Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    EmmysSuperheroes GuideSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideBest Of 2025 So FarDisability Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
Back
  • Biography
  • Awards
IMDbPro

News

Mehdi Idir

Tahar Rahim on Metamorphosing and Shedding 44 Pounds for Julia Ducournau’s ‘Alpha’: ‘That State of Deprivation Transports You in a Spiritual Dimension’ (Exclusive)
Image
In the space of two years, French actor Tahar Rahim has transformed himself completely to inhabit a pair of drastically different characters, the iconic French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour, and Amine, a man engulfed in drug addiction who is dying of a mysterious disease.

The latter performance is the force behind Julia Ducournau’s allegorical drama “Alpha” which world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday evening and earned an 11-minute standing ovation.

Rahim, who saw his career explode 16 years after a breakthrough performance in Jacques Audiard’s Cannes prizewinning thriller “A Prophet,” had transformed himself before, notably in “The Serpent,” starring as the merciless serial killer Charles Sobhraj. But in “Alpha,” he went to the extreme, losing 20 kilos (44 pounds) for the part, so that he could relate to his onscreen character, Amine, on an emotional level, as well as physical.

“Julia didn’t ask me to go that far,...
See full article at Variety Film + TV
  • 5/20/2025
  • by Elsa Keslassy
  • Variety Film + TV
Image
France’s streamer levy has injected €1bn into the industry in three years, says report
Image
France was one of the first countries to require streamers to invest in the local film and TV production sector. Three years on, its impact is being felt.

A comprehensive study from the Cnc and French audiovisual regulatory authority Arcom published in late November revealed the impact of the introduction of the European Union’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Avmsd) in France on the country’s film and TV sector.

The Avmsd requires the US streamers to invest at least 20% of their annual turnover in local film and TV. According to the report, it has given the French industry a nearly $1.05bn (€1bn) financial boost.
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 12/20/2024
  • ScreenDaily
Image
France’s streamer levy has injected €1m into the industry in three years, says report
Image
France was one of the first countries to require streamers to invest in the local film and TV production sector. Three years on, its impact is being felt.

A comprehensive study from the Cnc and French audiovisual regulatory authority Arcom published in late November revealed the impact of the introduction of the European Union’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Avmsd) in France on the country’s film and TV sector. The Avmsd requires the US streamers to invest at least 20% of their annual turnover in local film and TV. According to the report, it has given the French industry a near $1.05bn (€1bn) financial boost.
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 12/20/2024
  • ScreenDaily
Johnny Depp’s ‘Modi’ & Robbie Williams Biopic ‘Better Man’ Head To Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Fest With Karim Shenawy’s ‘The Tale Of Daye’s Family’ Set As Opener
Image
The Red Sea Film Festival has unveiled the bulk of the line-up for its fourth edition, which will showcase 120 films from 81 territories from December 5 to 14 in the port city of Jeddah.

The festival will open with Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s The Tale Of Daye’s Family (aka Light) about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy with a beautiful voice, who faces adversity due to his unique appearance.

Abandoned by his father and bullied by his peers, he dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, singer and actor Mohamed Mounir. When he gets a chance to audition for The Voice, Daye and his family embark on a perilous 1,000-mile journey from Southern Egypt to Cairo.

Michael Gracey’s semi-biographical feature Better Man, inspired by Robbie Williams and portraying the pop icon as a chimpanzee, will close the festival.

Johnny Depp’s Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness...
See full article at Deadline Film + TV
  • 11/11/2024
  • by Melanie Goodfellow
  • Deadline Film + TV
Image
‘Beating Hearts’ pumps up France’s October box office as local titles power 10.8% rise in admissions
Image
Studiocanal’s romantic dramaBeating Hearts (L’Amour Ouf) topped the French box office in October during a strong month that saw admissions hit 15.53 million (€111.8m based on an average ticket price of €7.20), a 10.8% jump from last year according to figures from the Cnc.

Audiences turned out strongly for Gilles Lellouche’s film which stars Adele Exarchopolous and Francois Civil and premiered in Competition at Cannes in May. The melodrama has sold 2.17 million tickets (approximately €15.6m) after two weeks in cinemas since its October 16 release. Strong word of mouth particularly among younger audiences helped the decades-spanning romantic drama sell more tickets in...
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 11/4/2024
  • ScreenDaily
Image
David Yarovesky, Christopher Leone, Sergio Navarretta Titles Tapped for Toronto Film Festival Sales Market
Image
The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled its lineup for the Industry Selects program of films beyond the official fest lineup and available for worldwide acquisition as each gets an in-person screening for film buyers and industry execs.

Leading the selection is Christopher Leone’s Code 3, an action comedy that stars Rainn Wilson and Lil Rel Howery and is from Wayfarer Studios; Locked, David Yarovesky’s remake of the Argentinian action thriller 4X4 toplined by Anthony Hopkins and Bill Skarsgård; and Teemu Nikki’s 100 Litres of Gold, about two sisters famous for their Finnish farmhouse.

Other sales titles headed to Toronto as part of the Industry Selects program include Allan Ungar’s London Calling, where the director reteams with Josh Duhamel for an action comedy; Mehdi Idir’s Monsieur Aznavour from Playtime Group; Korean director Kim So-jin’s Noise; and Rich Flu, directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead,...
See full article at The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
  • 8/15/2024
  • by Etan Vlessing
  • The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
‘Monsieur Aznavour’ Trailer: Tahar Rahim Transforms as French Music Legend Charles Aznavour (Exclusive)
Image
Pathé has unveiled a trailer for “Monsieur Aznavour,” showing the Golden-Globe nominated actor Tahar Rahim transformed as Charles Aznavour, the French-Armenian singer, songwriter and actor who sold more than 180 million records around the world.

The movie charts Aznavour’s rise to stardom in the 1950s and his friendships with many artists, including Edith Piaf, who took him with her on a tour of France and the U.S.

“Monsieur Aznavour” will be released by Pathé on Oct. 23. It’s directed by singer-turned-filmmakers Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade (“Patients”), and produced by Jean-Rachid Kallouche’s Kallouche Cinema and Mandarin & Compagnie, the banner behind Francois Ozon’s and Anne Fontaine’s films.

Kallouche, who teamed with Eric and Nicolas Altmayer at Mandarin on Grand Corps Malade and Idir’s previous films, is married to Katia Aznavour, the daughter of the late artist.

Rahim spoke to Variety briefly about his role...
See full article at Variety Film + TV
  • 5/22/2024
  • by Elsa Keslassy
  • Variety Film + TV
Image
French production returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 as mid-budget films make a comeback
Image
French film production skyrocketed in 2023 marking a return to pre-pandemic levels as budgets soared, according to an annual report from the Cnc, the country’s national film organisation.

A total of 298 films were approved by the Cnc last year, driven by French-initiated films which totalled 236, up from 208 in 2022.

There were 18 animated films compared to 13 in 2022; but documentaries dipped from 54 in 2022 to just 40 in 2023.

International co-productions maintained pre-Covid levels with 120 co-productions clocked over the year, in line with the 2017-2019 average of 119 films.

However, just 40.3% of total films were co-productions, down from 50.2% in 2022, but still in line with the pre-pandemic 2017-...
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 3/27/2024
  • ScreenDaily
Image
French production return to pre-pandemic levels as mid-budget films make a comeback
Image
French film production skyrocketed in 2023 marking a return to pre-pandemic levels as budgets soared, according to an annual report from the Cnc, the country’s national film organisation.

A total of 298 films were approved by the Cnc last year, driven by French-initiated films which totalled 236, up from 208 in 2022.

There were 18 animated films compared to 13 in 2022; but documentaries dipped from 54 in 2022 to just 40 in 2023.

International co-productions maintained pre-Covid levels with 120 co-productions clocked over the year, in line with the 2017-2019 average of 119 films.

However, just 40.3% of total films were co-productions, down from 50.2% in 2022, but still in line with the pre-pandemic 2017-...
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 3/27/2024
  • ScreenDaily
Investment In Movie Production In France Jumped 13.6% To $1.45B In 2023
Image
Investment in movie production in France rose 13.6% in 2023 to $1.45B (€1.34B), according to an annual report published by the country’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc) on Monday.

The Cnc said that $1.19B of the $1.45B investment hailed from France-based backers, in their third highest contribution after 2016 and 2021.

The body, which oversees funding and support schemes across the cinema chain, registered 298 French majority and minority films in 2023, against 287 in 2022.

Within this figure, 236 were majority French productions, against 208 in 2022.

It said that the 2023 figures suggested that France’s production sector had regained its pre-pandemic dynamic.

In a further sign of a return to pre-Covid-19 norms, the number of co-productions fell to 120, with 38 different territories, against 144 in 2022, which was the highest level for a decade.

That latter trend had been put down to productions traveling to circumvent the tail-end of Covid restrictions and finance crunches in 2022. The average for 2017 to 2019 was 119 co-productions.

In another trend,...
See full article at Deadline Film + TV
  • 3/25/2024
  • by Melanie Goodfellow
  • Deadline Film + TV
Image
French musical revival on song as Nolita’s ’Hear Me Love’ starts Paris shoot
Image
Nolita Cinema’s musical Hear Me Love, starring France’s biggest pop star Clara Luciani in her first lead role, has started shooting in Paris as part of a revival of the film musical in France.

Set between Paris and Rome’s Cinecitta’s Studios in the 1970s, Hear Me Love (Joli Joli) follows a struggling writer looking for inspiration for his second novel who falls in love with a famous movie star. It is the fifth feature by French film and theatre director Diastème and is being scored by composer Alex Beaupain.

Ginger & Fed is selling the film...
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 2/19/2024
  • ScreenDaily
UTA to duet with Playtime on ‘Monsieur Aznavour’ starring Tahar Rahim (exclusive)
Image
The €26m production starts principal photography on May 30 in the Paris region.

UTA Independent Film Group has boarded Playtime’s buzzy upcomimg biopic Monsieur Aznavour. starring Tahar Rahim, to lead on US sales.

The film about the legendary French singer Charles Aznavour also stars Bastien Bouillon and Marie-Julie Baup.

Mehdi Idir and French rap artist Grand Corps Malade direct following the duo’s hit films Step by Step and School Life. T

The producers are prolific French producers Eric and Nicolas Altmayer of Mandarin & Compagnie and Jean-Rachid’s Kallouche Cinema.

The €26m production starts principal photography on May 30 in...
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 5/22/2023
  • by Rebecca Leffler
  • ScreenDaily
Playtime Boards Buzzy Biopic ‘Monsieur Aznavour’ Starring Tahar Rahim as Legendary Crooner (Exclusive)
Image
Playtime has boarded “Monsieur Aznavour,” the prestige biopic of legendary French-Armenian Charles Aznavour starring Tahar Rahim. Budgeted at €26 million, the film will start principal photography on May 30. Pathé has scooped French rights and will give it a wide release in theaters.

Surely one of the hottest packages to hit this year’s Cannes market, the film will chart Aznavour’s sprawling life journey, from his poor childhood to his rise to fame, from his triumphs to his failures, from Paris to New York. Aznavour was devoted to his art until the very end, singing his songs in ten languages, on every stage, in every city, desperately searching for perfection. He sold more than 180 million records around the world.

Rahim, who’s rolling off Marvel’s “Madame Web” and Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” is highly committed to the part and has been preparing it for months. He will be in Cannes...
See full article at Variety Film + TV
  • 5/17/2023
  • by Elsa Keslassy
  • Variety Film + TV
Tahar Rahim to Play French Music Legend Charles Aznavour in Biopic ‘Monsieur Aznavour’ (Exclusive)
Image
Tahar Rahim, who earned BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for his starring roles in “A Prophet” and “The Mauritanian,” is set to play Charles Aznavour, the iconic French-Armenian singer, songwriter and actor who sold more than 180 million records around the world.

Titled “Monsieur Aznavour,” the biopic will be directed by singer-turned-filmmakers Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade (“Patients”), and produced by Jean-Rachid Kallouche’s Kallouche Cinema and Mandarin & Compagnie, the banner behind Francois Ozon’s and Anne Fontaine’s films.

Kallouche, who teamed with Eric and Nicolas Altmayer at Mandarin on Grand Corps Malade and Idir’s previous films, is married to Katia Aznavour, the daughter of the late artist. Filming will kick off in the summer for an estimated delivery in 2024, to mark Aznavour’s centenary.

The movie will chart Aznavour’s rise to stardom in the 1950s and his friendships with many artists, including Edith Piaf, who took...
See full article at Variety Film + TV
  • 2/15/2023
  • by Elsa Keslassy
  • Variety Film + TV
School Life (2019)
‘School Life’ Review: Welcome to a Parisian ‘Dangerous Minds’
School Life (2019)
If virtual education in the time of Covid-19 makes you nostalgic for the sight of students and teachers occupying actual classrooms, Netflix invites you to matriculate at School Life. Despite a tendency to go soft when the going gets tough, this French-Arabic comedy-drama, originally titled La Vie Scolaire, earns solid marks for a keep-it-real approach to the subject of classrooms on the fringes. The setting is a middle school in Saint-Denis, a Paris suburb populated largely by non-white migrants. The students are a wild bunch not given to study, obedience or self-control.
See full article at Rollingstone.com
  • 4/9/2020
  • by Peter Travers
  • Rollingstone.com
Ethan Hawke, Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and Clémentine Grenier in The Truth (2019)
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York opens with The Truth by Anne-Katrin Titze - 2020-03-06 15:02:15
Ethan Hawke, Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and Clémentine Grenier in The Truth (2019)
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth (La Vérité) star Ethan Hawke: "If you guys could be with these remarkable women, as I was, Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche. They think differently and they speak differently and approach our work differently.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

On Wednesday, March 4, it was announced by UniFrance that the French delegation, including UniFrance President Serge Toubiana, Lucie Borleteau, Maïmouna Doucouré, Mehdi Idir, Claude Lelouch, Valérie Perrin, Chiara Mastroianni, Mounia Meddour, Nicolas Pariser, Bruno Dumont, Sarah Suco, Pascal Bonitzer, Cédric Klapisch, Alice Winocour, and Juliette Binoche would not be attending Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York. Who You Think I Am (Celle Que Vous Croyez) director Safy Nebbou and An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile) director Rebecca Zlotowski are still scheduled to do a Q&a.

Juliette Binoche with sea turtle: “I can say that this film had been a dream. I had been nagging Kore-eda...
See full article at eyeforfilm.co.uk
  • 3/6/2020
  • by Anne-Katrin Titze
  • eyeforfilm.co.uk
New York Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Early Bird highlights by Anne-Katrin Titze
Rebecca Zlotowski in Dear Prudence (2010)
Rebecca Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile) featuring Mina Farid, Zahia Dehar, Benoît Magimel, Nuno Lopes, Clotilde Courau and Lakdhar Dridi, is a Rendez-Vous with French Cinema highlight Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Rendez-Vous with French Cinema Early Bird highlights in the UniFrance and Film at Lincoln Center 25th edition include Nicolas Pariser’s Alice And The Mayor (Alice Et Le maire), starring Anaïs Demoustier and Fabrice Luchini with Antoine Reinartz and Nora Hamzawi; Alice Winocour’s Proxima with Eva Green, Zélie Boulant, Matt Dillon, Sandra Hüller, and Lars Eidinger, score by Ryuichi Sakamoto; Bruno Dumont's Joan Of Arc (Jeanne), his sequel to Jeannette: The Childhood Of Joan of Arc, starring Lise Leplat Prudhomme, and Rebecca Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile).

Opening the festival is Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth (La Vérité), starring Catherine Deneuve (also in Cédric Kahn’s Happy Birthday - Fête De Famille), Juliette.
See full article at eyeforfilm.co.uk
  • 2/24/2020
  • by Anne-Katrin Titze
  • eyeforfilm.co.uk
UniFrance & Lincoln Center Set Lineup For NY Rendez-Vous With French Cinema; Mini-Fest To Open With Juliette Binoche Starrer ‘The Truth’
Exclusive: UniFrance and Film at Lincoln Center have set the lineup for the 25th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema (March 5–15), the annual New York mini-festival dedicated to French filmmaking. The event will open with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s drama The Truth, starring Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve and Ethan Hawke.

For the first time, the festival is introducing an Audience Award. Additionally, the festival is expanding its industry-facing events with a day-long networking event to bring together French sales agents, French producers, and American industry on Friday, March 6.

Highlights of the 22-film lineup include Christophe Honoré’s On a Magical Night, for which Chiara Mastroianni won an award in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section; Quentin Dupieux’s satire Deerskin, starring Oscar winner Jean Dujardin and Adèle Haenel; Bruno Dumont’s Joan of Arc, which received a Cannes Special Jury Mention; Mounia Meddour’s Papicha, the story of young women’s resistance...
See full article at Deadline Film + TV
  • 1/23/2020
  • by Andreas Wiseman
  • Deadline Film + TV
Albert Dupontel as Pierre in the Gaspar Noé film IRREVERSIBLE.
Gaumont launches sales on Albert Dupontel, Virginie Efira comedy 'Bye Bye Morons' (exclusive)
Albert Dupontel as Pierre in the Gaspar Noé film IRREVERSIBLE.
Efira is in Cannes with Palme d’Or contender ‘Sibyl’.

Gaumont is launching sales on Albert Dupontel’s upcoming slapstick comedy Bye Bye Morons (Adieu des Cons) in which he will star opposite Virginie Efira.

The actress who is in Cannes this year in Palme d’Or contender Sibyl, will play a terminally-ill hairdresser who decides to go in search of the child she gave up for adoption after an unwanted teen pregnancy.

Her paths cross with a jaded suicidal bureaucrat, played by Dupontel, who gets involved in her quest alongside a blind archivist.

“Between this woman who wants to...
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 5/15/2019
  • by Melanie Goodfellow
  • ScreenDaily
Antoine Reinartz
2018 César Awards: ‘Bpm’ Triumphs With Six Wins, Including Best Film
Antoine Reinartz
“Bpm” triumphed at the César Awards, taking home the prizes for Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Antoine Reinartz), Best Male Newcomer (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), Best Original Score, and Best Editing. Robin Campillo’s drama about AIDS activists in Paris also won the Grand Prix at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, but wasn’t nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film — a snub that was met with some controversy.

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless,” which is nominated for the Oscar, won the equivalent award. Albert Dupontel’s “Au revoir là-haut” also had a big night, taking Best Director, Best Actress (Jeanne Balibar), and three other prizes. Full list of winners:

Best Film

“Bpm,” Robin Campillo

“Au revoir là-haut,” Albert Dupontel

“Barbara,” Mathieu Amalric

“Le Brio,” Yvan Attal

“Patients,” Grand Corps Malade, Mehdi Idir

“Petit Paysan,” Hubert Charuel

“C’est La Vie,” Eric Tolédano, Olivier Nakache

Best Director

Robin Campillo,...
See full article at Indiewire
  • 3/2/2018
  • by Michael Nordine
  • Indiewire
Robin Campillo
'Bpm (Beats Per Minute)' leads 2018 French César award nominations
Robin Campillo
Other leading contenders include See You You There, Barbara and Bloody Milk.

Source: Cannes

‘Bpm (Beats Per Minute)’

Robin Campillo’s Aids activism drama Bpm (Beats Per Minute) leads nominations in France’s 2018 César awards which were announced in Paris on Wednesday morning (Jan 31).

Scroll down for the key nominations

The feature drama took 13 nominations including best film, best director and best screenplay and best male newcomer for its co-stars Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Arnaud Valois.

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations at its traditional news conference at the Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs-Elysées.

The popularity of Campillo’s film among the academy’s members came as little surprise. Although ignored by Oscar and Golden Globe, the Cannes Grand Prix winner has been a critical and box office success in France where the film has drawn more than 800,000 spectators for Memento Distribution.

It also leads the nominations in the upcoming...
See full article at ScreenDaily
  • 1/31/2018
  • by Melanie Goodfellow
  • ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.

More from this person

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
Follow IMDb on social
Get the IMDb App
For Android and iOS
Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • License IMDb Data
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.