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Studiocanal France has revealed the main official French trailer for the film titled The Most Precious of Cargoes, an animated tale from WWII about a Jewish baby rescued by a compassionate Polish woodcutter and his wife. This premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival as one of the final films at the end of the fest. In war-torn times, a poor woodcutter and his wife live in a great forest in Poland. One day, the woman finds and rescues a baby girl, bringing irrevocable change to the lives of the couple, and to those whose paths the child will cross. The story follows a Holocaust-surviving Jewish girl whose father throws her from a moving train heading to Auschwitz who is luckily found and raised by these two people. The voices include Jean-Louis Trintignant as the narrator, Grégory Gadebois as the woodcutter, with Denis Podalydès and Dominique Blanc. The stunning animation is really the star of this,...

Oscar-winning Hungarian director László Nemes has wrapped filming on his long-awaited feature Orphan after a 10-week shoot in Budapest.

The production has released a first look image of 12 year-old newcomer Bojtorján Barabas in the lead role of Andor, the 12-year-old protagonist who learns about his own genesis in the ruins of the 1956 Hungarian uprising against the communist dictatorship.

The film follows the boy’s painful journey when a man appears from his mother’s past and he discovers the true story of her survival during World War II. Andor has to come to terms with this man as a usurping father he only has hatred for.

Orphan is Nemes’ third film after Sunset, which world premiered in Venice in 2018, and his Oscar-winning breakthrough Son of Saul, which won Cannes Grand Prize of the Jury in 2015, before clinching Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards the following year.

Balagasz is...

Seit diesem Jahr gibt es den TV Disruptor Award, den zuerst die deutsche Drehbuchautorin Annette Hess erhielt. Jetzt wird in Le Havre einer der vielversprechendsten französischen Kreativen ausgezeichnet, der hier sein neues Werk „Zorro“ mit Jean Dujardin zeigt.

Noé Debré (Credit: Unifrance)

Das US-Branchenblatt Deadline vergab auf dem Seriencamp Festival in Köln in diesem Jahr zum ersten Mal den sogenannten TV Disruptor Award, der an Kreative geht, die eine starke eigene Meinung und Haltung in der Branche zeigen, an die Drehbuchautorin Annette Hess („Deutsches Haus“). Während des Branchenevents Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre wird jetzt am 4. September der französischen Showrunner, Drehbuchautor und Regisseur Noé Debré als Zweites mit diesem Preis als herausragendes internationales TV- und Streaming-Talent geehrt.

Mit großer Spannung wird Noé Debrés neuestes Serienwerk „Zorro“ mit Jean Dujardin in der Hauptrolle hier in Le Havre als Premiere erwartet. „Zorro“ läuft demnächst in Deutschland bei Paramount+ und in Frankreich bei France Télévisions.

Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of “The Artist” whose animated film “The Most Precious of Cargoes” competed at this year’s Cannes and was subject to some backlash due to its depiction of Auschwitz victims, has penned an op-ed denouncing rising antisemitism in France.

Hazanavicius, who is the Jewish son of Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe, rhetorically asked in French newspaper Le Monde, “Why do I have the impression that more and more people have an issue with the simple fact of addressing the genocide against Jews?”

“Why do I have the impression that as a member of a minority like any other, which has had its share of tragedies, I’ve become a member of the dominant caste, the figurehead of oppression, imperialism and injustice? As if being Jewish had become something really murky, vaguely suspect, possibly detestable. How could I have become so evil in such a short time?...

Bei Paramount+ gibt es demnächst eine „Zorro“-Serie mit dem französischen Superstar Jean Dujardin in der Hauptrolle. Hier kommt schon der erste Teaser-Trailer, der durchaus schönes „Oss 117″-Flair andeutet.

Paramount+ enthüllt den Teaser-Trailer für die neue, mit Spannung erwartete Serie „Zorro“ mit Oscar-Preisträger Jean Dujardin („The Artist“) in der Hauptrolle. Die Serie wird im Laufe dieses Jahres auf Paramount+ Premiere feiern.

Zur Handlung: Im Jahr 1821 wird Don Diego de la Vega Bürgermeister von Los Angeles, um die Stadt zu modernisieren. Doch Los Angeles gerät durch die Geldgier des örtlichen Geschäftsmannes Don Emmanuel in finanzielle Schwierigkeiten und Diegos Macht als Bürgermeister reicht nicht aus, um diese Missstände zu bekämpfen. Doch Diego lebt ein Doppelleben: Als Zorro hat er seine Identität seit 20 Jahren nicht mehr genutzt; aber nun hat er keine andere Wahl: Zum Wohle der Allgemeinheit muss er als Zorro zurückzukehren. Allerdings hat er Schwierigkeiten, seine doppelte Identität als Zorro und als Bürgermeister zu vereinbaren,...

If an animated film turns up in the Competition at Cannes, chances are it’s not going to be another Bambi — although, if it were made today, the traumatic shooting of Bambi’s mother would certainly tickle the selection committee. No, Cannes prefers its animation to be skewed towards adults, like René Lalou’s surreal sci-fi Fantastic Planet (1973), Robert Taylor’s raunchy sequel The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974) or Ari Folman’s wartime docudrama Waltz with Bashir (2008). And with The Most Precious of Cargoes, actor turned director and now graphic artist Michel Hazanavicius has turned to the most controversial topic it is possible to approach with pen and ink: the Holocaust.

Five long years in the making, Hazanavicius’s adaptation of the 2019 novel by Jean-Claude Grumberg arrives in Cannes two years after the death of its narrator, Jean-Louis Trintignant, and, unfortunately, a year after the debut of Jonathan Glazer...

The only animated film in the competition, Michel Hazanavicius has been a favorite of the festival landing several competition berths beginning with 2011’s The Artist. The Most Precious of Cargoes became his fourth feature to compete just after showcasing Coupez! as the opening film of the 2022 selection. This took a bit less time than most animated films we track — and stars Dominique Blanc, Denis Podalydès, Grégory Gadebois and Jean-Louis Trintignant as the voice cast.

Gist: An adaptation of Grumberg’s 2019 novel of the same name, the story centers on a Holocaust-surviving Jewish girl whose father throws her from a moving train heading to Auschwitz and ultimately found by a woodcutter and his family.…...

Michel Hazanavicius said that when it came to making his Holocaust feature The Most Precious of Cargoes “the question didn’t even arise” when making it animated. “I would never want to make a live film on this.”

The Artist Oscar winner adapted from the Jean-Claude Grumberg novel. The story follows a poor woodcutter and his wife who, once upon a time, lived in a great forest. Cold, hunger, poverty and a war raging all around them meant their lives were very hard. One day, the woodcutter’s wife rescues a baby girl thrown from one of the many trains that constantly pass through the forest.

Some critics have taken umbrage with the Cannes Competition title and its approach to its portrayal of horrifying scenes. The Screen Daily review wrote, “The worst decision comes in a late sequence showing still, stylized black and white images of the faces of the...

The Artist Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius returned to the Cannes Competition this evening with animated fairy tale feature The Most Precious of Cargoes. The warm applause for the film inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière went on for 10 minutes.

Coming in at a tight 81 minutes, it’s the final Competition film to premiere this year.

Hazanavicius applauded during ‘The Most Precious of Cargoes’ ovation #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/3TWoUBF6V9

— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) May 24, 2024

The voice cast includes the late Jean-Louis Trintignant, Grégory Gadebois, Dominique Blanc and Denis Podalydès.

Hazanavicius wrote the script for The Most Precious of Cargoes, which is based on the novel by Jean-Claude Grumberg. The story centers on a poor woodcutter and his wife who, once upon a time, lived in a great forest. Cold, hunger, poverty and a war raging all around them meant their lives were very hard.

One day, the woodcutter’s wife rescues...

Competing for Cannes’ top prize, The Most Precious of Cargoes deploys animation to tell a semi-contemporary fairy tale about a lost baby girl who is thrown from a train bound for Auschwitz and found in the snow by a childless woodcutter’s wife. It’s the latest feature by French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, who’s been a favorite of the Cannes programmers ever since his cinephile- and crowd-pleasing serio-comic pastiche The Artist (2011) broke him onto the international stage, going on to scoop up awards — including a best picture Oscar — and box-office records (for a near-silent film, at least) worldwide.

Sadly, Hazanavicius’ subsequent films haven’t enjoyed the same success. This latest effort, however, might just be his most commercially viable in a while since Holocaust films nearly always travel. Its portability is only enhanced by it being animated, making it easy to dub this for different territories. If nothing else,...

Studiocanal ex-Orange Studio (sic), the sales company in transition following Canal+’s acquisition of Orange Studio and Ocs earlier this year, has taken on All For One, the anticipated second feature from Camera d’Or-winning Divines director Houda Benyamina.

The comedy drama reteams Beyamina with Divines actresses Oulaya Amamra and Déborah Lukumuena who star alongside Daphné Patakia and Sabrina Ouazani. Set in France in 1625, All For One is a feminist retelling of The Three Musketeers and follows four women tasked with protecting the Queen of France.

Orange Studio’s head of sales Charlotte Boucon will be at the market selling the film,...

Studiocanal has unveiled the first clip of Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Most Precious of Cargoes,” an allegorical hand-drawn animated feature which is competing at the Cannes Film Festival. The first animated film to vie for a Palme d’Or since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name.

Set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust,” the film has been developed by Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “The Artist,” for many years.Hazanavicius penned the script with Grumberg and created the drawings, with Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat providing the score.

The drama intertwines the fate of a Jewish family, including newborn twins, deported to Auschwitz, with that of a poor and childless woodcutter couple living deep in a Polish forest. On the train to the death camp, the young father wraps...

The world of Pierre Creton’s “A Prince” is lush and verdant. His protagonist is a gardener’s apprentice whose penchant for taming and nurturing the wilderness around him is only matched by the latent eroticism he finds in various older men he comes to be involved with. Mostly driven by voiceover narration meant to ground and disorient you in equal measure, “A Prince” is a study in the stories we keep from one another and the ones we tell ourselves. Creton’s vision of unruly desires in the French countryside is literate and oblique perhaps to a fault, its erotic sensibility feeling more intellectual than visceral.

The first line in Creton’s film, delivered in voiceover as images of gardening take up the screen, feels like a deferred promise: “The story really began when Kutta arrived,” we’re told by Françoise (who’ll be played by Manon Schaap but...

It’s an indie grab bag and a fun one this weekend with the widely pummeled TIFF-premiering Poolman, (the people will decide), Jamie Foxx in comedy Not Another Church Movie, and Eric Bana’s Force of Nature: The Dry 2 sequel. Mubi and Strand Releasing are testing the market with limited openings Gasoline Rainbow and A Prince. A24 begins a slow rollout of I Saw The TV Glow.

The widest release on 1,180+ screens is Briarcliff’s Not Another Church Movie directed by Johnny Mack, starring Jamie Foxx, Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Daniels and Mickey Rourke. Daniels is Taylor Pherry (silent p), an ambitious young man on a holy mission from God (Foxx) — to tell his family’s stories and inspire his community. But the Devil (Rourke) has plans of his own.

Vertical’s Poolman at 160+ locations is Pine’s directorial debut andhe also stars as Darren, a native Angeleno who...

The Most Precious of Cargoes, the first animated feature from Oscar-winning French director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), will open this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

The feature is a 2D animated adaptation of the best-selling book by French author Jean-Claude Grumberg. Set during World War II, it tells the story of a French Jewish family deported to Auschwitz. On the train to the death camp, in a desperate gesture, the father throws one of his baby twins out into the snow, where he’s discovered by a childless Polish couple living deep in the forest.

Hazanavicius presented the film as a work-in-progress at Annecy two years ago. French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant narrates the film with voice acting from Dominique Blanc, Denis Podalydès, and Grégory Gadebois. Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water) composed the score. Animation is from 3.0 Studio – formerly Prima Linea — the group behind the...

Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof is finally making his way back to the Cannes Film Festival following the controversy surrounding his Un Certain Regard 2023 jury appointment.

Rasoulof was invited to serve on the jury last year but was unable to attend due to Iran’s travel embargo on him. The “There Is No Evil” filmmaker was banned from leaving Iran after being arrested in July 2022 for posting statements criticizing government-sanctioned violence against protesters. Rasoulof was later temporarily released in February 2023 due to ongoing health concerns. He was later pardoned and sentenced to one year of penal servitude and a two-year ban from leaving Iran on the charge of “propaganda against the regime.”

Now, Rasoulof is debuting his latest feature “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in competition at the festival. While the plot remains under wraps, there is no word on whether Rasoulof will attend the festival. Variety first reported the news.

After announcing a whopping number of English-language films in competition, Cannes Film Festival has added some international titles: Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature “The Most Precious of Cargoes” and Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Variety has learned.

An auteur-driven allegorical feature, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” (first-look still below) is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust. It will be the first animated feature to compete in more than a decade, since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008.

The film is co-produced and represented internationally by Studiocanal, which also has Gilles Lellouche’s “Beating Hearts” in competition. “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is a passion project for Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “The Artist,” who has been developing the project for years. Hazanavicius penned the script with Grumberg and created the drawings,...

Paramount+ and France Télévisions have confirmed their pact on upcoming, working-titled series Zorro starring Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin as the iconic masked vigilante.

The partners revealed a first image of The Artist actor Dujardin in the role in a release and said the show will launch later this year on Paramount+ before being broadcast on France Télévisions.

Paramount+ has also acquired rights for the UK, Italy, Germany and Latin America. France tv distribution is handling sales for all other territories.

News of Dujardin’s and Paramount+’s involvement in the show broke in the French media late last year but today’s release was the partners’ first official confirmation of their co-production and distribution deal.

The new show is set in 1821 and sees Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro become mayor of Los Angeles to improve his beloved city.

However, the city is facing financial trouble due to a local...

Paramount+ has boarded “Zorro” (working title), an adventure comedy series starring Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning actor of “The Artist,” as the iconic character of Diego de la Vega.

Created by Benjamin Charbit (“Gagarine”) and Noé Debré (“Dheepan”), the anticipated show was bought by Paramount+ for France, the U.K., Italy, Germany and Latin America.

In the eight-part series, Dujardin stars opposite well-known Italian comedian Salvatore Ficarra, and French actors, including Audrey Dana, André Dussollier, Eric Elmosnino and Grégory Gadebois. The show will premiere on Paramount+ before rolling out on the pubcaster France Télévisions.

The series unfolds in 1821 as Don Diego de la Vega becomes mayor of Los Angeles and has to face off a corrupt businessman, Don Emmanuel.

Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64 and Julien Seul at Bien Sûr Productions are producing the series which is penned by Charbit, Debré and Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud (“Le Test”). It’s directed by Jean-Baptiste Saurel...

Gilles Bourdos’ Cross Away, starring Vincent Lindon, a French remake of Steven Knight’s 2013 film Locke that starred Tom Hardy, is being launched at the EFM by Newen Connect.

Lindon plays the head of a construction company who takes a series of telephone calls in his car during one long night. The voices of his wife, his mistress, his boss and his co-worker and will be played by Micha Lescot, Pascale Arbillot, Gregory Gadebois, Brigitte Catillon and Cédric Kahn. Curiosa Films is producing.

Also in post for Newen is Marie-Hélène Roux’s second feature Mending Lives about real-life Congolese doctors Denis Mukwege,...

Orange Studio has boarded true-crime-tinged psychological thriller “An Ordinary Case” and will launch sales at this week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris. Top-lined, co-written and directed by French cinema stalwart Daniel Auteuil, this pulled-from-the-headlines drama also boasts “Borgen” and “Westworld” star Sidse Babett Knudsen alongside acclaimed actor Grégory Gadebois (“An Officer and a Spy”).

Auteuil adapted the feature from the work of Jean-Yves Moyart – a jurist-turned-blogger-turned-bestselling author who wrote of his experiences in the French legal system – and will star as Jean Monier, a disillusioned lawyer defending a man accused of murdering his wife. While all signs point to the accused’s guilt, Monier remains steadfast in his presumption of innocence. What begins as an ordinary case turns out to be anything but.

Following in the footsteps of Alice Diop’s Venice and César winner “Saint Omer,” of Cédric Kahn’s Cannes-acclaimed “The Goldman Case,” and of Justine Triet’s...

"Only an ass would defend a goat!" Pathe in France has revealed an official trailer for a new French comedy called This Is The Goat!, which is the fun English title of the original Les Chèvres (which translates to simply The Goats). Here's the pitch: Did you know that in 17th-century France, animals could be judged for committing crimes? In 1644, a goat is accused of murder... A failing lawyer in France decides to take on the case of defending young, innocent Josette, wrongfully accused of murder - only to realize later that Josette is actually a goat. Caught in the trap, he can't back down, being already the one who never saved a single one of his clients, he doesn't want to become the one who can't even save a goat! This time, he must win... by whatever means necessary. A film by Fred Cavayé, starring Dany Boon, Jérôme Commandeur,...

"Watch out, this is the big league." Kino Lorber has debuted the US trailer for La Syndicaliste, a French dramatic thriller based on a true story about a whistleblower. This first premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival last year, playing at many other fests along the way. This is the story of Maureen Kearney, played by Isabelle Huppert, the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. She became a whistle-blower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. Alone against the world, she fought government ministers and industry leaders, tooth and nail to bring the scandal to light and to defend more than 50,000 jobs... Her life was turned upside down when she was violently assaulted in her own home... The investigation is carried out under pressure. However, new elements create doubt in the minds of the investigators. At first a victim, Maureen becomes a suspect. The cast also includes Grégory Gadebois,...

Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard and Jacques Audiard are among 500 French cinema professionals to have signed an open letter in support of a silent march for peace in Paris this Sunday.

The initiative – created in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and its ongoing reverberations around the world – is being spearheaded by the newly launched Une Autre Voix (Another Voice) collective.

“This fratricidal war affects us all, and regardless of our reasons or affinities on each side of the wall, we want it to cease and that both peoples finally live in peace,” reads the letter.

“This is why we are organizing a silent, united, humanist and peaceful march that will open with a single long white banner. No political claims nor slogans. White flags, white handkerchiefs are welcome.”

Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal presides over the Une Autre Voix collective which also features French...

A Prince, the second narrative feature from French director Pierre Creton, is rather strange. There is a chorus of narrators for a quiet film. This movie is obsessed with sex, yet almost frighteningly unsexy. A Prince defies comprehensible storytelling and the laws of nature. And despite all of Creton’s formal efforts to make this film nearly unwatchable, A Prince is also quite beautiful.

As much as A Prince is about anything, it is about various residents in a rural French village. We open on Françoise (Manon Schaap), the woman in charge of the local trade school. Françoise speaks mostly about her adoptive son, Kutta, whose existence dangles enigmatically over the entire narrative. (Her narration is voiced by Françoise Lebru.) This isn’t really Françoise or Kutta’s story, though––at least the film doesn’t focus on them. It focuses primarily on Pierre-Jean (played mostly by Antoine Pirotte), who...

While promoting his 50th – and quite possibly, last — movie Coup de Chance at the Venice Film Festival, Woody Allen weighed in on cancel culture, the #MeToo Movement, and whether any woman has ever complained about his behavior on set.

“I said years ago that I should have been a poster boy [for the #MeToo movement] and they got all excited about that,” Allen, 87, told Variety in an interview before Sunday’s premiere of the French language film that he wrote and directed. “I’ve made 50 films. I’ve always had very good parts for women, always had women in the crew, always paid them the exact same amount that we paid men, worked with hundreds of actresses, and never, ever had a single complaint from any of them at any point. Not a single one ever said, ‘Working with him, he was mean or he was harassing.’ That’s just not been an issue.

Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. The film, which was directed and written by Allen himself, received a five-minute ovation from the audience.

Coup de Chance centers around Fanny and Jean who look like the ideal married couple—they’re both professionally accomplished, they live in a gorgeous apartment in an exclusive neighborhood of Paris, and they seem to be in love just as much as they were when they first met. But when Fanny accidentally bumps into Alain, a former high school classmate, she’s swept off her feet. They soon see each other again and get closer and closer.

Woody Allen stunned by the enthusiastic response to Coup de Chance at #Venezia80 which received a 5-minute ovation pic.twitter.com/vjRd2FSYLV

— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) September 4, 2023

Allen’s fiftieth movie stars Lou de Laâge, Valérie Lemercier, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Schneider,...

The 50th movie from controversial filmmaker Woody Allen is a thriller that was shot in French and will be making its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, which is set to run from August 30th through September 9th. The film is called Coup de Chance (or Stroke of Luck), and an English-subtitled trailer can be seen in the embed above.

Allen has described Coup de Chance as a “poisonous romantic thriller” and spiritual successor to his popular 2005 psychological thriller Match Point. This one has the following synopsis: Fanny and Jean have everything of the ideal couple: fulfilled in their professional life, they live in a magnificent apartment in the beautiful districts of Paris and seem to be in love as on the first day. But when Fanny crosses, by chance, Alain, a former high school friend, she is immediately capsized. They see each other again very quickly and get closer and closer.

As a female union rep in the oppressively male-dominated French nuclear industry, Maureen Kearney — the real-life heroine of Jean-Paul Salomé’s “La Syndicaliste” (“The Sitting Duck” in the U.K.) — is accustomed to keeping a cool head in a crisis. That doesn’t stop her male superiors from accusing her of the opposite, with then-President Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly branding her a “hysteric in a skirt”: In this men’s club, a woman’s mere presence is deemed her weakness. Yet when Kearney is raped and mutilated by unknown assailants, seemingly as a professional warning, it’s her lack of hysteria under the circumstances that is declared suspicious by men in power. As she’s first disbelieved, then charged without outright fabrication, Salomé’s film pivots from itchy whistleblower thriller to irate courtroom drama, with institutional misogyny as its binding thread.

A rape survivor criticized for her composure: sounds like an assignment for Isabelle Huppert,...

Strand Releasing has acquired the North American rights to Pierre Creton’s “A Prince,” a French film which world premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

“A Prince” won the Sacd Prize from France’s Writers’ Guild for the best French-language film at Directors’ Fortnight.

Represented in international markets by Andolfi, “A Prince” follows a horticultural student, Pierre-Joseph, whose sexual encounters with his botany teacher and mentors lead to a unique hybrid tale of science, sex and meditation.

“We’re thrilled to be handling ‘A Prince,’ Creton’s work is such a rarified vision that fits so well with the Strand Releasing brand, we look forward to taking this out to some of the top festivals across North America,” said Marcus Hu at Strand Releasing.

The deal was done between Jon Gerrans and producer Arnaud Dommerc on behalf of production company Andolfi. Strand previously worked on Dommerc’s previous film, “Felicité,” directed by Alain Gomis,...

About three weeks ago, we saw a teaser trailer for Final Cut, the French remake of writer/director Shin’ichirō Ueda’s highly acclaimed Japanese zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead. Final Cut will be receiving a U.S. theatrical release (courtesy of Kino Lorber) on July 14th, so now a full trailer for the film has arrived online – and you can watch it in the embed above!

Known as Coupez! in its home country, this remake of One Cut of the Dead was written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of the Best Picture-winning silent film The Artist. (Hazanavicius also received a Best Screenplay nomination for that film.) Starring Romain Duris, Berenice Bejo, Gregory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Lutz, Sebastian Chassagne, Raphael Quenard, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Lyes Salem, Simone Hazanavicius, and Luana Bajrami, Final Cut is set against the backdrop of a B-movie shoot that is descending into disaster,...

"There's a weird vibe on this shoot." Ahahaha this film is so much fun! Kino Lorber has revealed their main official trailer for the US release of Final Cut, the French zombie comedy remake of the Japanese cult hit One Cut of the Dead. This first premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival (here's my review). Academy Award–winning writer-director Michel Hazanavicius brings one of the most innovative, joyful, and funniest love letters to film & filmmaking you'll ever see. It's a French remake of the Japanese box office hit One Cut of The Dead (which is also a must watch), going even deeper with its meta-ness by including the Japanese filmmakers watching them do this. It keeps the heart & humor of the original while delivering some of its own unique comedy as well. Coupez! (as it's originally known in France) stars Romain Duris, Berenice Bejo, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Lutz, Grégory Gadebois,...

"A gory pleasure." Get ready! This is finally hitting US theaters soon! Kino Lorber has debuted a new teaser trailer for the US release of Final Cut, the French zombie comedy remake of the Japanese cult hit One Cut of the Dead. This premiered as the Opening Night film at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival last year after first being set for Sundance before it was pulled. Academy Award–winning writer-director Michel Hazanavicius brings one of the most innovative, joyful, and funniest love letters to film and filmmaking you'll ever see. It's a French remake of the Japanese box office hit One Cut of The Dead, going even deeper with its meta-ness by including the Japanese filmmakers watching them remake the film. It's a great remake, maintaining the heart and humor of the original while delivering some of its own unique comedy as well. Coupez! (as it's known in France) stars Romain Duris,...

Final Cut, the French remake of writer/director Shin’ichirō Ueda’s highly acclaimed Japanese zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead, will be receiving a U.S. theatrical release (courtesy of Kino Lorber) on July 14th. With that date just one month away, a teaser trailer has arrived online, and you can check it out in the embed above!

Known as Coupez! in its home country, this remake of One Cut of the Dead was written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of the Best Picture-winning silent film The Artist. (Hazanavicius also received a Best Screenplay nomination for that film.) Starring Romain Duris, Berenice Bejo, Gregory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Lutz, Sebastian Chassagne, Raphael Quenard, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Lyes Salem, Simone Hazanavicius, and Luana Bajrami, Final Cut is set against the backdrop of a B-movie shoot that is descending into disaster, Duris plays the director who seems to be...

Final Cut, the French remake of writer/director Shin’ichirō Ueda’s highly acclaimed Japanese zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead, made its world premiere as the opening night film at the Cannes Film Festival last May, then received a theatrical release in France in June. One year later, we finally know when Final Cut is going to be released in the U.S. Following screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York next month, the film will be receiving a U.S. theatrical release (courtesy of Kino Lorber) on July 14th.

Known as Coupez! in its home country, this remake of One Cut of the Dead was written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of the Best Picture-winning silent film The Artist. (Hazanavicius also received a Best Screenplay nomination for that film.) Starring Romain Duris, Berenice Bejo, Gregory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Lutz, Sebastian Chassagne, Raphael Quenard,...

In the second prize announcement by a Directors’ Fortnight partner, “A Prince,” the fifth feature from singular French auteur Pierre Creton, has won the Sacd Prize, awarded by France’s Writers’ Guild for the best French-language movie in the section.

Written by Mathilde Girard, Cyril Neyrat and Vincent Barré, and directed by Creton, who combines his film career with work as an agricultural labourer, “A Prince” has weighed in at this year’s Directors Fortnight as one of the most singular of titles, whose central narrative turns on a horticultural student, Pierre-Joseph. His mentors, botany teacher Alberto and plant nursery owner Adrien, soon become his lovers.

A left-of-field ode to nature and horticulture, sporting narrative voice-overs by celebrated actors – Mathieu Amalric, Françoise Lebrun and Grégory Gadebois – the film is shot in 16:9 ratio, featuring scenes of nudity, and a spirited soundtrack – part Baroque, part instrumental – by Dutch composer Jozef van Wissem...

Orange Studio is launching several French projects at the Cannes Film Market, including Simon Bouisson’s “Drone,” a thriller produced by Haut et Court (“The Night of the 12th”), and “Miss Violet,” a period drama directed by Eric Besnard (“Delicious”) and starring Alexandra Lamy (“Rolling to You”).

Bouisson, who is directing “Drone,” previously penned and directed the short-format series “Stalk” which was hit on France Televisions’ youth-centered service and has been optioned for a remake in the U.S. The thriller stars Marion Barbeau, the dancer-turned-actor who broke through in Cedric Klapisch’s “Rise,” as well as Eugénie Derouand (“Paris Police”), Cédric Kahn (“November”) and Stefan Crepon (“Peter Von Kant”)

“Drone” follows Emilie who has freshly arrived in Paris to study architecture. At night, to make ends meet, she works as a cam-girl, something which she keeps to herself. One evening, a mysterious drone appears at her apartment window. From then on,...

“Yvonne Moreau is both original and very popular,” said Indie Sales.

Paris-based Indie Sales is heading to Cannes with The Jolly Forgers in tow, kicking off sales at the market for Yolande Moreau’s latest ensemble drama.

Moreau directs and stars in the feel-good feature as a woman who returns to her hometown to a house she inherited and takes in a merry band of new tenants, three men who brighten up her daily life and help her rekindle the flame of her long-lost true love. Sergi Lopez and Gregory Gadebois co-star in the film produced by Julie Salvador of...

Modern Films has shared an exclusive look at the trailer for the political thriller ‘La Syndicaliste.’

Based on the true story of Maureen Kearney, a trade union organiser in the French nuclear industry who became both a victim and suspect in a shocking scandal. Starring Isabelle Huppert in an electrifying performance as Kearney.

Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert) was the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. She became a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. Alone against the world, she fought government ministers and industry leaders tooth and nail to bring the scandal to light and to defend more than 50,000 jobs. Her life was turned upside down when she was

violently assaulted in her own home. The investigation was carried out under pressure: the subject was sensitive. Suddenly, new elements created doubt in the minds of the investigators, and at first a victim, Maureen became a suspect.

Stars: Romain Duris, Beěreěnice Bejo, Grégory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Sébastien Chassagne, Raphaël Quenard, Lyès Salem, Jean-Pascal Zadi | Written and Directed by Michel Hazanavicius

When I first saw One Cut of the Dead, I didn’t think that in a couple of years’ time I would be watching a French remake of it, but here we are with Final Cut.

One Cut of the Dead blew me away when I saw it. Just the perfect original zombie movie, which, while it was well received, I do feel like it should have done even better and got more of a widespread audience. Remaking it such a short time later seems like a strange idea but getting renowned director Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) definitely got some eyes on the movie that wouldn’t have been on it before it.

For once, I’m glad that I haven’t got...

Kino Lorber has bought U.S. rights to Jean-Paul Salomé’s true life thriller “The Sitting Duck,” starring Isabelle Huppert as the French union organizer and whistleblower Maureen Kearney.

Represented in international markets by The Bureau Sales, “The Sitting Duck” world premiered at Venice where it won the Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Prize. The film will open theatrically in France in March, and Kino Lorber is planning a U.S. theatrical release later this year, followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms.

“The Sitting Duck” has now been sold around the world. The Bureau Sales has closed deals for Canada (Axia Films Inc.), UK (Modern Films), Germany/Austria (Weltkino Filmverleih Gmbh), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), France (Le Pacte), Spain (Wanda Vision S.A.), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi Zurich Ag), Greece (Cinobo), Portugal, Bulgaria (Beta Film Ltd.), Hungary (Ads Service Ltd.), Romania (Transilvania Film), Israel (Forum Film Ltd.

I did not successfully lobby for Woody Allen Summer Project 2022 placing on our list of most-anticipated 2023 films. Rather than get into any reasoning for or arguments against the artist’s exile, we might all focus on the art: yet another work about somebody committing a horrible crime and finding small moral struggle with their decision.

I jest, though Allen’s hyped his next as a “poisonous romantic thriller” with explicit reference to Match Point, and today it’s known the picture––his first French-language production, titled Coup de Chance (Stroke of Luck en Anglais)––will make some appearance at the Berlinale’s EFM this month. Attached to the news is a first still featuring stars Lou De Laâge and Niels Schneider, the explicit reference to Coup as a policier (à la Le Cercle Rouge or Touchez pas au grisbi), and this small summary from the director:

“Coup de Chance is a contemporary story of romance,...

Woody Allen might still be persona non grata for many in the U.S., but international distributors will likely be clamoring to see his new film, Coup de Chance, which will be presented to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market.

WestEnd Films, in collaboration with Gravier Productions, will kick off sales for the film in Berlin next week.

Allen’s 50th feature marks the director’s French-language debut and features an ensemble cast of local stars, including Lou De Laâge (The Innocents), Valérie Lemercier (Aline), Melvil Poupaud (Summer of 85) and Niels Schneider (Heartbeats).

In a statement, Allen called the the movie a “story of romance, passion and violence set in contemporary Paris. Shot all over the city and a little bit in the countryside, it evolves around a romance between two young people who are old friends and devolves into marital infidelity and ultimately crime.”

The movie reunites Allen...

Exclusive: Woody Allen’s latest film is heading to the EFM market in Berlin with WestEnd Films, we can reveal.

To date, plot details have been kept under wraps on Allen’s 50th film but we can reveal the contemporary romantic thriller, previously known as Wasp 22, will chart the story of two young people whose bond leads to marital infidelity and ultimately crime. Above is a first look image.

Allen’s first French-language movie is a “policier” (as the French call it) in the genre of Match Point and was shot across Paris. ‘Coup de chance’ roughly translates into English as ‘stroke of luck’.

Cast includes Lou de Laage, Melvil Poupaud, Valerie Lemercier, Niels Schneider, Elsa Zylberstein, Bárbara Goenaga, Grégory Gadebois, Anne Loiret, Sara Martins, Guillaume de Tonquédec and Arnaud Viard.

Allen’s longtime producing partner Letty Aronson is producing for Gravier Productions. Also aboard are Allen regulars such as veteran Dp Vittorio Storaro,...

Final Cut, the French remake of writer/director Shin’ichirō Ueda’s highly acclaimed Japanese zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead, made its world premiere as the opening night film at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, then received a theatrical release in France in June. All these months later, we finally have some news about the film’s U.S. release. Variety reports that Kino Lorber has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to Final Cut, with their plan being to give the movie a theatrical release sometime in the summer. That will be followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms.

Known as Coupez! in its home country, this remake of One Cut of the Dead was written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of the Best Picture-winning silent film The Artist. (Hazanavicius also received a Best Screenplay nomination for that film.

Shin’ichirô Ueda’s brilliant zombie movie One Cut of the Dead has been remade as Final Cut, a French take on the material that was directed by Michel Hazanavicius. Variety reports today that Kino Lorber has acquired the movie for US release, and it’s coming this summer.

Variety lets us know that the film “will be released theatrically in the U.S. by Kino Lorber next Summer, followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms.”

In Final Cut, “Things go badly for a small film crew shooting a low-budget zombie movie when they are attacked by real zombies.”

Romain Duris, Bérénice Bejo, Grégory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Lutz, and Raphaël Quenard star.

“Final Cut is the perfect film to bring people out to movie theaters: a hilarious, in-your-face, genre twisting romp that demands the big screen treatment. Over-the-top gore even for the squeamish, and slapstick comedy even for the sophisticate,...

Waiting for Bojangles Trailer — Regis Roinsard‘s Waiting for Bojangles / En attendant Bojangles (2022) movie trailer has been released by Blue Fox Entertainment. The Waiting for Bojangles trailer stars Romain Duris, Virginie Efira, Grégory Gadebois, and Solan Machado Graner. Crew Romain Compingt wrote the screenplay for Waiting for Bojangles, “adapted by Régis Roinsard, based on [...]

Continue reading: Waiting For Bojangles (2022) Movie Trailer: Romain Duris & Virginie Efira star in Regis Roinsard’s Dance Romance Film...

"I should have kept our feet on the ground." Blue Fox has released an official US trailer for Waiting for Bojangles, a French romantic drama involving dance and love and family. It already opened in France in January under the title En attendant Bojangles, and is finally coming to US theaters this September. Every night in their Parisian apartment in front of their little boy, Camille and Georges dance to their favorite song "Mr Bojangles". With them, there is only place for fun and fantasy. They must be referring to the "Mr. Bojangles" originally by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The film stars 5-time César Award nominee Romain Duris, 4-time César Award nominee Virginie Efira (also seen in Benedetta), and César Award winner Grégory Gadebois, with newcomber Solan Machado Graner as a young boy in the south of France who recounts the epic love story of his parents – from madcap highs to heartbreaking lows.

We’ve been fortunate to cover Fantasia multiple times over the years and it, along with Frightfest and Grimmfest, are staples of Nerdly’s genre festival coverage. What’s so great about Fantasia is the eclectic nature of the films they screen – new films, old films, international films, weird films, documentaries… Fantasia films run the gamut of genres, tastes and subject matter. And it’s now in its 25th(!) year of doing so!

With that in mind here are a few films that stood out to me from the announced schedule and, hopefully, a few we’ll get to bring you reviews of in the near future! You can also check out Alain’s preview of Fantasia right here.

Final Cut (Coupez!) After opening this year’s Cannes, Final Cut (Coupez!), Michel Hazanavicius’s riotous remake of Shinichirou Ueda’s One Cut Of The Dead, is coming to North America.

La Syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck)

Jean-Paul Salomé moves the pendulum from crime caper to crime thriller but with biopic elements in his second consecutive project with Isabelle Huppert. With a newly added supporting cast, a 2022 shoot is imminent. Entering his third decade of filmmaking, La Syndicaliste (which will be known by international auds as “The Sitting Duck“) quickly follows La Daronne (aka Mama Weed) – which surprisingly didn’t receive any prestige film festival premiere but played extremely well at the French box office.…...