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Alexandre Mallet-Guy’s Memento has bought Harry Lighton’s sexy romance “Pillion” which is world premiering in Un Certain Regard.

The Paris-based Memento, which is at Cannes with three movies in competition, will release the A24 movie in France. Speaking to Variety, Mallet Guy said, “It’s a gay Bdsm rom-com, and it’s pretty wild.”

“Alexander Skarsgård plays the biker, and Harry Melling, who you might know from ‘Harry Potter,’ plays the submissive. The film is hilarious but also quite disturbing, simply because it’s a romantic comedy set in such a specific, unconventional world. But it really works — it’s surprisingly emotional, and there’s something incredible about seeing two stars take such bold risks,” he added.

Memento’s Cannes competition lineup includes Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Jafar Panahi’s “A Simple Accident” and Tarik Saleh’s “Eagles of the Republic,” as well as Laura Wandel’s...

Acclaimed Swedish-Egyptian filmmaker Tarik Saleh spotlights the fraught history of the Arab film industry with his latest film, “Eagles of the Republic.” Saleh concludes his Cairo trilogy films with the satirical political thriller, which takes place in Egypt.

Swedish actor Fares Fares plays a fictionalized Egyptian superstar actor who is pressured to star in a government-commissioned film. After he reluctantly accepts the role, he finds himself thrown into the inner circle of power and begins an affair with the mysterious wife of the general overseeing the film. Lyna Khoudri, Cherien Dabis, Zineb Triki, and Sherwan Haji co-star. “Eagles of the Republic” will premiere in competition at Cannes 2025.

Saleh’s Cairo trilogy began with his 2017 Sundance Grand Jury prize winner, “The Nile Hilton Incident.” Saleh was exiled from Egypt prior to shooting his 2017 film, yet he continued to set films in the country while shooting instead in Turkey. “It’s very sad.

Twelve years after making his French-language directorial debut with “The Past,” two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is set to return to Paris for his next film, “Parallel Tales.”

The film, whose plot remains under wraps, brings together a powerful French cast, including Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”), Virginie Efira (“Benedetta”), Vincent Cassel (“Black Swan”), Pierre Niney (“The Count of Monte Cristo”) and Adam Bessa (“Ghost Trail”). Iconic French actor Catherine Deneuve will also make an appearance in the film.

Produced by long-time collaborator Alexandre Mallet-Guy alongside with Asghar Farhadi and David Levine, the prestige project will be launched by Charades and UTA Independent Film Group at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. Charades will handle international sales, while UTA Independent Film Group will rep U.S. rights. Farhadi is set to begin production on “Parallel Tales” in Paris this fall.

The Iranian director’s most recent film, “A Hero,” earned the Grand...

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 78th edition (May 13-24).

Scroll down for full line-up

Festival director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Montparnasse cinema in Paris alongside festival president Iris Knobloch.

A diverse range of features make up the 2025 Competition, mixing veteran auteurs with up-and-coming directors.

Acclaimed directors the Dardenne Brothers, Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater and Joachim Trier are among those selected for Cannes Competition 2025.

Newcomers to the Competition include genre specialist Ari Aster, Berlin Golden Bear winner Carla Simon as well as Germany’s Mascha Schilinski.

Six...

“The X-Files” executive producer and writer Frank Spotnitz and his London-based Big Light Productions have boarded event Swedish sci-fi “We Come in Peace” as a co-producer, Variety has learned in exclusivity on the eve of London TV Screenings. Spotnitz serves as writing supervisor as well as executive producer, alongside Big Light’s Adrian Banyard.

The six-part TV show which just wrapped production in Sweden is repped internationally by Newen Connect, which will unveil clips and creative materials to global buyers at a presentation in London Feb. 25, to be attended by Spotnitz and the main Swedish producer Piodor Gustafsson of Black Spark Film & TV. The Swedish and US executives go way back. As former drama buyer and commissioner for Swedish pubcaster Svt, Gustafsson acquired in 2012 the BBC series “Hunted” created and penned by Spotnitz, and the latter has taught for the last 12 years at the Berlin-based screenwriting training course Serial...

Memento Intl., the well-established Paris-based international sales company behind “Call Me by Your Name,” is rebranding as Paradise City Sales and is bringing “My Notes on Mars,” starring Greta Lee and Andrew Scott, to the EFM.

Emilie Georges, who founded Memento Intl. 20 years ago, launched the production vehicle Paradise City a few years ago with London-based Naima Abed. The pair have had great success with the pics they delivered, notably 2025 Sundance hit ”Atropia,” starring Alia Shawkat and Channing Tatum, and Anthony Chen’s 2023 drama ”Drift,” with Cynthia Erivo. “My Notes of Mars,” Hungarian director Lili Horvát’s English-language debut feature, is the latest co-production on Paradise City’s slate.

The rebranding comes at a pivotal time as Georges and Abed seek to build a closer bond between production and sales. As such, the sales outlet will now operate under the same Paradise City banner, which has offices in Paris and London,...

Exclusive: Mad Distribution, the pan-Arab releasing arm of Cairo-based pan-Arab film company Mad Solutions, has acquired all Middle East and North African rights to Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36.

The hot-button epic about Palestine’s 1936 revolt against British colonial rule features Jeremy Irons (A Reversal of Fortunes), Hiam Abbas (Succession) and Kamel El Basha (The Idol) in a high-profile international cast.

The film is expected to release theatrically in late 2025 following a festival launch.

The Arab all-rights distribution deal with Mad comes just a few days after France’s mk2 films and newly launched company Lucky Number announced they were joining forces to handle international sales on Jacir’s film which was previously known as All Before You.

The international co-production involves Jacir and Ossama Bawardi’s Philistine Films, Autonomous, Corniche Media, Mk Productions, and Snowglobe.

The drama follows the character of Yusuf as he drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem,...

‘You know there’s got to be something better,” sang the iconic Marianne Faithfull. Similarly Göteborg market’s head of TV Drama Vision Cia Edström and Josef Kullengård, head of industry and Nordic Film Market, were determined to bring “good energy and hope” to their 2,000-plus guests – and not only as DJs of the closing Nordic Film Market gig.

Below are takeaways from the 2025 Nordic Film Market and TV Drama Vision, that took place under the motto “Collaborate, Create and Captivate.”

Farewell – Until Next Year

A new record attendance was set this year, according to preliminary figures released by Kullengård. A total 2,368 on-site delegates from 54 countries were accredited, including 780 for TV Drama Vision and 586 for the Nordic Film Market.

In terms of projects, Nordic Film Market showcased 68 feature-length projects and TV Drama Vision 61 series at various stages of production.

Edström said she is very happy with the numbers for the...

As Spanish TV production stands strong, largely resisting the cut-back in commissions suffered in most of the world, few higher profile new series will be brought to market at Mipcom than Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The New Years” (“Los años nuevos”).

A Movistar Plus+ Original, produced with Caballo Films, the fast-rising Sorogoyen co-founded Madrid production label, in association with Arte France, “The New Years” follows on Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” which established him as one of Europe’s youngest top-tier filmmakers.

Few other directors will have won a Best Foreign Film César, as “The Beasts” did in 2023, beating four Cannes Festival 2022-23 competition winners: “Triangle of Sadness,” “Eo,” “Close” and “Boy from Heaven.” Not that many will have grossed $2.5 million in France with a Spanish-language film as well as an extraordinary €6.8 million ($7.5 million) in Spain, despite its artistic ambition.

Sold outside Spain and France by Movistar Plus+ International, “The New Years...

Back in Cannes a year after presiding over the main Cannes jury, the two-time Palme d’or winner Ruben Öslund unveiled more details about his next mega-project, English-language “The Entertainment System Is Down,” which he said should be ready for Cannes 2026.

The press conference, attended by the hottest talent and producers from the Nordic region and beyond, was hosted by Film i Väst, one of Europe’s largest regional film funds.

Making his usual rock star appearance, flanked by actors Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl, Östlund unveiled more details about “The Entertainment System Is Down”, to be shot entirely on a real 747 airplane, bought by the producers for the movie.

”I was in London doing some casting and Erik [Hemmendorff, producer and partner in the Swedish banner Plattform Produktion] was in Northern London looking for airplanes. A few days later I asked: ‘Did you buy it?’ And he said: ‘Yes!’ That was quite early in the process. I said: ‘Oh,...

A stirring, expertly judged thriller powered by a pair of blazing performances, Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes) kicks off Cannes’ Critics’ Week sidebar in first-rate form.

Revolving around a Syrian exile tracking down his former torturer in France, French director Jonathan Millet’s feature-length fiction debut is a work of visceral intensity and formidable control, pulling you into a tight grip and holding you there. The cat-and-mouse premise and brisk, nerve-jangling execution are familiar from numerous other geopolitically timely spy/manhunt tales on big and small screens. But if Ghost Trail doesn’t necessarily buzz with novelty, it boasts a bracing sense of craftsmanship and purpose — of “understanding the assignment,” as the kids might say — both behind and in front of the camera.

Working from a screenplay (“inspired by true events”) co-written with Florence Rochat, Millet displays a shrewd grasp of paranoid-thriller mechanics: fluid camerawork, crisp cutting, propulsive music, anxiety-spiking sound design.

Cannes and Sundance-winning filmmaker Tarik Saleh starts shooting tomorrow (May 15) on political thriller Eagles Of The Republic with Playtime on board for international sales. Memento Distribution will release in France and Sf Studios has bought Nordic rights.

Eagles Of The Republic is third and final film in Saleh’s Cairo trilogy after Sundance Grand Jury prize winner The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) and Cannes screenplay winner Cairo Conspiracy aka Boy from Heaven (2022).

Written and directed by Saleh, its cast includes Swedish actor Fares Fares, French star Lyna Khoudri, American-Palestinian actress Cherien Dabis, French-Moroccan actress Zineb Triki and Finnish-Syrian actor Sherwan Haji.

French director Jonathan Millet riffs on manhunt tropes in “Ghost Trail,” the psychological thriller that will be the Cannes Critics’ Week opener.

Variety has been given an exclusive first-look clip from the film, which is inspired by real-life events.

“Ghost Trail” is the story of a Syrian man named Hamid who is part of a secret group pursuing fugitive leaders that perpetrated horrors in the name of the Syrian regime during the country’s civil war.

His mission takes him to France, on the trail of his former torturer. And he manages to tracks him down, as it appears from the clip.

“But with his judgment clouded by pressure, doubt and revenge, can he be certain of the righteousness of his own actions?” the synopsis reads.

Millet, who previously co-directed doc “Ceuta, Douce Prison” – about five migrants who leave their lands to try their luck in Europe and end up...

Arab distributor Mad Solutions has taken distribution rights for Arab world territories on French director Jonathan Millet’s “Ghost Trail,” ahead of the psychological thriller’s upcoming world premiere as the opening film of Cannes Critics’ Week.

“Ghost Trail” is being sold by French arthouse production and distribution giant MK2.

Inspired by real-life events, “Ghost Trail” is the story of a Syrian man named Hamid who is part of a secret group pursuing fugitive leaders who perpetrated horrors in the name of the Syrian regime during the country’s civil war.

“His mission takes him to France, on the trail of his former torturer whom he must confront. But with his judgment clouded by pressure, doubt and revenge, can he be certain of the righteousness of his own actions?” the provided synopsis reads.

Cannes Critics’ Week artistic director Ava Cahen has described “Ghost Trail” as a “thrilling sensory film in...

Last year the Critics’ Week section introduced us to first and second features from the likes of Vladimir Perišić, Iris Kaltenbäck, Amanda Nell Eu, Amjad Al Rasheed and Marie Amachoukeli. In 2024, Ava Cahen’s team viewed 1050 feature films have loaded up the competition (and Special Screenings section) with eleven features. France is unsurprisingly the dominant representation country with five selections and three co-productions. Opening with Jonathan Millet‘s Les Fantômes (aka Ghost Trail) which was coined as a Cairo Conspiracy meets the surveillance world of The Lives Of Others this stars Adam Bessa, Tawfeek Barhom, Julia Franz Richter, Hala Rajab and unfolds in modern-day Strasbourg.…...

New projects from directors including Agnieszka Holland, Carla Simon, Joachim Trier, Amanda Kernell and Tarik Saleh are among 26 features to receive backing from Eurimages’ in its latest round of co-production funding.

The 26 features – including five documentaries and one animation – have shared a total of €7m funding. Fourteen are to be directed by women.

Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic Franz received €500,000 ahead of an expected shoot in Czech Republic and Germany next month with newcomer Idan Weiss to play Kafka. Holland’s most recent film Green Border won the special jury prize in competition at Venice in 2023.

Spain’s Carla Simon,...

Once upon a time, there was the Swedish queen of crime Camilla Läckberg, steadily delivering international best-selling adult/children’s books, cook books and song lyrics.

Some of her books have turned into series –“The Fjällbacka Murders” – or soon will be – “The Golden Age,’ optioned by Legendary Entertainment.

One day she met Swedish star actor Alexander Karim while shooting the Swedish show “Stars in the Castle” (“Stjärnorna på slotet”).

“We started talking TV, movies, creative ideas and immediately hit it off!” Läckberg tells Variety, in a zoom interview ahead of Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market. There, her executive produced thriller “The Dog,” starring Alexander Karim and helmed by his brother Baker Karim (“Malcolm”), is having its market world premiere.

The Karim brothers and Läckberg are, moreover, now ‘partners in crime’ in Bad Flamingo Studios (Bfs), a Stockholm-based film and TV production outfit founded to “break the film industry’s norms and barriers.

Both features will form part of Paris-based mk2 films’ line-up at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris event this week.

mk2 films, the sales outfit behind Anatomy Of A Fall and How To Have Sex, has acquired Jonathan Millet’s thriller Ghost Trail and Laetitia Dosch’s high-concept comedy Who Let the Dog Bite? ahead of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema that opens tomorrow in Paris.

Inspired by real-life events, Ghost Trail is about a Syrian man pursuing some of the people who perpetrated horrors in the name of the regime during the civil war. His mission takes him to France...

The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the 25 projects selected for the sixth edition of its industry-focused Atlas Workshops, aimed at nurturing emerging Moroccan, Arab and African talent.

Running from November 27 to 30, the event will present 16 projects in development and nine films in production or post-production from 11 countries, selected from among the 320 applications received from the Arab world and African continent.

In a reflection of the growing diversity of the stories being told by Arab and African independent filmmakers, the selection spans a diverse range of film genres, from Lebanese director Sandra Tabet’s horror picture Rabies to Moroccan filmmaker Hind Bensari’s humanist documentary Out of School and Adnane Baraka’s poetic work We Don’t Forget.

Moroccan filmmaker Baraka made waves with his documentary Fragments from Heaven, about a nomad living in a tent in a remote part of Morocco who goes in search of meteorite fragments to boost the family fortunes.

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Black-and-white genre hopping thriller is second feature from German director Kröger.

German director Timm Kröger’s black-and-white genre-hopping thriller The Theory of Everything has scored key territory sales ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Venice Film Festival.

Paris-based sales outfit Charades has sold the Swiss Alps-set feature to UFO Distribution in France, La Aventura Audiovisual in Spain and Moviesinspired in Italy. Weirdwave will release the film in Greece, Pictureworks has taken rights for India and Megacom will distribute in ex-Yugoslavia. Neue Visionen will release The Theory of Everything in Germany on October 26 and Film Coopi has Swiss rights.

Cesar-winning French actor Roschdy Zem (“Days of Glory”) and “Fauda” star Laëtitia Eïdo are co-starring in “Fatum,” a timely action film directed by Florent-Emilio Siri (“Hostage”) and scored by Oscar-winning Alexandre Desplat.

“Fatum,” which started filming on July 4 in Morocco, is produced by Mathias Rubin at Récifilms. Orange Studio is co-producing and has French distribution rights, as well as handles international sales. The film is also co-produced by France 2 Cinéma which pre-bought it along with Canal+, Disney+ and Palatine Etoile 21.

Zem, one of France’s most bankable actors who previously won a Cannes prize with “Days of Glory” and recently won a Cesar Award with “Oh Mercy!” stars in “Fatum” as Elyas, a former Special Forces soldier who has become solitary and paranoid since serving Afghanistan. Elyas is recruited to provide the security for Amina (Eido) and her daughter Nour who fled the Emirates and found refuge in a French castle.

Easter holidays boost takings of ’Mummies’, ‘Puss In Boots’; ‘Rye Lane’ tops £1m.

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Apr 14-16)Total gross to date Week 1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Universal) £7.6m £35.9m 2 2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (eOne) £1.2m £10.8m 3 3. John Wick: Chapter 4 (Lionsgate) £823,064 £14.9m 4 4. Air (Warner Bros) £722,822 £2.8m 2 5. Renfield (Universal) £680,661 £680,661 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.24

Audiences shelled out a further £7.6m on Universal animation The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as the blockbuster dropped just 14% on its opening session to comfortably hold the UK-Ireland box office lead.

Mario increased its Sunday takings by 9% compared to its opening session...

Also out this weekend: Sony has anime fantasy ’Suzume’ and Paramount action thriller ‘Assassin Club’.

After a lively weekend for new releases at the UK-Ireland box office over the Easter bank holiday, this session is looking a little calmer, with Universal’s Super Mario Bros: The Movie likely to keep its spot at the top.

The widest new release to take the plunge this weekend is Universal’s Renfield, playing at 605 sites. Chris McKay’s action-comedy take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula is set in modern day New Orleans, with Nicolas Cage as the famous bloodsucker, and Nicholas Hault as his long-suffering familiar,...

Incoming Cannes Film Festival President Iris Knobloch used her maiden speech in the role to herald the return of the theatrical experience as studios move away from day-and-date practices adopted during the pandemic.

The former Warner exec made her comments in the opening remarks of the festival’s lineup press conference in Paris on Thursday.

“I’ve taken up my role at a time which is especially exciting for me, in which we are seeing a re-falling in love, a return to the cinema,” she said.

Related: Cannes Film Festival Lineup: Haynes, Anderson, Glazer, Kore-Eda, Wenders In Competition – Full List

“Films are back in cinemas and the audiences are back in cinemas. Cineastes, auteurs, artists and professionals all agree that nothing can replace the cultural event represented by the release of a film in a theater,” she said.

“The studios have abandoned all types of day-and-date. Films are no longer...

The Swedish-Egyptian film-maker behind The Nile Hilton Incident discusses the rewarding reaction to his spy thriller Cairo Conspiracy – and how being a graffiti artist set him free

When you’re confronted with a truly groundbreaking piece of art, a certain disorientation is sometimes what you experience first. “A lot of journalists ask me: ‘What is real? What is real in this film?’” says the Swedish director Tarik Saleh, suddenly seized by a chuckling fit. “And I think this obsession is because the way the media portrays Muslims is so fictional that when people see a fictional film that portrays al-Azhar [University], they feel like they’ve seen a documentary. And I try to tell them: ‘No, it’s fiction!’”

He is talking about his new film Cairo Conspiracy, so seductive because it appears to give us privileged entry into what has been for most westerners a hitherto invisible world: al-Azhar University in the Egyptian capital,...

Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux is all for global cinema, with a caveat.

The festival president addressed the recent 2023 Academy Awards ahead of the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival.

“I thought the ceremony was very good and I was happy to see Michelle Yeoh rewarded. And disappointed that Steven Spielberg wasn’t, because his film is a love letter to cinema,” Frémaux told Variety. “I don’t understand either why [2022 Cannes Palme d’Or winner] ‘Triangle of Sadness’ can’t vie for a best international film Oscar, even if it’s in English. How can a non-American film win the Oscar for best film since it’s a ceremony in honor of American cinema? ‘Parasite’ won, it’s great, but it’s a Korean film.”

Academy rules state that an International Feature submission must “be predominantly (more than 50%) in a language or languages other than English,” while much of “Triangle of Sadness” (despite being an EU/UK co-production) unfolds in English.

"Power is a double-edged sword." Indeed it is. Picturehouse has unveiled another new official UK trailer for Cairo Conspiracy, the film formerly known as Boy From Heaven, set in Egypt. This already opened in US theaters in January, and opens in UK cinemas this April. It initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay award. The story is about a devout young man named Adam, the son of a fisherman, who is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of power for the Sunni Islam religion. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo, the university's highest ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, suddenly dies and Adam becomes a pawn in the ruthless power struggle between Eqypt's religious and political elite. The film stars Tawfeek Barhom as Adam, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram Khoury, Mehdi Dehbi, Moe Ayoub, Sherwan Haji,...

Picturehouse Entertainment has debuted the trailer for the political thriller ‘Cairo Conspiracy.’

Adam (Tawfeek Barhom), the son of a fisherman, is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicentre of power of Sunni Islam. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo, the university’s highest-ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, suddenly dies and Adam soon becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elites.

A blistering political thriller brimming with tension, the film follows wide-eyed Adam as he becomes entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse with wily state security officer Colonel Ibrahim (Fares Fares). Forced to infiltrate certain cliques in the religious seat of learning, Adam finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations, the threat of exposure ever imminent.

The film stars Fares Fares (The Nile Hilton Incident) and Tawfeek Barhom (The Way of the Wind)

Previously...

Dominik Moll’s brooding procedural thriller “The Night of the 12th” won big at the 48th Cesar Awards Friday night in Paris.

Out of 10 nominations, “The Night of the 12th” picked up best film, director, male newcomer for Bastien Bouillon, supporting actor for Bouli Lanners, adapted screenplay and sound. Bouillon and Lanners star as two cops trying to solve the gruesome murder of a young woman. The film opened at Cannes in the Premieres section.

Caroline Benjo, who produced “The Night of the 12th” with Carole Scotta and Simon Arnal at Haut et Court, made a searing speech denouncing the violence against women. “When Dominic and Gilles came to us to make this film it was obvious that we (needed to address this issue) and that the perspective of men on this matter was crucial, and that filmmakers had to tell this story,” said Benjo. “A few days ago, Dominic...

The 46th César Awards, France’s top film honors, have been handed out in Paris, with Dominik Moll’s crime thriller The Night of the 12th winning the best picture trophy.

Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms coming into the awards show, just behind Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, which picked up 11 nominations. Moll also won for best director, and Bouli Lanners earned the best supporting actor trophy for his performance in The Night of the 12th.

Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, was up for 9 Césars, as was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family...

While Sweden’s Ruben Östlund grabbed some Oscar nominations and took home Cannes’ Palmed’Or last year, two other Scandinavian filmmakers basked in the international spotlight following their Cannes competition premieres: Ali Abbasi with “Holy Spider” and Tarik Saleh with “Cairo Conspiracy” (previously titled “Boy From Heaven”).

Abbasi, an Iranian-born Danish helmer, and Saleh, a Swedish director whose father is Egyptian, are part of an exciting new generation of Nordic helmers who are shaking up traditional Scandinavian cinema.

These filmmakers are delivering singular and timely movies shot abroad or in different languages, weaving together genres and political elements.

“Holy Spider” was based on the true story of a family man who became a serial killer and murdered sex workers in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad, while “Cairo Conspiracy” is set against the backdrop of a ruthless struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elite.

Breaking away from the longentrenched trend of so-called Nordic Noir,...

You Gotta Have Faith: Saleh Explores Corruption of Institutions in Procedural Thriller

“Power is a double edged sword. Sometimes it cuts the hand that wields it,” is the overtly stated adage in the final moments of Cairo Conspiracy, director Tarik Saleh’s return to his native Egypt hot on the heels of his Chris Pine led English language debut, The Contractor. It’s an unnecessary statement considering the more than obvious events transpiring in the film, which for the majority of its running time add up to a thoughtful but pulpy thriller.

A procedural about the corrupting nature of power, whether in state or religious institutions, Saleh keeps distance from the parallel protagonists working to instill a puppet figurehead in Al-Azhar, Egypt’s oldest degree granting university, referred to as the beacon of Islam in the world.…...

Marks the third feature animation from award-winning Chinese filmmaker Liu Jian.

Paris-based Memento International has secured global sales rights to Chinese filmmaker Liu Jian’s animated feature Art College 1994, which has made a late entry to the Competition line-up at the upcoming Berlinale.

The feature will receive its world premiere at the 73rd edition of the festival, which runs February 16-26.

It marks Liu’s third feature after 2010’s Piercing I and Have A Nice Day, which also premiered in Competition at the Berlinale in 2017 and went on to win best animated feature at the prestigious Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

Louis Garrel’s heist comedy The Innocent and the Dominik Moll-directed procedural The Night of the 12th are the films to beat at this year’s César Awards, France’s top film prize.

The Innocent, in which Garrel co-stars, alongside Tár actress Noemie Merlant and Roschdy Zem, picked up 11 César nominations, including for best film and best director.

Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which, like The Innocent, premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms, including for best film.

Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, picked up 9 César nominations, as did Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family drama Full Time and Alice Diop...

Update: Louis Garrel’s The Innocent has taken a surprise lead in the nominations for the 48th César Awards, which were announced on Wednesday ahead of the ceremony at Olympia concert hall in Paris on February 24.

The comedy-drama, which debuted in Cannes, was nominated in 11 categories followed by Dominik Moll’s detective drama The Night Of The 12th with 10 nominations.

Albert Serra’s Pacifiction and Cedric Klapisch’s Rise both snared nominations in nine categories, followed by Forever Young and November with seven each.

Garrel directs and co-stars in The Innocent as a man who tries to derail his mother’s relationship with a recently released convict, played by Roschdy Zem, in a campaign that will find him flirting with the wrong side of the law.

The film has received strong reviews and was a hit in France where it drew more than 700,000 spectators, but did not figure among the...

Louis Garrel’s “The Innocent” and Dominik Moll’s thriller “The Night of the 12th” are leading the race at the 48th Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars.

Nominated for 11 Cesar nominations, “The Innocent” is a heist romantic comedy starring Garrel, Roschdy Zem and Noemie Merlant, who previously starred in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and most recently in “Tár.” Produced by Anne-Dominique Toussaint at Les Films des Tournelles, the crowdpleaser world premiered out of competition at Cannes for the 75th anniversary of the festival.

“The Night of the 12th,” meanwhile, is in the running for 10 Cesar awards. The brooding topical procedural, which also opened as part of Cannes’ Premiere section, stars Bastien Bouillon and Bouli Lanners as two cops trying to solve a gruesome murder. The movie, produced by Haut et Court (“The Class”), delves into issues of gender and violence.

Other top Cesar contenders include Cedric Klapisch’s dance-filled “Rise,...

Worldwide Production Agency Hires Literary Agent Liz Orr

Worldwide Production Agency (Wpa) has hired literary agent Liz Orr. Orr will expand Wpa’s physical presence, establishing a new office in New York City. She joins from Wpa after four years as a TV Literary and Packaging Agent at Buchwald where she worked with TV and film writers, directors, and producers. Her clients include Patrick Coker & Adam Wiesen (East New York), Gary Hardwick (The Perfect Match), and Markuann Smith (Godfather of Harlem). Speaking of Orr’s new role, Wpa Managing Partners Steve Jacob and Frank Balkin said: “We’re extremely fortunate Liz has chosen to join our team – her passion for her clients and ‘artist-first’ philosophy makes her an outstanding fit with both our staff and our culture. She is a key component of our overall growth strategy to help our clients succeed.”

‘Triangle Of Sadness ’ Sweeps Sweden’s Guldbagge Awards...

Ruben Ostlund’s satire won awards including best film and best director.

Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness swept Sweden’s Guldbagge Awards on Monday night, winning six prizes including best film and best director.

The satire also won best actress in a supporting role for Dolly de Leon, who recently secured a Bafta nomination for her performance as cleaner-turned-leader Abigail, and best actor in a supporting role for Croatian actor Zlatko Burić.

Sofie Krunegård won the best costume design prize and Stefanie Gredig won the best makeup award for their work on the film.

Triangle Of Sadness won the...

Ruben Östlund’s Oscar contender Triangle of Sadness continues to build award buzz, on Monday night sweeping Sweden’s Guldbagge Awards, taking six trophies, including Best Film and Best Director.

The capitalism satire also picked up Best Supporting Actress trophy for Dolly de Leon, the Filipino breakout whose turn in Triangle as Abigail —a cleaner on a luxury yacht who becomes the de facto leader of the one-percenters left over after a shipwreck —has put her on Hollywood’s radar.

Croatian actor Zlatko Burić, a scene-stealer in Triangle as the obnoxious Russian billionaire Dimitry, took the Best Supporting Actor nod, just a month after scooping the same prize at the European Film Awards. Sofie Krunegård also won the Guldbagge for Best Costume Design for Triangle, and Stefanie Gredig took the award for Best Make-Up.

Östlund’s dramedy, which co-stars Harris Dickinson, Woody Harrelson, and the late Charlbi Dean, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival,...

"Make sure he is elected." Samuel Goldwyn Films has revealed the new US trailer for Cairo Conspiracy, the film formerly known as Boy From Heaven, set entirely in Egypt even though it's actually a Swedish production. This premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay award, and has since played at numerous other festivals including Zurich, Hamburg, London, Busan, Vancouver, Ghent, Mill Valley. The story follows Adam, the son of a fisherman, who is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of power of Sunni Islam. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo, the university's highest ranking religious leader, the Grand Imam, suddenly dies and Adam soon becomes a pawn in a ruthless power struggle between Eqypt's religious and political elite. The film stars Tawfeek Barhom as Adam, Fares Fares, Mohammad Bakri, Makram Khoury, Mehdi Dehbi, Moe Ayoub, Sherwan Haji,...

Dominik Moll’s The Night of The 12th has won best film at the 28th edition of France’s Lumière Awards in Paris on Monday evening.

The investigative drama, which was nominated in six categories, also won Best Screenplay.

The film, which debuted in the Cannes Film Festival’s non-competitive Cannes Première section, stars Bastien Bouillon as a police detective who becomes obsessed with a case involving a complex female murder victim.

Best director went to Albert Serra for French Polynesia-set drama Pacification. The feature also clinched two other prizes: Best Actor for Benoît Magimal and Best Cinematography for Artur Tort.

Virginie Efira won Best Actress for her performance in Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children about the challenge of navigating the stepmother role.

Nadia Tereszkiewicz won Best Female Revelation for her performance in Forever Young and Dimitri Doré, Best Male Revelation for Bruno Reidal.

Alice Diop clinched best documentary category for We,...

Legal docudrama Saint Omer was voted Best Picture at the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which announced this year’s juried award winners today.

Saint Omer wins for its ability “to expertly interrogate issues of society, culture, race, and gender,” the festival release stated. “Alice Diop, as screenwriter and director, delivers a film that explores different dynamics of Black women in contemporary France, drawing empathetic lead performances from Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanga. By harnessing the skills of her technical team, Diop turns Saint Omer into a shrewd, cogent, ambitious, and overwhelming film which teases a metafictional awareness while remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental.”

The Palm Springs festival took place from January 5-16 and screened 134 films from 64 countries, including 27 premieres. The lineup includes 35 of the International Feature Film Oscar submissions.

The jury award categories included the Fipresci Prize for films...

The Hollywood Reporter’s first panel of international directors at this year’s Palm Springs Film Festival features movies with atypical lead actors. Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo, starring several camera-ready Sardinian donkeys, stands out as perhaps the most unlikely casting choice. Projects such as Pan Nalin’s The Last Film Show and Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl both feature young child actors in lead roles, which necessitated extensive nationwide talent scouting and rigid scheduling to accommodate child labor laws.

The breadth of different tones and kinds of stories included in these Oscar-shortlisted international films is evidenced by the varying genres represented on the panel: Tarik Saleh’s Cairo Conspiracy is a thriller centering around the eponymous Egyptian city’s religious and political elites. Joyland, Saim Sadiq’s feature debut, is a family drama that tackles issues of gender, sexuality and lineage. And Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider is based...

Memento International has closed a raft of major deals on “Bonnard, Pierre And Marthe,” a period film about the epic love of renowned French painters Pierre and Marthe Bonnard.

Directed by Martin Provost, a Cesar-winning French filmmaker, “Bonnard, Pierre And Marthe” is being teased by Memento International at the French Rendez-Vous Paris. The company is introducing an exclusive promoreel to buyers at the event, which kicks off today (Jan. 11).

Now in post, the movie is expected to world premiere in the festival circuit later this year and has already been pre-sold to Germany (Prokino), Australia (Palace), Switzerland (Frenetic), Austria (Panda) and Denmark (Filmbazar). Memento Distribution and Imagine will release the film in France and Benelux, respectively.

“Bonnard, Pierre And Marthe” stars Cecile de France (“Lost Illusions”), Vincent Macaigne (“Irma Vep”) and Stacy Martin (“Nymphomaniac”). François Kraus and Denis Pineau-Valencienne at Les Films du Kiosque produced the movie.

The film charts...

If one’s diet of international cinema were to consist only of Oscar-shortlisted titles, they would be missing out on some of the best of what filmmakers around the world have to offer. That’s not a knock at the academy’s taste. After all, it can only consider one submission per country. Nevertheless, this system of selecting nominees could use a facelift, if not to acknowledge the increasing prominence of multinational films then to at least shed light on suppressed art like Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears.”

See 2023 Oscars: Best International Feature Predictions

This year, 15 movies were selected from 92 submissions to compete for Best International Feature:

Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”

Austria, “Corsage”

Belgium, “Close”

Cambodia, “Return to Seoul”

Denmark, “Holy Spider”

France, “Saint Omer”

Germany, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

India, “Last Film Show”

Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”

Mexico, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”

Morocco, “The Blue Caftan”

Pakistan,...

If one’s diet of international cinema were to consist only of Oscar-shortlisted titles, they would be missing out on some of the best of what filmmakers around the world have to offer. That’s not a knock at the academy’s taste. After all, it can only consider one submission per country. Nevertheless, this system of selecting nominees could use a facelift, if not to acknowledge the increasing prominence of multinational films then to at least shed light on suppressed art like Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears.”

See 2023 Oscars: Best International Feature Predictions

This year, 15 movies were selected from 92 submissions to compete for Best International Feature:

Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”

Austria, “Corsage”

Belgium, “Close”

Cambodia, “Return to Seoul”

Denmark, “Holy Spider”

France, “Saint Omer”

Germany, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

India, “Last Film Show”

Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”

Mexico, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”

Morocco, “The Blue Caftan”

Pakistan,...

For the first time since 1989, there were no French movies among the country’s top 10 box officers grossers, which was exclusively dominated by U.S. studio movies.

James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” led the 2022 chart with an estimated 54 million grossed from 7.8 million admissions since its Dec. 14 release, followed by “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Minions: the Rise of Gru,” “Jurassic World Dominion,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “The Batman,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”

But even these blockbusters failed to lift the French box office back to its pre-pandemic levels. It was down 28 on 2019.

Ticket sales reached 152 million in 2022, a 60 year-on increase, but that’s because theaters were shut down for more than 5 months in 2021. Comscore France says the French box office was impacted by several factors, including the threat of Covid variants,...