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“Bardot" is a 6-episode, France-produced drama TV series, created, directed by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, starring Julia de Nunez as the iconic film actress, now streaming on Netflix:

"..the series follows the career of French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot, from her first casting as a teenager...

"...to the filming of Henri-Georges Clouzot's feature "La Vérité"..."

Cast also includes Victor Belmondo as 'Roger Vadim', Jules Benchetrit as 'Sami Frey'...

...Géraldine Pailhas as 'Anne-Marie Mucel'...

...Hippolyte Girardot as 'Louis Bardot', Yvan Attal as 'Raoul Lévy'......

...... Anne Le Ny as 'Olga Horstig', Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as 'Henri-Georges Clouzot'...

...Laurent Stocker as 'Pierre Lazareff'...

...Oscar Lesage as 'Jacques Charrier', Noham Edje as 'Jean-Louis Trintignant'...

...Fabian Wolfrom as 'Sacha Distel' and Mikaël Mittelstadt as 'Gilbert Bécaud'.

Click the images to enlarge...

Christoph Hochhäusler’s Death Will Come pulls us deep into the murky underworld of Brussels. A cash courier’s arrest kicks off a twisting tale as gangster boss Charles Mahr hires mysterious assassin Tez to locate the killer. Played compellingly by Sophie Verbeeck, Tez is tough yet keeps her motives hidden. She navigates a web of intrigue involving Mahr, sleazy rival Patric, and the enigmatic madame Mela.

This neo-noir sinks its claws into the architecture and atmosphere of its setting. Gritty streets and rundown spaces become characters in their own right. We feel the oppression of shadowy figures pulling strings from darkened corners. Hochhäusler paints his city in shades of danger and deception, leaving us to untangle the threats lurking around every turn.

Under the genre pacing lie deeper mysteries. What drives these figures to walk the lines between power, corruption, and mortal peril?

As Tez delves for answers, her...

While his work might not enjoy the iconic status of the Columbia Pictures classics that formed a key part of the retrospective programming at the 72nd Locarno Film Festival, Samuel Fuller is a director who’s nevertheless had a significant influence on the kind of independent cinema that the event seeks to champion. However, a screening of Fuller’s penultimate feature, Street of No Return, which formed part of this year’s Histoires de Cinema section at Locarno, couldn’t help but seem like an outlier in today’s film landscape.

After its visually striking opening sequence sees a gang war waged in the streets of an absurdly rundown, almost post-apocalyptic city, the 1989 film follows a homeless man (Keith Carradine) as he tracks down a former lover (Valentina Vargas) and seeks revenge on the drug dealer (Marc de Jonge) who cut his throat and ended his career as a chart-topping,...

German writer and director Christoph Hochhäusler (Milchwald, Till the End of the Night) enjoys diving into the female psyche, even if it is that of as hitwoman. His new film Le Mort Viendra (Death Will Come) had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival’s 77th edition on Thursday, the first full day of Locarno77 after its Wednesday opening night.

Belgian actress Sophie Verbeeck (All About Them) stars as Tez, a contract killer. “Charles Mahr, a legendary gangster, hires her to avenge the murder of one of his couriers,” reads a plot summary. “Once in Brussels, she gets caught up in the thicket of intrigue in which she herself becomes the prey. Tez has to decide whose instrument she wants to be.”

Produced by Heimatfilm, in collaboration with Amour Fou Luxembourg and Tarantula, the French-language film, part of Locarno’s international competition lineup whose jury is led by Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner,...

Germany’s Christoph Hochhäusler, the acclaimed director of “Till The End of The Night” which premiered at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival, returns with his latest film, “Death Will Come.” The crime piece is set to debut at the Locarno Film Festival, produced by Heimatfilm in collaboration with Amour Fou Luxembourg and Tarantula.

Sold by Italy’s True Colors, the film sees Tez, a hitwoman played by Sophie Verbeeck, tasked to avenge the death of a crime boss’s courier. The boss (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) who hired her has motives more nuanced than they seem.

Tez remains an enigma, with the story only scratching the surface of what makes her tick as she goes about her work. For Hochhäusler, the mystery is intentional. “I believe spectator and character must meet. As a spectator, I am usually willing to go to greater lengths, investing in the fiction so to speak, if the...

Italy’s True Colours has taken on international sales for German director Christoph Hochhäusler’s upcoming noir thriller Death Will Come (La Mort Viendra).

Currently in post-production, Death Will Come centres on a female assassin who is hired by a leading gangster to avenge the murder of one of his couriers – but soon finds herself the prey. The French-language film stars Franco-Belgian actress Sophie Verbeeck and veteran French actor Louis-Do de Lencquesaing.

Hochhausler’s previous film Till The End Of The Night premiered in competition at Berlin in 2023.

Death Will Come is a German-Luxembourg-Belgium co-production. The co-producers are leading German...

Exclusive: French detective Inspector Adamsberg has returned for another case, and France TV Distribution is opening his latest murder file at MIPTV.

Yvan Attal plays the detective, known in Fred Vargas’ novels as Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, in the two-part special Beyond the Grave: A New Adamsberg’s Case. France Télévisions’ sales arm is launching the title in Cannes.

Adapted by Emmanuel Carrère and based on Vargas’ novel Sur la Dalle, the series also stars Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Sylvie Testud, Virginie Ledoyen, Olivier De Benoist, Micha Lescot and Eric Caravaca. The book was the second best-selling new novel in France last year.

France 2 is the broadcaster, Passion Films the producer and Josée Dayan is the director. Delivery is expected in Q3 of this year.

In the series, Inspector Adamsberg investigates a murder in a village in Brittany. The main suspect is a local figure, a descendant of the famous writer Chateaubriand.

Streaming in Europe on Netflix, “Bardot" is a 6-episode, France-produced drama TV series, created, directed by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, starring Julia de Nunez as the iconic film actress:

"...the series follows the career of French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot, from her first casting as a teenager...

"...to the filming of Henri-Georges Clouzot's feature "La Vérité"..."

Cast also includes Victor Belmondo as 'Roger Vadim', Jules Benchetrit as 'Sami Frey'...

...Géraldine Pailhas as 'Anne-Marie Mucel'...

...Hippolyte Girardot as 'Louis Bardot', Yvan Attal as 'Raoul Lévy'......

...... Anne Le Ny as 'Olga Horstig', Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as 'Henri-Georges Clouzot'...

...Laurent Stocker as 'Pierre Lazareff'...

...Oscar Lesage as 'Jacques Charrier', Noham Edje as 'Jean-Louis Trintignant'...

...Fabian Wolfrom as 'Sacha Distel' and Mikaël Mittelstadt as 'Gilbert Bécaud'.

Click the images to enlarge...

New Delhi, Nov 26 (Ians) The horrifying incident of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which is well known as 26/11 was a tragic incident which has gone down in history as one of the worst and biggest terrorist attacks to ever take place.

It has been 15 years now, and while India is moving on from that nightmare it has left scars that have never fully healed. Carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists, the attacks went on for three days with the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus being the biggest targets.

Over 175 people were killed in this attack and over 300 injured. Over the years many storytellers have presented the story of these attacks from different aspects. Some have presented the story from the victims’ point of view, some from the medical fraternity, the Nsg commandos to the planning of the attacks.

1. ‘Major’: Directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka and written by its lead actor Adivi Shesh,...

New Delhi, Nov 26 (Ians) The horrifying incident of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which is well known as 26/11 was a tragic incident which has gone down in history as one of the worst and biggest terrorist attacks to ever take place.

It has been 15 years now, and while India is moving on from that nightmare it has left scars that have never fully healed. Carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists, the attacks went on for three days with the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus being the biggest targets.

Over 175 people were killed in this attack and over 300 injured. Over the years many storytellers have presented the story of these attacks from different aspects. Some have presented the story from the victims’ point of view, some from the medical fraternity, the Nsg commandos to the planning of the attacks.

1. ‘Major’: Directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka and written by its lead actor Adivi Shesh,...

BlondePhoto: Netflix

Young Adam (2003): A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers’ lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits. Starring: Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan, Emily Mortimer.

Bad Education (2004): An examination...

"Bardot" is the new 6-episode, live-action, France-produced drama TV series, created, directed by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, starring Julia de Nunez, airing in 2023 on France 2:

"...the series follows the career of French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot, from her first casting as a teenager...

"...to the filming of Henri-Georges Clouzot's feature "La Vérité"..."

Cast also includes Victor Belmondo as 'Roger Vadim', Jules Benchetrit as 'Sami Frey'...

...Géraldine Pailhas as 'Anne-Marie Mucel'...

...Hippolyte Girardot as 'Louis Bardot', Yvan Attal as 'Raoul Lévy'...... 

...... Anne Le Ny as 'Olga Horstig', Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as 'Henri-Georges Clouzot'...

...Laurent Stocker as 'Pierre Lazareff'...

...Oscar Lesage as 'Jacques Charrier', Noham Edje as 'Jean-Louis Trintignant'...

...Fabian Wolfrom as 'Sacha Distel' and Mikaël Mittelstadt as 'Gilbert Bécaud'.

Click the images to enlarge...

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Cohen Media Group has unveiled the trailer for “Between Two Worlds,” a drama directed by famed French novelist and filmmaker Emmanuel Carrère, starring Oscar-winning actor Juliette Binoche.

The film, which had its world premiere on opening night of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2021, will premiere in New York and Los Angeles on Aug. 11 followed by a national roll-out.

“Between Two Worlds” is adapted from the bestselling non-fiction book “The Night Cleaner” (“Le Quai de Ouistreham”) by investigative journalist Florence Aubenas.

Binoche plays Marianne Winckler, a reporter (based on Aubenas) going undercover to investigate the exploitation of France’s workers without job security at the height of the economic crisis. As she becomes a cleaning lady, she discovers a precarious life and finds herself invisible in society, but also forges genuine bonds with some of her companions in misfortune. These friendships are put to the test when the truth comes out. Binoche...

"Bardot" is the new 6-episode, live-action, France-produced drama TV series, created, directed by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, starring Julia de Nunez, airing in 2023 on France 2:

"...the series follows the career of French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot, from her first casting as a teenager...

"...to the filming of Henri-Georges Clouzot's feature "La Vérité"..."

Cast also includes Victor Belmondo as 'Roger Vadim', Jules Benchetrit as 'Sami Frey'...

...Géraldine Pailhas as 'Anne-Marie Mucel'...

...Hippolyte Girardot as 'Louis Bardot', Yvan Attal as 'Raoul Lévy'...... 

...... Anne Le Ny as 'Olga Horstig', Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as 'Henri-Georges Clouzot'...

...Laurent Stocker as 'Pierre Lazareff'...

...Oscar Lesage as 'Jacques Charrier', Noham Edje as 'Jean-Louis Trintignant'...

...Fabian Wolfrom as 'Sacha Distel' and Mikaël Mittelstadt as 'Gilbert Bécaud'.

Click the images to enlarge...

by Nathaniel R

Though all of us have our differences of opinion with Oscar, but sometimes the stars align and we get an Oscar lineup we adore. I'm quite fond of Oscar's Best Actor list this year (have you voted today?) to the extent that my own ballot is 80% similar. That happens about once a decade (the last time was 2016). The one difference is my inclusion of Franz Rogowski, one of Europe's greatest actors, for the Austrian prison drama Great Freedom. It was an Oscar finalist last Oscar season in Best International Feature but wasn't nominated and then got a small US theatrical release in 2022. So while the film is now "old" (haha) it's been impossible to shake for over a year now. Thanks in large part to Rogowski's work. He outdoes himself with this portrait of a man so implacably committed to his own desires that you begin to...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker in for Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm on February 23rd, 2023, reviewing “Return to Seoul,” a meditation on an adoptee and identity. In select theaters beginning February 24th.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Frederique “Freddie” Benoit (Ji-min Park) was adopted from South Korea as a baby and has never traveled back there. When a switched flight and a quirk of fate intervenes, she lands in Seoul, South Korea, and gets information about her biological parents from the adoption agency that handled her transaction. She sees her bio father (Kwang-rok Oh) immediately, and can find no connection, but her mother refuses to see her. What follows is an eight year journey, in which she comes in and out of Seoul over the years, reaching for something she has a hard time grasping.

”Return to Seoul” is in select theaters (see local listings) beginning February 24th.

Hochhäusler’s latest feature Till The End Of The Night is screening in Competition at the Berlinale.

German director Christoph Hochhäusler, whose latest feature Till The End Of The Night is screening in Competition at the Berlinale, is to make his first foray into French-language filmmaking with Death Will Come, a thriller starring Franco-Belgian actress Sophie Verbeeck and veteran French actor Louis-Do de Lencquesaing.

Principal photography on the thriller will begin in Brussels on March 1 before moving to Luxembourg and Cologne. It is being produced by Cologne-based Heimatfilm with Amour Fou Luxembourg and Tarantula Belgique.

Death Will Come centres on female contract killer Tez,...

Return to Seoul Review — Return to Seoul (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Davy Chou and starring Park Ji-Min, Oh Kwang-rok, Guka Han, Kim Sun-young, Yoann Zimmer and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. In Davy Chou’s thematically complex new drama, Return to Seoul, Park Ji-Min shines playing a 25-year old woman named Frederique [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Return To Seoul (2022): Park Ji-Min Succeeds in a Leading Role in a Complex but Somewhat Incomplete Dramatic Film...

A retrospective on the late great French-Swiss director and New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard as well as special screenings of three award-winning films are among the many elements of France’s participation at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (Iffi) in Goa, beginning on November 20.

France is the festival’s Country of Focus, in reciprocity of India being named the Country of Honour at the Marche du Cinema of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the country’s Independence.

There will be special screenings of Iffi favourite Claire Denis’s ‘Both Sides of the Blade’, starring Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon; Albert Serra’s ‘Pacifiction’ with Benoit Magimel; and Mia Hansen Love’s ‘One Fine Morning’, which features former Bond girl Lea Seydoux in a lead role.

France will also be represented by a heavyweight delegation, which will include producer Olivier Delbosc,...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture 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 January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture 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 January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Amélie van Elmbt with her Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel co-director Maya Duverdier and Anne-Katrin Titze on meeting Martin Scorsese: “It’s amazing, it really happened at First Time Fest.”

When I was on the inaugural First Time Fest jury with the B-52s Fred Schneider, Killer Films Christine Vachon, and Gay Talese we gave Amélie van Elmbt the Best Director Award for Headfirst (La tête la première), produced by Frédéric de Goldschmidt and Best Actress to her star Alice de Lencquesaing (Elisabeth Vogler’s Années 20), daughter of the great cinematographer Caroline Champetier and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. Martin Scorsese was on hand at The Players to present Darren Aronofsky the John Huston Award for Achievement in Cinema.

Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel Executive Producer Martin Scorsese Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Dreaming Walls: Inside The Chelsea Hotel invites us into the skyline of Manhattan and then jumps in a taxi,...

In order to return somewhere, you first have to leave it. So it’s arguable whether the initial visit in Davy Chou’s strange, deep, changeable and wise “Return to Seoul” even qualifies in a meaningful sense as a return. 25-year-old Freddie (Park Ji-min), the film’s charismatic, mercurial protagonist, was adopted by French parents as a baby, and has no memory of the voyage that removed her from the country of her birth. But though she is the last to admit it, there is more to her jaunt to Korea than coincidence and idle curiosity. While Chou’s elliptical screenplay gently explodes many preconceived assumptions about the effects of adoption on adoptees, it is too clear-sighted to ignore the fact that whether biology affects identity or not, the mere possibility that such a link exists could exert a powerful attraction on a searching spirit not quite sure what it is searching for.

Arthouse distribution, streaming and production company Mubi has taken all rights for the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Turkey, India and Southeast Asia (excluding the Philippines and theatrical rights in Cambodia) for Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul,” which plays in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. MK2 films is handling international sales.

Sony Pictures Classics recently picked up rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

The film centers on 25-year-old Freddie, who on an impulse to reconnect with her origins, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

The film stars Park Ji-Min, Oh Kwang-Rok, Guka Han, Kim Sun-Young, Yoann Zimmer and Louis-Do De Lencquesaing.

French-Cambodian filmmaker’s narrative debut feature Diamond Island played Critics’ Week in 2016.

In the first major deal on an Official Selection title by a US buyer announced in Cannes, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North America and multiple territories from MK2 Films to Davy Chou’s Korea-set All The People I’ll Never Be ahead of its world premiere in Un Certain Regard on May 22.

The distributor also picked up Latin America, Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand and said the previously announced English-language title has been changed to Return To Seoul.

French-Cambodian filmmaker Chou’s France-Germany-Belgium co-production follows Freddie,...

French-Cambodian filmmaker’s narrative debut feature Diamond Island played Critics’ Week in 2016.

In the first major deal by a US buyer to be announced in Cannes, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North America, Latin America, Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand rights from MK2 Films to Davy Chou’s Korea-set All The People I’ll Never Be (Retour A Seoul) ahead of its world premiere in Un Certain Regard on May 22.

At the same it emerged that the previously announced English-language title All The People I’ll Never Be has been changed to Return To Seoul.

French-Cambodian filmmaker Chou’s France-Germany-Belgium co-production follows Freddie,...

In one of the first major deals of the Cannes market, Sony Pictures Classics has swooped on Un Certain Regard title “All The People I’ll Never Be.” The distributor has picked up rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

The film, which is written and directed by Davy Chou (“Diamond Island”), will be re-titled as “Return to Seoul.” It premieres in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.

The pic centers on 25-year-old Freddie, who impulsively returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

Produced by Charlotte Vincent under her Aurora Films banner and Katia Khazak, co-produced by Hanneke Van Der Tas,...

Ahead of its world premiere in Un Certain Regard section of Cannes, the Davy Chou directed and written feature All the People I’ll Never Be has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics.

The New York-based specialty label took all rights in North America, Latin America, Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.

They’ll release the movie under the new title, Return to Seoul. Pic makes its world premiere on the Croisette this Sunday.

On an impulse, Freddie, 25, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

Produced by Charlotte Vincent under her Aurora Films banner and Katia Khazak, co-produced by Hanneke Van Der Tas, Cassandre Warnauts, and Jean-Yves Roubin, and associate produced by Ha Min-Ho and Chou,...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American rights and other territories to “All The People I’ll Never Be,” a film from writer and director Davy Chou that is playing in the Un Certain Regard section on Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival.

SPC is also planning on re-titling the movie in English as “Return to Seoul,” which is the translation of its actual title in French. In addition to North America, the distributor also acquired rights to the film in Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

“All The People I’ll Never Be” is the story of a 25-year-old woman who, on an impulse, returns to South Korea, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France, for the first time. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

America has the Oscars; France has the César Awards. In a normal year, being nominated for 13 of the latter would be a sign of an exceptional achievement in French cinema — a phenomenon on par with “Amélie” or “A Prophet” commanding recognition in nearly every category en route to worldwide acclaim. But 2020 was not a normal year, and it’s a bit misleading to see writer-director Emmanuel Mouret’s mildly carbonated ensemble drama “Love Affair(s)” up for so many awards, knowing it’s hardly insta-classic material.

The movie, which was to premiere at Cannes had the festival not been canceled by the coronavirus, concerns the romantic entanglements of (at least) nine characters whose actions often contradict the way they see themselves. How can we be so sure? These eloquent characters love to hear themselves talk — and so do we, as there’s a poetry to their near-constant stream of conversation...

Illusions perdues

Another project lensed in 2019 held over for a 2021 premiere is the next film from France’s Xavier Giannoli, who scored a sleeper hit with 2018’s supernatural drama The Apparition starring Vincent Lindon (also scoring a Cesar nod for newcomer Galatea Bellugi). He moves towards something a bit more high profile (with a budget north of 15 million) with his adaptation of Balzac’s Lost Illusions, which will star Cecile De France, Xavier Dolan, Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, Vincent Lacoste, Andre Marcon, Benjamin Voison, Jean-Francois Stevenin and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. The title is produced by Olivier Delbosc and lensed by five-time Cesar nominee Christophe Beaucarne (Coco Before Chanel).…...

Comédie humaine

France’s Xavier Giannoli scored a sleeper hit with 2018’s supernatural tinged drama The Apparition starring Vincent Lindon (scoring a Cesar nod for newcomer Galatea Bellugi), but moves towards something a bit more high profile next year with his adaptation of Balzac’s Lost Illusions, which will star Cecile De France, Xavier Dolan, Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, Vincent Lacoste, Andre Marcon, Benjamin Voison, Jean-Francois Stevenin and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. The title is produced by Olivier Delbosc and lensed by five-time Cesar nominee Christophe Beaucarne (Mr. Nobody; Coco Before Chanel). Giannoli has competed twice in Cannes, with 2006’s The Singer (also starring De France and Depardieu) and 2009’s In the Beginning.…...

Celebrating its 72nd edition this year, the Locarno Film Festival has been the birthplace for the finest in international arthouse cinema and this year’s lineup looks to continue the tradition. Ahead of the festival, running August 7-17, the full slate has been announced.

Top highlights include the world premieres of Pedro Costa’s Vitalina Varela (pictured above), Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth, Ben Rivers & Anocha Suwichakornpong’s Krabi, 2562, Ben Russell’s Color-blind, Denis Côté’s Wilcox, Fabrice Du Welz’s Adoration, as well as a new 12-minute short film from Yorgos Lanthimos titled Nimic and starring Matt Dillon. Other titles that have caught out eye are Echo, from Sparrows director Rúnar Rúnarsson, and A Girl Missing, from Harmonium director Koji Fukada.

The festival will also kick off with some star power as Patrick Vollrath’s 7500, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, will premiere. Check out the lineup below,...

Stéphanie Di Giusto on The Dancer: "The movie is always in movement." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Stéphanie Di Giusto's The Dancer (La Danseuse), screenplay in collaboration with Les Cowboys director Thomas Bidegain, based on the book Loïe Fuller: Danseuse De La Belle Époque by Giovanni Lista, stars Soko as Fuller with Lily-Rose Depp as Isadora Duncan. The supporting cast includes Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, François Damiens, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Amanda Plummer, and Denis Ménochet.

I met up with the director at the restaurant inside the Marlton Hotel the day before her debut film opened in New York. We discussed how Nick Cave and Warren Ellis got involved through Andrew Dominik's The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, her costume designer Anaïs Romand who won a César, working with cinematographer Benoît Debie, seeing Soko in Alice Winocour's Augustine, and Harvey Weinstein's reaction after seeing The Dancer at Cannes.

From RedBand.Ca, Sneak Peek restricted 'red band' footage from the award-winning drama "The Dancer" (aka "La Danseuse") written and directed by Stéphanie Di Giusto, based on the novel by author Giovanni Lista, starring Soko, Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, Lily-Rose Depp, François Damiens, Louis Garrel and William Houston:

"...in 1887, after the death of her father, 25-year-old 'Marie-Louise' leaves her life in the American West to join her mother in New York and pursue her dream of becoming an actress.

"On stage one night, she avoids falling by spinning the fabric of her long dress in a graceful gesture,and the 'Serpentine Dance' is born. The dazzled audience calls out for more.

"Marie-Louise becomes 'Loïe Fuller' and leaves New York for Paris, where imitators try to steal her radical innovations in modern dance, including Isadora Duncan' ..."

Cast also includes Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Denis Ménochet, Amanda Plummer and Shimehiro Nishikawa.

"We'll drag this place into the new century." Palace Films has unveiled a new trailer from Australia for the release of the indie drama The Dancer, also known as La danseuse in French, a period set drama about a rivalry between two dancers. This originally premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, and is just getting a release in Us theaters this December. Lily-Rose Depp stars as Isadora Duncan, the protégé and rival of dancer Loïe Fuller, played by French actress/musician Soko, the "toast of the Folies Bergères at the turn of the 20th century and an inspiration for Toulouse-Lautrec and the Lumière Brothers." The full cast includes Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, François Damiens, Denis Ménochet, Amanda Plummer, and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. This seems like a very passionate, intense, dance film to watch. Check it out. Here's the official Australian trailer (+ old poster) for Stéphanie Di Giusto's The Dancer,...

The Champs-Élysées Film Festival, created by producer, distributor and exhibitor Sophie Dulac, is a commitment to Parisian audiences for a cinematic trip between France and the USA showcasing the best of French and American independent cinema and highlighting New Orleans.

Six American indies and six French indies will judged for two separate awards and will also receive audience awards. The 2017 Jury consist of talents coming from all kinds of backgrounds and having a strong involvement in French independent cinema : — Lolita Chammah, actress, — Lola Créton, actress, — Vincent Dedienne, actor, humorist and author, — Jérémie Elkaïm, actor, screenwriter and director, — Camélia Jordana, singer and actress, — Gustave Kervern, director and actor — Karidja Touré, actress.

Classic Claude Brasseur back when…

The classic French actor Claude Brasseur will be the Guest of Honor along with the American director Alex Ross Perry and director Jerry Schatzberg. Other guests include directors Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, the French actress Aïssa Maïga.

Stars: Ziad Bakri, Mimi Denissi, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Yannis Stankoglou, Laurène Brun, Gwendoline Hamon, Yiorgos Gallos, Theodoros Kandiliotis, Andreas Marianos, Sarah Krebs | Written and Directed by Joyce A. Nashawati

In the sun-scorched Greece of the near future, immigrant Ashraf house-sits a fancy villa (plus cat) while its rich owners are away. After a testy greeting from his employers and a rough start with a border cop, the stage is almost certainly set for a showdown of some variety. Well, excessive heat always makes me extra grumpy too.

While there’s no sign of any immediate danger to Ashraf – nor any traditional horror or thriller movie cinematography or audio cues to suggest it might be on the way either – the atmosphere is there from the outset; oppressive, dusty and unforgiving, like a slightly pre-apocalyptic Greek Mad Max. The constant chirruping of desert wildlife is a fine stand in for a horror movie score,...

One of the greatest anxieties that any couple can have is the possibility of one day separating from each other. With each “I love you” comes an expectation that this love will be forever. It is easy for couples to imagine others separating but is much more difficult to imagine this happening to themselves. Separation is all the harder to imagine—and is especially difficult to handle—once has reached a certain age and has built a life with their spouse. One builds this life according to certain habits and creates an imaginary wall around relationships, but with the wall destroyed one might feel profoundly lost. Mia Hansen-Løve’s film Things to Come deals closely with the struggles of separation for a middle-aged woman. For Hansen-Løve, it seems that one can deal with and potentially overcome the pain of separation if they know the issue and propose a proper method for dealing with it.

Francofonia (Le Louvre sous l’occupation) Music Box Films Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya, d-based on Rotten Tomatoes Grade: B Director: Aleksandr Sokurov Written by: Aleksandr Sokurov Cast: Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Benjamin Utzerath, Vincent Nemeth, Johanna Korthals Altes, Andrey Chelpanov Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 3/16/16 Opens: April 1, 2016 If someone told you that a Nazi officer, a high-level man from the contingent of Germans occupying Paris during the early days of the Second World War, would ultimately be awarded France’s highest honor, you wouldn’t believe him. You might wonder if he’s a guy like Oskar Schindler, given a hero’s treatment in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List, but Franz Wolff-Metternich [ Read More ]

The post Francofonia Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

For casual cinephiles, Alexander Sokurov's "Russian Ark" is the movie that's perhaps the biggest point of reference in the director's filmography. The 2002 picture saw the filmmaker dance through the Russian State Hermitage Museum in a single unbroken take, and for his latest picture, "Francofonia," he once again uses a house of the arts as the setting of his picture. Read More: Review: Alexander Sokurov's Odd, Dense & Bizarre 'Faust' Starring Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Benjamin Utzerath, Vincent Nemeth, Johanna Korthals Altes, Jean-Claude Caër, and Andrey Chelpanov, and mixing documentary and dramatization, the Louvre-set picture tells the story of Jacques Jaujard and Count Franziskus Wolff-Metternich, who worked at the museum during the Nazi occupation. Here's the synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the Louvre Museum’s history and artworks, master director Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) applies his uniquely...

As cinema progresses as an art, more and more filmmakers are jettisoning normal ideas of narrative and pushing what boundaries there may appear to be on the definition of “cinema.” Even looking at this year’s Portland International Film Festival, you have filmmakers like Ben Rivers and Peter Greenaway who have no interest in classical narrative tropes. And then there is one of world cinema’s foremost boundary-pushers, Alexander Sokurov, who is back with one of his most entrancing and yet oddly accessible experiments to date.

Entitled Francofonia, Sokurov’s latest finds him delving back into the world of art and a nation’s history, but this time leaving Russia as seen in Russian Ark and arriving in Paris, focusing his lens on The Louvre. In a similar vein to a film like Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery, Sokurov takes what sounds like well tread ground and brings to it...

Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes was number one Saturday night, taking the grand prize at the Deauville Film Festival. The eviction drama stars Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon. It’s the second film with star Shannon to take the top prize at the festival, following 2011’s Take Shelter. Shannon was in Deauville earlier in the week to present the film to festival audiences. The jury was headed by French director Benoit Jacquot (Farewell, My Queen), with director Pascal Bonitzer (Made in Paris), actresses Louise Bourgoin(The Love Punch), Marie Gillain (Valentin Valentin) and Marthe Keller (The Witness), actor Louis-Do de Lencquesaing (Marseille), novelist Marc Dugain, director Sophie Filieres (If You Don't, I Will) and Cesar-winning

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Even if you're not familiar with his arthouse fare like "The Sun," "Alexandra," and "Faust," you've likely heard of Alexander Sokurov's "Russian Ark." His 2002 movie took audiences inside the Winter Palace of the Russian State Hermitage Museum, for a film presented in a single, unbroken Steadicam shot. It was attention grabbing stuff, and now the filmmaker has made the Louvre his latest cinematic playground with "Franofonia," and a new trailer has arrived. Starring Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Benjamin Utzerath, Vincent Nemeth, Johanna Korthals Altes, Jean-Claude Caër, and Andrey Chelpanov, the docudrama details France's relationship to the arts throughout history. Here's the official synopsis:  Russian master Alexander Sokurov (The Sun, Alexandra, Faust) has once again presented us with a beautiful and nourishing work of art, a docudrama that is nearly as sculptural as it is cinematic. Rendering the past as something...

Robert Pattinson receiving the New Hollywood Award in Deauville Photo: Richard Mowe

A new prize is to be inaugurated at the Deauville American Film Festival (Sept 4-13) - with the first recipients named today as Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Olsen.

The 41st edition of the festival in the sedate Normandy seaside resort will see both stars in attendance to receive their New Hollywood Awards.

Other names scheduled to attend include Keanu Reeves, Jake Gyllenhaal and Orlando Bloom.

A total of 14 films will screen in competition including Chloé Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which premiered at Cannes, Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room.

Keanu Reeves - special tribute in Deauville Photo: Deauville American Film Festival

French director Benoît Jacquot will preside over the competition jury among whose ranks are writer Pascal Bonitzer, actress Louise Bourgoin and film-maker Louis-Do De Lencquesaing.

Baltasar Kormákur’s mountaineering drama Everest will open the festival,...

French beachfront festival unveils full line-up.Scroll down for full line-up

The Deauville American Film Festival (Sept 4-13) is to honour Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Olsen with a new prize, the New Hollywood Award.

The 41st edition of the beachfront festival, taking place in the northern French resort of Deauville, announced the new prize at its line-up press conference on Monday (Aug 24).

Both stars are expected to attend the award ceremony. Other big names expected to attend festival include Keenu Reeves, Jake Gyllenhaal and Orlando Bloom.

Competition

A total of 14 films will screen in competition including Chloé Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which premiered at Cannes, Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room.

French director Benoit Jacquot will preside over the competition jury including writer Pascal Bonitzer, actress Louise Bourgoin and film-maker Louis-Do De Lencquesaing.

Opening and closing films

As previously announced, Baltasar Kormákur’s mountaineering drama Everest will open the festival...

Exclusive: Drama from the Russian Ark director scores pre-sales ahead of Venice world premiere.

Aleksandr Sokurov’s anticipated historical drama Francofonia, which shot largely in the Louvre Museum, has recorded a string of pre-sales for Films Boutique ahead of the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12).

Among territories closed for Russian Ark director Sokurov’s anticipated first feature since 2011 Golden Lion-winner Faust are France (Sophie Dulac Distribution), Germany (Piffl Medien), Italy (Academy Two), Benelux (Contact Two), Japan (Kino Films) and Switzerland (Look Now!).

Sokurov’s French-German-Dutch co-production will combine narrative drama with archive material.

The reflection on art and power opens in occupied Paris in 1940 with the meeting between German officer Count Franz Wolff-Metternich - overseer of France’s art collection during the war - and Louvre director Jacques Jaujard.

Wolff-Metternich was sent by Adolf Hitler to repossess the museum’s invaluable collection, but according to Jaujard’s diary, the aristocrat...

Exclusive: Drama from the Russian Ark director scores pre-sales ahead of Venice world premiere.

Aleksandr Sokurov’s anticipated historical drama Francofonia, which shot largely in the Louvre Museum, has recorded a string of pre-sales for Films Boutique ahead of the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12).

Among territories closed for Russian Ark director Sokurov’s anticipated first feature since 2011 Golden Lion-winner Faust are France (Sophie Dulac Distribution), Germany (Piffl Medien), Italy (Academy Two), Benelux (Contact Two), Japan (Kino Films) and Switzerland (Look Now!).

Sokurov’s French-German-Dutch co-production will combine narrative drama with archive material.

The reflection on art and power opens in occupied Paris in 1940 with the meeting between German officer Count Franz Wolff-Metternich - overseer of France’s art collection during the war - and Louvre director Jacques Jaujard.

Wolff-Metternich was sent by Adolf Hitler to repossess the museum’s invaluable collection, but according to Jaujard’s diary, the aristocrat...

Back to back mid-summer Xmas mornings with the rollout of major premiere titles at Tiff and now the full line-up for Venice means we’re now carefully dissecting the numerous films announced with our first focus going down the list at the treasure trove of items in the Horizons Section, otherwise known as Orizzonti. Names that pop out of the group of eighteen include Danish helmer Tobias Lindholm‘s heavily anticipated third feature film, A War. Re-teaming with actor Pilou Asbæk in just as many outings, R (2010) and A Hijacking (2012) are part of his already stacked early filmography, this is about a solider stationed in Afghanistan and finds himself caught in a catch-22 type of situation.

Another highly anticipated film (our Nicholas Bell slotted it at #33) which posits a person in a life or death type of situation is Nicolas Saada‘s sophomore film. Based on true horrific events, set...

Taj Mahal

Director: Nicolas Saada // Writer: Nicolas Saada

Snagging a Cesar Award nomination for Best Debut in 2010 for Espion(s), director Nicolas Saada has assembled an intriguing international cast for his sophomore feature, the thriller Taj Mahal. Stacy Martin of Nymphomaniac, Italy’s Alba Rohrwacher, British actress Gina McKee from Desplechin’s Jimmy P., and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing from Hansen-Love’s Father of My Children populate this India set thriller revolving around the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Formerly a critic, Saada’s film deals with an 18 year old girl trapped in the eponymous hotel, separated from her family when a terrorist attack rages outside. Meanwhile, inside the hotel, the situation is also dire.

Cast: Stacy Martin, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Gina McKee, Alba Rohrwacher

Producers: Agat Films & Cie/Ex Nihilo’s Patrick Sobelman (Of Snails and Men), France 3 Cinema.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available.

Release Date: With the buzz surrounding Saada’s sophomore film,...