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In 2018, political journalist and writer Vanessa Schneider released Tu t’appelais Maria Schneider (My Cousin Maria Schneider), a deeply personal memoir exploring the turbulent life and career of her late cousin, actress Maria Schneider. Offering a window into the darker, somewhat socially accepted side of the film industry, the small tome looked at Maria’s struggles with fame, exploitation, and personal demons. Far from a straightforward rise to stardom, her story is one of resilience and shattered dreams—a poignant reflection on the cost of art and ambition. Fast-forward to the 2024 Cannes Film Festival (Cannes Premiere section), French filmmaker Jessica Palud revisits what the before, during and after consequences of the “Last Tango in Paris,” with Being Maria (the film was released by Kino Lorber in March).…...

From the moment “Being Maria” opens on a sun-dappled Paris street, you feel the pull of an unwritten destiny. Maria Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei) isn’t just a young woman chasing stardom—she’s a vessel for something far more volatile: the collision of art and personal integrity.

Director Jessica Palud and co-writer Laurette Polmanss adapt Vanessa Schneider’s memoir with a keen eye for how fleeting moments on camera can haunt an entire lifetime. At 19, Maria’s leap from obscurity into Bernardo Bertolucci’s world-altering “Last Tango in Paris” sets the stage for a narrative that asks: when “truth” on film comes at the cost of a performer’s agency, who truly benefits?

Palud’s rhythm shifts from hushed, intimate sequences—Maria practicing lines, stealing a shy smile from her estranged father—to jolting recreations of on-set betrayal. The film’s tone vacillates between warm nostalgia for a restless teen...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Being Maria (Jessica Palud)

Last Tango in Paris was both a breakout role and turning point in the life and career of Maria Schneider––a traumatic filming experience that inspired her to become an advocate for women in the film industry, and the often redundant depictions of female characters in cinema. Her steadfastness and increasing ability to not suffer fools gladly after her experiences with Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando saw her walk out on several major directors midway through shooting, earning her a reputation for being difficult, frustrations largely ignored as this behavior coincided with her own battles with mental health and drug addiction, both of which were weaponized as reasons to not hire her. Any writing on Schneider characterizes her...

Jessica Palud’s “Being Maria” (2024) takes a hard, unflinching look at one of film history’s most hotly debated scenes, the infamous ‘butter’ moment in Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris.” The film has some of the most polarised reception ever, with most attention fixated on one scene when Marlon Brando’s character forces himself on Maria Schneider’s. The actress went on to call out the scene as being entirely improvised and being utterly abased by the moment, of which she had no foreknowledge.

Palud’s film, co-written with Laurette Polmanss, reckons with the impact of that particular scene, its earlier iterations in the life and larger career of the actress. Adapting loosely from the actress’ cousin’s memoir, this is by no measure a piercing, acute portrait of an artist in emotional duress but stays afloat somewhat on the commitment of its lead, Anamaria Vartolomei, who broke out...

The 2025 Sarasota Film Festival has announced its winners, and one film in particular will draw attention for having screened to much acclaim in this bright red county, ultimately winning the top documentary prize: Kim A. Snyder’s “The Librarians,” a film that’s sounding the alarm strongly about right-wing attacks on free speech, won Best Documentary Feature, after screening at New College, a university itself subjected to a right-wing takeover and attacks on free speech.

The win for “The Librarians” caps another edition of the festival known for its strong curation (largely due to senior programmer Brian Gordon), that brings to Florida’s Gulf Coast titles from Sundance, Cannes, Palm Springs, Mill Valley, and more.

The documentary jury, comprised of freelance journalist Addie Morfoot, Impact Partners co-founder Geralyn Dreyfous, and “Lovers” director Taylor McFadden also awarded a Special Jury Mention to Sasha Wortzel’s “River of Grass,” an environmentally-focused documentary about the Everglades.

Toward the end of Jessica Palud’s “Being Maria,” an uneven but poignantly restorative portrait of “Last Tango in Paris” star Maria Schneider (played here by “Happening” breakout Anamaria Vartolomei), the actress sits for an interview in which she reflects on her recent experience shooting Jacques Rivette’s self-disowned “Merry-Go-Round.”

With a warm smile on her face, Schneider describes the serendipity of the film’s premise, which revolves around a boy and a girl who cross paths in Paris after being summoned there by someone neither of them can find: “It’s about two people who meet because the person they were supposed to meet doesn’t show up.”

The production of Rivette’s creatively unmoored film was not a happy one, but you’d never know that from the way it’s discussed in “Being Maria.” So far as Palud is concerned, there’s more value — more truth — to...

Last Tango in Paris was both a breakout role and turning point in the life and career of Maria Schneider––a traumatic filming experience that inspired her to become an advocate for women in the film industry, and the often redundant depictions of female characters in cinema. Her steadfastness and increasing ability to not suffer fools gladly after her experiences with Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando saw her walk out on several major directors midway through shooting, earning her a reputation for being difficult, frustrations largely ignored as this behavior coincided with her own battles with mental health and drug addiction, both of which were weaponized as reasons to not hire her. Any writing on Schneider characterizes her most famous role as an albatross around her neck, which saw her turn down any role that felt like it would similarly corner her in an unsafe working condition, which could make...

Forever Noor: Palud’s Schneider Moves From Being a Passenger to Just Saying Non

Since the advent of cinema, it’s been standard operating procedure for the film industry to chew up and then discard actress when they become difficult, old or inconvenient. It’s a man’s world—made by men, written by men, and controlled by men. Despite passing away in her late fifties after a life of abuse and deep psychological wounds and undoubtedly not getting her day in public court, Jessica Palud’s biopic manages to achieve the impossible: reclaim her power for her. Following her portrayal of a shattered soul in L’Événement, Anamaria Vartolomei is perfectly cast here — embodying a fallen angel who may not rise from the ashes in the conventional manner, but who gains power through saying “non,” controlling conversations, and working on films that do not objectify her — Antonioni’s The...

"I told you I wanted it intense." Kino Lorber has unveiled the US trailer for Being Maria, a French indie film about actress Maria Schneider and her experiences on set. This first premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival last year, and it already opened in French cinemas last summer. The film is finally opening in the US in art house theaters starting later this month. The film is an examination of how the idea of a young actress performing might seem exciting to viewers, but it might also be horrifying to the actress playing the role. This profiles Schneider's rise to fame after Last Tango in Paris and its controversial production's impact on her life and career. Based on the behind-the-scenes true story of the making of Last Tango in Paris (director Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1972 film originally given the X rating by the MPAA and even banned in...

The Being Maria trailer reveals a new biopic dramatizing the filming of Marlon Brando's most controversial movie. Written and directed by Jessica Palud, the upcoming French film follows actress Maria Schneider's experiences filming the 1972 erotic drama Last Tango in Paris, her subsequent rise to fame, and the impact the controversial production had on her life and career. Being Maria stars Anamaria Vartolomei in the titular role and Matt Dillion as Brando alongside Céleste Brunnquell, Giuseppe Maggio, Yvan Attal, Marie Gillain, and Jonathan Couzinié.

Now, Kino Lorber has released the first official trailer for Being Maria, finding Schneider as a promising young actress who receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to star in a film from an acclaimed Italian director, Bernardo Bertolucci (Giuseppe Maggio), and starring a beloved American actor, Brando. They get along great initially, but everything changes when the two men secretly plan an unscripted sexual assault scene without her consent.

Exclusive: French actor Lucas Bravo has signed with Anonymous Content for representation.

Bravo is best known for his lead role in Netflix’s Emily in Paris. Since Season 1 he has played Gabriel, a chef and on-again, off-again love interest of the show’s titular character. The romantic dramedy was renewed for a fifth season following Season 4 Part 2, which dropped in September.

Bravo appeared in last season’s finale and is currently being courted to return for Season 5 of the tentpole show, which also stars Lily Collins as the titular Emily Cooper and Ashley Park as Emily’s best friend Mindy Chen. Deadline exclusively reported the news that Lucien Laviscount, another star in Emily’s love life, will return as a series regular next season.

Bravo has worked mainly in his native France for the past few years, most recently starring in Melanie Laurent’s 2024 feature directorial debut Sulak (aka Freedom...

Ruben Östlund’s highly anticipated “The Entertainment System Is Down” has added New York and Tokyo-based Cinema Inutile as executive producer, continuing the company’s strategic expansion into larger-scale international projects. The film, starring Kirsten Dunst, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Brühl, Nicholas Braun and Samantha Morton, follows passengers on a long-haul flight forced to confront the horror of boredom when the entertainment system fails.

“I’m very, very excited for the film. It’s going to be a very special one,” Cinema Inutile founder Alex C. Lo tells Variety. Lo, a self-described “long-time admirer” of Östlund’s work, is a frequent collaborator of “The Entertainment System Is Down” producer Philippe Bober, including on Lou Ye’s Cannes-debuting “An Unfinished Film” and Jessica Hausner’s Sitges winner “Club Zero.” “The Entertainment System Is Down” is currently shooting and aims for a 2026 release.

Lo established Cinema Inutile just before the pandemic in late...

The 30th annual Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival, hosted by Film at Lincoln Center and Unifrance, is celebrating the work of acclaimed actor Vincent Lindon.

While the 2025 festival is not entirely honoring Lindon himself, the actor appears in a whopping trio of featured films and also will be onsite for Q&As and introductions. Lindon stars in Quentin Dupieux’s meta-comedy “The Second Act,” which opened the 77th Cannes Film Festival, as well as Gilles Bourdos’ dramatic thriller “Cross Away” and Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin’s “The Quiet Son” (Lindon won Best Actor at the 81st Venice Film Festival for that drama).

And Lindon isn’t the only beloved French star to join this year’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema: Actors Isabelle Huppert and Édgar Ramírez, plus auteurs Olivier Assayas and Bertrand Bonello are among those who will have features screening. Bonello, while known as a director, lent his composing skills to “Planet B.

The board of Paris’ French Cinematheque has apologised for failing to contextualise a screening of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 film Last Tango In Paris in December, which was ultimately cancelled.

Filmmaker Costa-Gavras, who is the Cinematheque’s president, joined other members of the directorial board to face a French National Assembly commission on sexual violence yesterday (January 16).

The Cinematheque had programmed a screening of the film, which includes a rape scene shot without the consent of actress Maria Schneider, as part of a retrospective of Marlon Brando’s career on December 15.

The programming decision was harshly criticised by film figures and feminist organisations,...

Rolling off the streaming debut of its first French original series “The Confidante” and docu “Breaking the Bank,” Max announced two new French shows, and a Spring launch in Turkey during a panel discussion at Content London.

In Turkey, Max will bring together BluTV, a local SVOD service which it acquired last year, with HBO Originals, as well returning seasons of BluTV’s beloved local productions, Türkiye streaming originals, Warner Bros. movies, DC Universe, and true crime and documentaries.

Max is already present in 74 markets with over 110 million subscribers. The streamer will bow in “three of the biggest European markets coming in 2026,” the company said.

The inaugural slate of the service in Turkey will include “Prince” season 3 and “Magarsus” season 2. It will also include “The First Gokturk,” a fantasy anthology weaving Turkish and nomadic history, created by Alper Çağlar.

Deniz Şaşmaz Oflaz, Wbd’s VP of local original productions, local...

Exclusive: Here’s your first look at Diane Kruger and Anamaria Vartolomei in Merteuil, Max’s anticipated reimagining of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liasions).

We can reveal today that the series will be titled The Seduction in all territories outside of France and will launch in the second half of 2025. Filming continues in France until the end of this month.

Also starring are Vincent Lacoste, Lucas Bravo, Julien De Saint Jean, Noée Abita, Fantine Harduin, and Patrick d’Assumçao.

The synopsis reads: “To be the hero of your own story, you sometimes have to be the villain in others. Marquise de Merteuil, betrayed by Valmont, embarks on a daring journey to become Paris’ leading courtesan.”

Max has described its first French Original drama as a free adaptation of Laclos’s steamy novel and “an exploration of the price of emotional and sexual freedom — in...

Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays has won the Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which ran from October 31-November 10.

The family drama centring on an Arab-speaking Israeli family premiered earlier this year in Venice’s Horizons strand, winning best screenplay. Copti had previously won the best film and screenplay prizes at Thessaloniki in 2009 for his Academy Award nominated Ajami.

The Silver Alexander for best director went to Belgian Leonardo van Dijl for his debut feature Julie Keeps Quiet, winner of the Sacd award in Cannes Critics’ Week sidebar.

The jury of the international competition,...

Yes, that’s Billy Zane beneath those prosthetics.

The “Titanic” alum is unrecognizable as late star Marlon Brando in the first trailer for biopic “Waltzing for Brando.” The feature, written and directed by Bill Fishman, is based on a memoir by Bernard Judge.

The film takes place between 1969 and 1974, with Brando readying to shoot “The Godfather” and “Last Tango in Paris.” During that time, the actor purchased an uninhabitable island in Tahiti and recruited Los Angeles architect Judge, portrayed by Jon Heder, to build the world’s first ecologically friendly retreat.

Richard Dreyfuss, “Emily in Paris” star Camille Razat, Alaina Huffman, Tia Carrere, and James Jagger co-star in the film, which is now seeking a buyer.

The film will close the Torino Film Festival and play the Tahoe Film Festival. Prior to its world premiere, “Waltzing for Brando” was picked up by Vmi Worldwide for foreign sales.

Billed as a comedy,...

Actors are often lauded for their striking performances or contributions to the industry, but some become immortalized due to their works. Marlon Brando is one such name who is considered to have revolutionized acting and the entertainment industry.

The Godfather actor was as phenomenal onscreen as he was controversial off it. Matt Dillon got the golden opportunity to step into the shoes of his senior but soon came to regret his choice. However, the American Dreamer star didn’t shy away from the role due to the actor’s tricky past. Rather, it was his legacy that made things challenging.

The reason behind the hesitation: Not the past

Marlon Brando created waves in Hollywood, charming the audience with his god-like looks and moving performances. The A Streetcar Named Desire actor had innumerable hits, but his personal life was embroiled in controversies.

Marlon Brando in The Godfather | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Jessica Palud...

Traveling to Greece for the Thessaloniki Film Festival has not stopped Matt Dillon from voting in the upcoming U.S. election. “I voted before I came because I had to vote,” he told journalists at a press conference. “When I agreed to come to Thessaloniki, I didn’t realize it was going to be in the middle of it. But, of course, I voted, and I will just say I voted for Kamala Harris. I feel strongly that she is the best candidate for me.”

Dillon, who is the recipient of Thessaloniki’s Golden Alexander award, is also at the festival with Jessica Palud’s “Being Maria,” in which he plays Marlon Brando during the shooting of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris.” The chance of playing one of his acting heroes was something the Oscar-nominated actor “could not resist.”

“Brando is very influential not just on me, but all actors.

Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to “Being Maria,” a French movie revolving around the controversial production of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 film “Last Tango in Paris.”

Directed by Jessica Palud, the movie stars “Happening” breakout Anamaria Vartolomei as Maria Schneider and Matt Dillon as Marlon Brando.

“Being Maria” had its world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it was the only female-directed film selected for the Premieres section. It’s now playing at the American French Film Festival at the DGA. where Kino Lorber’s boss Richard Lorber will be receiving an honorary tribute over the weekend.

The movie charts the turbulent life and career of the late French actress Maria Schneider, who was a promising young actress struggling to break into film when she was cast by Bertolucci, then still rising as a face of Italian cinema, to star in “Last Tango in Paris” alongside an American superstar,...

Despite blue skies over Greece’s second city ahead of the opening ceremony, the 65th Thessaloniki Film Festival kicks off Oct. 31 under clouds of uncertainty, with the war in Ukraine raging toward its three-year anniversary and the year-old Israel-Hamas conflict spilling into neighboring countries and threatening to engulf the entire Middle East. The U.S., meanwhile, heads to the polls next week for an election that’s been framed as a referendum on the fate of American democracy itself — with the eyes of the world watching.

For Thessaloniki festival director Orestis Andreadakis, a veteran film critic who’s been at the helm of the festival since 2016, global events have only brought a renewed sense of urgency “to find movies that matter,” he tells Variety on the eve of opening night. “Movies that say something about our lives, our situation in the world, with so many changes, so many dangers — wars,...

Matt Dillon will be feted at the 65th edition of Greece’s Thessaloniki Film Festival, where he will present his recent film “Being Maria,” in which he plays Marlon Brando.

Dillon will receive the festival’s honorary Golden Alexander award on Nov. 4, before a screening of his 2002 film “City of Ghosts,” which was his debut as a film director and screenwriter.

Other honorees at the festival, which runs Oct. 31-Nov. 10, include Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes, as previously announced.

“Being Maria,” which will screen at Thessaloniki on Nov. 3, had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Jessica Palud, it revolves around the troubled life of Maria Schneider, played by Anamaria Vartolomei.

When Schneider, a young, struggling actress with promise, is offered the lead role in “Last Tango in Paris,” playing opposite Brando, her dreams seem to be coming true. But what seems like a big break turns...

The American French Film Festival unveiled the full-line up of its upcoming edition at a press conference at the Résidence de France in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, as the event returns after a one-year hiatus due to the Hollywood strikes.

The 28th edition, running October 29 to November 3 in the Director’s Guild of America Theatre Complex, will showcase 60 films and series, with 14 shorts, 14 Series and TV movies, and 32 feature films and documentaries, many of which are International, North American and U.S. premiere presentations.

As previously announced the event will be book-ended by Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez as the opening film and The Count of Monte Cristo, which will close the event.

The American French Film Festival was created and is produced by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a collaboration between the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Motion Picture Association (MPA), France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers...

Filming for the new French Max Original series “Merteuil” has begun in Normandy, France. The series, directed by Jessica Palud, stars Anamaria Vartolomei, Diane Kruger, Vincent Lacoste, and Lucas Bravo. Production began on September 4 and will continue across various locations in France until December. The series utilizes a mix of grand and intimate locations, […]

“Merteuil” Begins Production in Normandy for Max Original Series...

Cameras have started rolling in Normandy on Max’s new French series Merteuil, starring Anamaria Vartolomei, Diane Kruger, Vincent Lacoste, and Lucas Bravo.

Jessica Palud (Being Maria) directs the series which will shoot until December in what Max has described as “grandiose and intimate settings, from the cliffs of Normandy to the châteaux of Ile-de-France.”

The series was written by Jean-Baptiste Delafon with producers including Nabi Productions and Felicita Films. The series synopsis reads: To be the hero of your own story, you sometimes have to be the villain in others. Marquise de Merteuil, betrayed by Valmont, embarks on a daring journey to become Paris’ leading courtesan. Max has described the series as a free adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

“We are delighted to bring to life ‘Merteuil’, a series that explores power games, manipulation, and moral dilemmas through complex and fascinating characters,” said Véra Peltekian,...

Production has begun on “Merteuila,” a new French original series for Max adapted from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th century classic novel “Dangerous Liaisons.”

Directed by by Jessica Palud and created by Jean-Baptiste Delfaon, the show stars Anamaria Vartolomei (playing Isabelle de Merteuil), Diane Kruger (Madame de Rosemonde), Vincent Lacoste (Vicomte de Valmont) and Lucas Bravo (Comte de Gercourt). It’s produced by Clément Birnbaum and Joachim Nahum of Nabi Productions (Ugc Group) and Marie Guillaumond of Felicita Films (Newen Studios Group).

Filming is now underway in Normandy, France and will run until December. The ambitious show will stream on Max where the platform in available. The service launched in June in France and will soon roll out its first French series original, “The Confidante,” a psychological thriller (previously called “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan”) based on a true story, starring Laure Calamy (“The Origins of Evil”) as a woman...

Earlier last month we reported that actresses Léa Drucker and Noémie Merlant were going to topline Laura Wandel’s highly anticipated sophomore feature, L’Intérêt d’Adam. We now learn via the Cineuropa folks that Anamaria Vartolomei will instead take the role that was originally assigned to Merlant. Vartolomei recently gave a masterful performance in Jessica Palud’s Being Maria (read review) and has Ana Teodora Mihai’s highly anticipated Heysel 85 in the pipeline. Production begins tomorrow until the first week of September and we’ll likely be looking at a possible Cannes premiere – a competition slot is not out of the cards.…...

Read all of Deadline’s Cannes Film Festival reviews below, including Palme d’Or winner Anora.

The New York-set romantic dramedy charts the story of a stripper from Brooklyn who transforms into a modern Cinderella when she meets the son of a Russian oligarch.

The film, playing in the official Competition three years after Baker’s success in Cannes with the Simon Rex-starring Red Rocket, scored a 10-minute ovation earlier this week. It was one of a number of critically praised films this edition. Check out all our reviews below.

All We Imagine as Light ‘All We Imagine as Light’

Section: Competition

Director: Payal Kapadia

Cast: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya KAdam, Hridhu Haroon

Deadline’s takeaway: And at a time when so much attention is being paid to the lives of the haves and the have-nots amid such financial imbalance worldwide, it’s refreshing to see the spotlight...

Anamaria Vartolomei, the breakout star of Audrey Diwan’s Venice prizewinning “Happening,” is under the spotlight at this year’s Cannes Film Festival playing strong women in a pair of movies, “Being Maria” and “The Count Monte Cristo.” Both movies are supported by Chanel for which Vartolomei is an ambassador.

Vartolomei says since starring in Diwan’s drama “Happening,” which was set in the 1960s and centered around the then-illegal act of abortion, she has continued being lured to demanding roles with political and social themes.

“I think movies are the expressions of my engagements as a woman, and as such I often star in films that are engaged because when you’re an actress you contribute to change and we must continue to wage this battle that other women have led before,” says Vartolomei, who was wearing a glamorous dark khaki and black silk jacquard muslin dress by Chanel.

There has been a lot of noise at this year’s Cannes Film Festival about France’s accelerated MeToo movement, particularly by female cinema stars leading the charge. So whether coincidental or not, the world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section last night of Being Maria (aka Maria) seemed like perfect timing and more relevant than ever

Jessica Palud directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Laurette Polmanss (inspired by cousin Vanessa Schneider’s 2018 book) focusing on the life of actress Maria Schneider, who at age 19 was cast in 1973’s notorious sexual drama Last Tango In Paris, a scandal-riddled production from director Bernardo Bertolucci and starring Marlon Brando that got so heated the stars and director were even threatened with six months jail time in Italy upon its release, even as critics hailed the film as a masterpiece. Long before MeToo and the focus on treatment of women in Hollywood, Schneider...

When New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael wrote a long and heated rave of Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris after its premiere in 1972, she stated, among other things, that “this is a movie people will be arguing about for as long as there are movies.”

Kael may have been overdoing it when she stressed Last Tango‘s monumental importance, claiming it was a “movie breakthrough” and that it “altered the face of the art form.” But in terms of people arguing years later about the film’s legacy, she was spot-on.

Case in point: Being Maria, a new biopic of tormented French actress Maria Schneider, who at age 19 starred opposite Marlon Brando in the Bertolucci movie — a feat that launched her career as a promising new international actress while destroying her life at the same time.

The reasons for this are well known, and resurfaced over the past...

IndieWire has published its Cannes 2024 Cinematography Survey. We analyzed the data to explore (again and again) that the nine-year-old camera, Arri Alexa Mini, is the most popular camera among Cannes filmmakers. Furthermore, interestingly, in its first appearance on the Cannes Cinematography Chart and jumped straight to second place, is the Arri 35.

The main cameras of Cannes 2024 are the Arri Alexa Mini and the 35. Cannes 2024 cinematography

The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival is taking place from 14 to 25 May 2024. IndieWire has reached out to the filmmakers behind 59 films screened in various categories in the festival. The DPs elaborated on the tools they utilized to tell their stories. Read the entire survey here.

Official poster of the 77th Cannes Film Festival featuring a still image from the movie Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991)

As the tradition calls, we took the data and filtered it to the cameras used, to explore tendency. Based on the info,...

The world premiere of Agathe Riedinger’s Wild Diamond in Cannes Competition is the only one by a first-time filmmaker and heralds Riedinger as part of a new wave of French female directors to arrive en force on the Croisette.

The film explores western society’s obsession with beauty and fame and the omnipresence of social media through the story of a 19 year-old girl who sets out to earn a spot on a reality TV show.

Also in Competitoin is France-born Coralie Fargeat’s second feature The Substance. The body horror is produced by the UK’s Working Title Films and stars Demi Moore,...

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,...

Matt Dillon is taking on the legacy of Marlon Brando for a biopic about the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s controversial “Last Tango in Paris.”

Dillon portrays Brando alongside Anamaria Vartolomei as Maria Schneider for Jessica Palud’s upcoming “Maria,” which is set to debut at Cannes later this week in the Cannes Premiere section. “Maria” follows Schneider’s life after starring in “Last Tango in Paris” at age 19, during which she filmed an unsimulated rape scene with Brando in 1973 at director Bertolucci’s (Giuseppe Maggio) instruction. The film is based on Vanessa Schneider’s 2018 memoir “My Cousin Maria Schneider,” which was translated by Molly Ringwald.

Per the memoir, Bertolucci did not tell Schneider the full extent of the film’s plot until right before production. Schneider allegedly was unaware of the pivotal scene in which Brando’s character anally rapes her character using a stick of butter as lubricant.

Studiocanal has unveiled an exclusive first-look still of Matt Dillon and Anamaria Vartolomei (“Happening”) starring as Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider in Jessica Palud’s movie “Maria,” which is slated to bow at the Cannes Film Festival.

Palud’s film sheds light on the tragic life of Maria Schneider, who starred opposite Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Tango in Paris” at the age of 19 and never recovered from the shoot. The film depicts how Schneider was imposed an un-simulated rape scene on the set of “The Last Tango in Paris” by Bertolucci and Brando.

“Maria,” the only movie directed by a female filmmaker that’s set for Cannes Premiere, is based on “Tu t’appelais Maria Schneider,” a book written by Vanessa Schneider, the actress’ cousin. Haut et Court, the banner behind the Cesar-winning movie “The Night of the 12th,” will release “Maria” in French theaters on...

by Cláudio Alves

Michel Hazanavicius joins the Official Competition with an animated film.

As expected, a few more titles have been added to this year's Cannes Film Festival lineup. In the Premiere section, Jessica Palud's Maria Schneider biopic joins a star-studded selection. One of this year's two Count of Monte-Cristo adaptations will screen Out of Competition, while a pair of buzzy documentaries will bow in the Special Screenings program. They are Oliver Stone's Lula and Lou Ye's An Unfinished Film. Other new titles in that section include Arnaud Desplechin's latest Paul Dedalus film and Nasty, directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, and Tudor D. Popescu. But of course, the most important announcements concern the Main Competition, where three films complete the 22-title lineup…...

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled new additions to the Official Selection for its upcoming 77th edition from May 14 to May 25.

Three new films have been added to the Competition lineup: Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s Seed of the Sacred Fig and Emanuel Parvu’s Three Miles to the End of the World.

The Artist skyrocketed Hazanavicius to international fame in 2011 as the film won best picture at the Academy Awards, and received 10 Oscar nominations and five wins. Hazanavicius for his latest film adapted the Second World War novel of the same title by Jean-Claude Grumberg that is set against the events of the Holocaust and told with magical realism.

Rasoulof is not expected to attend his Cannes premiere as the director a year ago was barred by Iranian authorities from leaving the country to attend the Cannes Film...

Oliver Stone is unveiling his long-awaited documentary “Lula” at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Stone filmed the documentary about thrice-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that encompasses the ruler’s incarceration between 2018 and 2019 and his return to power. Stone was in production on the feature in 2021 during which time Lula da Silva contracted Covid while filming in Cuba.

“Lula” is the latest addition to the star-studded Cannes lineup, which also includes new films from Paul Schrader, Francis Ford Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg, Ali Abbasi, Sean Baker, Jia Zhangke, and Paolo Sorrentino.

Stone teased “Lula” to Jacobin earlier this year, saying that the film would be released “hopefully before the end of the year.”

“As you know, I had him in the other films with Hugo Chávez. And of course, he’s gotten a very dramatic story, with his going to jail after his second term. Now...

Films from Oliver Stone, Michel Hazanavicius and Arnaud Desplechin have been added to the Official Selection of the 77th Cannes Film Festival. They join previously announced titles from David Cronenberg, Yorgos Lanthimos, Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader. Greta Gerwig is the president of this year’s jury.

Stone’s film, “Lula” is a documentary about Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and will have its world premiere as part of the Special Screenings section, which also features “Spectators,” from Arnaud Desplechin. His latest stars “Anatomy of a Fall” child actor Milo Machado Graner as well as Mathieu Amalric (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”).

Hazanavicius, a Best Director Oscar winner for “The Artist,” joins the Competition lineup with “La Plus Précieuse des Marchandises” (“The Most Precious of Cargoes”), an animated film about a Jewish child during World War II whose father, in a desperate attempt to save his son’s life,...

The Cannes Film Festival has added 13 new titles to the selection for its 77 th edition, including new films by Oliver Stone, Lou Ye and Arnaud Desplechin as Special Screenings.

Three more titles have been added to competition including Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes.

Big budget French costume-adventure drama The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Pierre Niney as the titular hero will play Out of Competition.

The new additions are:

Un Certain Regard

When The Light Breaks

Rúnar Rúnarsson

Niki

Céline Sallette 1st film

Flow

Gints Zilbalodis

Cannes Premiere

Vivre, Mourir, Renaitre

Gaël Morel

Maria

Jessica Palud

Special Screenings

Spectateurs

Arnaud Desplechin

Nasty

Tudor Giurgiu

Lula

Oliver Stone

An Unfinished Film

Lou Ye

Out Of Competition

Le Comte De Monte-cristo

Alexandre De La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte

Competition

LA Plus PRÉCIEUSE Des Marchandises

Michel Hazanavicius

Trei Kilometri Pana LA Capatul Lumii

Emanuel Parvu

The Seed Of The...

Cannes Film Festival has completed its 2024 Official Selection with 13 new films, including three new Competition titles.

Michel Hazanavicius’ The Most Precious Of Cargoes, Emanuel Parvu’s Three Kilometres To The End Of The World and Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig join the Competition line-up, bringing it to 22 films.

There are four additional special screenings, including Oliver Stone’s documentary Lula, about Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Also added are Arnaud Desplechin’s Filmlovers! [pictured], Lou Ye’s An Unfinished Film and Tudor Giurgiu’s Nasty.

Un Certain Regard will open with Runar Runarsson’s When The Light Breaks,...

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,...

Yesterday we tossed filmmaker names like Ala Eddine Slim, Alexandre Koberidze, Marco Dutra and the tandem of Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza into the prognostication Un Certain Regard mix. Today we present another ten options and make sure to tune in on Monday for 25 firm Palme d’Or competition guesses. The official line-up will be revealed on April 11th.

Maria –...

French film promotional organization Unifrance put talent in the spotlight at this year’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, where the 10 actors and filmmakers selected as 2024’s Talents to Watch were fêted with flutes of champagne at France’s Ministry of Culture before being introduced to the international press at a dedicated event.

For more than a decade, the 10 to Watch program has pinpointed the creative talents breathing modernity and vitality into contemporary French cinema. Think of a Gallic artist that’s made international waves over the past decade, and chances are they made this list. Here are the voices taking the industry forward in the years to come.

Sofia Alaoui

Sofia Alaoui

Franco-Moroccan filmmaker Sofia Alaoui will build on the rugged eeriness of her 2023 Sundance jury prize winner “Animalia” with “Tarfaya” – a slow-burn thriller that mines Morocco’s sweeping landscapes for ambient unease.

The upcoming film will follow Meryam, a 40-something...

Jessica Palud’s showbiz drama “Being Maria” reframes the short career and tragic life of “Last Tango in Paris” star Maria Schneider in a post-#MeToo light. “Happening” breakout Anamaria Vartolomei plays Schneider, while Matt Dillon takes on the role of her co-star Marlon Brando. Orange Studio is handling international sales.

Currently in post-production and aiming for a festival premiere later this year, the film in part tracks the controversial production and wrenching fallout of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 masterpiece — a landmark that made Schneider an icon while locking her into a sexualized image she never could escape. Palud’s sophomore feature also marks a fitting echo for the Gallic auteur, who kicked off her professional life on the set of Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers.”

Stepping into Brando’s shoes gave Dillon a unique task, not least because the French-language film required the actor to work in an unfamiliar tongue. “I thought to myself,...

Anamaria Vartolomei (who broke out big in Audrey Diwan’s Happening) will be surrounded by the likes of Céleste Brunnquell (who’ll be seen in Critics’ Week Closing Film La Fille de son père by Erwan Le Duc), Jérémie Renier, Edoardo Pesce, Matt Dillon and Marie Gillain in Jessica Palud‘s highly anticipated sophomore feature Maria. At this point we have no idea how much screen time the likes of Bardot, Brando and Bertolucci might take up in the film but the above mentioned players might fill up those shoes. This is of course the troubling, tormented true life story of actress Maria Schneider who paid a huge price for her fame.…...

Currently in pre-production phase and deep in the casting process, Audrey Diwan (who will be in Cannes as the head of the Critic’s Week jury) appears to have lassoed the actress she knows well for her highly anticipated buzzy third feature film. Golden Lion-winning Happening in Anamaria Vartolomei might have joined the project and would likely play one of the many Western ex-pats that are part of the main character’s entourage. As we already know, Noémie Merlant landed the top role in Emmanuelle – the one of the sexually adventurous wife. The project was co-written by Diwan and Rebecca Zlotowski. It’s a particularly great moment for Vartolomei who might surface in Cannes next month (if they add the title in the last wave offerings) with Bruno Dumont’s L’Empire, and she is attached to play Maria Schneider in Jessica Palud’s Maria.…...

It’s a compact ten offerings that make up the short films selection over at the Directors’ Fortnight. The eyebrow-raiser goes to Radu Jude – who has been “banging” out a bunch of short films since the release of 2021’s Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. His The Potemkinists looks at the defiant gesture against Russia made in 1905 by the sailors from the Potemkin Cruiser – they would receive political asylum in Jude’s native Romania. With renewed interested in the life of Maria Schneider (Jessica Palud’s biopic with Anamaria Vartolomei as Maria will premiere next year), Elisabeth Subrin continues to dissect the life of an actress with Maria Schneider, 1983 — you’ll see The Sea Ahead actress Manal Issa (image above), Aïssa Maiga and filmmaker Isabel Sandoval) in the film.…...