jérôme Seydoux at Pathé Films, which fully financed the movie, “Coda’s” lead producers are Philippe Rousselet, who worked for many years at Warner Bros. in L.A. and produced “Lord of War” and...
- 5/10/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The beating heart of Pathé U.K. is Cameron McCracken, the lawyer-turned-producer who’s been at the company for over two decades, with 15 of those years at the helm as managing director.
It would be an understatement to say the industry has changed over that time. The production and distribution landscapes have morphed almost beyond recognition, and McCracken acknowledges that Pathé U.K. must remain flexible to stay in the game. That includes moving into television for the first time as well as being open to new models of distribution — including potentially forgoing theatrical exhibition.
“At the core, we’re still a theatrical business,” McCracken says. “But we have to evolve to accept that the business model is shifting.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Pathé U.K. has shifted gears under McCracken’s tenure. In 2009, after “Slumdog Millionaire,” Pathé U.K. moved away from general distribution, instead focusing on exclusively developing,...
It would be an understatement to say the industry has changed over that time. The production and distribution landscapes have morphed almost beyond recognition, and McCracken acknowledges that Pathé U.K. must remain flexible to stay in the game. That includes moving into television for the first time as well as being open to new models of distribution — including potentially forgoing theatrical exhibition.
“At the core, we’re still a theatrical business,” McCracken says. “But we have to evolve to accept that the business model is shifting.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Pathé U.K. has shifted gears under McCracken’s tenure. In 2009, after “Slumdog Millionaire,” Pathé U.K. moved away from general distribution, instead focusing on exclusively developing,...
- 5/10/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Pathé may be one of France’s oldest film groups, but it is young at heart. The only French film company that is still fully involved in exhibition, production, distribution and sales, Pathé has been confronting the challenges wrought by the pandemic and the arrival of streamers with bold steps and ambitious new projects. During the Cannes Film Festival, the company will receive Variety’s Intl. Achievement in Film Award.
In the past two years, the family-owned film group, which is led by the visionary businessman Jérôme Seydoux, saw its “Coda” win three Oscars for family drama; greenlit the country’s biggest-budgeted movies in recent history, “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” (75 million) and the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, “The Three Musketeers — D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers — Milady” (75 million); it ventured into TV series; and forged bonds with streaming services, including Netflix and Apple TV+.
“When theaters were shut down,...
In the past two years, the family-owned film group, which is led by the visionary businessman Jérôme Seydoux, saw its “Coda” win three Oscars for family drama; greenlit the country’s biggest-budgeted movies in recent history, “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” (75 million) and the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, “The Three Musketeers — D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers — Milady” (75 million); it ventured into TV series; and forged bonds with streaming services, including Netflix and Apple TV+.
“When theaters were shut down,...
- 5/10/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Variety will honor French entertainment giant Pathé with its Intl. Achievement in Film Award on May 20 at the Cannes Film Festival.
Pathé – which is the only French film group still fully involved in exhibition, production, distribution and sales – is family-owned and run by Jérôme Seydoux. Earlier this year, “Coda,” the remake of the company’s “La Famille Bélier,” took three Oscars, including for best picture.
In the past two years, the company has greenlit big budget features “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, “The Three Musketeers – D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady.”
Pathé is venturing into television production and signed pacts with Netflix and Apple TV+.
During the pandemic, Pathé forged ahead with films for theatrical release, and Seydoux, who has been involved in greenlighting big-budget epics, wants to maintain the company’s high standards whether in film or TV.
Pathé...
Pathé – which is the only French film group still fully involved in exhibition, production, distribution and sales – is family-owned and run by Jérôme Seydoux. Earlier this year, “Coda,” the remake of the company’s “La Famille Bélier,” took three Oscars, including for best picture.
In the past two years, the company has greenlit big budget features “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” and the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, “The Three Musketeers – D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady.”
Pathé is venturing into television production and signed pacts with Netflix and Apple TV+.
During the pandemic, Pathé forged ahead with films for theatrical release, and Seydoux, who has been involved in greenlighting big-budget epics, wants to maintain the company’s high standards whether in film or TV.
Pathé...
- 5/6/2022
- by Shalini Dore and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
They are partnering with Los Angeles-based non-profit theatre company Deaf West Theatre.
France’s Vendôme Pictures and Pathé are partnering with the US non-profit theatre group Deaf West Theatre to develop a stage musical adaptation of the Oscar-nominated feature Coda.
The coming-of-age drama about a talented teenage singer growing up as the only hearing member of a deaf family, has been a breakout title in this year’s awards season, most recently clinching the top prize at Producers Guild Awards (PGA) over the weekend.
Los Angeles’s Deaf West Theatre is best known for its Tony award-nominated productions Big River and Spring Awakening.
France’s Vendôme Pictures and Pathé are partnering with the US non-profit theatre group Deaf West Theatre to develop a stage musical adaptation of the Oscar-nominated feature Coda.
The coming-of-age drama about a talented teenage singer growing up as the only hearing member of a deaf family, has been a breakout title in this year’s awards season, most recently clinching the top prize at Producers Guild Awards (PGA) over the weekend.
Los Angeles’s Deaf West Theatre is best known for its Tony award-nominated productions Big River and Spring Awakening.
- 3/23/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
“The Three Musketeers – d’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady,” the $85 million epic two-part saga based on Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece produced by Dimitri Rassam’s Paris-based banner Chapter 2 and Pathé Films, has kicked off filming in France. Variety can reveal a first still of the movie (pictured).
The ambitious two-part feature, directed by Martin Bourboulon (“Eiffel”), and based on a script by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière (“What’s in the Name?”), will be shooting entirely in France for 27 weeks through May 2022 for an expected release on Oct. 13.
Prestige locations will be featured in the movie franchise, such as the Louvre Palace, the Hôtel des Invalides, the Castles of Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Fort la Latte and Chantilly, as well as the citadel of Saint-Malo and the historic city center of Troyes. The star-studded cast is headlined by François Civil, Eva Green and Vincent Cassel as D’Artagnan, Milady and Athos.
The ambitious two-part feature, directed by Martin Bourboulon (“Eiffel”), and based on a script by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière (“What’s in the Name?”), will be shooting entirely in France for 27 weeks through May 2022 for an expected release on Oct. 13.
Prestige locations will be featured in the movie franchise, such as the Louvre Palace, the Hôtel des Invalides, the Castles of Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Fort la Latte and Chantilly, as well as the citadel of Saint-Malo and the historic city center of Troyes. The star-studded cast is headlined by François Civil, Eva Green and Vincent Cassel as D’Artagnan, Milady and Athos.
- 9/2/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker Siân Heder, whose Sundance hit Coda was recently sold to Apple for a festival record of $25M, is set to direct and write a feature take of Sarah Lotz’s upcoming 2022 novel Impossible.
The Penguin Group Berkley Books novel tells the story of Nick, a ghostwriter who is a disappointment to himself and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and Bee, a commitment-phobe content on repurposing wedding dresses rather than finding a reason to wear one herself. The two are meant to be together, but fate has other plans. They have an instant connection after a misdirected email lands in Bee’s inbox, and over time they develop real feelings for each other. Eventually, Nick and Bee come to the conclusion that they have to meet in person, yet when they both arrive at their planned destination, they discover it’s love at the right time, but in the completely wrong place.
Patrick Wachsberger...
The Penguin Group Berkley Books novel tells the story of Nick, a ghostwriter who is a disappointment to himself and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and Bee, a commitment-phobe content on repurposing wedding dresses rather than finding a reason to wear one herself. The two are meant to be together, but fate has other plans. They have an instant connection after a misdirected email lands in Bee’s inbox, and over time they develop real feelings for each other. Eventually, Nick and Bee come to the conclusion that they have to meet in person, yet when they both arrive at their planned destination, they discover it’s love at the right time, but in the completely wrong place.
Patrick Wachsberger...
- 4/29/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Following the success of Sundance-winning “Coda,” Patrick Wachsberger’s Picture Perfect Federation is reteaming with up-and-coming writer-helmer Siân Heder on her next directorial outing, “Impossible.” Picture Perfect Federation is developing the contemporary romantic comedy with Black Label Media.
“Impossible” is based on a novel of the same title written by Sarah Lotz, and is being produced by Wachsberger and Ashley Stern via Picture Perfect Federation; Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill via Black Label Media; and Sherry Marsh via Marsh Entertainment.
“Impossible” tells the story of Nick, a ghostwriter who is a disappointment to himself and his soon-to-be ex-wife, and Bee, a commitment-phobe content on repurposing wedding dresses rather than finding a reason to wear one herself. The two are meant to be together, but fate has other plans.
“I am pleased to once again work with the incredibly talented Siân Heder, one of the world’s most promising writer/directors,...
“Impossible” is based on a novel of the same title written by Sarah Lotz, and is being produced by Wachsberger and Ashley Stern via Picture Perfect Federation; Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill via Black Label Media; and Sherry Marsh via Marsh Entertainment.
“Impossible” tells the story of Nick, a ghostwriter who is a disappointment to himself and his soon-to-be ex-wife, and Bee, a commitment-phobe content on repurposing wedding dresses rather than finding a reason to wear one herself. The two are meant to be together, but fate has other plans.
“I am pleased to once again work with the incredibly talented Siân Heder, one of the world’s most promising writer/directors,...
- 4/29/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Film is based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Lotz
“Coda” director Sian Heder is reuniting with the film’s producer Patrick Wachsberger and his Picture Perfect Federation to develop a feature film titled “Impossible.”
Heder will write and directed the project, based on a novel of the same name written by Sarah Lotz. Ashley Stern is also producing via Picture Perfect Federation, alongside Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill for Black Label Media, as well as Sherry Marsh for Marsh Entertainment.
“Impossible” tells the story of Nick, a ghostwriter who is disappointed in himself, and Bee, his soon-to-be ex-wife. Their relationships starts over a misdirected email that lands in Bee’s inbox, and they develop feelings for each other over time. However, when they meet in person, they realize it’s love at the right time, but at not the wrong place.
“‘Impossible’ takes an...
“Coda” director Sian Heder is reuniting with the film’s producer Patrick Wachsberger and his Picture Perfect Federation to develop a feature film titled “Impossible.”
Heder will write and directed the project, based on a novel of the same name written by Sarah Lotz. Ashley Stern is also producing via Picture Perfect Federation, alongside Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill for Black Label Media, as well as Sherry Marsh for Marsh Entertainment.
“Impossible” tells the story of Nick, a ghostwriter who is disappointed in himself, and Bee, his soon-to-be ex-wife. Their relationships starts over a misdirected email that lands in Bee’s inbox, and they develop feelings for each other over time. However, when they meet in person, they realize it’s love at the right time, but at not the wrong place.
“‘Impossible’ takes an...
- 4/29/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
“Coda” is coming to theaters and streaming this August, Apple announced today. The company picked up Siân Heder’s acclaimed family drama out of the Sundance Film Festival for a reported $25 million, the biggest purchase in the festival’s history. “Coda” went on to dominate the 2021 Sundance awards, becoming the first movie to win all top prizes in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section: Audience Awrd, Directing Award, Grand Jury Prize, and Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble. “Coda” will debut in theaters and on Apple TV+ on Friday, August 13.
Apple’s official “Coda” synopsis reads: “Seventeen-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a Coda, the child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby...
Apple’s official “Coda” synopsis reads: “Seventeen-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a Coda, the child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby...
- 4/21/2021
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
Siân Heder’s Coda, which Apple Original Films scooped up at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival in a record $25M global deal, will debut August 13 in theaters and the streaming service.
The movie, which Heder wrote and directed, was the first in Sundance history to win all the top prizes including the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, the Directing Award, the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
The movie follows 17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones), who is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a Coda, or child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift...
The movie, which Heder wrote and directed, was the first in Sundance history to win all the top prizes including the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, the Directing Award, the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
The movie follows 17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones), who is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a Coda, or child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift...
- 4/21/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Emilia Jones stars in multiple award winner.
Apple Original Films will release Siân Heder’s Sundance hit Coda theatrically and on Apple TV+ on August 13.
The film won the U.S. Dramatic Competition grand jury prize, directing prize, audience award, and a special jury prize for best ensemble.
Emilia Jones stars as the hearing daughter of deaf parents in a struggling fishing community who is torn between staying with her family to work on the boat and act as their interpreter and following her dreams of becoming a singer.
Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant, Eugenio Derbez, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Kevin Chapman,...
Apple Original Films will release Siân Heder’s Sundance hit Coda theatrically and on Apple TV+ on August 13.
The film won the U.S. Dramatic Competition grand jury prize, directing prize, audience award, and a special jury prize for best ensemble.
Emilia Jones stars as the hearing daughter of deaf parents in a struggling fishing community who is torn between staying with her family to work on the boat and act as their interpreter and following her dreams of becoming a singer.
Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant, Eugenio Derbez, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Kevin Chapman,...
- 4/21/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In a record-setting purchase, Apple Studios has emerged as the winner of “Coda,” the virtual Sundance sensation about a young hearing girl who grapples with breaking away from her deaf family.
The Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht-led studio paid close to $25 million for the film, breaking last year’s recording setting “Palm Springs” sale at north of $22 million.
As Variety previously reported, rapturous audience response and glowing reviews powered the 2021 Sundance Day One premiere to a bidding war, which included interest from Netflix and Amazon. The latter was said to be keen on the upbeat tearjerker, Variety reported, but did not have the bandwidth to release the film in 2021 with their loaded slate.
Apple acquired worldwide rights on the project, and is said to be in the process of buying out pre-sold international territories that helped finance production.
CAA Media Finance, ICM and Pathe Films brokered the deal on behalf of the filmmakers,...
The Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht-led studio paid close to $25 million for the film, breaking last year’s recording setting “Palm Springs” sale at north of $22 million.
As Variety previously reported, rapturous audience response and glowing reviews powered the 2021 Sundance Day One premiere to a bidding war, which included interest from Netflix and Amazon. The latter was said to be keen on the upbeat tearjerker, Variety reported, but did not have the bandwidth to release the film in 2021 with their loaded slate.
Apple acquired worldwide rights on the project, and is said to be in the process of buying out pre-sold international territories that helped finance production.
CAA Media Finance, ICM and Pathe Films brokered the deal on behalf of the filmmakers,...
- 1/30/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
His first task in new two-year term will be appointing replacement for managing director Isabelle Giordano.
Serge Toubiana has been re-elected president of French cinema promotional and export body Unifrance, for a second two-year term.
The body said its 50-member steering committee - including sales agents, producers, filmmakers as well as other institutional appointees - had voted unanimously for Toubiana’s re-appointment.
His first task in this fresh term as president will be deciding who will replace Unifrance’s outgoing managing director Isabelle Giordano who is due to depart at the end of July after six years in the role.
Serge Toubiana has been re-elected president of French cinema promotional and export body Unifrance, for a second two-year term.
The body said its 50-member steering committee - including sales agents, producers, filmmakers as well as other institutional appointees - had voted unanimously for Toubiana’s re-appointment.
His first task in this fresh term as president will be deciding who will replace Unifrance’s outgoing managing director Isabelle Giordano who is due to depart at the end of July after six years in the role.
- 7/4/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
’”Respecting the theatrical window and releasing on our screens does not affect their subscription base.”
Tim Richards, the founder and CEO of European circuit Vue International who wrote an open letter to Bafta recently protesting the inclusion of Roma in its film awards, told a CinemaCon panel on Monday (April 1), “I don’t look at Netflix as the enemy at all.”
“Our hope is we’re going to bring them into the theatres,” Richards said of films made by the streaming platform during a session at Caesars Palace titled ’The Times They Are (Rapidly) A Changin’ – Don’t Get Lost...
Tim Richards, the founder and CEO of European circuit Vue International who wrote an open letter to Bafta recently protesting the inclusion of Roma in its film awards, told a CinemaCon panel on Monday (April 1), “I don’t look at Netflix as the enemy at all.”
“Our hope is we’re going to bring them into the theatres,” Richards said of films made by the streaming platform during a session at Caesars Palace titled ’The Times They Are (Rapidly) A Changin’ – Don’t Get Lost...
- 4/2/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
’”Respecting the theatrical window and releasing on our screens does not affect their subscription base.”
Tim Richards, the founder and CEO of European circuit Vue International who wrote an open letter to Bafta recently protesting the inclusion of Roma in its film awards, told a CinemaCon panel on Monday (April 1), “I don’t look at Netflix as the enemy at all.”
“Our hope is we’re going to bring them into the theatres,” Richards said of films made by the streaming platform during a session at Caesars Palace titled ’The Times They Are (Rapidly) A Changin’ – Don’t Get Lost...
Tim Richards, the founder and CEO of European circuit Vue International who wrote an open letter to Bafta recently protesting the inclusion of Roma in its film awards, told a CinemaCon panel on Monday (April 1), “I don’t look at Netflix as the enemy at all.”
“Our hope is we’re going to bring them into the theatres,” Richards said of films made by the streaming platform during a session at Caesars Palace titled ’The Times They Are (Rapidly) A Changin’ – Don’t Get Lost...
- 4/2/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Day one of the Las Vegas exhibitors convention CinemaCon and, on panel after panel, Netflix (which commands 68 percent of the Svod business) is the Borg. It doesn’t matter if Jeffey Katzenberg tells reporters at SXSW that Steven Spielberg has no beef with Netflix; at a packed international day panel, exhibitors broke into spontaneous applause at the mere mention of the ballyhooed battle. ‘Nuff said.
While several exhibitors expressed cockeyed optimism that Netflix, Apple, Amazon and other new streamers could maintain the current theatrical windows, there’s little evidence to support that. Additional competition for eyeballs is more likely to drive companies to do what’s best for their bottom line, whatever that is — and for many distributors, that could mean building the streaming business.
Here is what exhibitors hope, if not believe, it will take to survive the streaming future.
Hope that disruptors are a good thing.
Pathé co-chairman and CEO Jérôme Seydoux,...
While several exhibitors expressed cockeyed optimism that Netflix, Apple, Amazon and other new streamers could maintain the current theatrical windows, there’s little evidence to support that. Additional competition for eyeballs is more likely to drive companies to do what’s best for their bottom line, whatever that is — and for many distributors, that could mean building the streaming business.
Here is what exhibitors hope, if not believe, it will take to survive the streaming future.
Hope that disruptors are a good thing.
Pathé co-chairman and CEO Jérôme Seydoux,...
- 4/2/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Day one of the Las Vegas exhibitors convention CinemaCon and, on panel after panel, Netflix (which commands 68 percent of the Svod business) is the Borg. It doesn’t matter if Jeffey Katzenberg tells reporters at SXSW that Steven Spielberg has no beef with Netflix; at a packed international day panel, exhibitors broke into spontaneous applause at the mere mention of the ballyhooed battle. ‘Nuff said.
While several exhibitors expressed cockeyed optimism that Netflix, Apple, Amazon and other new streamers could maintain the current theatrical windows, there’s little evidence to support that. Additional competition for eyeballs is more likely to drive companies to do what’s best for their bottom line, whatever that is — and for many distributors, that could mean building the streaming business.
Here is what exhibitors hope, if not believe, it will take to survive the streaming future.
Hope that disruptors are a good thing.
Pathé co-chairman and CEO Jérôme Seydoux,...
While several exhibitors expressed cockeyed optimism that Netflix, Apple, Amazon and other new streamers could maintain the current theatrical windows, there’s little evidence to support that. Additional competition for eyeballs is more likely to drive companies to do what’s best for their bottom line, whatever that is — and for many distributors, that could mean building the streaming business.
Here is what exhibitors hope, if not believe, it will take to survive the streaming future.
Hope that disruptors are a good thing.
Pathé co-chairman and CEO Jérôme Seydoux,...
- 4/2/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
”Respecting the theatrical window and releasing on our screens does not affect their subscription base.”
Tim Richards, the founder and CEO of European circuit Vue International who wrote an open letter to Bafta recently protesting the inclusion of Roma in its film awards, told a CinemaCon panel on Monday (April 1), “I don’t look at Netflix as the enemy at all.”
“Our hope is we’re going to bring them into the theatres,” Richards said of films made by the streaming platform during a session at Caesars Palace titled ’The Times They Are (Rapidly) A Changin’ – Don’t Get Lost...
Tim Richards, the founder and CEO of European circuit Vue International who wrote an open letter to Bafta recently protesting the inclusion of Roma in its film awards, told a CinemaCon panel on Monday (April 1), “I don’t look at Netflix as the enemy at all.”
“Our hope is we’re going to bring them into the theatres,” Richards said of films made by the streaming platform during a session at Caesars Palace titled ’The Times They Are (Rapidly) A Changin’ – Don’t Get Lost...
- 4/1/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Las Vegas convention runs April 1-4.
Pathé co-chairman and CEO Jérôme Seydoux will receive the CinemaCon 2019 Career Achievement in Exhibition Award.
Seydoux, who also serves as chairman and CEO of Les Cinemas Pathe Gaumont, will collect the honour at the International Day Luncheon in Las Vegas on April 1.
The industry veteran purchased Pathé Cinema in 1990 and merged it with Gaumont in 2002 to create Les Cinémas Pathe Gaumont, growing an entity that produces in France and the UK and distributes in France and Switzerland.
Les Cinémas Pathe Gaumont operates 108 cinemas with 1,133 screens in France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Tunisia, including 23 IMAX,...
Pathé co-chairman and CEO Jérôme Seydoux will receive the CinemaCon 2019 Career Achievement in Exhibition Award.
Seydoux, who also serves as chairman and CEO of Les Cinemas Pathe Gaumont, will collect the honour at the International Day Luncheon in Las Vegas on April 1.
The industry veteran purchased Pathé Cinema in 1990 and merged it with Gaumont in 2002 to create Les Cinémas Pathe Gaumont, growing an entity that produces in France and the UK and distributes in France and Switzerland.
Les Cinémas Pathe Gaumont operates 108 cinemas with 1,133 screens in France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Tunisia, including 23 IMAX,...
- 3/6/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Distributor to release fictionalised account of Silvio Berlusconi and his inner circle in 2019.
Sundance Selects has picked up North America rights from Pathé International to Paolo Sorrentino’s Silvio Berlusconi drama Loro, set to receive its world premiere as a single feature in Toronto next month.
Regular collaborator Toni Servillo plays the mogul and former Italian prime minister in a fictionalised account of the controversial figure and his inner circle.
Loro, which has already gone on release in Italy as a two-parter, will screen in the Masters programme at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Sundance Selects plans a 2019 theatrical release.
Sundance Selects has picked up North America rights from Pathé International to Paolo Sorrentino’s Silvio Berlusconi drama Loro, set to receive its world premiere as a single feature in Toronto next month.
Regular collaborator Toni Servillo plays the mogul and former Italian prime minister in a fictionalised account of the controversial figure and his inner circle.
Loro, which has already gone on release in Italy as a two-parter, will screen in the Masters programme at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Sundance Selects plans a 2019 theatrical release.
- 8/22/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to “Loro,” co-written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino, and starring Toni Servillo as Italian media tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi.
The film centers on a group of businessmen and politicians who were close to Berlusconi between 2006 and 2009. “Loro” is produced by Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori, Viola Prestieri, and Jérôme Seydoux.
The movie will be shown in the Masters Section of the Toronto FIlm Festival. “Loro” will be released in 2019 by Sundance Selects in North America. Earlier, this year, two films were released in Italy titled “Loro 1” and “Loro 2.”
“Paolo Sorrentino has defined himself as one of the masters of Italian cinema,” IFC Films/Sundance Selects co-presidents Jonathan Sehring and Lisa Schwartz said in a press release. “He makes up his own rules and presents a cinematic vision that is totally unique. We are thrilled to premiere this film at the Toronto International Film Festival,...
The film centers on a group of businessmen and politicians who were close to Berlusconi between 2006 and 2009. “Loro” is produced by Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori, Viola Prestieri, and Jérôme Seydoux.
The movie will be shown in the Masters Section of the Toronto FIlm Festival. “Loro” will be released in 2019 by Sundance Selects in North America. Earlier, this year, two films were released in Italy titled “Loro 1” and “Loro 2.”
“Paolo Sorrentino has defined himself as one of the masters of Italian cinema,” IFC Films/Sundance Selects co-presidents Jonathan Sehring and Lisa Schwartz said in a press release. “He makes up his own rules and presents a cinematic vision that is totally unique. We are thrilled to premiere this film at the Toronto International Film Festival,...
- 8/22/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Sundance Selects is taking domestic rights to Paolo Sorrentino’s comedy Loro, which skewers media tycoon and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his court. The pic will make its world premiere in the Masters Section at the Toronto Film Festival next month, with Sundance Selects eyeing a 2019 theatrical release.
Toni Servillo plays Berlusconi. The pic was produced by Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori, Viola Prestieri and Jérôme Seydoux.
Jonathan Sehring and Lisa Schwartz, co-presidents of IFC Films/Sundance Selects, said in a statement: “Paolo Sorrentino has defined himself as one of the masters of Italian cinema. He makes up his own rules and presents a cinematic vision that is totally unique. We are thrilled to premiere this film at the Toronto International Film Festival, and bring this exceptional story to audiences across North America.”
Giulano said: “I’m very happy that Sundace Selects has picked-up Loro. To...
Toni Servillo plays Berlusconi. The pic was produced by Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori, Viola Prestieri and Jérôme Seydoux.
Jonathan Sehring and Lisa Schwartz, co-presidents of IFC Films/Sundance Selects, said in a statement: “Paolo Sorrentino has defined himself as one of the masters of Italian cinema. He makes up his own rules and presents a cinematic vision that is totally unique. We are thrilled to premiere this film at the Toronto International Film Festival, and bring this exceptional story to audiences across North America.”
Giulano said: “I’m very happy that Sundace Selects has picked-up Loro. To...
- 8/22/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Update: Unifrance responds to sales outfit quitting French cinema promotion group.
Leading French sales company Wild Bunch has quit the country’s state-backed French cinema export and promotional body Unifrance in protest at the appointment of Serge Toubiana (pictured, top) as its new president.
It is the first time in Unifrance’s near 70-year history that a company of Wild Bunch’s magnitude has quit the body.
Unifrance announced on Thursday that former Cinématheque Française chief Serge Toubiana had been elected to the role by its 48-member executive committee, beating out producers Yves Marmion and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam who had also put themselves forward as candidates.
The appointment was greeted with surprise by many in the French film sales and production community who said Toubiana lacked the export and sales experience to take on such a role, even if they respected his track record as a journalist and at the helm of the Cinématheque.
Letter
In a...
Leading French sales company Wild Bunch has quit the country’s state-backed French cinema export and promotional body Unifrance in protest at the appointment of Serge Toubiana (pictured, top) as its new president.
It is the first time in Unifrance’s near 70-year history that a company of Wild Bunch’s magnitude has quit the body.
Unifrance announced on Thursday that former Cinématheque Française chief Serge Toubiana had been elected to the role by its 48-member executive committee, beating out producers Yves Marmion and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam who had also put themselves forward as candidates.
The appointment was greeted with surprise by many in the French film sales and production community who said Toubiana lacked the export and sales experience to take on such a role, even if they respected his track record as a journalist and at the helm of the Cinématheque.
Letter
In a...
- 7/7/2017
- ScreenDaily
Former Cinématheque Française chief takes up post at French cinema export body.
Serge Toubiana has been elected president of French cinema promotional and export body Unifrance, replacing director Jean-Paul Salomé who leaves the post after two successive terms in the role.
He was elected by the body’s management committee made up of 48 cinema professionals and state appointees. The other candidates included producers Yves Marmion and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam.
Toubiana was the director of the prestigious Cinématheque Française in Paris from 2003 until the end of 2015.
During that time, he re-energised the institution and oversaw its relocation to its current home in the neighbourhood of Bercy in eastern Paris.
He is also credited with widening its public appeal with a packed programme of events showcasing its archives as well as big name retrospectives such as the MoMA-produced Tim Burton exhibition which drew more than 300,000 visitors in 2012.
A life-long cinephile, Toubiana started out as a cinema journalist becoming the co-editor...
Serge Toubiana has been elected president of French cinema promotional and export body Unifrance, replacing director Jean-Paul Salomé who leaves the post after two successive terms in the role.
He was elected by the body’s management committee made up of 48 cinema professionals and state appointees. The other candidates included producers Yves Marmion and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam.
Toubiana was the director of the prestigious Cinématheque Française in Paris from 2003 until the end of 2015.
During that time, he re-energised the institution and oversaw its relocation to its current home in the neighbourhood of Bercy in eastern Paris.
He is also credited with widening its public appeal with a packed programme of events showcasing its archives as well as big name retrospectives such as the MoMA-produced Tim Burton exhibition which drew more than 300,000 visitors in 2012.
A life-long cinephile, Toubiana started out as a cinema journalist becoming the co-editor...
- 7/6/2017
- ScreenDaily
‘I don’t give a damn about these nationalistic questions.’ Cannes chief on why regional representation is not his problem… and other matters.
Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Frémaux talks about pulling together a 70th anniversary edition, reflecting the past, present and future of cinema and why he gets so irritated when journalists ask questions about the selection or non-selection of their national cinema.
You said in the press conference that you tied up today’s Official Selection announcement at 3am in the morning. Was it more complicated than usual?
No, not at all. We always finish in the early hours of the morning. There’s nothing new.
We at Screen were convinced Redoubtable was going to be the opening film. Was that your original plan?
There was absolutely no reason to think that. You have to stop doing that, the press reads the press.
Why did you choose Ismael’s Ghosts as the opening film?
It...
Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Frémaux talks about pulling together a 70th anniversary edition, reflecting the past, present and future of cinema and why he gets so irritated when journalists ask questions about the selection or non-selection of their national cinema.
You said in the press conference that you tied up today’s Official Selection announcement at 3am in the morning. Was it more complicated than usual?
No, not at all. We always finish in the early hours of the morning. There’s nothing new.
We at Screen were convinced Redoubtable was going to be the opening film. Was that your original plan?
There was absolutely no reason to think that. You have to stop doing that, the press reads the press.
Why did you choose Ismael’s Ghosts as the opening film?
It...
- 4/13/2017
- ScreenDaily
France’s oldest cinema company quits exhibition to focus on TV and film production.
Pathé has agreed to buy compatriot film major Gaumont’s 34% stake in their joint cinema chain Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé for €380m ($400m), the companies revealed on Wednesday.
The deal brings to an end a sixteen-year exhibition alliance between two of France’s oldest cinema companies. Their joint circuit has 108 theatres with 1,076 screens which drew 67 million spectators in 2016.
It also marks an historic move for Gaumont which – alongside its production and distribution activities – has operated cinemas in France since the early 1900s.
Gaumont CEO Sidonie Dumas said the sale would enable the company to accelerate the development of its television production activities in the Us and Europe as well as reinforce its film production arm, with the aim of expanding its remit beyond France and other parts of Europe.
The Paris-based company’s move into television over the past decade has proven successful...
Pathé has agreed to buy compatriot film major Gaumont’s 34% stake in their joint cinema chain Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé for €380m ($400m), the companies revealed on Wednesday.
The deal brings to an end a sixteen-year exhibition alliance between two of France’s oldest cinema companies. Their joint circuit has 108 theatres with 1,076 screens which drew 67 million spectators in 2016.
It also marks an historic move for Gaumont which – alongside its production and distribution activities – has operated cinemas in France since the early 1900s.
Gaumont CEO Sidonie Dumas said the sale would enable the company to accelerate the development of its television production activities in the Us and Europe as well as reinforce its film production arm, with the aim of expanding its remit beyond France and other parts of Europe.
The Paris-based company’s move into television over the past decade has proven successful...
- 3/1/2017
- ScreenDaily
Paris Independent Film Festival Paris Indie - International Independent Filmmaking at Its Finest http://www.filmfestival.paris Paris Independent Film Festival 2017 19-22 November at Ciné Xiii Théâtre & Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Paris Indie is entering its third year to great critical acclaim and is fast becoming one of the leading international film & screenplay competitions in Europe. Paris Indie will be yet again showcasing a competition of new independent cinema from 19-22 November at Ciné Xiii in Montmartre which seats 130 persons in great comfort with a retro underground flair over three floors. The final three high-carat Paris Indie 2017 screenings will take place at Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Cinéma on the Left Bank at 19:30, 21:00 & 22:30 on 22 November. Doors...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/25/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Back in 2014, “Beauty and the Beast,” or also known as “La Belle et La Bête,” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival to positive reviews. Now two years later, thanks to Shout! Factory, the Christophe Gans live-action French film will be hitting Us cinemas this September.
In this adaptation of the classic tale Léa Seydoux stars as Belle opposite Vincent Cassel as the Beast. Set in 1810, the story follows the unexpected romance that blooms after the youngest daughter of a merchant who is going through rough times offers herself to the beast to save her father.
Read More: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Trailer: Emma Watson Might Be The One In Disney’s Live-Action Remake
Shout! Factory acquired the movie in January of this year. The fantasy film, written by Gans and Sandra Vo-Anh, garnered around $28 million overseas when it was released two years ago.
It is produced by Richard Grandpierre and...
In this adaptation of the classic tale Léa Seydoux stars as Belle opposite Vincent Cassel as the Beast. Set in 1810, the story follows the unexpected romance that blooms after the youngest daughter of a merchant who is going through rough times offers herself to the beast to save her father.
Read More: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Trailer: Emma Watson Might Be The One In Disney’s Live-Action Remake
Shout! Factory acquired the movie in January of this year. The fantasy film, written by Gans and Sandra Vo-Anh, garnered around $28 million overseas when it was released two years ago.
It is produced by Richard Grandpierre and...
- 7/28/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan stars in The Boy, and we have details on the horror film's upcoming premiere. Also in this round-up: Hellions Blu-ray / DVD info, Cavity Colors' Starry Eyes shirt, Cinefamily's X-Files marathon, acquisition details for Christophe Gans' Beauty and the Beast, and Diamond Select Toys' Alien Minimates.
The Boy Premiere: Press Release: "(Burbank, January 11, 2016) - Stx Entertainment and Lakeshore Entertainment have arranged a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans to see the new horror movie The Boy at 15 exclusive red carpet screenings before the general public has an opportunity to see the film. The PG-13 rated motion picture opens in theaters nationwide on January 22.
All 15 screenings will occur simultaneously and will take place on one night only- Wednesday, January 20, 2016 - starting at 6Pm Et / 3Pm Pt. Tickets to this event are now available online at TheBoyFanPremiere.Movie. The announcement was made today by Jack Pan, President of Marketing for Stx Entertainment.
The Boy Premiere: Press Release: "(Burbank, January 11, 2016) - Stx Entertainment and Lakeshore Entertainment have arranged a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans to see the new horror movie The Boy at 15 exclusive red carpet screenings before the general public has an opportunity to see the film. The PG-13 rated motion picture opens in theaters nationwide on January 22.
All 15 screenings will occur simultaneously and will take place on one night only- Wednesday, January 20, 2016 - starting at 6Pm Et / 3Pm Pt. Tickets to this event are now available online at TheBoyFanPremiere.Movie. The announcement was made today by Jack Pan, President of Marketing for Stx Entertainment.
- 1/14/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Shout! Factory has secured all Us rights to Christophe Gans’ Beauty And The Beast (La Belle Et La Bête).
Cliff MacMillan handled the acquisition for Shout! Factory and David McIntosh negotiated the deal with Pathé’s evp of international sales Muriel Sauzay.
Pathé International holds rights outside the Us to the classic fantasy romance starring Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux that premiered at the Berlinale last year.
Eskwad, Pathé, TF1 Films Productions, Studio Babelsberg and 120 Films produced Beauty And The Beast, based on Madame de Villeneuve’s story of a young girl who encounters a cursed creature and discovers true love.
André Dussollier, Eduardo Noriega, Myriam Charleins, Audrey Lamy, Sara Giraudeau, Jonathan Demurger, Nicolas Gob, Louka Meliava and Yvonne Catterfeld round out the key cast.
Gans and Sandra Vo-Anh adapted the screenplay. Richard Grandpierre and Jérôme Seydoux produced while Frederic Doniguian served as executive producer.
Shout! Factory has secured all Us rights including theatrical, VOD, digital...
Cliff MacMillan handled the acquisition for Shout! Factory and David McIntosh negotiated the deal with Pathé’s evp of international sales Muriel Sauzay.
Pathé International holds rights outside the Us to the classic fantasy romance starring Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux that premiered at the Berlinale last year.
Eskwad, Pathé, TF1 Films Productions, Studio Babelsberg and 120 Films produced Beauty And The Beast, based on Madame de Villeneuve’s story of a young girl who encounters a cursed creature and discovers true love.
André Dussollier, Eduardo Noriega, Myriam Charleins, Audrey Lamy, Sara Giraudeau, Jonathan Demurger, Nicolas Gob, Louka Meliava and Yvonne Catterfeld round out the key cast.
Gans and Sandra Vo-Anh adapted the screenplay. Richard Grandpierre and Jérôme Seydoux produced while Frederic Doniguian served as executive producer.
Shout! Factory has secured all Us rights including theatrical, VOD, digital...
- 1/12/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that the company has acquired North American rights to Youth, starring Oscar winner Michael Caine, Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, Oscar winner Jane Fonda, Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel and Paul Dano. The film is written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino, director of Italy’s Oscar foreign language winner The Great Beauty, and produced by Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Carlotta Calori for Indigo Film in collaboration with Medusa Film. Youth is coproduced by Fabio Conversi for Barbary Films, Jérôme Seydoux for Pathé, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen for Number 9, David Kosse for Film4, and Anne Walser for C-Films. Youth will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled to be released in 2015. “I’m delighted and proud that Fox Searchlight has acquired my new film: Youth. As a movie lover, I have always appreciated Fox Searchlight’s choices which have...
- 5/17/2015
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
The studio has snapped up rights from Pathé to Paolo Sorrentino’s drama ahead of its world premiere in Competition on May 20.
Youth will open this year and stars Michael Caine, Rachel Weisz, Jane Fonda, Harvey Keitel and Paul Dano.
Sorrentino, who earned the best foreign language Oscar in 2014 for The Great Beauty, wrote and directed the story of a composer and his filmmaker friend who reflect on their lives while on vacation in the Alps.
Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima and Carlotta Calori produced for Indigo Film in collaboration with Medusa Film.
Youth is co-produced by Fabio Conversi for Barbary Films, Jérôme Seydoux for Pathé, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen for Number 9, David Kosse for Film4 and Anne Walser for C-Films.
Pathé International continues to represent sales outside North America.
Youth will open this year and stars Michael Caine, Rachel Weisz, Jane Fonda, Harvey Keitel and Paul Dano.
Sorrentino, who earned the best foreign language Oscar in 2014 for The Great Beauty, wrote and directed the story of a composer and his filmmaker friend who reflect on their lives while on vacation in the Alps.
Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima and Carlotta Calori produced for Indigo Film in collaboration with Medusa Film.
Youth is co-produced by Fabio Conversi for Barbary Films, Jérôme Seydoux for Pathé, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen for Number 9, David Kosse for Film4 and Anne Walser for C-Films.
Pathé International continues to represent sales outside North America.
- 5/13/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
You hear it all the time: Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News. But Americans were buying all the same, and to quote Screen International: “The current market is focused on smart money and smart deals, not volume of product”. Business at Afm was also solid though unspectacular. Moreover, the pre-buying of projects may be below the radar of this $3 billion business of international film buying and selling. TrustNordisk’s CEO Rikke Ennis says that 70% of their films are pre-sold. As you look at the upcoming Winter Rights Roundup due out in two weeks from SydneysBuzz.com/Reports, you will notice many of the films have been pre-buys this market and many films screening were already pre-sold during Afm in November.
And for all the complaints about Berlin, many sales agents set up private screenings before the market kicked off. What is that about?
Beki Probst, who has run the Efm since 1988, responded to the many media reports of a quieter market in an interview with ScreenDaily which sounds almost the same as the one she gave in 2009.
Quoting her current statement which I take the liberty of quoting here as it appears in Screen:
“I think that there was a good movement of business this year,” she said. In the opinion of Probst, there had been a muddying of the distinction between the Efm and the more general term of the ‘market’.
“Daphné Kapfer of Europa International representing 35 sales agents said that it was a very good Berlin, and Glen Basner of FilmNation commented that it was ‘the best Berlin’.
“Even Harvey Weinstein came just for 24 hours to sign a $7m check, and Aloft was bought by Sony Pictures Classics.
“It’s the players, and not the market, that is important. The players come here if they have the right line-up. All we can do is provide the best infrastructure, but what happens after that is up to them.”
"Sales agents were not sitting idle at their stands if one takes the example of one company in the Martin Gropius Bau: the CEO met with 90 buyers and the members of staff responsible for marketing had no less than 180 meetings in addition to ad-hoc discussions at events in the evenings."
Coproductions are the engine driving the business these days.
This year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market ended after two-and-a-half days with awards handed out to projects from Kazakhstan and Belgium.
The €6,000 Arte International Prize went to Kazakh film-maker Emir Baigazin’s planned second feature The Wounded Angel, the second part of a trilogy after his Silver Bear-winning Harmony Lessons. The €1.2m Almaty-based Kazakhfilm Jsc production has already attracted France’s Capricci Production as a co-producer and has backing in place from the Doha Film Institute and the Hubert Bals Fund.
The €10,000 Vff Talent Highlight Pitch Award was presented to Belgian director Bavo Defurne for his romantic dramedy Souvenir. The €2m co-production by Oostende-based Indeed Films with Belgium’s Frakas Productions and Germany’s Karibufilm already has backing from Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Cinefinance and public broadcaster Vrt/ Een.
India-Norway’s $55 million film to be directed by Hans Petter Moland (In Order of Disappearance)’s The Indian Bride is an exciting example of an unusual pairing of countries.
Bavaria and Senator’s joint venture Bavaria Pictures’ The Postcard Killers to be directed by Mexican director Everardo Gout shows the international expansion of talent.
The Hungary-Austria-Germany co-production of Stefan Zweig’s Beware of Pity, or U.K.-Lithuania action comedy Redirected being sold by Content brings unusual European partners together.
U.S. born Damian John Harper’s coproduction with the German producers, brothers Jakob and Jonas Weydemann, on Los Angeles will be followed by In the Middle of the River now being developed with Zdf’s Das Kleine Fernsehspiel unit.
Shoreline’s The Infinite Man produced with Australia’s Hedone Productions in association with Bonsai Films with investment from South Australia Film Corporation through its Filmlab funding initiative, development assistance from Screen Australia is also a new sort of pairing.
Film and Music Entertainment (F&Me), Bac Films, 20 Steps Productions and Bruemmer & Herzog’s The President is shooting in Tbilisi, Georgia and is being directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Italian-Canadian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s Sights of Death starring Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen is directed by Allessandro Capone in Rome.
The Spain-u.K. co-production Second Origin is based on the best selling Catalan novel Mecanoscrit Del Segon Orgen.
The Golden Bear Winner Black Coal, Thin Ice is a Boneyard Entertainment (New York & Hong Kong) co-production with Boneyard Entertainment China (Bec), Omnijoi Media (Jiangsu, China), China Film co-production.
A sign of the times is the Swedish Film in Berlin advertisement which lists all Swedish co-productions:
In Competition: In Order of DisappearanceOut of Competition: NymphomaniacBerlinale Special: Someone You Love Generation Kplus: A Christmoose StoryPerspektive Deutsches Kino: Lamento
All are with European co-producers as is Antboy a Danish-German co-production.
One of my favorites is Gallows Hill, being sold by Im Global and already picked up by IFC for U.S. Starring Twilight actor Peter Facinelli, U.K. actress Sophia Myles, Nathalia Ramos and Colombian model and actress Carolina Guerra, it was entirely financed from within Colombia by television network Rcn’s affiliate Five 7 Media which produced with Peter Block's A Bigger Boat, David Higgins and Angelique Higgins' Launchpad Productions and Andrea Chung. The screenplay was written by Rich D’Ovidio ( The Call, Thir13en Ghosts) about a widower who takes his children on a trip to their mother’s Colombian hometown.
Another interesting combo is the Australian-Singapore co-production Canopy being sold by Odin’s Eye which was acquired by Kaleidoscope for U.K., by Kinosmith for Canada and Odin’s Eye itself for Australia. After its Tiff 2013 premiere, Monterrey acquired U.S. rights.
Cathedrals of Culture, was produced by Wim Wenders’ production company: Neue Road Movies in Germany and co-produced by Final Cut For Real (Denmark), Lotus Film (Austria), Mer Film (Norway), Les Films d'Ici 2 (France), Sundance Productions / RadicalMedia (U.S.), Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg In collaboration with Arte (Germany and France) and Wowow (Japan).
Grand Budapest Hotel is a co-production of Scott Rudin in U.S. and Studio Babelsburg in Germany.
Wouldn't you say there had to be an awful lot of business going on? If only the media knew where to look for it. Instead, they moan the same old tired tune, "Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News". Oh well...
Efm Coproduction Market
Asian producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who was pitching the Hong Kong comedy Grooms by writer-director Arvin Chen at the Berlin Coproduction Market, announced that Germany’s augenschein filmproduktion will be a coproducer on Singaporean director Boo Junfeng’s second feature Apprentice. The film has already received backing from France’s World Cinema Support, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw of Germany and Germany's second network, Zdf’s Das kleine fernsehspiel unit. It also has Cinema Defacto as its French co-producer. Junfeng’s first film, Sandcastle, was screened at the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2010.
Cologne-based augenschein, who produced Maximilian Leo’s My Brother’s Keeper, the opening film of this year’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino and is handled internationally by Media Luna, is currently in post-production on Romanian filmmaker Florin Serban’s Box, his second feature after the 2010 Berlinale Competition film If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle.
Argentinian filmmaker Santiago Mitre whose debut The Student established him as one of the brightest and most courted young directors in Latin America was in the Co-production Market with his untitled second feature which France’s Full House connected to along with Argentina’s Union de los Rio, Argentine broadcast network Telefe, Ignacio Viale and the ubiquitous Lita Stantic.
Full House was also at the Coproduction Market with Peter Webber’s Fresh about a young thief learning the art of pickpocketing in Bogota, Colombia. It will be co-produced with Rcn affiliate Five 7 Media and 4Direcciones in Colombia and by Webber himself.
Raymond van der Kaaij, the producer of Tamar van den Dop’s Panorama title Supernova, is now financing Sundance winner Ernesto Contreras’ next feature I Dream In Another Language. The Spanish-English language project will be produced with Mexico-based Agencia Sha, and it is now casting the American lead according to producer van der Kaaij of Revolver Amsterdam. Developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the winner of the Sundance-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, I Dream has already received support from Imcine in Mexico. Shooting is scheduled in Mexico for the end of 2014.
Revolver is now editing Bodkin Ras, the debut film of Iranian-Dutch director Kaweh Modiri, an English-language documentary-thriller set in North Scotland. The Dutch-Belgian-u.K. coproduction is set for release at the end of 2014.
Finnish film-maker Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa’s is editing his latest feature They Have Escaped, which Revolver coproduced with Helsinki Film.
Trend of smart art genres
Another continuing trend, which began with Xyz and Celluloid Nightmares and continued with Memento, is the character-driven art genre films with tight budgets, like the Danish coming-of-age-werewolf-romance, When Animals Dream, directed by first timer Jonas Arnby, sold by Gaumont to Radius-twc for No. Americ. The Scandinavians, formerly making a mark with "Nordic Noir" are now making what they call "Nordic Twilight".
Trend of remake rights
Another trend is that of remake rights. Film Sharks reports it makes more from selling remake rights than from licensing distribution rights.
The Intouchables is selling remake rights to more countries than only India as is the sale of Other Angle’s Babysitting remake rights. Negotiations are underway with Russia, Italy and Germany.
Fruit Chan is considering an English language remake of his 2004 cult horror film Dumplings.
The market is bit too calm?…Then let us look at Cannes…
Usually by Afm you can begin the Tipped for Cannes List (which Gilles Jacob detested), but even that is a little on the quiet side. I begin to question whether all media fueled news is accurate: the slow sales being reported, the lack of pre-Cannes buzz… Is the media really investigating deeply?
Of all the trades, while Screen has the most international news and deepest analyses, Variety reports things no other trade is covering. But…still the non-news of a quiet market persists as if it were headline news. We always hear this and we are still in an economic slump, so what we wish for is not apparent, but this is not news.
Tipped for Cannes
Tipped for Cannes are Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home staring Gong Li and to be sold by Wild Bunch, Stealth’s First Law starring Mads Mikkelsen (Cannes 2012 Best Actor Award for The Hunt); Self Made (Boreg) by Shira Geffen and to be sold by Westend, shot in Hebrew and Arabic by the production and sales team behind Oscar nominated 2011 drama Footnote, the second film after Geffen’s 2007 debut Jellyfish which won the Cannes Camera d’Or. MK2’s Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas and starring Juliette Binoche, Chloe Grace Moretz and Kristen Stewart, and Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water will be delivered in time for Cannes. Pyramide International is plannng for Leviathan, a modern retelling of the biblical story which deals with some of Russia’s most important social issues to be ready for Cannes. It is directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and produced by Alexander Rodnyansky (Stalingrad) as their followup to Elena. Gaumont-cj co-production, The Target, the Korean remake of Fred Cavaye’s action thriller Point Blank will be ready in time for Cannes.
Rumors and truths about people changing positions
Rumors about Dieter Kosslick replacing Berlin’s Culture Secretary who resigned after a tax evasion scandal in which he admitted to stashing $575,000 in a Swiss bank account…Charlotte Mickie has left eOne and knowing her, she is bound to find something good elsewhere as she's too good to lose...StudioCanals Harold van Lier now leads eOne’s newly ramped international sales team and Montreal based Anick Poirier leads its subsidiary label, Seville International. Jeff Nuyts is leaving Intramovies. Nigel Sinclair and Guy East seem to be leaving Exclusive Media the company they founded as discussions with partners from Dasym Investment Strategies Bv move forward. Kevin Hoiseth from Voltage Pictures has joined International Film Trust as their director of international sales...and of course, Nadine de Barros has founded her own company, Fortitude, and was holding court at the Ritz Carlton the buzziest spot outside of the Martin Gropius Bau.
What I Saw and What I Thought
For what it's worth, here is my limited list of screenings of films seen only in the last 3 days of the festival when I was no longer "working". I am including some I actually saw at Sundance.
First and foremost -- and to be written about further in a "thought piece" as I term the articles I think long about before writing and to include my interview with the director Goran Hugo Olsson's (The Black Power Mixtapes winner of Sundance 2011 World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award) -- Concerning Violence (Isa: Films Boutique, U.S.: Cinetic), based on Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth and seen at Sundance this year next to Stanley Nelson's outstanding Freedom Summer (PBS) and Greg Barker's We Are The Giant (Submarine), is a call to action for new societal models ringing out loud and clear.
Golden Bear Winner, Black Coal, Thin Ice by Diao Yinan, a Chinese noir, lacked the momentum and substance I would have expected in a winning film, though it was a fascinating way to see today's urban China. Had I been on the jury, I would have chosen the Best Director Award winning Boyhood (Isa: IFC) by Richard Linklater. But perhaps because James Schamus, an American who loves Chinese films, was President of the Jury, there might have arisen a question of disinterested objectivity. I would have to hear what jurists Barbara Broccoli, Trine Dyrhom, Chistoph Waltz, Tony Leung, Greta Gerwig, Mitra Farahani and Michel Gondry would have to say about the deliberations.
Speaking of jury prizes, it was a surprise the much acclaimed '71 (Isa: Protagonist, now headed by our dear Mike Goodridge) won nothing, and good Alain Renais' Life of Riley (Isa: Le Pacte) received recognition. I found Christophe Gans' La belle et la bete (Beauty and the Beast) (Isa: Pathe) an overproduced unwieldy special effects-ridden mess, even though it was exec-produced by Jérôme Seydoux who also produced the masterpiece La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), and starred his granddaughter Lea Seydoux. I'll stand by Cocteau's versoin. I heard Claudia Llosa (Milk of Sorrow)'s Aloft was also not widely admired.
About the best actress winning film The Little House (Isa: Shochiku could have marketed it more widely), I heard nothing at all, though it sounds really good. Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross) (Isa: Beta) by brother and sister team Anna and Dietrich Brueggemann (any relation to our own Tom Brueggeman?) had a satisfying denouement and was quite engrossing with moments of humor lightening the heavy weight of the cross carried by 14 year old Maria played by Lea van Acken, a picture face out of a George de la Tour painting (Magdeline with a Smoking Flame or A Piece of Art). Macondo (Isa: Films Boutique - again! ) by Sudabeh Mortezai of Austria was a window on a world never seen before and very engrossing although the coming of age story was one we have seen before.
Not sorry to say I missed The Monuments Men and Nymphomaniac Volume I, but sorry that I missed Beloved Sisters (Isa: Global Screen) of Dominik Graf, The Grand Budapest Hotel (will see it in U.S.), Argentinian Benjamin Naishat's History of Fear (Isa: Visit) -- I'll catch it in Carthegena, Guadalajara or San Sebastian I'm sure, Jack, In Order of Disappearance which sounds like the sleeper hit of the festival, Argentinan (again!) La tercera orilla (The Third Side of the River), Lou Ye's Tui Na (Blind Massage) and Rachid Bouchareb's Two Men in Town (Isa: Pathe - again!), which I heard was rather flat which is not surprising, for when non-Americans try to make an American genre, it usually misses a certain verve, but still is such an interesting subject for him to tackle, Zwischen Welten (Inbetween Worlds) (Isa: The Match Factory) from Germany, another "American" subject, but here about a German soldier in Afghanistan, not an American one.
Among the Berlinale Specials, I wish I had seen Nancy Buirski's Afternoon of a Faun which everyone said was good (Isa: Cactus Three the doc production company of Krysanne Katsoolis and Caroline Stevens) and Volker Schloendorff's 1969 Brecht piece Baal starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Margarethe von Trotta. I did see his Diplomacy (Isa: Gaumont) which was a great treat, erudite, intimate and reminiscent of the novels of Sandor Marai (Embers and Casanova in Bolzano). Wish I could have seen Wim Wenders' Cathedrals of Culture (Isa: Cinephil), Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez (Isa: Mundial) and In the Courtyard aka Dans la cours (Isa: Wild Bunch) starring Catherine Deneuve and The Kidnapping of Michel Houllebecq (Isa: Le Pacte - again!!). I will see The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (Isa: The Film Sales Company) by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, produced by Jonathan Dana, Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller and Celeste Schaefer Snyder (Ballets Russes), back home. The Turning (Isa: Level K), an experimental omnibus produced by my favorite Australian producer, Robert Connelly who also directed in part and Maggie Myles, is also a must-see as is Errol Morris' companion piece to The Fog of War, The Unknown Known (Isa: HanWay) and Houssein Amini's Two Faces of January (Isa: StudioCanal) starring my favorites Viggo Mortenson and Kirsten Dunst. We Come as Friends (Isa: Le Pacte), by Hubert Sauper whose earlier film Darwin's Destiny astounded me, was worth watching although so often his films plunge one into a hopeless helplessness. Fresh from Sundance, it was raising controversy and the story of the Sudan is worth knowing. His particular and peculiar Pov is valuable. Watermark (Isa: Entertainment One), another social issue worth knowing about will have to wait for a more propitious time. Personally I'm hoping Israel's current venture into desalination of water will lead the world into peace and that I will rejoice watching the doc about that.
Difret (Isa: Films Boutique - again!), fresh from Sundance where I saw it was really good and it sold well. I got to hang out with the team at the Panorama party. Gueros (Isa: Mundial - again!), was a disappointment -- too like The Year of the Nail (though different) in tone. But what a great company Canana is!
Panorama's Finding Vivian Maier (Isa: HanWay - again!) is brilliantly interesting. It is about to be released in U.S. by IFC. I highly recommend seeing this documentary about an eccentric, unknown photographer. It premiered at Tiff 2013. Fresh from Sundance where it won a Special Jury Prize, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Isa: Submarine) was a treasure; Velvet Terrorists was about the oddest piece I have ever seen. About three former opponents of the Czechoslovakian Soviet Regime, each has continued to enjoy blowing up things. One is still training the next generation in urban guerilla warfare. They are otherwise unremarkable, sweet even, but twisted. What an odd documentary.
A quick look at the Market Films I have seen: of the 400+ premieres: Zero -- no I did see German Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, Two Lives (Isa: Beta), and I will soon be home to celebrate its nomination at the famous Villa Aurora, the former home of German expatriate writer Leon Feuchtwanger. So many more films look sooooo attractive! A pity I may never get to see them. I would need all the time in the world, and I have so little. I have so much and yet I want more!
And for all the complaints about Berlin, many sales agents set up private screenings before the market kicked off. What is that about?
Beki Probst, who has run the Efm since 1988, responded to the many media reports of a quieter market in an interview with ScreenDaily which sounds almost the same as the one she gave in 2009.
Quoting her current statement which I take the liberty of quoting here as it appears in Screen:
“I think that there was a good movement of business this year,” she said. In the opinion of Probst, there had been a muddying of the distinction between the Efm and the more general term of the ‘market’.
“Daphné Kapfer of Europa International representing 35 sales agents said that it was a very good Berlin, and Glen Basner of FilmNation commented that it was ‘the best Berlin’.
“Even Harvey Weinstein came just for 24 hours to sign a $7m check, and Aloft was bought by Sony Pictures Classics.
“It’s the players, and not the market, that is important. The players come here if they have the right line-up. All we can do is provide the best infrastructure, but what happens after that is up to them.”
"Sales agents were not sitting idle at their stands if one takes the example of one company in the Martin Gropius Bau: the CEO met with 90 buyers and the members of staff responsible for marketing had no less than 180 meetings in addition to ad-hoc discussions at events in the evenings."
Coproductions are the engine driving the business these days.
This year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market ended after two-and-a-half days with awards handed out to projects from Kazakhstan and Belgium.
The €6,000 Arte International Prize went to Kazakh film-maker Emir Baigazin’s planned second feature The Wounded Angel, the second part of a trilogy after his Silver Bear-winning Harmony Lessons. The €1.2m Almaty-based Kazakhfilm Jsc production has already attracted France’s Capricci Production as a co-producer and has backing in place from the Doha Film Institute and the Hubert Bals Fund.
The €10,000 Vff Talent Highlight Pitch Award was presented to Belgian director Bavo Defurne for his romantic dramedy Souvenir. The €2m co-production by Oostende-based Indeed Films with Belgium’s Frakas Productions and Germany’s Karibufilm already has backing from Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Cinefinance and public broadcaster Vrt/ Een.
India-Norway’s $55 million film to be directed by Hans Petter Moland (In Order of Disappearance)’s The Indian Bride is an exciting example of an unusual pairing of countries.
Bavaria and Senator’s joint venture Bavaria Pictures’ The Postcard Killers to be directed by Mexican director Everardo Gout shows the international expansion of talent.
The Hungary-Austria-Germany co-production of Stefan Zweig’s Beware of Pity, or U.K.-Lithuania action comedy Redirected being sold by Content brings unusual European partners together.
U.S. born Damian John Harper’s coproduction with the German producers, brothers Jakob and Jonas Weydemann, on Los Angeles will be followed by In the Middle of the River now being developed with Zdf’s Das Kleine Fernsehspiel unit.
Shoreline’s The Infinite Man produced with Australia’s Hedone Productions in association with Bonsai Films with investment from South Australia Film Corporation through its Filmlab funding initiative, development assistance from Screen Australia is also a new sort of pairing.
Film and Music Entertainment (F&Me), Bac Films, 20 Steps Productions and Bruemmer & Herzog’s The President is shooting in Tbilisi, Georgia and is being directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Italian-Canadian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s Sights of Death starring Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen is directed by Allessandro Capone in Rome.
The Spain-u.K. co-production Second Origin is based on the best selling Catalan novel Mecanoscrit Del Segon Orgen.
The Golden Bear Winner Black Coal, Thin Ice is a Boneyard Entertainment (New York & Hong Kong) co-production with Boneyard Entertainment China (Bec), Omnijoi Media (Jiangsu, China), China Film co-production.
A sign of the times is the Swedish Film in Berlin advertisement which lists all Swedish co-productions:
In Competition: In Order of DisappearanceOut of Competition: NymphomaniacBerlinale Special: Someone You Love Generation Kplus: A Christmoose StoryPerspektive Deutsches Kino: Lamento
All are with European co-producers as is Antboy a Danish-German co-production.
One of my favorites is Gallows Hill, being sold by Im Global and already picked up by IFC for U.S. Starring Twilight actor Peter Facinelli, U.K. actress Sophia Myles, Nathalia Ramos and Colombian model and actress Carolina Guerra, it was entirely financed from within Colombia by television network Rcn’s affiliate Five 7 Media which produced with Peter Block's A Bigger Boat, David Higgins and Angelique Higgins' Launchpad Productions and Andrea Chung. The screenplay was written by Rich D’Ovidio ( The Call, Thir13en Ghosts) about a widower who takes his children on a trip to their mother’s Colombian hometown.
Another interesting combo is the Australian-Singapore co-production Canopy being sold by Odin’s Eye which was acquired by Kaleidoscope for U.K., by Kinosmith for Canada and Odin’s Eye itself for Australia. After its Tiff 2013 premiere, Monterrey acquired U.S. rights.
Cathedrals of Culture, was produced by Wim Wenders’ production company: Neue Road Movies in Germany and co-produced by Final Cut For Real (Denmark), Lotus Film (Austria), Mer Film (Norway), Les Films d'Ici 2 (France), Sundance Productions / RadicalMedia (U.S.), Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg In collaboration with Arte (Germany and France) and Wowow (Japan).
Grand Budapest Hotel is a co-production of Scott Rudin in U.S. and Studio Babelsburg in Germany.
Wouldn't you say there had to be an awful lot of business going on? If only the media knew where to look for it. Instead, they moan the same old tired tune, "Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News". Oh well...
Efm Coproduction Market
Asian producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who was pitching the Hong Kong comedy Grooms by writer-director Arvin Chen at the Berlin Coproduction Market, announced that Germany’s augenschein filmproduktion will be a coproducer on Singaporean director Boo Junfeng’s second feature Apprentice. The film has already received backing from France’s World Cinema Support, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw of Germany and Germany's second network, Zdf’s Das kleine fernsehspiel unit. It also has Cinema Defacto as its French co-producer. Junfeng’s first film, Sandcastle, was screened at the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2010.
Cologne-based augenschein, who produced Maximilian Leo’s My Brother’s Keeper, the opening film of this year’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino and is handled internationally by Media Luna, is currently in post-production on Romanian filmmaker Florin Serban’s Box, his second feature after the 2010 Berlinale Competition film If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle.
Argentinian filmmaker Santiago Mitre whose debut The Student established him as one of the brightest and most courted young directors in Latin America was in the Co-production Market with his untitled second feature which France’s Full House connected to along with Argentina’s Union de los Rio, Argentine broadcast network Telefe, Ignacio Viale and the ubiquitous Lita Stantic.
Full House was also at the Coproduction Market with Peter Webber’s Fresh about a young thief learning the art of pickpocketing in Bogota, Colombia. It will be co-produced with Rcn affiliate Five 7 Media and 4Direcciones in Colombia and by Webber himself.
Raymond van der Kaaij, the producer of Tamar van den Dop’s Panorama title Supernova, is now financing Sundance winner Ernesto Contreras’ next feature I Dream In Another Language. The Spanish-English language project will be produced with Mexico-based Agencia Sha, and it is now casting the American lead according to producer van der Kaaij of Revolver Amsterdam. Developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the winner of the Sundance-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, I Dream has already received support from Imcine in Mexico. Shooting is scheduled in Mexico for the end of 2014.
Revolver is now editing Bodkin Ras, the debut film of Iranian-Dutch director Kaweh Modiri, an English-language documentary-thriller set in North Scotland. The Dutch-Belgian-u.K. coproduction is set for release at the end of 2014.
Finnish film-maker Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa’s is editing his latest feature They Have Escaped, which Revolver coproduced with Helsinki Film.
Trend of smart art genres
Another continuing trend, which began with Xyz and Celluloid Nightmares and continued with Memento, is the character-driven art genre films with tight budgets, like the Danish coming-of-age-werewolf-romance, When Animals Dream, directed by first timer Jonas Arnby, sold by Gaumont to Radius-twc for No. Americ. The Scandinavians, formerly making a mark with "Nordic Noir" are now making what they call "Nordic Twilight".
Trend of remake rights
Another trend is that of remake rights. Film Sharks reports it makes more from selling remake rights than from licensing distribution rights.
The Intouchables is selling remake rights to more countries than only India as is the sale of Other Angle’s Babysitting remake rights. Negotiations are underway with Russia, Italy and Germany.
Fruit Chan is considering an English language remake of his 2004 cult horror film Dumplings.
The market is bit too calm?…Then let us look at Cannes…
Usually by Afm you can begin the Tipped for Cannes List (which Gilles Jacob detested), but even that is a little on the quiet side. I begin to question whether all media fueled news is accurate: the slow sales being reported, the lack of pre-Cannes buzz… Is the media really investigating deeply?
Of all the trades, while Screen has the most international news and deepest analyses, Variety reports things no other trade is covering. But…still the non-news of a quiet market persists as if it were headline news. We always hear this and we are still in an economic slump, so what we wish for is not apparent, but this is not news.
Tipped for Cannes
Tipped for Cannes are Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home staring Gong Li and to be sold by Wild Bunch, Stealth’s First Law starring Mads Mikkelsen (Cannes 2012 Best Actor Award for The Hunt); Self Made (Boreg) by Shira Geffen and to be sold by Westend, shot in Hebrew and Arabic by the production and sales team behind Oscar nominated 2011 drama Footnote, the second film after Geffen’s 2007 debut Jellyfish which won the Cannes Camera d’Or. MK2’s Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas and starring Juliette Binoche, Chloe Grace Moretz and Kristen Stewart, and Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water will be delivered in time for Cannes. Pyramide International is plannng for Leviathan, a modern retelling of the biblical story which deals with some of Russia’s most important social issues to be ready for Cannes. It is directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and produced by Alexander Rodnyansky (Stalingrad) as their followup to Elena. Gaumont-cj co-production, The Target, the Korean remake of Fred Cavaye’s action thriller Point Blank will be ready in time for Cannes.
Rumors and truths about people changing positions
Rumors about Dieter Kosslick replacing Berlin’s Culture Secretary who resigned after a tax evasion scandal in which he admitted to stashing $575,000 in a Swiss bank account…Charlotte Mickie has left eOne and knowing her, she is bound to find something good elsewhere as she's too good to lose...StudioCanals Harold van Lier now leads eOne’s newly ramped international sales team and Montreal based Anick Poirier leads its subsidiary label, Seville International. Jeff Nuyts is leaving Intramovies. Nigel Sinclair and Guy East seem to be leaving Exclusive Media the company they founded as discussions with partners from Dasym Investment Strategies Bv move forward. Kevin Hoiseth from Voltage Pictures has joined International Film Trust as their director of international sales...and of course, Nadine de Barros has founded her own company, Fortitude, and was holding court at the Ritz Carlton the buzziest spot outside of the Martin Gropius Bau.
What I Saw and What I Thought
For what it's worth, here is my limited list of screenings of films seen only in the last 3 days of the festival when I was no longer "working". I am including some I actually saw at Sundance.
First and foremost -- and to be written about further in a "thought piece" as I term the articles I think long about before writing and to include my interview with the director Goran Hugo Olsson's (The Black Power Mixtapes winner of Sundance 2011 World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award) -- Concerning Violence (Isa: Films Boutique, U.S.: Cinetic), based on Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth and seen at Sundance this year next to Stanley Nelson's outstanding Freedom Summer (PBS) and Greg Barker's We Are The Giant (Submarine), is a call to action for new societal models ringing out loud and clear.
Golden Bear Winner, Black Coal, Thin Ice by Diao Yinan, a Chinese noir, lacked the momentum and substance I would have expected in a winning film, though it was a fascinating way to see today's urban China. Had I been on the jury, I would have chosen the Best Director Award winning Boyhood (Isa: IFC) by Richard Linklater. But perhaps because James Schamus, an American who loves Chinese films, was President of the Jury, there might have arisen a question of disinterested objectivity. I would have to hear what jurists Barbara Broccoli, Trine Dyrhom, Chistoph Waltz, Tony Leung, Greta Gerwig, Mitra Farahani and Michel Gondry would have to say about the deliberations.
Speaking of jury prizes, it was a surprise the much acclaimed '71 (Isa: Protagonist, now headed by our dear Mike Goodridge) won nothing, and good Alain Renais' Life of Riley (Isa: Le Pacte) received recognition. I found Christophe Gans' La belle et la bete (Beauty and the Beast) (Isa: Pathe) an overproduced unwieldy special effects-ridden mess, even though it was exec-produced by Jérôme Seydoux who also produced the masterpiece La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), and starred his granddaughter Lea Seydoux. I'll stand by Cocteau's versoin. I heard Claudia Llosa (Milk of Sorrow)'s Aloft was also not widely admired.
About the best actress winning film The Little House (Isa: Shochiku could have marketed it more widely), I heard nothing at all, though it sounds really good. Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross) (Isa: Beta) by brother and sister team Anna and Dietrich Brueggemann (any relation to our own Tom Brueggeman?) had a satisfying denouement and was quite engrossing with moments of humor lightening the heavy weight of the cross carried by 14 year old Maria played by Lea van Acken, a picture face out of a George de la Tour painting (Magdeline with a Smoking Flame or A Piece of Art). Macondo (Isa: Films Boutique - again! ) by Sudabeh Mortezai of Austria was a window on a world never seen before and very engrossing although the coming of age story was one we have seen before.
Not sorry to say I missed The Monuments Men and Nymphomaniac Volume I, but sorry that I missed Beloved Sisters (Isa: Global Screen) of Dominik Graf, The Grand Budapest Hotel (will see it in U.S.), Argentinian Benjamin Naishat's History of Fear (Isa: Visit) -- I'll catch it in Carthegena, Guadalajara or San Sebastian I'm sure, Jack, In Order of Disappearance which sounds like the sleeper hit of the festival, Argentinan (again!) La tercera orilla (The Third Side of the River), Lou Ye's Tui Na (Blind Massage) and Rachid Bouchareb's Two Men in Town (Isa: Pathe - again!), which I heard was rather flat which is not surprising, for when non-Americans try to make an American genre, it usually misses a certain verve, but still is such an interesting subject for him to tackle, Zwischen Welten (Inbetween Worlds) (Isa: The Match Factory) from Germany, another "American" subject, but here about a German soldier in Afghanistan, not an American one.
Among the Berlinale Specials, I wish I had seen Nancy Buirski's Afternoon of a Faun which everyone said was good (Isa: Cactus Three the doc production company of Krysanne Katsoolis and Caroline Stevens) and Volker Schloendorff's 1969 Brecht piece Baal starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Margarethe von Trotta. I did see his Diplomacy (Isa: Gaumont) which was a great treat, erudite, intimate and reminiscent of the novels of Sandor Marai (Embers and Casanova in Bolzano). Wish I could have seen Wim Wenders' Cathedrals of Culture (Isa: Cinephil), Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez (Isa: Mundial) and In the Courtyard aka Dans la cours (Isa: Wild Bunch) starring Catherine Deneuve and The Kidnapping of Michel Houllebecq (Isa: Le Pacte - again!!). I will see The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (Isa: The Film Sales Company) by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, produced by Jonathan Dana, Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller and Celeste Schaefer Snyder (Ballets Russes), back home. The Turning (Isa: Level K), an experimental omnibus produced by my favorite Australian producer, Robert Connelly who also directed in part and Maggie Myles, is also a must-see as is Errol Morris' companion piece to The Fog of War, The Unknown Known (Isa: HanWay) and Houssein Amini's Two Faces of January (Isa: StudioCanal) starring my favorites Viggo Mortenson and Kirsten Dunst. We Come as Friends (Isa: Le Pacte), by Hubert Sauper whose earlier film Darwin's Destiny astounded me, was worth watching although so often his films plunge one into a hopeless helplessness. Fresh from Sundance, it was raising controversy and the story of the Sudan is worth knowing. His particular and peculiar Pov is valuable. Watermark (Isa: Entertainment One), another social issue worth knowing about will have to wait for a more propitious time. Personally I'm hoping Israel's current venture into desalination of water will lead the world into peace and that I will rejoice watching the doc about that.
Difret (Isa: Films Boutique - again!), fresh from Sundance where I saw it was really good and it sold well. I got to hang out with the team at the Panorama party. Gueros (Isa: Mundial - again!), was a disappointment -- too like The Year of the Nail (though different) in tone. But what a great company Canana is!
Panorama's Finding Vivian Maier (Isa: HanWay - again!) is brilliantly interesting. It is about to be released in U.S. by IFC. I highly recommend seeing this documentary about an eccentric, unknown photographer. It premiered at Tiff 2013. Fresh from Sundance where it won a Special Jury Prize, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Isa: Submarine) was a treasure; Velvet Terrorists was about the oddest piece I have ever seen. About three former opponents of the Czechoslovakian Soviet Regime, each has continued to enjoy blowing up things. One is still training the next generation in urban guerilla warfare. They are otherwise unremarkable, sweet even, but twisted. What an odd documentary.
A quick look at the Market Films I have seen: of the 400+ premieres: Zero -- no I did see German Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, Two Lives (Isa: Beta), and I will soon be home to celebrate its nomination at the famous Villa Aurora, the former home of German expatriate writer Leon Feuchtwanger. So many more films look sooooo attractive! A pity I may never get to see them. I would need all the time in the world, and I have so little. I have so much and yet I want more!
- 2/27/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Benicio del Toro is in negotiations to portray Pablo Escobar in an upcoming drama. The Che actor is said to be in final talks to play the Colombian drug lord in romance thriller Paradise Lost, reports Variety. Paradise Lost follows young surfer Nick, who visits his brother in California and falls in love with a local girl called Maria. However, their romance takes a surprise turn when Nick meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar. The film is written by Life of Pi's Andrea di Stefano, who will also make his directorial debut. Dimitri Rassam's Chapter 2 company has joined with Jerome Seydoux's Pathe and Frederique Dumas's Studio 37 to co-produce the project. "For Chapter 2, (more)...
- 11/14/2012
- by By Tom Eames
- Digital Spy
Benicio Del Toro is in final negotiations for Andrea di Stefano's Paradise Lost where he'll play Pablo Escobar. Inspired by true events, the story follows a young surfer called Nick who visits his brother in Colombia and falls for a beautiful girl, who ends up being the niece of Pablo Escobar. Variety reports that the film's being produced by Chapter 2's Dimitri Rassam and marks the directorial debut of di Stefano (upcoming Ang Lee adventure Life of Pi), who also wrote the script. Studio 37's Frederique Dumas produces Paradise Lost with Jerome Seydoux of Pathe. Rassam stated that "For Chapter 2, Pathe and Studio 37, having Benicio Del Toro on board to play Pablo Escobar was an incredible motivation. He's one of the rare actors with enough charisma and range to play such a multi-faceted character as Escobar, who could be wonderfully charming yet dangerous and menacing."...
- 11/14/2012
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Benicio Del Toro is in final negotiations for Andrea di Stefano's Paradise Lost where he'll play Pablo Escobar. Inspired by true events, the story follows a young surfer called Nick who visits his brother in Colombia and falls for a beautiful girl, who ends up being the niece of Pablo Escobar. Variety reports that the film's being produced by Chapter 2's Dimitri Rassam and marks the directorial debut of di Stefano (upcoming Ang Lee adventure Life of Pi), who also wrote the script. Studio 37's Frederique Dumas produces Paradise Lost with Jerome Seydoux of Pathe. Rassam stated that "For Chapter 2, Pathe and Studio 37, having Benicio Del Toro on board to play Pablo Escobar was an incredible motivation. He's one of the rare actors with enough charisma and range to play such a multi-faceted character as Escobar, who could be wonderfully charming yet dangerous and menacing."...
- 11/14/2012
- Upcoming-Movies.com
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