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After breaking ground with his 2021 movie “Casablanca Beats,” which marked the first Moroccan feature to vie for a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, filmmaker Nabil Ayouch (“Much Loved”) is achieving a new milestone with his latest movie, “Everybody Loves Touda,” which premiered at Cannes Premiere and is now eligible in all categories at the Oscars. It’s the first Moroccan film to do so.

“Everybody Loves Touda,” penned by Ayouch and his wife, the actor-turned-filmmaker Maryam Touzani (“The Blue Caftan”), tells the story a young poetess and singer known as a Shaeirat (Nisrin Erradi), who raises her deaf-mute son in a small Moroccan village. Hoping to give her son a better future and more opportunities in life, she moves with him to Casablanca where she faces setbacks. Erradi, who previously starred in Touzani’s feature debut, “Adam,” prepared for the part in “Everybody Loves Touda” for a...

French-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch is in Cannes for the third time with “Everybody Loves Touda,” launching out of competition.

The film tells the story of a young poet and singer steeped in an ancient Moroccan form of folk song called aita, but forced to perform trashy pop songs in bars filled with abusive men.

Below, Ayouch speaks with Variety about what “Touda” says about Morocco today.

Morocco’s Shaeirat poetesses and singers have already appeared in several of your films. That said, how did this project originate?

As you say, I’ve met several of these women during the shoots of my previous films and they were haunting me somehow. In talking to them about their lives, they told me how difficult it was for them to be so strong, so powerful, on stage, while at the same time being forced to live in a world where they feel so...

Nabil Ayouch, a leading Moroccan filmmaker whose latest movie as a producer “The Blue Caftan” became the first Moroccan film to ever make it to the Oscars shortlist, is wrapping up his next directorial effort, “Everybody Loves Touda.”

Now in post-production, “Everybody Loves Touda” follows the journey of a strong-willed woman, along the lines of some of Ayouch’s best known films, such as “Much Loved” and “Razzia,” which played at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and Toronto, respectively. The movie will mark Ayouch’s directorial follow up to “Casablanca Beats,” which competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021 and marked the first Moroccan feature to vie for a Palme d’Or.

“Everybody Loves Touda” tells the story a young poetess and singer known as a Shaeirat, who raises her deaf-mute son in a small Moroccan village. Hoping to give her son a better future and more opportunities in life, she moves...

Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan,” a drama revolving around the love between a closeted man and his wife, has sold more than 500,000 tickets around the world.

The Arabic-language movie, which world premiered at Cannes in 2022 and won the Fipresci prize, has sold the most admissions overseas than any other Moroccan film in recent history, according to French promotion org Unifrance. “The Blue Caftan” was particularly successful in France, where it sold 214,000 admissions, followed by the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Japan.

Produced by leading Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.

Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice...

France TV Distribution has enlisted a raft of major distributors worldwide for “Sugar and Stars,” a movie starring Riadh Belaïche, a social media influencer-turned-actor.

The inspirational drama is based on the true story of Yazid Ichemrahem, an underdog who became a famous pastry chef.

“Sugar and Stars” marks the debut feature of Sébastien Tulard, who has directed several shorts and worked as assistant director on hit French comedies such as Tarek Boudali’s “30 jours max,” Frank Gastambide’s popular show “All the Way Up,” Dany Boon’s “Supercondriaque” and Philippe Lacheau’s “Babysitting.”

The film was penned by Penned by Cédric Ido and based on Ichemrahem’s bestselling autobiographical book “Un rêve d’enfant étoilé.”

The story revolves around Yazid, who spent his childhood moving from one foster home to another while dreaming of becoming a pastry chef. Nothing predestines him for such a career, but Yazid’s fierce...

Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan,” which world premiered at Cannes and won the Fipresci prize. The film, which is represented in international markets by Films Boutique, will have its North American premiere at Toronto in the Special Screenings section.

Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.

Produced by Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.

Touzani said “The Blue Caftan...

Clement Cogitore’s “Sons Of Ramses” (“Goutte d’Or”) will have its world premiere in Cannes as a special screening in the Critics’ Week strand of the festival.

The film follows Ramses, a skilful clairvoyant in the multicultural Parisian district of La Goutte d’Or. When a gang of fearless kids start terrorizing the locals, the balance of his thriving business and of the whole neighborhood is disturbed. Until one day, when Ramses has a real vision.

The cast includes Karim Leklou (“The World is Yours”), Malik Zidi (“Oxygen”), Elsa Wolliaston (“Victoria”), Jawad Outouia, Elyes Dkhissi, Yilin Yang (“Three Times Nothing”) and Loubna Abidar (“Much Loved”).

After studying at Le Fresnoy (France’s National Studio for Contemporary Arts), Cogitore developed his artistic practice between the spaces of cinema and contemporary art. In 2015, his first feature film, “The Wakhan Front” was selected at the Cannes Critics’ Week, where it won the...

Films Boutique has acquired four films set to world premiere at Cannes, including Albert Serra (“The Death of Louis Xiv”)’s “Pacifiction” which will compete in the 75th edition’s Official Selection.

The Berlin-based international sales banner has also acquired rising Morrocan helmer Maryam Touzani (“Adam”)’s “The Blue Caftan” and Costa Rican director Ariel Escalante Meza’s “Domingo and the Mist” which will both play in Un Certain Regard; as well as Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (“The Ornithologist”)’s “Will-o’-The-Wisp,” set for Directors’ Fortnight.

“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. While investigating on a mysterious submarine, he navigates the high end ’establishment,’ and mingles with locals in underground venues.

Serra was last in Cannes with his 2019 feature film “Liberté” which won the jury prize at Un Certain Regard.”‘Pacifiction’ is a...

Eric Lagesse, the CEO/president of Paris-based arthouse distributor and world sales outfit Pyramide Films, received the Industry Tribute Award at Cairo Film Festival on Friday. Variety spoke with him about his relationship with Arab cinema, and the state of the independent film business in France.

How do you feel about receiving this tribute?

It’s great, but I have had a year to get used to it. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t receive it last year, as planned. Nothing major has changed in the meantime. I am still very fond of Arab and Egyptian films. We are now working with a new generation of films and filmmakers like “Amira” (pictured), which played in the Horizons Competition at the Venice Film Festival this year.

What is your connection to the Arab film world?

We have been collaborating with the Arab world since the beginning of Pyramide. The first...

After the Covid-19 pandemic forced last year’s in-person festivities and competition to be cancelled, the Cannes Film Festival will be returning in full force this year, running from July 6 until July 17. The top prize there is the coveted Palme d’Or, and this will be the first time it’s awarded since 2019 when Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” claimed it. That film would go on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, becoming the first to claim both prizes since “Marty” did it in 1955. This year’s jury will be headed by Oscar winner Spike Lee, who won the Grand Prix in 2018 for “BlacKkKlansman,” which went on to win him the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.

The track record of a filmmaker at Cannes can sometimes offer tea leaves as to who might be in a good position to take the Palme. Eight of the entries this year come from...

Casablanca Beats is first Moroccan film to play in Cannes Competition since 1962.

Wild Bunch International (Wbi) has boarded sales on French-Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch’s Casablanca Beats ahead of its world premiere in Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in July.

The film follows a group of youngsters living in the Casablanca slum district of Sidi Moumen as they participate in a workshop encouraging them to express themselves through hip-hop music and dance.

It was shot in Casablanca’s Les Etoiles de Sidi Moumen (The Stars of Sidi Moumen) cultural centre, which Ayouch created in 2014 with novelist Mahi Binebine.

It’s comeback time for the Cannes Film Festival as the world’s preeminent showcase for world cinema plans its return, announcing an official selection packed with big-name auteurs — including Wes Anderson (“The French Dispatch”), Leox Carax (“Annette”), Paul Verhoeven (“Benedetta”), Sean Penn (“Flag Day”), Sean Baker (“Red Rocket”), Asghar Farhadi (“A Hero), and past Palme d’Or winners Jacques Audiard (“Les Olympiades”) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (“Memoria”) — and many notable women directors, such as Hungarian helmer Ildikó Enyedi (“The Story of My Wife”) and “Raw” director Julia Ducournau (“Titane”).

The lineup, which consists of a whopping 24 competition titles, was unveiled by Thierry Frémaux, artistic director and general delegate, who was cheerful as ever, and festival president Pierre Lescure. Fremaux indicated that he has yet to reveal a major blockbuster premiere to screen on the beach and the closing-night film.

Women are well represented throughout the program, with Charlotte Gainsbourg debuting a portrait of her mother,...

Director-producer Nabil Ayouch and actor-director Maryam Touzani are attending the Marrakech Film Festival for the gala screening of Touzani’s debut feature, “Adam,” on Tuesday. The film, written by her, with the collaboration of Ayouch, and produced by the latter, is Morocco’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

“Adam” had its world premiere in Cannes Un Certain Regard, has won 16 prizes at major festivals, and has been sold by sales agent Films Boutique to more than 15 territories, including U.S., France, Benelux, Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil.

The pic, starring Lubna Azabal and Nisrin Erradi, is about a life changing encounter in Casablanca’s Medina between Samia, a heavily pregnant, single young woman from the countryside, and Abla, a widow with a vivacious eight-year-old daughter who has set up a bakery.

Touzani says that the inspiration for the film was...

“Roma” producer Nicolas Celis’ series debut “Perfect Monsters,” Nabil Ayouch’s “Blackout” and Cinenord’s “Ice Valley” were announced as the three winners of this year’s In Development Drama Producers’ Pitch section, run collaboratively by MipTV and Canneseries.

In Development is dedicated to the development and promotion of new international TV productions from established and new talents alike. A potentially major launchpad for the still-young projects, the pitching sessions saw 12 projects selected by members of the In Development advisory board. This year, 376 projects were submitted for consideration from 41 countries.

Participating projects pitched to often packed audiences of industry professionals. Three were selected for prizes handed out by In Development’s official partners: Federation Entertainment (“The Bureau”), which offers to co-develop, co-produce and distribute one of the selected projects, and French think tank “La Fabrique des Formats” and its investment fund, which offers financing for up to two series from...

Madrid — Nabil Ayouch, one of the foremost Arab World filmmakers, is preparing “Blackout,” a real-time, near-future social-issue thriller drama series set on the border of Europe and Africa in and around Ceuta, one of Spain’s enclaves in Morocco.

“Black-Out” is set up at Ayouch’s Paris-based Les Films du Nouveau Monde and Casablanca label “Ali N’ Productions – which backed his latest two movies “Razzia,” a 2017 Toronto Platform premiere and Moroccan Academy Award entry, and upcoming “We Will Be Reborn,” a realist hip-hop musical. It is one of the potential highlights among 16 drama series projects to be pitched next week in Cannes at this year’s second and expanded In Development, a joint venture of MipTV and Canneseries.

Moroccan broadcast network 2M has boarded the project.

Given that Ceuta is an integral part of Spain, so the European Union, the highly-fortified Ceuta border fence, consisting of two 20-foot fences and a road between them,...

Talented Swedish-born documentary director Anna Eborn has an affinity for communities that exist outside space and time, locating people whose lives are spent in areas that don’t conform to common notions of 21st century globalization. In “Pine Ridge,” she turned her camera on Native Americans in a South Dakota reservation; in “Lida” she spent time with an elderly woman in Eastern Ukraine, one of the last speakers of an old Swedish dialect. Now she’s followed a group of teens in Transnistria, a breakaway republic largely unrecognized internationally, sitting between Moldova and Ukraine, which seems determined to maintain a Soviet lifestyle.

“Transnistra” (without the penultimate “i” in the territory’s name) moves through the four seasons, focusing on Tanya, a charismatic young woman trailing a posse of boys who shift through friendship, rivalry and puppy love in the usual hormonal adolescent manner. Attractively lensed in handheld 16mm by Virginie Surdej...

Moroccan-French writer-director Nabil Ayouch, whose last film “Razzia” was Morocco’s entry for the foreign-language film Oscar, is completing principal photography on “Positive School.” He spoke to Variety about the project.

“Positive School” is a realistic drama set in the cultural center he set up in Casablanca’s Sidi Moumen neighborhood, a poor suburb that became infamous in 2003 due to a terrorist attack perpetrated by locals. Ayouch has been prepping the film for a year and a half, working with non-professional actors attending the center.

The film is shot in a documentary style, and is centered on former hip-hop singer Anas, who begins to teach music, dance and creative writing at the center, and inspires his students to question stereotypes about Morocco and themselves. Ayouch describes the film as a mix between “Fame” and Laurent Cantet’s “Entre les Murs” (The Class).

The helmer grew up in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles,...

Tim Pigott-Smith as Lord Ascot in Alice In Wonderland. Photo: © 2010 Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Film, stage and small screen actor Tim Pigott-Smith - who was made an OBE in this year's New Year Honours list - died this morning, aged 70.

His agent John Grant confirmed his death and described him as "one of the great actors of his generation" He added: "Much loved and admired by his peers, he will be remembered by many as a gentleman and a true friend."

Pigott-Smith - who had been due to appear in a stage production of Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman next week - became a household name thanks to his appearance in ITV Raj-set drama Jewel In The Crown in 1984. He won a BAFTA for his role as police sergeant Ronald Merrick.

In addition to his television work, Pigott-Smith, who was born in Rugby, Warwickshire and trained at the Bristol Old Vic,...

As I Open My Eyes tells the story of a Tunis band and the Ben Ali regime. But even after the Arab spring, the region’s youth are still waiting for freedom, says its director, Leyla Bouzid

Tunisians used to say that one in five of their countrymen worked for the secret police. Leyla Bouzid was an aspiring young noughties film-maker in Tunis’s Fédération des Cinéastes Amateurs when she found out that one of her close friends in the club was an informer. It wasn’t an isolated experience. Of the paranoia that runs through her galloping debut feature As I Open My Eyes, about a rock group trying to find their voice and hold their nerve in the final months of former president Ben Ali’s rule, she says plainly: “These are things either that I saw, or that friends or myself lived through.”

Bouzid left Tunisia shortly...

Whether you think he’s a titan of contemporary art cinema or a moralizing hack, Michael Haneke will dominate much of 2017’s cinematic discourse with his new feature, Happy End. Earlier reports were vague, albeit intriguing, telling us the Isabelle Huppert– and Jean-Louis Trintignant-led picture will concern a “bourgeois, European family, blind to what is going on in the wider world around them,” specifically with regard to Europe’s migrant crisis.

So said Huppert at this year’s Cannes Film Festival:

“‘But you can imagine what a Michael Haneke film called Happy Ending will be like. You can imagine there will be a certain irony, a certain…’ – she hesitates playfully, choosing her words – ‘clear-sightedness. For me, the title says everything about how lucidly Haneke sees the world.’ Apparently it’s about immigration, I hazard. ‘Apparently. That’s not all there is to it. We’ll see.'”

Casting has...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has announced the program for the 20th Colcoa French Film Festival that will run April 18-26 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. The festival will showcase a record 70 films and television series - among them 64 in competition for Colcoa Awards - including four World Premieres, seven International Premieres, 19 North American or U.S. Premieres, 17 West Coast Premieres - and 21 new shorts. Colcoa, is now the world's largest event dedicated to French films and television.

"This 20th anniversary deserves a spectacular, strong program that reflects the diversity of French production, as well as the creativity and dynamism of French filmmakers and producers," stated François Truffart, Colcoa Executive Producer and Artistic Director. "More than ever, we are about to involve audiences in a journey that will stir them, make them laugh, cry, tickle their curiosity, and help them remain optimistic, while recognizing the urgent world zeitgeist."

 "20 years is an achievement for any film festival in Hollywood. This would not have been possible without the commitment of the Franco-American Cultural Fund - a unique partnership of the DGA, the Mpa, la Sacem and the WGA West - creator of the festival in 1996 and supporter of its subsequent development. We also salute French sales companies, official supporters, sponsors, and U.S. distributors, whose loyalty and trust have given the festival its continuing excellence," he added.

Colcoa will open Monday, April 18th with the North American Premiere of "Monsieur Chocolat," a biopic about the first French black clown, co-written by Cyril Gely, Olivier Gorce, Gérard Noiriel, Roschdy Zem, directed by Roschdy Zem, and starring Omar Sy and James Thiérrée. The film will be presented in association with Gaumont, which celebrates its 120th anniversary.

The festival will close its competition on Monday, April 25th with the World Premiere of "Up For Love," the new romantic comedy written and directed by Laurent Tirard, starring Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin and Virginie Efira. "Call My Agent" (Season 1), the most popular French TV series of the year, about a talent agency with actors playing their own roles, will close the Colcoa TV Competition.

Two other TV series, shown for the first time in North America, will be part of the program, presented in association with TV France International and Titrafilm: "The Disappearance," a drama co-written by Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet and directed by Charlotte Brändström; and "The Secret of Elise," a supernatural drama written by lsa Marpeau, Marie Vinoy, Marie Deshaires, and Catherine Touzet and directed by Alexandre Laurent, Samir Boitard, Mathieu Simonet, and Mehdi Meskar. The first two episodes of each series will be shown to the Colcoa audience.

To complete the competition, five TV movies will premiere at Colcoa: the North American Premiere of "Borderline," a thriller co-written and directed by Olivier Marchal, the International Premiere of "Carpets and Chaos," a comedy co-written and directed by Nader Takmil Homayoun, the International Premiere of "Stolen Babies," a drama written by Julie Jézéquel and directed by Golden Globe winner Alain Berliner; the International Premiere of "The Wall-Crosser," a fantasy written and directed by Dante Desarthes, based on Marcel Aymé's book; and the North American Premiere of "Woman Under the Influence," a drama written and directed by Claude-Michel Rome. 

The feature film selection (40 features and documentaries and 21 shorts), will feature exclusive presentations. "Fanny's Journey," an epic drama written and directed by Lola Doillon, starring Cecile de France, is also a World Premiere. The U.S. Premiere of the thriller "Made in France," written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, is a film which did not have theatrical release in France because of sensitivity following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.  Colcoa also will present the U.S. Premiere of Robert Guédiguian's provocative film about the Armenian genocide, "Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad." The U.S. Premiere of Oscar ® winner Claude Lelouch's new film "Un plus Une," starring Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein, will screen, in addition to another U.S. Premiere of "All Gone South," the comedy sequel co-written and co-directed by Nicolas Benamou and Philippe Lacheau, two years after the success of Babysitting at Colcoa in 2014.

Several established writers/directors return and other known artists have been selected: Academy Award nominee Christian Carion ("Come What May"- with Cohen Media Group), Anne Fontaine ("The Innocents" - with Music Box Films), Vincent Garencq ("Kalinka"), Academy Award nominee Jean-Paul Rappeneau ("Families"), Christian Vincent ("Courted"), Maïwenn ("My King" - with Film Movement)

Every year, the Colcoa program is dedicated to a new generation of talent, many of whose films are included in Colcoa's French NeWave 2.0 Series: Samuel Collardey ("Land Legs"), Clément Cogitor ("Neither Heaven Nor Earth" - with Film Movement), Philippe Faucon - the writer/director of the 2016 César Best film winner ("Fatima" - with Kino Lorber), Emmanuel Finkiel ("A Decent Man"), Eva Husson ("Bang Gang" - with Samuel Goldwyn), Laurent Larivière ("I am a Soldier"), and Orelsan and Christophe Offenstein ("Uncompleted Song").

The After 10 Series at Colcoa invites audiences to explore new frontiers with an exclusive program, including the French-Belgian co-production from writer/director Bouli Lanners ("The First, the Last"), the new dark comedy from Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, starring Gérard Depardieu ("Saint Amour"), and Frédéric Schoendoerffer ("Past Convoy").

Two anticipated films about women in Muslim countries will be part of theWord Cinema Produced by France Series: the Franco-Moroccan co-production, "Much Loved," written and directed by Nabil Ayouch, premiered at the Director's Fortnight in 2015, and remains banned in Morocco; and, "As I Open My Eyes," a Franco-Tunisian film from female writer/director Leyla Bouzid (with Kino Lorber). The Argentine film, "Eva Doesn't Sleep," written and directed by Pablo Agüero will complete the series.

Two documentaries focusing on significant environmental issues will premiere at Colcoa: the closing film of the last Cannes Film Festival, "Ice and the Sky" (with Music Box Films) from Academy Award winner Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins), and a special presentation following the United Nations screening of the 2016 Cesar winner for Best Documentary, "Tomorrow," written and directed by Cédric Dion and Mélanie Laurent. "The Frankenstein Complex," a tribute to the creators of big screen creatures, written and directed by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, will complete this high profile documentary series.

All other Colcoa series are back in 2016: the Colcoa Classics Series with an exclusive program of digitally restored premieres (see February 19th press release); the Happy Hour Talks PanelSeriesin association withVariety (April 19-25); the Short Film Competition (Sunday, April 24 -  March press release); the Focus on a Filmmaker, this year with writer/director Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Thursday, April 21); and the Focus on a Producer will be with Dominique Besnehard (Saturday, April 23).

Animation, an important part of the French film industry, will be shown at Colcoa with the premiere of Rémi Chayé's new film: "Long Way North" (with Shout Factory).

 As is Colcoa tradition, comedieswill join the program almost every day, including the romantic comedy "Love at First Child," co-written and directed by Anne Giaffieri, starring Patrick Bruel and Isabelle Carré, Benoît's Graffin's "Hopefully," with Sandrine Kiberlain and Edouard Baer, Jean-Francois Richet's "One Wild Moment," starring Francois Cluzet and Vincent Cassel, and the new French hit "One Man and His Cow," written and directed by Mohamed Hamidi.

This last film will also be shown to the 3,000 students and teachers who will attend the now five High School Screenings (April 19-25) as part of the Colcoa Educational Program presented in association with Elma (European Languages and Movies in America). Two master classes for college and university students will complete the program.

For the ninth year, Lafca will partner with Colcoa Cinema for the Critics' Awards. The complete recipients list of the 2015 Awards - including the U.S. distributor winner of the Colcoa Coming Soon Award, presented in association with Kpcc, will be announced on Wednesday, April 27. Colcoa Awards are presented in association with Titrafilm, TV5 Monde USA, and Air Tahiti Nui.

Oscar-nominated film also a front-runner in Cesars.

Franco-Turkish director Deniz Gamze Erguven’s debut feature Mustang scored a hat-trick at the Lumière awards — France’s equivalent to the Golden Globes — on Monday evening (Feb 8).

The Oscar-nominated picture clinched prizes for best film and best first film while its young cast – Güneş Nezihe Şensoy, Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu, Elit Işcan, Tuğba Sunguroğlu and Ilayda Akdoğan - shared the best female discovery prize.

The coming-of-age tale about five sisters growing up under the thumb of a strict and conservative grandmother and uncle, is in the foreign language Oscar race and also heavily nominated in France’s upcoming Césars awards [Feb 26].

Some 600 guests from the world of cinema attended the 21st edition of the awards ceremony at the Espace Pierre Cardin at which actress Isabelle Huppert was also honoured.

Arnaud Desplechin won the best director award for My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse).

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Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Oscar-nominated Mustang also among nominated titles.Scroll down for list of nominations

Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse) and Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite topped the nominations list for France’s annual César Awards, announced this morning (Jan 27).

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for the 41st edition of the awards at its annual news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées.

Desplechin’s romantic drama My Golden Days clocked 11 nominations as did Giannoli’s Marguerite, starring Catherine Frot as a society singer with a terrible voice.

Other features picking up multiple nominations included Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan and Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Mustang, which both secured nine nods.

There was widespread consternation last year in some quarters of the French film industry when five times Palme d’Or nominee Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Years was not given a Competition...

Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Oscar-nominated Mustang also among nominated titles.Scroll down for list of nominations

Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Years (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse) and Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite topped the nominations list for France’s annual César Awards, announced this morning (Jan 27).

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations for the 41st edition of the awards at its annual news conference at Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs Elysées.

Desplechin’s romantic drama My Golden Years clocked 11 nominations as did Giannoli’s Marguerite, starring Catherine Frot as a society singer with a terrible voice.

Other features picking up multiple nominations included Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan and Deniz Gamze Erguven’s Mustang, which both secured nine nods, as well as Stéphane Brizé’s The Measure Of A Man.

For the first time in the awards’ history, three female directors are nominated in the best directing and best film categories...

Exclusive: Beta, Celluloid Dreams, Protagonist, The Match Factory, Feltrinelli join indie distribution schemes.

European distribution schemes The Tide Experiment and Walk This Way have seen 2016 EU funding injections of €500,000 ($545,000) and €650,000 ($710,000), respectively.

Walk This Way aggregates and promotes films for straight-to-vod distribution in the EU.

In 2015, the network - co-ordinated by industry consortium Under The Milky Way, Europa International and The Film Agency - supported 280 multi-territory releases of independent films.

Sales agents to join the scheme for 2016 include Beta Cinema, Celluloid Dreams, New Europe Film Sales, Protagonist Pictures and The Match Factory. Existing partners include Autlook Film Sales, Gaumont, Pathé, Films Boutique, Films Distribution, Memento Film International and The Yellow Affair.

For its second edition, Walk This Way will help distribute 50 titles in more than 15 territories, which will require the creation of 400 subtitles. According to organisers, each film will be available in an average of eight territories on global and local platforms.

Key titles...

Director Nabil Ayouch and star Loubna Abidar portray the north African country’s illicit sex trade with brash abandon, but how closely the film mirrors real prostitutes’ experience is moot

If anything hammers home the need for a film like Much Loved, it’s the news that lead actor Loubna Abidar has fled Morocco after police refused to take seriously her account of being attacked on the streets of Casablanca last week. Something amazingly similar happens on screen. Her character, the diva-ish Marrakech prostitute Noha, is also turfed out of the police station, and sexually coerced for good measure, after she kicks up a fuss when her friend is beaten up by a Saudi client.

Related: Star of Morocco sex worker film flees for France after 'beating'

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Actor Loubna Abidar, who played a prostitute in the Cannes hit Much Loved, claims she was ‘received with laughter’ after trying to report an attack by unknown knife-wielding assailants at Casablanca’s main police station

A Moroccan actor who starred in a controversial film about sex workers says she has fled the North African nation for France after being savagely beaten.

Loubna Abidar, who played a prostitute in the drama Much Loved, posted photographs and a video on Facebook in which she appeared bruised and bleeding. She said she had been attacked by unknown knife-wielding assailants in Casablanca on Thursday night and claimed no police station or hospital would take her in.

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Actor Loubna Abidar, who played a prostitute in the Cannes hit Much Loved, claims she was ‘received with laughter’ after trying to report an attack by unknown knife-wielding assailants at Casablanca’s main police station

A Moroccan actor who starred in a controversial film about sex workers says she has fled the North African nation for France after being savagely beaten.

Loubna Abidar, who played a prostitute in the drama Much Loved, posted photographs and a video on Facebook in which she appeared bruised and bleeding. She said she had been attacked by unknown knife-wielding assailants in Casablanca on Thursday night and claimed no police station or hospital would take her in.

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Full line-up of the Stockholm film festival includes feature and documentary competition line-ups.Scroll down for full line-up

The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 11-22) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th edition, comprising more than 190 films from over 70 countries.

The Stockholm Xxvi Competition includes Marielle Heller’s Us title The Diary of a Teenage Girl and László Nemes’ Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.

It marks the first time Stockholm has a greater number of women than men competing for the Bronze Horse – the festival’s top prize.

The documentary competition includes Amy Berg’s An Open Secret, an investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry; and Cosima Spender’s Palio, centred on the annual horse race in Siena, Italy.

Announcing the programme, festival director Git Scheynius also revealed that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will visit Stockholm for the first time as chairman of the jury for the first Stockholm Impact Award, which...

The 44th edition of the Festival du Nouveau Cinema has just announced their entire lineup and it’s pretty insane! The festival which takes place in Montreal from October 7 to 18 is screening nearly 400 films and events in only 11 days. This includes 151 feature films and 203 short films from 68 countries – 49 world premieres, 38 North American premieres and 60 Canadian premieres. Give credit to the team of programmers: Claude Chamberlan, Dimitri Eipides Julien Fonfrède, Philippe Gajan, Karolewicz Daniel, Marie-Hélène Brousseau, Katayoun Dibamehr and Gabrielle Tougas-Frechette.

Below is the lineup. There’s a lot to process so take your sweet time!

Opening and closing

The whole New Testament directed by Jaco Van Dormael (Toto the Hero, Mr Nobody, The Eighth Day), will kick off this 44th edition.

After its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes last May, the new opus unconventional Belgian director, starring Benoît Poelvoorde (Three Hearts, Ransom of Glory), Yolande Moreau (Mammuth,...

This year in Toronto is a particularly strong year for Africa and Palestine, with films from Ethiopia, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and South Africa. The list includes world premieres but also films that launched their career in the Berlinale, Cannes and Venice.

Read More: Hany Abu-Assad’s 'The Idol' to World Premiere at Tiff!

Below are listed the titles, just click on the link for full programming note and screening dates.

"3000 Nights" dir. Mai Masri "As I Open My Eyes" dir. Leyla Bouzid "Cuckold" dir. Charlie Vundla "Dégradé" dirs. Arab & Tarzan Nasser "The Endless River" dir. Oliver Hermanus "The Idol" dir. Hany Abu-Assad "Lamb" dir. Yared Zeleke "Let Them Come" dir. Salem Brahimi "Much Loved" dir. Nabil Ayouch "Price of Love" dir. Hermon Hailay "Starve Your Dog" dir. Hicham Lasri "Story of Judas" dir. Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche "Very Big Shot" dir. Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya "Nasser" dir. Jihan El-Tahri

Some short films from Africa and the Middle East were selected out of the thousands of shorts submitted to Tiff. Brilliant emerging voices, including Ely Dagher (Lebanon) who won the award for short film in Cannes.

"Waves '98" dir. Ely Dagher "New Eyes" dir. Hiwot Admasu Getaneh "The Call" dir. Zamo Mkhwanazi "The Society" dir. Osama Rasheed...

The 59Th BFI London Film Festival Announces Full 2015 Programme

You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.

The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry‎ Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.

The Festival will screen a...

Anne Sewitsky‘s Sundance preemed Homesick, Cannes preemed Romanian imports from Radu Muntean‘s One Floor Below and Corneliu Porumboiu‘s The Treasure along with Athina Rachel Tsangari‘s Locarno shown Chevalier are just four of the film titles in the just announced Contemporary World Cinema programme for Tiff. Among the other noteworthy titles in what is mostly a mix of world preems and North American premieres we find Grímur Hákonarson‘s Rams (just picked up by Cohen Media), Alex van Warmerdam well-received Locarno comedy Schneider vs. Bax , the world preem for Sion Sono’s The Whispering Star, and the Oscilloscope Laboratories picked up Ciro Guerra‘s Embrace Of The Serpent. Here are today’s selections that were added to the already announced Canadian items.

25 April (New Zealand), Leanne Pooley Wp

3000 Nights (Palestine-France-Jordan-Lebanon-uae-Qatar), Mai Masri Wp

An (Japan-France-Germany), Naomi Kawase Nap

The Apostate (Spain-France-Uruguay), Federico Veiroj Wp

As I Open...

Due to the large volume of films that the Toronto International Film Festival screens every year, participants often find themselves unsure of how to decide what to see. To that end, festival organisers often distribute the films into numerous programmes to reflect commonalities among them. The Contemporary World Cinema Programme, to that end, looks at the features from filmmakers from around the world, showcasing the talents being displayed from numerous countries.

The full lineup for the 2015 Tiff Contemporary World Cinema Programme has now been announced, adding to the previously announced slate of Canadian Films in the Programme. The films, as well as their official synopses, can be seen below.

25 April, directed by Leanne Pooley, making its World Premiere

Award-winning filmmaker Leanne Pooley utilizes the letters and memoirs of New Zealand soldiers and nurses along with state of the art animation to tell the true story of the 1915 battle of Gallipoli.

Potential awards season contenders Truth from James Vanderbilt and Marc Abraham’s I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams land world premiere slots, while Paco Cabezas’s Mr. Right will close the festival.

London is the subject of the seventh annual City To City programme that features world premieres of Tom Geens’ Couple In A Hole starring Paul Higgins and Kate Dickie and Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn with Letitia Wright and Shirley Henderson. Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul gets a North American premiere.

The world premiere of Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already is among five additions to the galas alongside Mr. Right, an action comedy starring Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick.

Matthew Cullen’s Martin Amis adaptation London Fields and David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis get first public screenings in the Special Presentations roster with I Saw The Light.

Tiff top brass also unveiled the Contemporary World Cinema section, featuring...

A month ago, Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch and his leading actress Loubna Abidar of the controversial Moroccan drama, 'Much Loved," which was banned by the country, were summoned to court on charges of “pornography, indecency and inciting minors to debauchery," and were asked to defend the film's “immorality” before a court in Marrakech this month - this is according to reports from various Moroccan press outlets I follow - although no word on whether the court date actually happened. This news came a few weeks after the stark social drama about prostitution, set in Marrakech today, was banned by the filmmaker's country (Morocco), because the film “undermines...

Director Nabil Ayouch and actress Loubna Abidar of the controversial Moroccan drama, 'Much Loved," which was banned by the country, have been summoned to court on charges of “pornography, indecency and inciting minors to debauchery," and have been asked to defend the film's “immorality” before a court in Marrakech next month - this is according to reports from various Moroccan press outlets I follow. This news comes a few weeks after the stark social drama about prostitution, set in Marrakech today, was banned by the filmmaker's country (Morocco), because the film “undermines the moral values, and the dignity of Moroccan women, and [is] a flagrant attack on...

Reports from Morocco say director Nabil Ayouch and actor Loubna Abidar have been summoned to court to face indecency charges over their explicit film about the country’s clandestine sex industry

The director of Much Loved, a controversial new Moroccan film, has been summoned to court on charges of “pornography, indecency and inciting minors to debauchery”.

Moroccan media reports say director Nabil Ayouch and his Moroccan leading actor, Loubna Abidar, who plays a prostitute in the film, are to appear in court in Marrakesh on 15 July.

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Selected for the Cannes 2015 Directors' Fortnight sidebar program is Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch's "Much Loved" (his follow-up to 2012's "God's Horses," which competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival), the drama, a stark social drama about prostitution, set in Marrakech today, has been banned by the filmmaker's country (Morocco), because the film “undermines the moral values, and the dignity of Moroccan women, and [is] a flagrant attack on the kingdom’s image,” the Communications Ministry said. The controversial film follows 4 prostitutes struggling to survive and thrive in the major city in northwest Morocco. The ministry...

Selected for the Cannes 2015 Directors' Fortnight sidebar program is Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch's "Much Loved" (his follow-up to 2012's "God's Horses," which competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival), the drama, a stark social drama about prostitution, set in Marrakech today, has been banned by the filmmaker's country (Morocco), because the film “undermines the moral values, and the dignity of Moroccan women, and [is] a flagrant attack on the kingdom’s image,” the Communications Ministry said. The controversial film follows 4 prostitutes struggling to survive and thrive in the major city in northwest Morocco. The ministry...

The biggest deals of this year’s Cannes Marché du Film and how the Competition titles sold throughout the festival.

Behind the glamour of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, business was booming at the Marché du Film (May 13-22), with representatives from 120 countries in attendance - up four on 2014.

A total 3,300 films were on offer this year, around 1,000 at the project stage, with an estimated 11,000 film professionals in attendance, in line with last year.

In the opening days, Marché chief Jérôme Paillard told Screen: “Acquisition agents are telling me that it’s the first time in a number of years that there are so many big projects. I’ve been told there are around 50 high profile projects on offer.”

North AmericaHOT Projects

Universal Pictures and Focus Features took worldwide rights to Tom Ford’s upcoming thriller Nocturnal Animals, starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, in a deal reportedly worth $20m. [Story]

Open Road paid...