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France’s box office declined in July with 14.80 million admissions (€108m), a 17.3% drop compared to the same month last year according to figures from the Cnc.

Since January 1, the country has clocked 89.51 million admissions (€653m), down 13.6% on the same period in 2024. That is the lowest figure since 1999 (84.7 million admissions) excluding the pandemic period of 2020, 2021 and 2022.

US blockbusters dominated the charts in July with Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal) leading the charge with 2.4 million admissions since its July 4 release, followed by F1 (Warner Bros) on 1.6 million in July, and Superman (Warner Bros) with just over 1.2 million. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Disney...

From All Of Us Strangers to Hundreds Of Beavers to The Zone Of Interest, last year was by all metrics a banger of a year for cinema — just check out our 20 Best Movies of 2024 if you need any further reminder. And as your friendly neighbourhood Empire has pored over what the next twelve months has in store on screens both big and small, we've found a lot of movies that you simply must see in 2025. 133 to be exact.

In a year that's set to see James Gunn's Dcu take flight with Superman; Ethan Hunt take on quite possibly his last impossible mission; Yelena Belova return to our screens in Dark Av— er, Thunderbolts*; James Cameron whisk us away to Pandora in Avatar: Fire And Ash; Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan scare us up good and proper with Sinners; and new movies fly at us from seasoned auteurs, buzzy new filmmakers,...

Italian director Nanni Moretti has cast Louis Garrel and Jasmine Trinca in his next film, love story Succederà Questa Notte (It Will Happen Tonight), and is set to start filming this September.

The Palme d’Or winning director has adapted a book of short stories, Legami, by Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo. Moretti previously adapted a Nevo novel for his 2021 film Three Floors. He has collaborated with Federica Pontremoli and Valia Santella on the script. It marks his first feature since suffering a heart attack in April.

“We have intertwined some stories from the book to create a unique story,” said...

Palme d’Or-winning Italian director Nanni Moretti (The Son’s Room, We Have a Pope) is teaming up with French star Louis Garrel (Little Women, The Dreamers) and Italian actress Jasmine Trinca (The Gunman) for his new film, the romantic drama Succederà questa notte (It Will Happen Tonight).

The feature, loosely based on the short story collection Hungry Heart (Lev Raev) by Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo, is set to begin shooting in Spain and Italy this fall. Moretti adapted Nevo’s novel Three Floors Up as the 2021 film Three Floors.

Trinca made her feature debut in Moretti’s The Son’s Room in 2001, but this will be their first collaboration since The Caiman in 2006. The Italian actress has been splitting her time between features, including Léa Todorov’s Maria Montessori and Ildikó Enyedi’s The Story of My Wife (2021), and TV work, appearing in acclaimed Italian series La Storia and The Art of Joy...

Grief and ghosts aren’t new territory for any national cinema — and this is perhaps particularly true of Thailand. But, “A Useful Ghost” is an entertaining and moving – if also somewhat sprawling – fable of love and loss that isn’t quite like anything you’ve seen before. The action in the Cannes Critics’ Week selection starts when a self-declared “Academic Ladyboy” (Wisarut Homhuan) buys a vacuum cleaner, only to discover that the appliance appears to be possessed. A hot repair guy (Wanlop Rungkumjud) then shows up, but this isn’t a porno. He’s there to introduce the main narrative: the tragic tale of the widower March (Witsarut Himmarat) lost in grief for his wife who has recently died of dust poisoning. It becomes apparent that the spouse is still very much present, albeit reincarnated in the form of a possessed vacuum cleaner.

From “Vertigo” to “Birth,” the idea of...

We’ve seen movies about haunted houses, dolls, videotapes, and even cars, but the Thai film A Useful Ghost offers what might be the best haunted talisman yet. Feeling like a blend of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Quentin Dupieux, A Useful Ghost is a movie that, on paper, sounds irreconcilably bizarre but actually has a surprising amount of heart beneath its silliness.

A Useful Ghost Review

A Useful Ghost might have one of the strangest, most unique concepts of the year: a man mourning his late wife discovers that she has returned as a possessed vacuum cleaner, setting off a strange series of events that come to involve a family of wealthy capitalists, a local politician, and an “academic ladyboy.” And while Boonbunchachoke’s feature debut certainly lives up to the strangeness of this premise, it also has deeper layers that allow it to stand out and be entirely memorable.

The...

Paris-based Lucky Number has acquired “The Piano Accident,” the latest feature film by prolific French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux, whose “The Second Act” opened the Cannes Film Festival last year.

Dupieux’s 14th feature film, “The Piano Accident” boasts an all-star cast, including Adèle Exarchopoulos, Jérôme Commandeur, Sandrine Kimberlain (“The Divine Sarah Bernhardt”) and Karim Leklou (“Vincent Must Die”). The movie is produced by leading French producer Hugo Sélignac at Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, a Mediawan company, who last year delivered “Beating Hearts,” one of France’s highest grossing French films of 2024.

A biting commentary on internet stardom and social media celebrities, the plot revolves around Magalie, an amoral internet star living in a bubble, who makes a fortune by posting shocking content on social media. After a serious accident occurs during the filming of one of her videos, Magalie retreats to the mountains with Patrick, her personal assistant, to take a break.

Chalk it up to Cannes’ unique position that you’re reading this review.

Which isn’t to say that Amélie Bonnin’s locally flavored jukebox musical “Leave One Day” is anything close to a wash — nor does this year’s Cannes opening film dishonor the (at best) checkered legacy of recent predecessors such as Michel Hazanavicius’ “Final Cut,” Quentin Dupieux’s “The Second Act,” and the botched Johnny Depp comeback “Jeanne du Barry.” Hell, by way of pleasure and ambition, this slight-but-winsome dramedy offers a step-up from recent vintages; by way of international resonance, however, this latest opener seems unlikely for a world tour.

Taking a sturdy, mainstream premise — a big-city careerist reflecting on her life path during a trip back to the holler, in a setup that faintly echoes “Sweet Home Alabama,” among a hundred other rom-coms — and shading it with moral grays, natural light, and a more unvarnished turn from a well-known star,...

After launching just two months ago with a splash from Berlin, upstart distributor 1-2 Special has made two key hires, both of whom are former industry veterans from Mubi.

Amanda Trokan and Nico Chapin have joined 1-2 Special to bolster the distributor’s presence ahead of Cannes. Trokan will serve as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, and Chapin will be Vice President of Publicity.

Former Sideshow executive Jason Hellerstein founded the company and wants to acquire and release films from top-tier domestic and international festivals. The first feature it acquired and plans to release is Radu Jude’s “Kontinental ’25,” which made its premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival and won the screenplay prize.

The team will have a strong presence in Cannes as they look to strategically expand the current slate.

Trokan led the North American programming team at Mubi, overseeing platform curation and licensing and negotiating a...

Fledgling New York-based distributor 1-2 Special has made two announcements heading into Cannes, appointing Amanda Trokan as SVP of acquisitions and Nico Chapin as VP of publicity.

Former Sideshow executive Jason Hellerstein launched the company in February to champion international and US festival films and recently pick up its first feature, Radu Jude’s Berlinale dark comedy Kontinental ’25. The team will be attending Cannes as they look to strategically expand the current slate.

With nearly two decades of experience, Trokan joins 1-2 Special after leading the North American programming team at Mubi. While overseeing platform curation and licensing, Trokan...

New York-based distribution company 1-2 Special has appointed Amanda Trokan as senior vice president of acquisitions and Nico Chapin as vice president of publicity.

The company was founded in February by former Sideshow executive Jason Hellerstein with the goal of acquiring and releasing films from top-tier domestic and international festivals. The company recently acquired its first feature, “Kontinental ‘25,” from director Radu Jude, out of the Berlin International Film Festival. The hires come as 1-2 Special is gearing up for Cannes.

Trokan joins 1-2 Special after leading the North American programming team at global streamer Mubi. While overseeing platform curation and licensing, Trokan negotiated deals for new films from Hirokazu Kore-eda, Quentin Dupieux, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Alex Ross Perry, Rebecca Zlotowski, Albert Serra, Tyler Taormina, Martín Rejtman, Vera Drew, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Radu Jude and others.

Trokan joined Mubi as a decade-plus HBO veteran, spending eight years as an executive on the company’s film acquisitions team.

© 20th Century Studios, Universal Pictures & Bteam Pictures Amateur © 20th Century Studios

Rami Malek protagoniza este thriller de espionaje dirigido por James Hawes (director de episodios de Slow Horses y Black Mirror). El que fue galardonado en 2019 por hacer de Freddie Mercury interpreta a Charlie Heller, un brillante pero introvertido criptógrafo de la CIA cuya vida da un vuelco cuando su esposa muere en un atentado terrorista en Londres. Cuando sus supervisores se niegan a actuar, Malek toma cartas en el asunto y se embarca en un peligroso viaje por todo el mundo para localizar a los responsables.

La Cita © Universal Pictures

Christopher Landon (Feliz día de tu muerte) vuelve a la carga, esta vez con un thriller de misterio (concentrándose más en el suspense que en su característico humor). Se estrenó en el Festival SXSW de Austin donde no pasó desapercibida. La historia sigue a una joven madre viuda (Meghann Fahy...

Stars: Ravi Patel, Henry Haggard, Rashad Rayford, Laura Holloway, Quinnlan Ashe, Allison Shrum, Ted Welch, Schyler Tillett, Phillip Cordell | Written by Danny Dones, Phillip Cordell | Directed by Danny Dones

Welcome to the future, a future in which techbro Robert Nefari and his company, NefariCorp, control nearly every aspect of society, most notably the crucial sectors of cloning and law enforcement. If the film’s title hasn’t already made it clear, these two forces have become deeply intertwined. The man responsible for that is “One Tank” Frank and he’s just hired a new assistant Freddy.

Of course, every dystopian society needs an opposing force, and in this case, resistance comes in the form of a gang of outlaws fighting back against corporate dominance. This ragtag group consists of Porter, their leader Fera, the group’s firecracker, Cipher, a hacker with a mysterious past, Brick, a bruiser with a love of destruction,...

A man moves in with his employer’s widow in this playful but dreamlike and inscrutable drama from Alain Guiraudie, the director of Stranger By the Lake

Writer-director Alain Guiraudie must surely now be said to match Quentin Dupieux for the weirdest sense of humour in French cinema. But is comedy exactly what is happening here? Because this has to be one of the strangest films of the year – or the most deadpan of deadpan in-jokes. At one point, I thought I saw the performer playing a police officer almost laugh, but perhaps every single actor here was on the verge of cracking up throughout the shoot. It could be that every time Guiraudie yelled “Cut” everyone burst out laughing.

You could also call Misericordia queer cinema, with the word “queer” also working in its non-sexual sense. Guiraudie made his international breakthrough with his 2013 film Stranger By the Lake, but...

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.

All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia)

Following up her enigmatic, beautiful debut A Night of Knowing Nothing, Payal Kapadia shows an entirely different register with her dazzling Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize winner All We Imagine as Light. Luke Hicks said in his review, “Writer-director Payal Kapadia isn’t interested in the flashy world of Mumbai that gets so much global attention. Per its opening soundscape, All We Imagine as Light means to bask in the luminescence of life found among India’s lower classes, which means acknowledging the inequality and socio-economic injustice that defines their everyday as much as it means showcasing their intrinsic glow and dogged refusal to let the inalienable love, beauty, and camaraderie of existence be taken from them.

The Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has identified Jung Han-seok as the preferred candidate for its new festival director, though the selection process remains ongoing. The final decision will be made at the festival’s second general meeting of the year, scheduled for March 20 at the Busan Cinema Center.

Jung has been a key figure at Biff since 2019, serving as the Korean Cinema programmer. His work has included highlighting trends in domestic filmmaking and strengthening connections between the Korean film industry and the festival. He has also been a jury member for the Buil Film Awards, Jeonju International Film Festival, and Seoul Independent Film Festival, in addition to advising international events such as the Florence Korea Film Festival and Hong Kong’s Asian Film Awards. Before joining Biff, Jung worked as a journalist and film critic for the Korean film publication Cine21.

The festival’s selection process for the director...

Mubi has unveiled its lineup for next month’s streaming offerings, featuring Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, Zhang Yimou’s Shadow, Quentin Dupieux’s Daaaaaali!, along with El Planeta from Amalia Ulman, whose latest Sundance-premiering feature Magic Farm was picked up by the company. An additional highlight is Joanna Hogg’s new short Autobiography of a Handbag, which is also available to stream below.

Alistair Ryder said of Quentin Dupieux’s Daaaaaali! in his review, “Despite casting several of France’s finest character actors as the famed Spaniard, this isn’t an I’m Not There-style tribute to the artist’s spirit attempting an unconventional work in vein like theirs. Dupieux clearly has no interest in those sub-genres of the biopic, either, even if he does have a clear reverence for his subject. Instead his madcap romp manages to blow up all biopic expectations in the most winningly stupid ways...

J'adore le cinéma! If you love it too, especially in a Francophilic way, you'll be happy to know that Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center are gearing up for the 30th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, running from March 6 to March 16. As usual, this year's film series combines a variety of anticipated films from great French directors with fresh young filmmakers, some selected as part of Unifrance’s 10 to Watch 2025 Program, a yearly initiative honoring a new generation of directors and actors who contribute to the vitality of French creation. There will be 23 films this year, a variety of North American, U.S., and New York premieres which "celebrate the energy, innovation, and range of French cinema," according to Film at Lincoln Center (Flc).

“Unifrance is honored to be celebrating 30 years of French cinema with our partner, Film at Lincoln Center,” said Daniela Elstner, executive director of Unifrance. “Rendez-Vous...

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.

Quentin Dupieux had enlisted alumni Adèle Exarchopoulos and then add-ons Sandrine Kiberlain and Karim Leklou for L’Accident de piano (formerly L’Avant-dernière séance). As per usual, we won’t have the logline until it moves into a film fest premiere slot, but this is the filmmaker’s 14th feature film. Production began yesterday. Is Locarno or Venice in the cards?

…...

In recent years, many filmmakers have expressed their views on the death of cinema. Scorsese mentioned it in the context of the kind of films he grew up with being scarce. From David Cronenberg to Aki Kaurismaki, some other filmmakers also mentioned their discontent with the state of the currently-made films. More recently, Scorsese said that cinema is not dying but rather transforming. As it happens, several film-related artists are actively losing their jobs, making them lose their faith in the industry. So, there’s art and there’s a need for survival. Somehow, Quentin Dupieux’s ‘The Second Act’ (Original title: Le Deuxieme acte) touches upon both through its meta-comedy.

Dupieux, a multi-disciplined artist, is known for his eccentric and surrealist work in filmmaking. He often uses humor to drive a point in his endlessly amusing stories that examine different aspects of human experience. He is one of those...

Rumours may have a mundane name, but this jet black horror comedy is one of the most insane films you will see all year – just don’t expect to understand it.

Set at the G7 summit in Dankwarderode Castle in Germany we meet the men and women who lead the most powerful countries on the planet. Assembling together to work on a provisional statement for the present crisis they eat, drink and pose for photos in the picturesque grounds of the ancient and eerie local.

Hosted by Hilda Ortmann (Cate Blanchet), the Chancellor of Germany we also meet elderly and oddly English accented Edison Wolcott (Game of Thrones and Alien 3’s Charles Dance), the President of the United States; poetic wannabe intellectual Sylvain Broulez (Inglorious Basterds Denis Ménochet), the President of France; practical and pragmatic Cardosa Dewindt (Nikki Amuka – Bird from Old and Knock on the Cabin), the Prime...

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.

Daaaaaalí! (Quentin Dupieux)

At the time of year where every other film is a biopic chasing prestige respectability, we are lucky to have Quentin Dupieux, the prolific, serious-minded, silly filmmaker perfectly positioned to take a sledgehammer to the genre. His second 2023 feature has been described as a “real fake biopic” of Salvador Dalí but is best understood as a return to the heightened analysis of cinematic storytelling à la 2010 breakthrough Rubber––a movie which increasingly looks like the rare weak spot in a filmography equal-parts playful and thoughtful. – Alistair R. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

Daddio (Christy Hall)

Daddio, written and directed by Christy Hall, is a two-hander that bristles with energy from the start. A young professional (Dakota Johnson) steps...

Hi horror fans! it’s that most chilling time of year again, and we’ve teamed up with Picturehouse Entertainment to bring you the ultimate Halloween treat! Whether you’re a fan of creepy creatures, twisted tales, or dark humour, this Blu-ray bundle has something for every horror fan. Six terrifyingly unique films are up for grabs, and they’re sure to make your Halloween watchlist even more exciting.

Halloween Giveaway – Picturehouse Entertainment Blu-ray Bundle

Here’s what you could win in this fabulous bundle:

1. Koko-Di Koko-Da

A surreal and haunting story of a grieving couple who find themselves trapped in a bizarre time loop during a camping trip, tormented by strange characters. This atmospheric Swedish psychological horror will leave you chilled to the bone.

2. The Feast

This Welsh horror tale is a slow-burn exploration of family, greed, and revenge. Set in a luxurious countryside home, strange occurrences begin to unfold during an upscale dinner,...

by Cláudio Alves

Earlier this year, for the Cannes at Home opener, I explored the filmography of one Quentin Dupieux, from his earliest shorts to the stage-bound satire of Yannick. At the time, only two of the French director's films were excluded from consideration since, sadly, they were unavailable. The Second Act marked the start of festivities at the Croisette while Daaaaaalí! was still making the rounds in more minor festivals before international distribution. Well, some months have passed, and the latter flick has enjoyed a limited run in American theaters and is now coming to VOD. It's as good an opportunity as any to reflect on its idiosyncratic director. And trust that if you're a Dupieux devotee, you won't want to miss Daaaaaalí!...

Filmmaker Quentin Dupieux has earned a reputation for crafting surreal comedies that turn expectations upside down. His movies embrace absurdity and unexpected twists. With Daaaaaalí!, Dupieux set out to create a “fake biopic” about the legendary Spanish artist Salvador Dali.

The film stars Anaïs Demoustier as journalist Judith, who’s assigned to interview the eccentric Dali. But capturing the famously shape-shifting artist proves challenging. Dali is portrayed by multiple actors throughout, with his age changing randomly.

Dupieux crafts Daaaaaalí! as more of an homage than a straightforward biopic. It celebrates Dali’s surrealist spirit rather than claiming to be the definitive telling of his life. The director draws from Dali’s fascination with dreams and the subconscious through Daaaaaalí!’s experimental storytelling.

This review will analyze how Daaaaaalí!’s narrative structure comments on traditional biopic tropes and self-mythologizing artists. It will also explore Dupieux’s surreal approach and discussion of reality,...

A popular anime empire and a beloved manga both hit screens in North America this weekend, with The Outrun starring Saoirse Ronan, five actors playing surrealist artist Salvador Dali, and a trio of thought provoking docs new on the specialty circuit this weekend.

Also noting Columbia Pictures’ Saturday Night from Jason Reitman, which rocked its opening last week, expands in NY and LA and adds ten new markets for 21 locations total before going wide Oct. 11. The film, based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live in 1975, debuted to $270k at five theaters in NY/LA for a terrific $54k per theater average.

Moderate releases: Sony Pictures Classics’ Saoirse Ronan-starring and Nora Fingscheidt-directed drama The Outrun hits 508 screens. After a decade away in London, 29-year-old Rona (Ronan) returns home to the Orkney Islands. Sober but lonely,...

Good Golly, It’s Dali: Dupieux Dreams Surreal in Distinctive Biopic

It seems surrealism’s pioneer Salvador Dali is experiencing something of a culturally concentric resurgence as a cinematic subject, granted his most appropriately thematic rendering yet in Quentin Dupieux’s Daaaaaali!, the second feature this year from the idiosyncratic director, who is also kinda sorta delivering his first biopic. Arriving shortly after Mary Harron’s shockingly stilted Daliland, featuring Ben Kingsley as the iconic artist, Dupieux formulates his own expectedly original rendering, presenting something more along the lines of Portrait of an Artist as a Difficult Man. Much like Todd Haynes did with Bob Dylan, a revolving door of actors portray Dali, sometimes switching freely in scenes dealing with carefree anachronisms regarding his life and work.…...

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...

In a scene near the end of Quentin Dupieux’s Daaaaaalí!, Judith (Anaïs Demoustier), a French journalist assigned to interview Salvador Dalí, is riding the bus, in the doldrums after the latest failure to capture her mercurial subject on film. The facial hair of the man seated across from her reminds her of Dalí’s iconic mustache, and after Judith aks him if it’s an intentional homage, he retreats behind his newspaper. The front-page headline reads, “Barista Lets Off Steam on Paris Bus”—a reference to the insult that Judith’s producer (Romain Duris) calls her—with a photograph of Judith below. Dupieux then cuts to a reverse shot of her that begins as a perfect match of the photo, one of countless flourishes of dream logic in the film that subvert conventional cinematic handling of time and space.

That there are almost as many actors portraying Dalí as...

In a film about renowned artist Salvador Dal, no ordinary biopic would do. The new trailer for Daaaaaal seamlessly captures everything the surrealist painter was about. Directed by French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux, the trailer exemplifies the very nature of the artist. Known for his upturned mustache and bizarre renderings, Daaaaaal exudes this without question. The film has been advertised as a fake-real biopic, in a similar vein to the 2023 parody biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe. In both cases, the films capture the essence of its subject unapologetically. Even the synopsis of the film has fun with its description as follows:...

"Now it's sublime." Music Box Films has unveiled the official US trailer for the acclaimed film Daaaaaali! from wacky filmmaker Quentin Dupieux (who also premiered his latest film The Second Act in Cannes earlier this year). Quite simple, this brilliantly hilarious comedy is a wild and weird take on the iconic artist Salvador Dalí. It premiered a the 2023 Venice Film Festival last year to uproarious laughter - it was one of my favorite films of the festival. Dupieux's film is sort of about a young journalist who attempts to meet with the iconic surrealist artist Salvador Dalí on several occasions for a documentary. But it never seems to work out. To add to the confusion, multiple actors portray Dali during different scenes in the film. Starring Anaïs Demoustier, Romain Duris, Gilles Lellouche, Edouard Baer, Pio Marmaï, Didier Flamand, and Jonathan Cohen.

From “Rubber” to “Wrong” to “Smoking Causes Coughing” and “The Second Act,” eccentric French auteur Quentin Dupieux is quickly becoming one of Europe’s most prolific filmmakers akin to a Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Albeit with eccentric, often fourth-wall-breaking comedies. He had two films debut at festivals in 2023, including the heckler hostage comedy “Yannick” at Locarno and the Salvador Dalí “real fake biopic” “Daaaaaalí!” out of competition at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. A movie where five actors play the surrealist icon, “Daaaaaalí!” is now making its way to U.S. theaters courtesy of Music Box Films, and IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer below.

Here’s the official synopsis: “For journalist Judith Rochant (Anaïs Demoustier), the assignment to interview renowned artist Salvador Dalí is a great career opportunity–if only he would agree to sit still and answer a single question. What begins as a 15-minute conversation blows up into a bonafide cinematographic documentary portrait,...

There is no denying that the French have mastered surrealist and bizarre expressionism in their movies. The 2019 macabre, comically twisted Deerskin (Le Daim) is exactly what you might expect from the country's film medium. At just 77 minutes, director Quentin Dupieux sets the visionary journey of his main character, Georges (Oscar winner Jean Dujardin), up and running quickly, establishing a crisp but well-paced story of a man whose life continues on a steep downward spiral after he falls in love with a tan, tasseled deerskin jacket for sale online, and buys it. Adle Haenel stars opposite Dujardin as Denise, and together, they propel this criminally underseen and underappreciated film.

The Oldenburg Film Festival, Germany’s leading indie movie event, will this year pay tribute to dissident filmmakers Na Gyi and Paing Phyo Thu.

The Myanmar director and actress have been living in hiding for more than three years, after their public opposition to the February 1, 2021 military coup put them in the crosshairs of the country’s ruling junta.

Oldenburg highlighted the couple and their plight, in the 2021 festival, screening Na Gyi’s What Happened to the Wolf?, which stars Paing Phyo Thu, in its world premiere. The story of a gay romance between two terminally ill women, played by Paing and Eaindra Kyaw Zin, the film is not overtly political but its Lbgtq+ storyline drew the ire of the military regime. What Happened to the Wolf? had been submitted to the festival after the coup but before the filmmakers went into hiding. The trailer for the film was a...

Sarajevo Film Festival has selected 18 titles for its Kinoscope strand and seven for its In Focus section, including a range of 2024 festival hits from Berlin and Cannes.

The Kinoscope selection consists of 12 Kinoscope films, and six titles in genre strand Kinoscope Surreal.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

Titles include Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, which won the Grand Prix in Cannes Competition this year; and Santosh, the debut feature of 2023 Screen Star of Tomorrow Sandhya Suri, which debuted in Un Certain Regard.

Guan Hu’s Black Dog, winner of the Un Certain Regard prize,...

Las españolas ‘Una Ballena’ y ‘Apocalipsis Z: El Principio del Fin’ en competición.

El Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico de Sitges ha comenzado la cuenta atrás para su próxima edición con el anuncio de sus primeros títulos.

Entre las películas más esperadas se encuentran “A Different Man”, el thriller psicológico de comedia negra protagonizado por Sebastian Stan, “Cuckoo”, la película de Neon protagonizada por Hunter Schafer, “The Second Act”, la película de Quentin Dupieux que abrió la última edición del Festival de Cannes protagonizada por Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon y Raphaël Quenard, la película de la conocida saga de terror, “Terrifier 3”, el filme dirigido por Jang Jae-hyun “Exhuma”, o “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In”, la película que se proyectó en la sesión de Medianoche de la última edición del Festival de Cannes, llena de acción y artes marciales.

Las producciones españolas que competirán en la sección...

Sitges, one of the biggest genre events of the year, will be here before we know it. The massive genre film festival takes over Catalonia, Spain, for eleven days in October, bringing together some of the best titles from the year and hopefully introduce some new favorites towards the end of the year.   New films are coming from the likes of Kiyoshi Kurosowa (Cloud), Jean Luc Herbulot (Zero), Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Steppenwolf), Damien Leone (Terrifier 3) and Quentin Dupieux (The Second Act). Other films that have been tearing up the circuit include Cuckoo, Azrael, The Devil's Bath, Exhuma and Animale.    We get new docs from Alexandre O. Philippe (78/52), about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and one form Ry Levey (Out in the Ring) about boutique home video labels,...

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Savory wine, blissful beaches, rugged topography, and an elusive Philippe Katerine who plays Jean-Philippe — we’ve been keeping close tabs on what will be the middle part in Sophie Letourneur‘s proposed vaca-trilogy. Now comes word that (via the Cineuropa folks) that the project will be known as L’Aventura — a wordplay on Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterwork (perhaps one of the main players will disappear here too). Casting is complete (perhaps we’ll get a surprise appearance), and Letourneur will be re-teaming with cinematopgrapher Jonathan Ricquebourg (he was onboard for Voyages en Italie and more recently The Taste of Things) and the bigger news is that the producing team to come onboard are Atelier de Production’s Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe – who mostly produced a string of Quentin Dupieux films and other recent fest faves in Puan (last year’s San Sebastian Film Festival) and Dog on Trial and Eat the Night...

After collaborating with the other half of the Blue is the Warmest Color tandem, Quentin Dupieux is re-teaming with actress Adèle Exarchopoulos for L’Avant-dernière séance (English translation: “The Penultimate Session”), set to shoot in early 2025 and likely premiering that same year perhaps around a Locarno or Venice Film Festival playdate. Continuing in his surrealist comedy vein, Dupieux recently showcased Le Deuxième acte (read ★★½ review), the Cannes opener in May – it received mixed reviews and we advanced that “ultimately, the thoughts it provokes are more inherently interesting than the film’s self-obsessed vein of self-awareness”. This will be his fourteenth feature film and a third project with Exarchopoulos after Mandibles (2020) and Fumer fait tousser (2022).…...

Thomas Bangalter, one half of Daft Punk, has revealed Chiroptera, an original piece composed for artist Jr and choreographer Damien Jallet’s dance/art project of the same name.

The project debuted in front of Paris’ Place de l’Opera last November, featured over 150 dancers, and ran for two exclusive performances on the same night. Now, Bangalter is sharing the music he composed for the dance project: Chiroptera, the 17-minute “single” version, and Chiroptera Matiere Premiere, a much longer, “uncut”-styler version that clocks in at five hours and 50 minutes. You can stream both versions below.

In addition to releasing Chiroptera and Chiroptera Matiere Premiere digitally, Bangalter is also offering an exclusive 10xLP vinyl of the latter. The vinyl is a strictly limited edition release comprised of 200 numbered and signed copies, available in person at the Galerie Perrotin in Paris and on Atelier Jr webshop. Pre-orders for the 10xLP vinyl are on-going.

The French box office bounced back in May after an April plunge to reach 15.6 million admissions, up 13.5% from the same month last year.

Ticket sales year on year from January through May are down by 11.6% compared to the same period in 2023 after a slow start to the year and admissions to French cinemas falling by 35.5% in what was an abysmal April.

However, the June-May total of 171 million admissions is equal to the same period year on year. More was merrier for a month when 74 new films were released compared to 63 in 2023.

The renewed May momentum was mostly due to local-language phenomenon A Little Something Extra,...

The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival concludes today with the Closing Ceremony and presentation of the coveted award, the Palme d’Or which was awarded to Sean Baker’s Anora, on Saturday, May 25.

The Jury, chaired by director Greta Gerwig was tasked with awarding the Palme d’Or to one of the 22 films in the Competition.

Related: Cannes Film Festival: ‘Anora’ Wins Palme D’Or; ‘All We Imagine As Light’ Takes Grand Prize; ‘Emilia Perez’ Jury Prize & Best Actresses

The jury included Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, American actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green and Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, as well as Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino, Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, and French actor and producer Omar Sy.

Related: ‘Emilia Pérez’ Cannes Film Festival Premiere Photos: Édgar Ramírez, Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña & More

Hu Guan’s drama Black Dog...

Few periods on the calendar mean more to cinephiles than the two weekends in May occupied by the Cannes Film Festival. Since its founding in 1946, the French festival has been a launchpad for some of the most artistically significant films of all time. The Palme d’Or is one of the most coveted film awards on the planet, and the festival’s ability to balance subversive arthouse work with major Hollywood premieres has led many to view it as the world’s most significant celebration of cinema.

The 2024 lineup featured a mix of buzzy premieres from New Hollywood titans like Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader alongside exciting new works from emerging directors. Between the Main Competition, Un Certain Regard, special screenings, and sidebars like the Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week, the onslaught of new films can be overwhelming for anyone who isn’t able to give the festival their 24/7 attention.

Illustrations by Maddie Fischer.For more Cannes 2024 coverage, subscribe to the Weekly Edit newsletter.The Second Act.There is a filmmaker who makes movies that are above all conceptual, with the story but a brittle skeleton barely holding the thing together. He makes at least one movie a year, all under 90 minutes, all modestly casual affairs with various doses of drollness; and all feature a philosophical premise or metaphysical quandary at their core. He writes, directs, shoots, and edits the films himself. Dissenters tend to think he isn’t funny and that all his movies are tedious and basically the same; fans, of course, hold the opposite opinion. He opened the Cannes Film Festival this year, but despite what you may assume, this filmmaker isn’t Hong Sang-soo; rather, it’s Quentin Dupieux, who also shares with Hong a cinema of welcome brevity and levity. These might be the reasons...

The Cannes Film Festival is many things: A prestigious platform for the best of world cinema, a massive industry event where film acquisitions get made, a testament to the French film industry’s classism and rampant sexual abuse. But more than anything, it’s one of the world’s greatest photo opps.

Sure, sure, everyone wants the Palme D’or. But even more people would kill to get seen on the iconic Cannes red carpet, and get their picture snapped by the hordes of press that camp on the Croisette. Some of the world’s most glamorous and beautiful celebrities can be seen on the steps outside the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès every year posing for the cameras, and while it’s not quite the fashion moment that the Met Gala is, it still offers a great opportunity for us pleebs to gawk at some particularly shiny stars in all of their finery.

Quentin Dupieux’s new film The Second Act (Le deuxième acte) opened the 77th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival. It’s noteworthy that it’s a Netflix co-production and, although this could mean that Dupieux eventually reaches many more people, there’s nothing to worry about in the sense that his cinema remains very peculiar. Likewise, Dupieux continues a prolific and high-quality streak, which includes recent titles such as Incredible But True (Incroyable mais vrai), Smoking Causes Coughing (Fumer fait tousser) and Yannick. At the beginning of The Second Act we see friends David (Louis Garrel) and Willy (Raphaël Quenard) walking together and chatting about a peculiar proposal: David wants Willy to help him get rid of a woman who has been trying to seduce him for...

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Stars: Raphaël Quenard, Pio Marmaï, Blanche Gardin, Sébastien Chassagne, Agnès Hurstel, Jean-Paul Solal, Laurent Nicolas | Written and Directed by Quentin Dupieux

With a lengthy directorial career since the early 2000s, French director Quentin Dupieux has made a name for himself as an interesting surrealist. It helps that his unique takes on relatable issues are quick watches, with films rarely lasting longer than 80 minutes, and Yannick is a fascinating example of what the creative delivers so effectively.

Dupieux’s twelfth feature opens with a play entitled The Cuckold, as three actors perform on-stage to a half-empty room. While the consistent laughs make it clear that the audience is enjoying the play, the performance is interrupted by Yannick (Raphaël Quenard), a night watchman who stands up to share his displeasure. His reasonings are that he took a day off work and travelled an hour to see this play, yet it does not...

Illustrations by Maddie Fischer.For more Cannes 2024 coverage, subscribe to the Weekly Edit newsletter.In a welcome twist, the most pressing questions I heard on my way to Cannes this year didn’t concern the festival lineups but events that seemed to transcend them. In the days leading up to the opening night, Sous les écrans la dèche, a collective of festival workers, announced it would be striking over salary increases and unemployment benefits; as I type, the strikes haven’t materialized, nor has the rumored list of new sexual abuse allegations about men in the French film industry. “Last year, as you know, we had some polemics,” artistic director Thierry Frémaux told the press on the eve of the fest, hinting at the decision to open the 2023 edition with Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, a film that would have been forgotten a lot faster than it was had it...

The quirky comedy by Quentin Dupieux balances fourth wall jokes but lacks depth in exploring numerous themes. The film's use of mise en abyme results in quick world-switching, creating a muddled and incomplete experiment. Despite the talented cast, The Second Act fails to delve deep into important topics, leaving the comedy feeling overstayed.

Quentin Dupieux premiered his quirky comedy, The Second Act (Le Deuxime Acte), to a crowd of eager film lovers at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. The director continues to leverage the art of mise en abyme, where his characters are shooting a film within this feature and dissecting the state of the film industry. A highly restrained examination of multiple topics, The Second Act is a film about everything and nothing all at once. Perhaps in line with Dupieuxs style, the surreal, dark humor and commentary produce a messy end product that overstays its welcome.

4/10

Florence wants to introduce David,...