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The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is set to host a special retrospective for revered French studio Gaumont. The company is currently celebrating its 130th anniversary and will be out in force at the Venice Film Festival with Olivier Assayas’s “The Wizard of the Kremlin” and Francois Ozon’s “The Stranger” competing for a Golden Lion.

As part of the retrospective, the Academy Museum will screen 12 features and one regrouping 12 short films from Gaumont’s library of 1,600 titles; along with a program highlighting key moments in the company’s 130 years which will be screened throughout a one-month period at the museum.

This series will kick off on September 11th with an invitation only cocktail event and screening of Gaumont’s iconic 1967 film “Weekend” directed by Jean-Luc Godard and starring Mireille Darc and Jean Yanne. Sidonie Dumas, Gaumont’s CEO, Nicolas Atlan, Gaumont US president and Splatam, as well as Amy Homma,...

Exclusive: Curzon has acquired UK-Ireland rights to Francois Ozon’s The Stranger ahead of its world premiere in Competition at Venice Film Festival.

The film is adapted from the classic 1942 novella of the same name by Albert Camus, and marks French filmmaker Ozon’s fourth time in Venice Competition.

Benjamin Voisin, who starred in Ozon’s Summer Of ’85, reteams with the director to play the film’s protagonist Meursault, an unassuming Frenchman living in 1930s Algeria. After his mother’s death, he slips back into his usual routine, and begins an affair with a work colleague. However, his daily life...

MediaForEurope, the TV group controlled by Italy’s Berlusconi family, has raised its takeover offer for German broadcaster ProSiebensat.1, valuing the German media company at roughly $2.4 billion.

Following a lowball offer in March – the terms of which were about to expire – Mfe’s voluntary public takeover offer has now risen to €4.48 ($5.22) per share in cash and 1.3 newly-issued Mfe-a shares for each ProSiebenSat.1 share. This values Prosieben’s shares at €8.15 ($9.51) based on the Mfe-a stock’s price on the Euronext Milan Stock Exchange on Friday, according to ProSieben.

Mfe is basically now offering €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) for the 70% of ProSieben that it doesn’t already own. That marks a roughly 45% increase of the value of its initial bid.

Mfe, which is headed by Pier Silvio Berlusconi — who is the son of the late former Italian Prime Minister and TV tycoon Silvio Berlusconi — and runs TV operations in Italy and Spain, has long...

Dos presencias españolas, ‘Extraño Río’ y ‘Calle Málaga’, en la programación de la Biennale.

© Biennale

Ayer se desveló la impresionante programación de la 82 edición del Festival Internacional de Cine de Venecia, que se celebra del 27 de agosto al 6 de septiembre. Una selección potente, con claro protagonismo del cine en lengua inglesa, que busca posicionar a Venecia como la antesala decisiva de la temporada de premios. No es un gesto gratuito: Anora, ganadora en Cannes el año pasado, acabó llevándose el Óscar a la Mejor Película. Y ahora, todos miran a la Mostra como el próximo trampolín. Así, en la competición por el León de Oro hay nombres de peso como Guillermo del Toro, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jim Jarmusch, Noah Baumbach, Park Chan-wook, o Benny Safdie. La riqueza de la programación se extiende también a las secciones paralelas y fuera de competición. En ellas se presentarán, entre otros, los nuevos trabajos de...

After getting upstaged by Cannes at this year’s Oscars — when Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora took best picture over Brady Corbet’s Lido champ The Brutalist — Venice has come roaring back.

Venice’s 2025 lineup, with its blend of prestige auteurs, big-name debuts and politically charged provocations, reaffirms the Lido as the premiere launchpad for award-season hopefuls. Highlights this year include Julia Roberts in Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, Dwayne Johnson in Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine and a triple threat from Netflix: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein starring Jacob Elordi, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly with George Clooney and Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite with Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson.

Add in new features from Yorgos Lanthimos, Jim Jarmusch, Park Chan-wook, François Ozon, Paolo Sorrentino, Mona Fastvold, Gus van Sant, Julian Schnabel, Mamoru Hosoda and Laszlo Nemes, and the political heft...

It's going to be a smashing time in Venice this year. The Venice Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 82nd edition and the annual event will serve as the launching pad for Dwayne Johnson's Oscar campaign. The WWE star-turned-leading man plans to be front and center on the Lido with the competition entry The Smashing Machine from director Benny Safdie. Based on the life of Mma fighter Mark Kerr, the film reunites Johnson with his Jungle Cruise costar, Emily Blunt, and hopes to succeed in the awards race where A24's last sports picture — 2023's The Iron Claw — fell short.

But Johnson is stepping into the ring with some heavy-hitters in the Best Actor race, including George Clooney and Oscar Isaac. Both stars will be in Venice for their respective Netflix productions, Jay Kelly and Frankenstein, which hail from directors with proven awards track records. Clooney...

The lineup for this year’s Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, with the likes of Giullermo del Toro, Noah Baumbach, Kathryn Bigelow, Jim Jarmusch, Park Chan-wook, and Yorgos Lanthimos all competing for the coveted Golden Lion.

Here is the full lineup of 20 films in competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival:

Ballad of a Small Player, Edward Berger

Below the Clouds, Gianfranco Rosi

Bugonia, Yorgos Lanthimos

Duse, Pietro Marcello

Elisa Leonardo Di Costanzo

Father Mother Sister Brother, Jim Jarmusch

Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro

The Grace, Paolo Sorrentino

A House of Dynamite, Kathryn Bigelow

Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach

Mother Bhum, Chong Keat Aun

No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook

A Pied D’Oeuvre, Valerie Donzelli

Silent Friend, Ildiko Enyedi

The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie

The Stranger, François Ozon

The Sin Rises on Us All, Cai Shangjun

The Testament of Ann Lee, Mona Fastvoid

The Voice of Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben...

The Venice Film Festival is back on the Lido for its 82nd edition, kicking off August 27-September 6. The packed lineup of auteur premieres heading to Italy include new films from Olivier Assayas, Guillermo del Toro, Mona Fastvold, Kathryn Bigelow, Noah Baumbach, Yorgos Lanthimos, Benny Safdie, Jim Jarmusch, Park Chan-wook, László Nemes, François Ozon, Pietro Marcello, and many more in competition.

Out of competition, we’ll see new films from Luca Guadagnino (“After the Hunt”), Werner Herzog (“Ghost Elephants”), Sofia Coppola (Marc Jacobs documentary “Marc by Sofia”), Charlie Kaufman (the short “How to Shoot a Ghost”), Julian Schnabel (“In the Hand of Dante”), Gus Van Sant (“Dead Man’s Wire”), Laura Poitras (“Cover-Up”), Lucrecia Martel (“Nuestra Tierra”), and Tsai Ming-liang (“Back Home”)

Artistic director Alberto Barbera’s programmers had already unveiled a wave of announcements before Tuesday’s lineup: Alexander Payne heads up the jury, Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia” opens the festival Italian-style,...

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” are heading to the Lido for their world premieres at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.

At a press conference in Venice on Tuesday morning, the announcement of those and other titles was made by Alberto Barbera, Director of the Cinema Department and Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of La Biennale di Venezia.

Other films in the Venice main competition include new work from Paolo Sorrentino (“La Grazia”), Jim Jarmusch (“Father Mother Sister Brother”), Laszlo Nemes (“Orphan”), Park Chan-wook

“Sermon to the Void,” Hilal Baydarov

“L’Isola di Andrea,” Antonio Capuano

“Il Maestro,” Andrea Di Stefano

“After the Hunt,” Luca Guadagnino

“Hateshinaki Scarlet,” Mamoru Hosoda

“The Last Viking,” Anders Thomas Jensen

“In the Hand of Dante,” Julian Schnabel

“Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant

“Orfeo,” Virgilio Villoresi

Out of Competition – Non Fiction

“Kabul,...

Oscar season starts here.

With its 2025 line-up, announced Tuesday, the Venice Film Festival has (again) taken the award season pole position, with a program packed with a frankly absurd number of must-see movies.

Among the hot awards titles heading to the Lido are Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, from A24, featuring Dwayne Johnson as two‑time UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt as his wife Dawn; Luca Guadagnino’s #MeToo–inspired thriller After the Hunt, for Amazon MGM Studios, starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, will premiere out of competition; and Guillermo del Toro’s dark reimagining of Frankenstein, featuring Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth, a Netflix production.

This will mark the Venice festival debut for both Roberts and Johnson.

Netflix, which sat out Vence last year, is back in force for 2025. Alongside Frankenstein, the streamer has Noah Baumbach’s comedy‑drama Jay Kelly,...

Kathryn Bigelow’s A House Of Dynamite, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, and Luca Guadagnino’s After The Hunt are among the films selected for the 82nd Venice Film Festival (August 27 - September 6).

Scroll down for full line-up

The first two are among 21 Competition titles, with further Competition entries including Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly starring George Clooney, Olivier Assayas’ The Wizard Of The Kremlin starring Jude Law as Vladimir Putin, Mona Fastvold’s The Testament Of Ann Lee, and Guillermo del Toro’sFrankenstein starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi.

The selection was announced by artistic director Alberto Barbera,...

Some people simply aren’t made to be mothers. That idea, which runs counter to social expectations in nearly every culture on Earth, has inspired a provocative strand of unconventional family portraits, from “I Am Love” and “The Lost Daughter” to Lynne Ramsay’s recent “Die, My Love,” in which empowerment-minded filmmakers depict women who reject their maternal responsibilities for whatever reason.

Following in the humanistic tradition of Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Nobody Knows,” writer-director Nathan Ambrosioni’s gripping, never-manipulative “Out of Love” tells a similar story from a different point of view, concentrating on those who are obliged to step up and assume responsibility when a child’s biological mother abdicates hers. In a revelatory dramatic turn, “Call My Agent” star Camille Cottin (reuniting here with “Toni” helmer Ambrosioni) plays a lesbian career woman who finds herself single again in middle age, having split with her longtime partner over the...

This year’s early summer has been rocked by successive news of “one-of-a-kind” carriage deals between major TV networks in Europe and streaming services, starting with Netflix and France’s TF1 and followed by Prime Video and broadcaster France Televisions and this week’s Disney+ and ITV pact in the U.K.

While these alliances have been applauded by media analysts, local creators, producers and right-holders are more skeptical. While non-exclusive, these partnerships are perceived as potentially disrupting for producers and distributors who already anticipate that they’ll have less opportunities to work with other streamers and broadcasters who are not part of existing deals.

Those collaborations, which are bound to flourish in major markets across Europe, reflect the shifting power dynamics between linear television and streaming services. In recent years, global services like Netflix have become a force in European markets, especially in France where it’s believed to have more than 12 million subscribers.

Munich’s 42nd Filmfest wrapped on 6 July after drawing 91 000 admissions over ten days—its highest tally since before the pandemic, according to organisers Christoph Gröner and Julia Weigl.

The festival’s richest honour, the €100 000 CineCoPro Award, went to Colombian tragicomedy Un Poeta (A Poet), rewarding German co-producers Katharina Bergfeld and Heino Deckert for their role in Simón Mesa Soto’s Cannes-lauded feature.

Belgian director Alexe Poukine claimed the €15 000 CineMasters prize for Kika, a portrait of a woman reclaiming her voice that topped a field including entries from Richard Linklater and François Ozon.

Cuban newcomer David Bim secured the €10 000 CineVision award with border drama Al oeste, en zapata, while Japan’s Soujiro Sanada earned the €15 000 CineRebels trophy for punk-infused thriller Okamoto.

Audience laurels were split: local viewers chose Julius Grimm’s Bavarian after-life satire Zweigstelle, and international attendees backed Joachim Trier’s Cannes Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value.

National talent also...

Watch out, sand thieves are coming to the Proxima Competition of the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) next month. Yes, you read that right: sand thieves!

Bangladeshi screenwriter and director Mahde Hasan, who has made shorts I Am Time (2013), Death of a Reader (2017), and A Boring Film (2020), is bringing his feature film debut, Sand City, to the picturesque Czech spa town.

The cinematic tale promises daring visuals, which are kaleidoscopic and often make the story, and life, feel like shattered glass. It also promises a thought-provoking dissection of life in a big city, in this case, Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, which has a reputation as one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

The movie’s logline can be understood in that context. “Sand, an unstable element, reveals the life in a ruthless metropolis,” it reads.

The protagonists of the two parallel stories...

It was a historic scene at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, when Czech filmmaker Zuzana Kirchnerová climbed the stairs of the Lumière Theater for the premiere of her long-gestating debut feature “Caravan,” the first time in more than three decades that a Czech majority production played in the French fest’s official selection.

While the Cannes triumph was a crowning moment for the debutante director, it also marked the latest in a series of watershed achievements for the Czech industry. Beyond the Croisette, Czech directors are becoming a staple at prestigious festivals, including Venice, Berlin and Annecy, reflecting a steady growth arguably not seen in the Central European nation since the glory days of the Czech New Wave.

“I feel there’s real movement in the right direction,” says “Caravan” producer Dagmar Sedláčková. “That kind of consistency speaks to a maturation of the industry — better developed scripts, more precise...

Exclusive: Gaumont has found homes across multiple territories for The Stranger, French filmmaker Francois Ozon’s adaptation of Albert Camus’ literary masterpiece after launching the film in Cannes.

The film has sold to Canada (Immina), Spain (BTeam Pictures), Japan (Kino Films), Italy (Bim), Germany (Weltkino), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Belgium (Athena), the Netherlands (Cherry Pickers), Portugal (Alambique), Turkey (Bir Film), Greece (Spentzos), Poland (Gutek), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), Romania (Independenta), ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom Film), and Cis outside of the Baltics and Ukraine (A-One Films).

Benjamin Voisin, who starred in Ozon’s Summer Of ’85, reteams with the director to play the film’s protagonist Meursault,...

Mirrors No. 3 (Miroirs No. 3), the new feature from German director Christian Petzold that world premieres in the Directors’ Fortnight, an independent sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival, on Saturday, May 17, marks his fourth collaboration with German star Paula Beer after Transit (2018), Undine (2020), and Afire (2023).

The Match Factory closed multiple international deals for the movie just before Cannes.

Beer, who has also made a name for herself with the likes of François Ozon’s Frantz (2016), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Never Look Away (2018), won the Silver Bear for best actress at the Berlin International Film Festival and the European Film Award for best actress for her role in Undine.

In Mirrors No. 3, Beer plays piano student Laura. “On a weekend trip to the countryside, Laura miraculously survives a car crash,” reads a synopsis of the film. “Physically unhurt but deeply shaken, she is taken in by a local woman who witnessed...

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...