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Two strong leads in Pierre Lottin and Benjamin Lavernhe make this heart-on-sleeve but unsentimental class drama a triumph in a minor key

French film-maker Emmanuel Courcol serves up a good-natured heartwarmer with some syrup, but also two watchable and robust lead performances. For British audiences, The Marching Band might call to mind Brassed Off, The Full Monty or Billy Elliot, movies from the heartland which dared to dream that showbusiness or cultural community adventures can somehow survive the wreckage of industrial capitalism.

Benjamin Lavernhe plays Thibaut, a distinguished and sensitive orchestra conductor who collapses mid-rehearsal in Paris and is told he has leukaemia and needs a bone marrow transplant donor. Thibaut is adopted and this means tracking down his biological brother out in the boondocks: factory worker Jimmy, played by the formidable Pierre Lottin (recently seen in François Ozon’s When Autumn Falls), whose gift for deadpan comedy really only...

Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche opens The Temple Woods Gang with a quiet urgency, placing us atop a concrete rooftop overlooking the Bois du Temple housing project. The film immediately feels lived-in: sun-bleached façades, pigeon-scattered courtyards and the muted hum of distant traffic. Through a subtle camera move we meet Monsieur Pons, a grieving ex-sniper whose personal loss casts a silent shadow over the story ahead.

From there, the narrative shifts gears into a true-life 2014 heist: a small crew of neighborhood friends—led by the eager Bébé—targets the luggage van of a wealthy Middle Eastern prince. Ameur-Zaïmeche balances vérité-style spontaneity with carefully framed set pieces, making the robbery pulse with authenticity. You sense the director’s art-house roots in every long take and off-beat reaction shot, yet the plot’s kinetic momentum never stalls.

This is no routine thriller. The contrast between adrenaline-fueled action—captured in tense over-the-shoulder shots on the highway—and hushed,...

Directing an adaptation of an iconic book that has already been successfully adapted by the legendary Otto Preminger is an ambitious task for a first-time director, yet that is precisely what Durga Chew-Bose did for her debut feature, Bonjour Tristesse. Taking advantage of her superb cast and some gorgeous scenery, Chew-Bose manages to make her version of this story worth watching despite a safe script.

Bonjour Tristesse Review

Bonjour Tristesse follows a young woman vacationing in the south of France with her father and his younger girlfriend when their seemingly idyllic getaway is disrupted by the arrival of one of her late mother’s old friends. A little bit of debauchery and a whole lot of melodrama ensue, creating a film that goes down incredibly easy.

The biggest obstacle Bonjour Tristesse has to overcome is that its characters aren’t the most approachable. They’re rich and superficial, but this...

Exclusive:French powerhouse studio Gaumont has taken on international sales rights to prolific French filmmaker François Ozon’s adaptation of Albert Camus’ literary masterpiece The Stranger.

Ozon reteams with hisSummer Of ’85 breakout star Benjamin Voisin who plays main character Meursault, a Frenchman living in 1930s Algeria whose apathy and indifference to the surrounding world culminate in cold-blooded murder and a trial that explores both the crime and his character.

The Swimming Pool, Under The Sand and 8 Women director also reteams with Rebecca Marder, who starred in Ozon’s 2023 courtroom comedy The Crime Is Mine, and Pierre Lottin, who starred in...

Carême star, Benjamin Voisin, the brilliant French actor, has kept audiences entertained with his stellar performances for a few years now. His notable 2020 movie Summer of 85 was a coming-of-age story, something that put him on the map as an actor to look out for. It was nothing short of a prelude to his upcoming period drama series, Carême.

His versatility, depth, and screen presence place him comfortably as a prominent figure in modern French cinema, leaving audiences across the world intrigued by what he does next. With Carême trailer out and already such a point for discussion amongst cinephiles, we await his next performance with bated breath.

Summer of 85, a beautiful tale of love and loss

Created by François Ozon, Summer of 85 (Été 85), is set in 1980’s Normandy. Voisin’s character, David Gorman, is 18 years old and forms a unique bond with 16-year-old Alexis, masterfully played by Félix Lefebvre.

The Beijing International Film Festival has developed a reputation for putting a spotlight on female voices in cinema.

Its 15th edition, running April 18-26, is continuing that trend with its sixth annual “Women’s Voice” section, featuring the likes of Walter Salles’ Oscar winner I’m Still Here, the political autobiographical drama starring Fernanda Torres as a Brazilian woman whose dissident husband disappears, and Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, his depression comedy-drama with Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

“In recent years, female creators and their stories have continued to emerge, and the voices of women on screen have become more diverse and powerful,” the Beijing festival highlights. “These works continue to break boundaries in form and theme, bringing us richer and more multidimensional female expressions.”

This year’s lineup “brings together masters and emerging creators from all over the world” who “show the complex faces of women” in various situations. “This is not only a cinematic feast,...

On a massive weekend for Minecraft, there’s another pop at the box office — Fathom Entertainment’s last two installments of The Chosen with Season 5 Parts 1 and 2 both sitting in the top ten.

The Chosen: Last Supper (Season 5) Part 2 is no. 3 with an estimated $7+ million on 2,313 screens. Part 1 is no. 7, sticking around on 1,592 screens in its second week with a three-day gross of $1.87 million and an estimated cume pushing $18.6 million – making Part 1 the best-selling installment yet in the popular series about the life of Jesus.

Part 3 (episodes 6-8) starts next Friday. Fathom will start offering “binge fests” in mid-April so fans can see all three parts. The company has been the U.S. distributor of The Chosen content since 2021 starting with the first theatrical release, Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers.

Blue Harbor Entertainment’s release of Roshan Sethi’s queer romantic comedy A Nice Indian Boy, powered theatrically by...

The pace is picking up with studio wide release A Minecraft Movie booming and plenty of indie fare to fill out behind from Neon’s Hell of a Summer and IFC Films’ The Luckiest Man in America to Fathom’s next installment of The Chosen and expansions of The Friend from Bleecker Street and Gkids’ re-release of Princess Mononoke.

CinemaCon, the biggest annual gathering of theater owners and studios, wrapped last night in Las Vegas. Exhibitors’ tempers were strained by a sour first quarter at the box office and there was an explosion of talk around longer theatrical windows which will for sure remain an ongoing conversation. That said, Q1 is behind us so here’s to hoping for a sustained period of more movies — many highlighted in Vegas — and higher-grossing movies to lift all boats.

Neon opens Hell Of A Summer on 1,255 screens after Thursday previews and early shows took in $215k.

François Ozon’s “When Fall is Coming” starts simply enough. Crunchy leaves and pumpkin soup characterize daily rituals as the air turns crisp in the quaint Burgundy valley where Michelle (Hélène Vincent) lives. One rainy afternoon, the kindly octogenarian — wrapped in a warm leopard print jumper — stops pottering around and sinks into her favorite chair to call her daughter. But after fall comes winter, and already a frosty undercurrent between mother and daughter suggests that there’s more to this perpetual autumn than meets the eye.

Ozon is a filmmaker as regular and reliable as the seasons themselves, yet France’s most prolific auteur is far from predictable, and the same is true of his latest annual release. Following the campery of last year’s “The Crime is Mine” and his tragicomic reworking of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Peter von Kant,” Ozon is in a more pensive mood with this mellow autumn-core affair.

For a spell, François Ozon’s When Fall Is Coming plays like the type of low-key drama that aims more to comfort viewers than challenge them. Set primarily in a small village in the French countryside, the film treats us to plenty of pretty, bucolic shots of its elderly protagonist, Michelle (Hélène Vincent), going for walks in the woods with her best friend, Marie-Claude (Josiane Balasko), picking mushrooms, and preparing meals. Even the tensions between Michelle and her daughter, Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier), given their opaque-to-a-fault nature, can make it seem as if the film is content to keep its cards so close to its chest. This is, at first blush, a film that’s more blandly coy than alluringly mysterious.

But once Marie-Claude’s son, Vincent (Pierre Lotin), returns home from prison and we eventually learn the details of Michelle’s checkered past—and the catalyst for Valérie’s disdain...

This interview was conducted in French and translated by Linda Marric, it was therefore edited for clarity and length.

Please note that this interview contains spoilers for the film.

François Ozon has long been celebrated for his ability to craft compelling, multi-dimensional female characters—an increasingly rare feat in contemporary cinema. In his latest film, When Autumn Falls, he once again brings a deeply layered narrative to life, offering a story filled with moral ambiguity, complex relationships, and raw human emotion.

In this conversation, acclaimed French actor Hélène Vincent shares how she came to be involved in the project, the unexpected gift of landing a leading role, and the joy of working alongside actor and filmmaker Josiane Balasko on the film. She also reflects on the nuances of her character, Michelle, a woman whose past as a prostitute does not define her but instead shapes her unapologetic approach to life.

French actor Gerard Depardieu is facing an 18-month suspended prison sentence for the alleged sexual assaults of two women he worked with on the filming of “The Green Shutters” in 2021.

After a four-day-trial during which Depardieu refuted all accusations, French prosecutors requested a suspended prison sentence along with a fine of 20,000 euros, as well as an obligation to undergo psychological treatment and registration in the sex offenders file.

Depardieu, long considered a leading figure of France’s cinematic history who has starred in over 150 films, including classics such as Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” has been accused by a set decorator and an assistant director on “The Green Shutters.”

Ahead of the trial, the prosecutors office had told Variety that Depardieu was accused of “offenses punishable by up to 5 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros.”

The assistant director reported in her complaint that Depardieu had touched her buttocks in the street,...

Fanny Ardant, the well-known French actor of Francois Ozon’s “Eight Women,” took the stand at Gerard Depardieu’s sexual assault trial in Paris, defending the actor who is her longtime friend.

“I have never witnessed a gesture that I found shocking,” Ardant said in court, according to Le Monde newspaper. “I am a woman myself, I have experienced things like that, I’ve thrown out slaps and insults. I know that you can say no to Gérard,” she continued.

Depardieu is being accused of sexual assault by two women — a set decorator and an assistant director — who worked with him on the set of “The Green Shutters” in southern France in 2021.

The assistant director reported in her complaint that Depardieu had touched her buttocks in the street, then touched her breasts a few days later on location and touched her buttocks again on another occasion.

Depardieu has denied all...

Disney’sSnow White is being ushered into 651 sites, the widest release at the UK-Ireland box office of the weekend.

Marc Webb directs the live-action musical re-imagining of Disney’s 1937Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs animation, which stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.

The film has faced a series of controversies, including star Zegler’s criticism of the original film, debates regarding whether the portrayal of the dwarfs is appropriate for the modern day, a mixed critical reception, as well as Zegler and Gadot’s own politics. Although the press campaign has been muted, Disney hasn’t shied away from a wide roll-out.

Ozon’s drama mixes implied horror with sentimentality as it examines dangerous secrets and the disastrous ramifications of an (accidental?) poisoning

That amazingly prolific film-maker François Ozon returns with an intriguing, if tonally uncertain, mystery drama about a suspected murder. In it, the implied Chabrol-esque horror is made to coexist with an odd mood of gentleness and even sentimentality as we witness the loneliness of an ageing woman with secrets and regrets in the autumn of her life.

This is Michelle, played by 81-year-old actor-director Hélène Vincent; at one point, Ozon allows us to notice she is reading a book by Ruth Rendell, whose thrillers were famously adapted by Claude Chabrol and indeed by Ozon himself (The New Girlfriend). This film is not a Rendell adaptation, but I wonder if Ozon and his co-screenwriter Philippe Piazzo were inspired by the Rendell short story Means of Evil, which also involved mushroom...

Masquerading, at least, in part, as a cosy crime drama, initial appearances are deceptive in François Ozon’s latest work. Set against the backdrop of autumn, the time of year reflects the stage that Michelle (Hélène Vincent) is at in life, as she potters in the woodlands near her rural French home. One thing that isn’t comfy, however, is her relationship with her daughter Valérie (Ludivine Sagnier) whose brewing resentment with her mother takes on fresh venom after an incident in which she and Michelle’s grandson Lucas (Garlan Erlos) pay a visit. The latest trouble is a case of mistaken identity, Michelle claims, although ambiguity hangs in the air like autumn mist and only thickens as the film wears on.

Michelle isn’t the only one whose relationship with her child is less than ideal, her best friend Marie-Claude (Josian Bolakso) is preparing for the release of her son Vincent (Pierre Lottin) from.

This interview has been edited by Linda Marric for length and clarity

In his latest film, When Autumn Falls (2024), prolific French filmmaker François Ozon continues his exploration of intricate human dynamics with electric storytelling and sharp satirical humour. Set in a picturesque Burgundy village, the narrative centres on Michelle (Helene Vincent), a retired grandmother who anticipates a visit from her daughter and grandson. An innocent mistake disrupts her plans, triggering a series of unintended events that intertwine the past and present, challenging familial bonds and personal convictions.

The film showcases Ozon’s signature storytelling style, once again blending elements of drama and dark humour to delve into the complexities of ageing, family, and the unforeseen consequences of seemingly trivial actions.

We were delighted to speak to the director of 8 Women (2002), Swimming Pool (2003), Potiche (2010), Frantz (2016) and countless other titles – he wrote and directed 24 films in as many years – about his...

"I wasn't the mother she wanted." Music Box Films has revealed an official US trailer for a French indie film titled When Fall Is Coming, another new film from French director François Ozon. The film premiered at the 2024 San Sebastian & Toronto Film Festivals last year, and will be released in art house theaters in the US starting in April this spring. The story follows Michelle, a retiree in Burgundy, who expects her grandson Lucas but a mistake ruins her plans. When her Parisian daughter Valérie drops off her son Lucas to spend school vacation with his grandma, Michelle, stressed out from her daughter, serves her toxic mushrooms for lunch. Valérie quickly recovers, but forbids her mother from seeing her grandson anymore... Feeling lonely and guilty, Michelle falls into a depression... until Marie-Claude's son gets out of prison. Reviews state that the film is "a darkly funny French drama worth savoring.

He broke out big in François Ozon‘s Summer of 85 (he confirmed his prowess with his following film the Venice Film Fest preemed Lost Illusions), Benjamin Voisin will now topline and reteam with filmmaker for L’Étranger (aka The Outsider) – the book to film project based on Albert Camus’ 1942 novella. Voisin would play Meursault, an indifferent settler in French Algeria, who, weeks after his mother’s funeral, kills an unnamed Arab man in Algiers. The story is divided into two parts, presenting Meursault’s first-person narrative before and after the killing. Production is set to take place next month in Tangier, Morocco.…...

French TV outfit Canal+ Group unveiled on Tuesday solid full-year financial results for 2024 and plans to pursue its international M&a strategy, even though its market value has dropped drastically (to an estimated $2.1 billion) since being listed as a standalone entity by its parent company Vivendi at the London Stock Exchange.

Canal+ posted total revenues of €6.45 billion ($6.8 billion), a 3.6-percent increase on 2023 while its Ebita was up by 5.4% to €503 million ($529 million). The pay TV group is also still on track to complete its acquisition of MultiChoice, the leading PayTV operator in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa, which was initially planned for April and has now been delayed by six months (to Oct. 8) due to local regulations.

Enders’ senior analyst Francois Godard said the Canal+’s full-year result confirm that it’s a “value stock,” but that “it’s not a company that will see tremendous growth.”

“When you see tech companies who are posting 20% growth every year,...

The French auteur behind 8 Women, In the House and most recently When Autumn Falls is joining us to answer your questions, from how does he coax such amazing performances from actors to his visual influences

Is François Ozon the most talented French film-maker currently working? That’s a big ask, in a very crowded field, but Ozon has got the back catalogue to back it up. From his 1998 feature debut Sitcom (notwithstanding 1997’s 52-minute See the Sea), early films such as Fassbinder adaptation Water Drops on Burning Rocks and star-stuffed crime musical 8 Women, on to more recent works including Frantz and Summer of 85, Ozon has ranged widely across styles and genres, offering something new and original wherever he’s gone. He’s even done an English-language period drama, Angel, starring Romola Garai.

A distinctive feature of Ozon’s career is his ability to command great performances from top-notch female stars,...

J'adore le cinéma! If you love it too, especially in a Francophilic way, you'll be happy to know that Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center are gearing up for the 30th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, running from March 6 to March 16. As usual, this year's film series combines a variety of anticipated films from great French directors with fresh young filmmakers, some selected as part of Unifrance’s 10 to Watch 2025 Program, a yearly initiative honoring a new generation of directors and actors who contribute to the vitality of French creation. There will be 23 films this year, a variety of North American, U.S., and New York premieres which "celebrate the energy, innovation, and range of French cinema," according to Film at Lincoln Center (Flc).

“Unifrance is honored to be celebrating 30 years of French cinema with our partner, Film at Lincoln Center,” said Daniela Elstner, executive director of Unifrance. “Rendez-Vous...

You can see why Munir, a soul-sick writer from an unspecified country in the Middle East, chooses Germany’s remote Hallig Islands as the place to end it all. The soft, watery landscape serves as a suitably calm and scenic backdrop to one’s final days on earth, though it’s not so spectacular or stimulating as to give you a new lease on life altogether. Not at first, anyway. But in the course of Ameer Fakher Eldin’s poetic, existential drama “Yunan,” Munir does gradually find more to the place — and, in turn, to his own life — than initially meets the eye. As a mellow, slow-burning study of cross-cultural human connection, the film is quietly rewarding; a folkloric parallel strand, mapping the protagonist’s journey onto his native heritage, is less successful.

Premiering in competition at the Berlinale, “Yunan” is the second entry in Fakher Eldin’s “Homeland” project,...

Music Box Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “When Fall Is Coming,” a mystery-filled thriller directed by French auteur François Ozon.

Represented internationally by Playtime, “When Fall Is Coming” premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival, where it won best screenplay and supporting actor for Pierre Lottin.

The movie had its U.S. premiere at the Palm Springs Festival and will next screen at Rendez-Vous With French Cinema on March 7. Music Box Films will release “When Fall Is Coming” in New York at the Film Forum on April 4 and is planning a national expansion. Home entertainment release plans will be announced this summer.

“When Fall Is Coming” revolves around the tumultuous life of Michelle (Hélène Vincent), who lived in Paris and has retired to a quiet existence in Burgundy. “The voracious hostility of her adult daughter Valérie (Sagnier) remains Michelle’s great puzzlement: how can a child for...

Prime Video has released the official trailer for the three-part psychological thriller series, ‘Fear,’ about a family pushed to their absolute limits.

Excited to make a fresh start away from London, Martyn (Martin Compston) and Rebecca (Anjli Mohindra) move into a beautiful house in Glasgow with their two young children. At first the new home seems idyllic, but when their neighbour Jan (Solly McLeod) makes unnerving comments to Rebecca it turns out to be the start of something far more intimidating. Facing accusations that are every parent’s worst nightmare, and with the authorities refusing to step in, Martyn and Rebecca feel they have nowhere to turn to for help.

Martin Compston (The Rig, Line of Duty) leads the cast, alongside Anjli Mohindra (Vigil, The Lazarus Project), Solly McLeod (Tom Jones, The Dead Don’t Hurt), BAFTA-winning James Cosmo (Jack Ryan, Game of Thrones), Maureen Beattie (Deadwater Fell, Our House), Daniel Portman (Black Mirror,...

A new trailer has been revealed for François Ozon French gritty drama ‘When Autumn Falls.’

Loving grandmother Michelle is enjoying a peaceful retirement in a quiet Burgundy village near her best friend Marie-Claude. However, everything begins to unravel when her daughter Valérie drops off her grandson Lucas for their week together. As Michelle navigates the complexities of her strained relationship with Valérie, unexpected tensions arise—especially when Marie-Claude’s son, recently released from prison, enters the picture.

Directed by François Ozon, the cast includes Hélène Vincent, Ludivine Sagnier, Josiane Balasko and Pierre Lottin.

Also in trailers – Trailer slices in for ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’

The film is released in UK and Irish cinemas on 21st March.

The post Trailer drops for François Ozon’s ‘When Autumn Falls’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patelliere’s epic literary adaptation The Count Of Monte-Cristo leads the nominations for France’s Cesar Awards with 14.

There were also strong showings from Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts with 13 and Jacques Audiard’s Oscar and Bafta-nominated Emilia Perez with 12.

Scroll down for the full list of nominations

The Count Of Monte-Cristo and Emilia Perez are in the running for best film alongside Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia and Emmanuel Courcol’s The Marching Band.

All of the films nominated for best film had their world premiere at the...

Jacques Audiard’s musical film Emilia Pérez swept the 30th edition of France’s Lumière Awards on Monday evening, winning Best Film, Director and Screenplay as well Actress for Karla Sofia Gascón and Music for Camille and Clément Ducol.

The wins add further steam to the Cannes Jury Prize winner’s awards season run following its quadruple Golden Globes triumph and European Film Awards victory, where it also clinched Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Actress for Gascón.

The movie is currently on six of the 10 announced category shortlists for the 97th the Academy Awards and nominated in 11 categories for the 2025 Baftas film awards.

Further awards seasons hopefuls also featured in the Lumière prizes, with Mati Diop’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Dahomey – which made it into Best International Feature Film (for Senegal) and Documentary Academy Award shortlists – won Best Documentary.

Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis’s Flow – which is also on...

The French box office edged up by 0.5% year-on-year in 2024 hitting 181.3M admissions for an overall gross of roughly $1.36B, according to figures released by France’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc).

The body said that while the overall admissions figure for 2024 remained some 12.8% below pre-pandemic levels, the results were encouraging.

It noted that the pre-pandemic gap had closed in the last eight months to 2.7%, and that the numbers were better than the U.S. and other comparable markets in Europe, such as the UK, which it said had seen a 1% drop in receipts, and Spain, where there had been a 7% year-on-year fall.

The body said the biggest cause for celebration was the performance of local movies, which accounted for 44% of admissions, in comparison to 36.7% for U.S. films.

This is the highest market share for French films since 2008 when Dany Boon hit Welcome To The Sticks and Asterix At The Olympic Games,...

Christmas movies are part of a beloved tradition in celebrating the holidays, with favorite titles that never get old, no matter how many times they are rewatched. Sometimes, there’s a need for a new entry on that holiday list, and chances are, not many people know about the 2002 Christmas whodunit musical 8 Women, a French-English film directed by famous French director François Ozon. His work usually revolves around women-led stories, satire, lush visuals, and themes of sexuality, all of which get put into 8 Women, where a snowbound mansion becomes a crime scene. Its Clue meets the Golden Age of Hollywood when a man is murdered and the suspects are legendary French actresses who break into song-and-dance numbers.

The world premiere of Arild Østin Ommundsen and Silje Salomonsen’sNorwegian family dramaEverything Must Gowill open the35thedition of the Tromso International Film Festival (TIFF), taking place inNorway fromJanuary 13-19, 2025.

James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown will close the festival.

Everything Must Go is aboutthree siblings who move back into their childhood home following their father’s funeral.

In the competition strand, 12 features are in contention for the €5,000 Aurora prize includingBrady Corbet’s The Brutalist,Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths,Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man,and Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays.

Tromso has introduced a special sidebar focused on...

Jacques Audiard’s musical film Emilia Pérez is the frontrunner at the nomination stage for the 30th edition of France’s Lumière awards.

The prizes, which are regarded as the French equivalent of the Golden Globes, will be voted on by members of the international press hailing from 38 countries this year.

They cover 13 categories spanning film, direction, screenplay, actress, actor, female revelation, male revelation, first film, animation, documentary, international co-production, cinematography and music.

Audiard’s Cannes Jury Prize winner Emilia Pérez has clinched six nominations, followed by Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, which won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize this year, and Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia, with five nominations each.

Other frontrunners with four nominations each, include François Ozon’s When Fall Is Coming and Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail.

The winners will be announced in a ceremony at the Forum des images in Paris on January 20, 2025.

The full...

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez has topped the nominations for France’s Lumière Awards.

The French-made, Spanish-language film earned six nominations for best film, director, screenplay, cinematography, music and actress for Karla Sofía Gascón in her starring role as the titular transitioning Mexican drug lord.

The Lumière nominations cap a strong week for Emilia Perez, which garnered 10 nominations for the 2025 Golden Globes,and was the big winner at the European Film Awards with five prizes.

Scroll down for full list of nominees

Boris Lojkine’s Souleymane’s Story, which tracks the daily life of an undocumented Guinean asylum seeker in Paris,...

For its starriest edition to date, the Marrakech Film Festival did more than rolling out the red carpet: it opened the doors to Palace Badi, a 16th-century iconic landmark, for an epic dinner offered by Hm Mohammed VI and hosted by Hrh Prince Moulay Rachid, accompanied by his wife, Princess Lalla Oum Keltoum.

The gala evening kicked off with salutations as Marrakech Festival jury president Luca Guadagnino and fellow jurors, Jacob Elordi, Andrew Garfield and Virginie Efira, as well as honorary guests such as Tim Burton, Monica Bellucci, Sean Penn, David Cronenberg, Justine Triet, Justin Kurzel, Francois Ozon, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu and Marie-Ange Luciani were introduced to Hrh Moulay Rachid and Princess Lalla OumKeltoum one by one.

The festival’s director, Melita Toscan du Plantier, was standing by the Prince and introduced each person to him, although he seemed to know them all. Though Mohammed VI created the festival 21 years ago,...

How a matador’s dazzling traje de luces catches the light just before the bull collapses in a final, heaving gasp is intrinsically unnerving, as is beauty draped atop brutality. Watching François Ozon’s When Fall Is Coming reminded me of the first time I watched a bullfight—thankfully not in person, but in a blurry video during a high school Spanish class.

The instructor, a wiry man with a propensity for melodrama, paused the recording as the matador landed the fatal blow. “Art or savagery?” he inquired, his tone alternating between reverence and horror as if daring us to answer an unanswerable question. Ozon’s film raises similar questions in its own way.

There is no real bullring in When Fall Is Coming, but the film is rich in ritualism: the meticulous preparation of the mushrooms, the delicately weighted exchanges between Michelle and her daughter, and the nearly ceremonial disclosure of long-hidden truths.

When Fall Is Coming by François Ozon seems like a leaf falling through fresh, amber air, its first moments shrouded in the misleading warmth of pastoral innocence. At first glance, the film appears to settle into the rhythms of a calm, autumnal reverie—a “sweetly melancholic meditation,” if you will, on aging, family, and the quiet reckonings of life’s latter seasons. However, beneath its golden hues and knitted textures lies a darker, more uncertain core, where genres combine, and assumptions are quietly shattered.

The film’s tone, its delicate interplay of the serene and menacing, feels like a light trick—a sunbeam glinting off the surface of a shadowy pond. Ozon draws his audience into a comfortable, even quaint world, only to disclose its fractures: the grim comedy of poisoned mushrooms, the thriller’s lack of concealed blame, and the melodrama of unresolved guilt.

Each tone shift disorients, recasting...

Hit drama series “Rivals,” which debuted to great fanfare on Hulu and Disney+, follows the fortunes of genteel television boss Lord Tony Baddingham (played by David Tennant) as he fights to preserve his independent commercial television station Corinium.

It’s a drama that ITV boss, Dame Carolyn McCall, may well be watching closely. McCall, who has presided over the U.K.’s biggest commercial public service broadcaster (Psb) since 2018, is reportedly weighing up selling the media conglomerate, either in its entirety or piecemeal. The latter would see her spin off production arm ITV Studios — whose hits include, amongst other fare, “Rivals” – to the highest bidder.

Over the weekend, a well-sourced Sky News report suggested that McCall is open to entertaining bids, with a number of potential suitors holding “early-stage discussions” about throwing their hat in the ring. According to the report, these include Cvc Capital Partners and a European broadcaster...

Directors Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón, Ava DuVernay, Todd Haynes and Justine Triet will take part in the Conversations programme of the Marrakech International Film Festival announced today.

Eighteen directors, actors, scriptwriters, and producers from six continents are expected in Marrakech this year for the Conversations programmeof talks.

The line-up also includes actors Sean Penn and Gemma Arterton as well as Australian director and screenwriter Justin Kurzel; French director and screenwriter François Ozon; Iranian director, screenwriter, and producer Mohammad Rasoulof; Brazilian director and screenwriter Walter Salles; Russian director and screenwriter Kirill Serebrennikov; and Mauritanian director and screenwriter Abderrahmane Sissako.

The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled a high-powered in conversations program for its upcoming 21st edition gathering 18 leading directors, actors, scriptwriters, and producers.

They include U.S. director and screenwriter Ava Du Vernay, French Oscar winner Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall) and U.S director Tim Burton, who is currently riding high on the success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Speakers also include Walter Salles and Mohammed Rasoulof who are in the middle of buzzy Oscars campaigns for their Best International Feature Film contenders I’m Still Here and The Seed Of The Sacred Fig.

Canadian director and screenwriter David Cronenberg and U.S. actor director Sean Penn, who are being feted by the festival with career awards this year, will also participate.

The line-up also features U.S. director and screenwriter Todd Haynes, Australian director and screenwriter Justin Kurzel, director and screenwriter François Ozon, UK actor Gemma Arterton,...

A sprawling lineup of filmmakers, including Sean Penn, Tim Burton, Alfonso Cuaron, Justine Triet, Ava DuVernay and David Cronenberg will attend the Marrakech Film Festival and take part in conversations in front of audiences.

In total, 18 directors, actors, screenwriters and producers from six continents will participate in on-stage discussions to reflect on their craft, lives and careers at the festival, which kicks off Nov. 29 and runs until Dec. 7.

Surpassing the talent roster of major international festivals such as Cannes or Venise, this year’s Marrakech conversations program will also includes Iranian director, screenwriter and producer Mohammad Rasoulof; Australian director and screenwriter Justin Kurzel; French director and screenwriter François Ozon; British actor Gemma Arterton; Brazilian director and screenwriter Walter Salles; Russian director and screenwriter Kirill Serebrennikov; Mauritanian director and screenwriter Abderrahmane Sissako (“Timbuktu”); Moroccan filmmakers Alaa Eddine Aljem (“The Unknown Saint”), Yasmine Benkiran (“Queens”), Ismaël El Iraki (“Zanka Contact”) and Kamal Lazraq...

European Film Promotion, which gives a boost to films and talent from Europe, has revealed the jury for the 28th edition of European Shooting Stars, which showcases actors from the continent.

The jury is comprised of five film professionals who will select 10 actors. They will then take part in a program at the Berlin Film Festival, which runs Feb. 13 – 23. The jury will select the actors from candidates who have been nominated by their national film promotion institutes and film centers.

The jury includes former European Shooting Star Ludivine Sagnier, an actor best known for her roles in films by François Ozon. She starred in, among others, “Water Drops on Burning Rocks” (2000), “8 Women” (2002) and “Swimming Pool” (2003), and she will also appear in Ozon’s latest film, “Quand vient l’automne” (2024). Sagnier has also worked with directors such as P.J. Hogan, Lee Tamahori, Paolo Sorrentino, Hirokazu Koreeda and Ridley Scott.

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In France, François Ozon has more or less taken on the mystique of a sort of European Hong Sang-soo—the announcement of a new film in his catalogue might as well be the announcement of a new Tuesday. Where Ozon may differ from Hong, however, is in the particular palatability of his prolific output; while it may take a while for Hong to wear you down, Ozon’s is an approach that is more or less accessible for just about anybody right from the start.

Just as there’s a strange comfort in the regularity of his releases, there’s something inherently cozy in the sort of French family dramas—some might call them “thrillers,” were it not for their frequently casual dispositions—Ozon pumps out like Stephen King pumps out new horror stories. In crafting an oeuvre whose general essence is one of contained coziness, it only makes sense...

French model-turned-actor Marine Vacth is set to headline “Badh,” a “Taken”-style action thriller set in Morocco, from the producers of Coralie Fargeat’s hit debut “Revenge.”

The movie is directed by Canadian filmmaker Guillaume de Fontenay, who previously helmed the popular thriller “Sympathy for the Devil,” and is co-represented by Sabine Chemaly’s Federation Studios banner Ginger & Fed and WTFilms who will present it to buyers at the American Film Market this week.

Vacth stars opposite a raft of well-known French actors, Niels Schneinder (“Heartbeats”) Emmanuelle Bercot (“My King”), Slimane Dazi (“A Prophet”) and Sofian Khammes (“November”). The high-concept movie is produced by Monkey Pack Films and M.E.S Production, who previously delivered two popular thrillers, Coralie Fargeat’s “Revenge” and Frederic Jardin’s “Survive.”

Vacth stars as Alma, a young French woman with a secret past as a lethal secret service agent who has found peace...

Studiocanal’s romantic dramaBeating Hearts (L’Amour Ouf) topped the French box office in October during a strong month that saw admissions hit 15.53 million (€111.8m based on an average ticket price of €7.20), a 10.8% jump from last year according to figures from the Cnc.

Audiences turned out strongly for Gilles Lellouche’s film which stars Adele Exarchopolous and Francois Civil and premiered in Competition at Cannes in May. The melodrama has sold 2.17 million tickets (approximately €15.6m) after two weeks in cinemas since its October 16 release. Strong word of mouth particularly among younger audiences helped the decades-spanning romantic drama sell more tickets in...

Parkland Film Capital has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Francois Ozon’s When Fall Is Coming.

Parkland acquired the film from sales agent Playtime.When Fall Is Coming centres on a grandmother whose peaceful retirement in Burgundy is disrupted when her daughter drops off her grandson for a week of autumn vacation.

Written, directed and produced by Ozon, it stars Helene Vincent, Ludivine Sagnier, Josiane Balasko and Pierre Lottin.

Ozon’s Foz Production produced the film, with France 2 Cinema, Playtime and support from Canal+ and the Cnc.

The film first screened in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire in France in September, before a...

Following a pair of box office hits “Black Box” and “A Perfect Man,” hot French filmmaker Yann Gozlan is now directing Cécile de France (“The Young Pope”), Lars Mikkelsen (“House of Cards”) and French music icon Mylène Farmer in “The Residence,” a tense psychological thriller revolving around AI.

Gaumont is co-producing and handling international sales on the high-concept movie whose first still is being unveiled by Variety. Gaumont’s EVP of international sales and distribution Alexis Cassanet and his team will be teasing the buzzy French project to buyers at the AFM.

Set in a near future, “The Residence” follows Clarissa (De France), a novelist with writer’s block who joins a prestigious, state-of-the-art artist residency where she’s been assigned an AI assistant named Dalloway (Farmer). The latter quickly becomes more than a simple assistant and turns into a true confidante for Clarissa. Feeling unsettled by Dalloway’s increasingly intrusive presence,...

For a film that is not much more than pure, delightful homage to 1930s cinema and the various genres of the time, there is nothing stale about The Crime Is Mine. François Ozon’s frilly farce/pointed courtroom drama is closest in style to his previous film, Peter von Kant — and equally, if not more, eye-popping. But thematically it shares most common ground with 8 Women (which also features Isabelle Huppert), where murder, melodrama and storming female leads also combine. The result is a lavish, briskly witty period romp with an ultra-modern post-MeToo sensibility.

The first of said leads is Nadia Tereszkiewicz as Madeleine Verdier, an ailing actor who we initially see skedaddling from the impressive Art Deco mansion of a powerful theatre producer (Jean-Christophe Bouvet), after he has tried to attack her. Not long later, her assailant is discovered dead, and Madeleine inadvertently becomes a prime suspect. To make...

The acclaimed French actor answers your questions on Heaven’s Gate, Haneke and hindsight

François Ozon is a great director and 8 Women was a fantastic film. What brought you to work with him again for The Crime Is Mine? BenderRodriguez

I loved doing 8 Women and I just saw his last film in San Sebastián, When Fall Is Coming, and it’s really great. He’s very versatile. He goes from one style to the other, like a French Stephen Frears. The Crime Is Mine is more in the line of 8 Women. It’s a comedy, an adaptation of an old play that he turned into more contemporary material; something more feminist and more updated. He’s very vivid and he’s very, very, very fast, so when you work with him he gives you a certain kind of energy.

Having performed in such a wide range of films,...

Reflecting the breadth of her legacy across different continents, French actor Isabelle Huppert was celebrated by the likes of Alfonso Cuarón, Claire Denis, Alejandro Jodorowsky and François Ozon at the 15th edition of the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon where she received a sprawling career tribute on Oct. 18.

Huppert kicked off the festivities as she entered the 3000-seat auditorium dancing to the 1980’s disco beats of “Nuit de folie,” dressed in a shimmery champagne gown.

The joyful ceremony, emceed by Huppert’s longtime friend (and Cannes boss) Thierry Fremaux who runs the Lumiere Film Festival, was punctuated by live musical numbers ranging widely from Camelia Jordana’s singing a capella “I Will Survive,” to Julien Clerc performing his 1978 cult song “Ma Preference” by the piano, and French actor Sandrine Kiberlain playfully singing “Nuit de folie” which was said to be Huppert’s unexpected all-time favorite song.

The most vibrant homage...

Isabelle Huppert, the Oscar-nominated star of “Elle,” spoke candidly about her career choices and made the audience laugh with her self-deprecating humor at a masterclass held at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon.

The French actor, who is also being honored with the fest’s lifetime achievement Lumière prize, revealed that she had seen very few movies when she started acting some 50 years ago. But that didn’t prevent her from working with some of Europe’s most talented filmmakers, including Claude Chabrol, Michael Haneke and Paul Verhoeven.

“We didn’t go to cinemas as much back then,” she said during the on-stage conversation with Lumiere Film Festival’s boss Thierry Fremaux, who is also Cannes chief. Claire Denis (“White Material”) and Francois Ozon, who have directed Huppert in several films, were sitting on the front row.

“When I started making films, I had seen very few. I’ve still seen few by the way.