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The film is the debut from diplomat-turned-screenwriter Antonin Baudry.

Pathé International is launching sales on French diplomat-turned-screenwriter Antonin Baudry’s directorial debut, the nuclear submarine action drama The Wolf’s Call starring Omar Sy, Mathieu Kassovitz, Reda Kateb, François Civil and Paula Beer.

The company will premiere first footage and has released fresh details of the plot for the underwater thriller starring Kateb and Sy as commanders of a ballistic missile submarine (Ssbn) whose craft takes France to the brink of nuclear armageddon.

Kateb plays commandant Grandchamp alongside Sy as second-in-command D’Orsi, who manage to extricate their submarine from a crisis situation,...

The film is the debut from diplomat-turned-screenwriter Antonin Baudry.

Pathé International is launching sales on French diplomat-turned-screenwriter Antonin Baudry’s directorial debut, the nuclear submarine action drama The Wolf’s Call starring Omar Sy, Mathieu Kassovitz, Reda Kateb, François Civil and Paula Beer.

The company will premiere first footage and has released fresh details of the plot for the underwater thriller starring Kateb and Sy as commanders of a ballistic missile submarine (Ssbn) whose craft takes France to the brink of nuclear armageddon.

Kateb plays commandant Grandchamp alongside Sy as second-in-command D’Orsi, who manage to extricate their submarine from a crisis situation,...

Quai d’Orsay

Written by Christophe Blain and Abel Lanzac

Directed by Bertrand Tavernier

France, 2013

Promoted as a French comedy in the spirit of In The Loop and Veep, Quai d’Orsay is a very enjoyable watch, full of wit and fun. Based on the graphic novel of the same name written by Antonin Baudry (under the pseudonym Abel Lanzac) and based on his own experiences, the film follows a young politico (Raphael Personnaz) navigating his way as a speechwriter for the French foreign minister (Thierry Lhermitte). Nearly blindsided by the hurdles of his new position, Arthur Vlaminck (Personnaz) works through no to little guidance, some in-office saboteurs, and the slamming doors and blown away papers that mark the minister’s coming and going (to the chagrin of the office cat). For most of the film, Vlaminck is working on one very important speech, one that has him running around...

#54. Bertrand Tavernier’s Quai d’Orsay

Gist: Written by Christophe Blain, Abel Lanzac, and Tavernier, inspired by true events (the eve of the beginning of the Iraq war) in the life of France’s foreign minister Dominique de Villepin, this sees an impressive cast of very businessmen and women-clad dressed folks such as Thierry Lhermitte, Niels Arestrup, Anaïs Demoustier and Julie Gayet.

Prediction: There’ll be a much more anticipated Bd (French comic book) to film project on the Croisette this year, but filming began in October (with a couple of days shot in United Nations in New York – see below) and if readied in time, Tavernier who has been to Cannes on a handful of occasions – most recently for The Princess of Montpensier could be the legend filmmaker (with over 20 features under his belt) who gets added alongside the next generation of filmmakers in the Directors’ Fortnight section.

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Johnny Depp is reportedly single again after alleged girlfriend Amber Heard left him for another woman. The Pirates of the Caribbean star met Heard on the set of The Rum Diary and the pair reportedly began a relationship after Depp's split from longtime girlfriend Vanessa Paradis. The Sun claims that the bisexual actress broke up with Depp earlier this month and has since been pictured in Paris with Marie de Villepin. De Villepin is the daughter of former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and models under the name Marie (more)...

As sad as Johnny Depp's breakup from Vanessa Paradis was, we were kind of delighted to see him with "The Rum Diary" co-star Amber Heard. What, they make a beautiful couple!

And though our favorite pirate "treated [Heard] really well," the blond bombshell decidedly moved on and is now dating an equally gorgeous blonde: French model Marie de Villepin, reports the New York Post.

The actress and her new squeeze -- daughter of former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin -- are currently enjoying a romantic getaway in Paris, according to the Post, and the actress was spotted yesterday riding on the back of her girlfriend's motorcycle down the Champs-Elysees.

Poor Depp is quite possibly heartbroken (after all, he did name a beach after Heard), but don't you worry. We're sure he'll soon find an equally foxy lady. Volunteers?...

DVD Release Date: April 10, 2012

Price: DVD $29.95

Studio: Music Box

Denis Podalydès (l.) mimics president of France Nicolas Sarkozy in The Conquest.

The 2011 movie biography The Conquest chronicles the rise to power of Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France.

The film kicks off in early 2002, when up-and-coming politico Sarkozy (Denis Podalydes, The Da Vinci Code) first begins laying the groundwork for his presidential campaign. making his move on the presidency. Currying favor with his predecessor Jacques Chirac (Bernard Le Coq, The High Life) and sparring gamely with his glib rival Dominique de Villepin (Samuel Labarthe, Strayed), Sarkozy is depicted as a bold and unashamed virtuoso of political combat. It’s Sarkozy’s inattention to his disintegrating domestic partnership that results in his second wife, Cécilia (Florence Pernel, Blue), leaving him for good on the day he is elected president of France in 2007.

Written and directed for maximum dramatic and satiric punch by Xavier Durringer,...

Updated through 5/19.

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which opened the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, already has its own entry, of course (and it's still being updated, too), but it's here that I'll collect all that's notably linkable related to the films in the Official Selection yet screening Out of Competition (excluding Special Screenings, which'll have their own upcoming roundup). We already have plenty on Jodie Foster's The Beaver here; and I'm sure Christophe Honoré's Beloved will warrant an entry of its own when it closes the Festival on May 22.

"Bursting with light and color, and a torrent of martial arts action both swift and savage (arguably the best that lead actor Donnie Yen has choreographed for years), Wu Xia is coherently developed and stylishly directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan to provide unashamedly pleasurable popular entertainment," writes Maggie Lee in the Hollywood Reporter, where Karen Chu interviews Chan.

What should have been a daring portrait of Nicolas Sarkozy's rise to power falls flat like a cold soufflé

Heralded as the French answer to Stephen Frears's The Queen, a daring portrait of Nicolas Sarkozy's rise to power, La Conquête (The Conquest) promised to shake up French cinema, no less. Teams of lawyers had to read the script for fear of legal retaliation. How audacious, how brave was the team behind the film, director-writer Xavier Durringer and the producers, the Altmeyer brothers.

La Conquête promised all but delivers little, and sadly falls flat like a cold soufflé. First of all, we don't learn anything new. No new insight, no daring hypothesis, no cunning analysis on the kind of political animal Nicolas Sarkozy is. Performances by Denis Podalydès, interpreting Sarkozy, and Bernard Le Coq, playing Chirac, may be tremendous, with all the right mimics, tics, grimaces and more importantly the perfect voice intonations,...

It is rare for a president to see his life adapted to the big screen while he is still in office. George W Bush had the honors with Oliver Stone’s W in 2008, and equally controversial French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s political life is now the subject of La Conquête (The Conquest). Described as a thriller, it follows his ambitious rise to power. La Conquête recounts the events between April 27, 2002 and May 6, 2007 and follows Nicolas Sarkozy’s political career, thirst for power and concludes with his ultimate conquest: the presidency of France. (His other conquest, Carla Bruni, came months later.) Hit the jump for more details, photos and the trailer. Producers Eric and Nicolas Altmayer initially wanted François Ozon (Swimming Pool, Potiche) to helm the film, but they finally chose Xavier Durringer. Patrick Rotman, a well-known writer of political documentaries, has penned the screenplay. Denis Podalydès dons a wig and plays a very convincing Sarko,...

PARIS -- France 24, the country's much buzzed-about 24-hour global news broadcaster, launched Wednesday evening on the Internet despite recent international skepticism, management disputes and union protests.

More than 3,000 guests -- including France 24 chairman Alain de Pouzilhac, French Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Douste-Blazy and Cultural Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres -- gathered to watch the massive screens assembled in the Tuileries Gardens, as 500,000 Internet users in more than 100 different countries tuned in for the live online Webcast of Gaul's first French 24-hour international satellite TV news channel.

Seventy-five% of the site's hits came from France, Belgium and Switzerland, 15% from North America (with an estimated 100,000 hits from the U.S.) and 10% in other European countries (with a clear majority in the U.K.), France 24 said.

"These figures are very encouraging," de Pouzilhac said in an interview. "They are above our expectations."

With a young staff -- the average age is 31-- and a large budget ($102 million), the veritable "CNN a la Francaise", initiated by Jacques Chirac, was successfully broadcast on France24.com in English, French and Arabic despite connection complaints among some Mac users.

French actor Philippe Noiret died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. He was 76. The Cinema Paradiso star appeared in more than 125 films and also took to the stage in a string of plays. Noiret started his career in 1956 in Agnes Varda's film La Pointe Courte. He won two Cesar Awards (the French Oscars) for Best Actor for his roles in Robert Enrico's 1976 film Le Vieux Fusil and Bertrand Tavernier's 1990 production La Vie Et Rien D'Autre. French Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin paid tribute to Noiret, saying, "Through his voice, his allure, his panache, Philippe Noiret knew how to seize and express something within the French soul. The silhouette and the voice, so tender and familiar, will be missed by all."...

PARIS -- In a bid to accelerate the shift towards digital television, France's President Jacques Chirac on Thursday inaugurated the country's Strategic Digital Committee, charged with facilitating the move. The analog signal will be switched off in France in 2011, after which only households equipped with a special adaptor will be able to receive a digital terrestrial signal. For those who can't afford the cost, the state will create a subsidy fund of some €15 million ($19 million). The committee is presided over by Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin and includes the nation's ministers for culture, industry and territorial management as well as industry representatives. The French digital terrestrial television offer was launched in March 2005, and comprises 18 channels including the five analog channels. Currently, 1.5 million French houses have opted for the service, which is available to 65% of the population.

PARIS -- Veronique Cayla, managing director of the Festival de Cannes, has been appointed managing director of the Center National de la Cinematographie, the French government said Wednesday. The CNC is France's audiovisual regulatory body, under the authority of the Ministry of Culture, and also handles management of the nation's film and television budget. It is set up to protect the nation's cinematographic heritage as well as defend the local industry and the French "cultural exception." Cayla takes the reins from Catherine Colonna, who recently was appointed minister for European affairs by new Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin. Cayla also was made acting president of the Ecole Nationale Superieur des Metiers de l'Image et du Son, the celebrated Paris film school, the government said.