News

Justin Kurzel has become known for his bold and visual storytelling, with films including Macbeth, Nitram, and the blockbuster Assassin’s Creed adaptation under his belt. However, for his latest project, the director has turned to documentaries. Ellis Park follows the musician and composer Warren Ellis, a friend of Kurzel’s who is known for bands the “Dirty Three” and “Bad Seed,” as he visits an animal sanctuary in Sumatra named after him, which he helped to fund.

The sanctuary, run by Dutch-born paramedic Femke Den Hans, is simultaneously uplifting and chilling as it offers a glimpse into the fight against the illegal animal trade and the perseverant people fighting it. However, the documentary is an equally revealing look into the eclectic life and mind of Warren Ellis himself.

I sat down with Kurzel in advance of Ellis Park’s World Premiere at the London Film Festival to discuss it. We...

The Bureau Sales has teamed with French production banner Paprika and filmmaker Vincent Munier on “Whispering in the Woods,” a documentary that will be teased to buyers at the Cannes Film Market.

“Whispering in the Woods” marks Munier’s follow-up to “The Velvet Queen” (co-directed by Marie Amiguet), a critically acclaimed documentary that competed for a Golden Eye Award at the Cannes Film Festival and won a Cesar prize in 2022.

The doc is currently filming across different locations, from the Vosges mountains to Tibet, and is expected to be delivered by next spring. The Bureau Sales is handling worldwide rights and is unveiling a reel at the Cannes market. Haut et Court will release “Whispering in the Woods” in France.

The documentary feature reteams Munier with producer Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin at Paprika. “This film invites us to reconnect with nature which surrounds us. It’s a voyage of a rare beauty...

February, marking both Black History Month and Valentine’s Day, is the kind of stretch from which a programmer can mine plenty. Accordingly the Criterion Channel have oriented their next slate around both. The former is mostly noted in a series comprising numerous features and shorts: Shirley Clarke and William Greaves up to Ephraim Asili and Garrett Bradley, among them gems such as Varda’s Black Panthers and Kathleen Collins’ Losing Ground; a six-film series on James Baldwin; and 10 works by Oscar Micheaux.

Meanwhile, the 23-film “All You Need Is Love” will cover the blinding romance of L’Atalante, the heartbreak of Happy Together, and youthful whimsy of Stolen Kisses; four Douglas Sirk rarities should leave their mark, but I’m perhaps most excited about three starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Perhaps more bracing are 12 movies by Derek Jarman and four by noir maestro Robert Siodmak. Also a major...

Vincent Maël Cardona, whose 2021 pic “Magnetic Beats” won a prize at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight and a Cesar Award for best first film, is set to direct “De Grâce,” a sprawling crime thriller unfolding in the northern French port city of Le Havre.

The series is being co-produced and commissioned by Arte France, and is produced by Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin at Ego Productions, a Mediawan company. Belgium’s Savage Films is co-producing. Mediawan Rights is representing the show in international markets.

Set to start shooting on location in Le Havre on Aug. 8, “De Grâce” features a strong ensemble cast including Olivier Gourmet (“The Minister”), Margot Bancilhon (“Five”), Panayotis Pascot (“Mon chien stupide”), Pierre Lottin (“Notre-Dame on Fire”), Astrid Whettnall (“Baron noir”), Philippe Rebbot.(“L’amour flou”) and French rapper Gringe.

“De Grâce,” penned by Maxime Crupaux (“Cherif”) and Baptiste Fillon, tells the story of Pierre Leprieur (Gourmet), a native of Le Havre who...

The Bureau has acquired 100 of Folamour’s shares.

French-uk production and sales outfit The Bureau has acquired French documentary production company Folamour.

The Bureau has acquired 100 of the shares of the company, in a deal confirmed by The Bureau group’s chief operating officer, Vincent Gadelle.

Folamour will operate as a subsidiary of The Bureau group, and continue to produce under the Folamour brand.

Folamour’s founding producer, Marie Genin, has retired from production. The rest of the team will remain and continue to work with The Bureau.

Paris-based Folamour was founded by Genin in 2001. It has produced over 40 titles...

‘The Velvet Queen: Snow Leopard’, ‘Casablanca Beats’ land in cinemas.

Universal’s Downton Abbey: A New Era looks to revive a flagging box office this weekend, as the second-widest opening of all time in the UK and Ireland.

The film will start in 746 locations, behind only the 772 of Universal stablemate No Time To Die from September 2021, and ahead of previous record holder Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker from 2019.

Those films started with £21m and £14.4m respectively. Despite the wide opening, an eight-figure start is probably beyond A New Era; the first Downton Abbey film started with £5.2m from 732 sites...

This year’s ceremony was uncharacteristically devoid of controversy after politically-charged editions in 2020 and 2021.

Xavier Giannoli’s costume drama Lost Illusions was the big winner at the 47th Cesar awards of France’s Academy of Cinema and Arts and Sciences on Friday evening (25), winning best film, adapted screenplay, costume and supporting actor among others.

The adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s19th-century novel premiered in competition at Venice last year. It was the frontrunner at the nomination stage, making it into 15 of the 24 César categories.

The other big winner of the evening was Leos Carax’s English-language musical Annette. Carax won best director,...

The 46th César Awards took place at L’Olympia Bruno Coquatrix in Paris on Friday, February 25. The ceremony, France’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, honored the best in French cinema from 2021. The star-studded event also featured plenty of American talent, with the likes of Adam Driver and Cate Blanchett attending the ceremony. The show was hosted by French broadcaster Antoine de Caunes, marking his 10th time as emcee.

The night’s big winners were “Annette” and “Lost Illusions.” The former, a musical from director Leos Carax starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard and featuring music by Sparks, is a rock opera about a married couple whose lives change when they have a child, which is portrayed by a marionette puppet. Carax took home the trophy for Best Director, with Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks winning Best Original Score. The film also performed well in the crafts categories, winning Best Sound,...

Update: Xavier Giannoli’s Illusions Perdues (Lost Illusions) leads nominations for the 2022 César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscar. The Venice premiere scored 15 mentions, followed by Leos Carax’s Annette, which opened the Cannes Film Festival last year and has 11 nominations. They are followed by Valérie Lemercier’s Aline, the musical dramedy inspired by the life of Céline Dion which also debuted in Cannes and has 10 nods. (Scroll down for the full list of nominations.)

Interestingly, the three films that France shortlisted for the International Feature Academy Award race came in on the lower end. Cédric Jiminez’s Bac Nord (The Stronghold) took seven nominations, while Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening settles for four, tying Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane.

The latter was France’s eventual entry to the Oscars, but did not make the shortlist. It was also shut out of the Best Film category at the Césars today.

It’s all “Happening.”

France’s Lumière Awards proved a colossal evening for Audrey Diwan’s festival favorite “Happening,” which took home both best film and best actress wins on Jan. 17. The abortion drama previously won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and was later acquired by IFC Films.

Set in 1963 France, “Happening” focuses on a promising young student (Anamaria Vartolome) who risks prison to terminate an unwanted pregnancy that threatens her academic future. Venice Film Festival jury president Bong Joon Ho deemed the Golden Lion win for the film an “unanimous decision” among voters.

“Happening” beat out Leos Carax’s “Annette,” Emmanuelle Bercot’s “Living,” Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions,” and Arthur Harari’s “Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle” to win Best Film at the Lumière Awards, which are selected by France-based members of the foreign press.

Carax won best director for musical drama “Annette,” starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver.

Audrey Diwan’s “Happening” won best film and actress for Anamaria Vartolome at France’s Lumière Awards on Monday evening.

“Happening,” which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and was acquired by IFC Films, beat out Leos Carax’s “Annette,” Emmanuelle Bercot’s “Living,” Xavier Giannoli’s “Lost Illusions” and Arthur Harari’s “Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle.”

Julia Ducournau’s Cannes’ Palme d’Or winning “Titane” was surprisingly snubbed from the best film and director categories. The daring movie won the female newcomer prize which was picked up by Agathe Rousselle. The Lumiere Awards are meant to be selected by France-based members of the foreign press, as are the Golden Globes.

Carax, meanwhile, won best director with “Annette,” a musical drama with Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver. The movie also won best cinematography for Caroline Champetier and best music for Sparks. “Annette” previously earned Carax...

Venice Golden Lion winner Happening won best film and best actress prizes

Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening won best film at the 27th edition of France’s Lumière Awards on Monday evening, while its star Anamaria Vartolomei was awarded the best actress prize.

Adapted from French writer Annie Ernaux’s 2019 semi-autobiographical work, Happening recounts a gifted literature student’s struggle to get an abortion in 1964, 11 years before abortion was legalised in France in 1975.

It marks a first lead role for Vartolomei, whose previous credits include How To Be A Good Wife and The Royal Exchange. Vartolomei is...

Orange Studio, the film and TV production and distribution arm of France’s leading telco group, is launching a trio of new projects, “The Nannies,” “The Green Perfume” and “A Cat’s Life,” at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris.

“The Nannies” (“Les femmes du square”), directed by Julien Rambaldi (“Labor Day”), stars Eye Haïdara (“C’est la Vie”) as Angèle, a young undocumented woman in her thirties who lives on the outskirts of Paris. Threatened by gangsters she conned, Angèle decides to leave her neighborhood and starts working as a nanny for Hélène’s 10-year-old son in a chic Parisian area. Although she’s supposed to keep a low profile, Angèle meets other nannies, some of whom are being taken advantage of, and sets out to help them. Haïdara stars in the film opposite Ahmed Sylla (“The Climb”) and Léa Drucker (“Custody”).

“The Nannies” is produced by Les Films du Kiosque,...

Saturday Update: As we reported Friday, Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is having a very Merry Christmas, as it’s poised to cross the $1B global mark with today’s grosses included (see previous update below). It will become the first movie of the pandemic to hit the milestone and tie with Avengers: Infinity War for the second-fastest ever to reach $1B (notably doing so without China). Including domestic’s Friday, and international Friday estimates, it is already past $900M global. We’ll have a full rundown on that tomorrow with all the updated action.

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Review: The Most Exciting, Surprising And Emotional Spidey Of Them All

In the meantime, we now have a full weekend forecast for Universal/Illumination’s Sing 2, which is looking at a $66.4M worldwide cume through Sunday.

The sequel to the 2016 hit already was out in a handful of...

Adult demos slow to embrace cinemas might be even slower this holiday weekend amid a barrage of breathless Omicron headlines — that aren’t all bad. It spreads fast but seems less virulent than previous strains and might burn out faster.

“I think we might get dinged a little bit,” said one distribution executive. However, “This not like 2020. We are in a much different world. Then, I felt like I was rightfully terrified.” Execs are hopeful that a nascent specialty uptick in recent months – recovery might be too strong – only will be diverted short term before resuming course. “These doomsday headlines are pretty temporary,” said one. “I think January will be very interesting.”

Venturing out for the holidays, we have Joel Coen’s acclaimed The Tragedy of Macbeth in black and white from A24 and Apple opening Saturday at 30 theaters in North America, with a limited expansion in January to 125-200 screens.

Reflections on nature, humanity’s negligence, and mortality, as well as an inquiry into the righteousness of restraint, all propel “The Velvet Queen” (“La Panthère des Neiges”), a new documentary from director Marie Amiguet. Part travelogue, part meditation, it’s a journey in search of the elusive Tibetan snow leopard, “the spirit of the mountain” high in the Himalayas, a quest guided by Vincent Munier, a life-long naturalist, and professional wildlife photographer. Accompanying him at 16,400 ft in subzero temperatures is globetrotter and writer Sylvain Tesson, who also narrates.

The two venture into the wild, beautiful, yet daunting region “unmarked by human hand,” where the simple act of waiting is explored as a cure for the hysteria of modern society. A requiem for the call of the wild, if it’s philosophizing paints a cynical picture of humanity’s plight, its breathtaking images overpower it.

While the film’s synopsis suggests...

In spite of a new wave of Covid-19, a snow storm and train cancelations, Les Arcs European Film Festival kicked off its 13th edition on Dec. 10 with a festive opening night ceremony highlighted was the presence of Swedish star Noomi Rapace who introduced her film “Lamb” on stage.

Vladimar Jóhannsson’s feature debut, “Lamb,” world premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. It is now representing Iceland in the best international feature Oscar race. Rapace said it was a “very personal film, close to (her) heart” and added that she was pleased to have it played at Les Arcs, surrounded by a “beautiful snowy landscape” which “filled (her) with joy and inner strength.”

Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin, the festival’s CEO, who is also a producer on Filippo Meneghetti’s award-winning “Two of Us” and the Cannes-premiering documentary “The Velvet Queen,” said putting together the festival amid...

The awards are voted on by 95 international correspondents from 36 countries.

Xavier Giannoli’s literary adaptation Lost Illusions leads the nominations of the 27th edition of France’s Lumière awards, followed by Audrey Diwan’s Venice Golden Lion winner Happening and Arthur Harari’s Onoda, 10,000 Nights In The Jungle.

The awards, which are voted on by 95 international correspondents hailing from 36 countries this year, are France’s equivalent of the Golden Globes.

Giannoli’s adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s eponymous 19th-century novel, which premiered in competition in Venice this year, was nominated in five categories including best film, director, screenplay, actor...

Amsterdam’s documentary festival IDFA’s 34th edition wrapped on Sunday as an in-person event, having weathered the partial lockdown in the Netherlands. Variety speaks to artistic director Orwa Nyrabia about this year’s edition.

He says of documentary filmmakers: “I prefer to spend my life with this bunch. These people are beautiful, they are kind, accessible and down to earth,” adding that they make him think of Johnny Cash.

“Do you know this song, ‘Man in Black’? That’s what this community feels like. It’s a good exercise to organize a festival that celebrates them, that’s chic but not too chic to make everyone uncomfortable. After all, these films depict the world that’s in pain. It was wonderful to show Andrea Arnold that by making ‘Cow’ she came to the place where she is not being asked about what she’s wearing. We are curious about what she does.

A svelte, slinky figure in spotted silvery blond, the snow leopard is one of the great haughty glamazons of the animal kingdom — a status suitably acknowledged in the English-language title of “The Velvet Queen,” French docmaker Marie Amiguet’s lovely, unexpected screen ode to the little-seen feline. (The original French title is the rather more prosaic “La panthère des neiges.”) Yet if the title implies the naturalist’s equivalent of diva worship, the film’s approach surprises us, fixating less on the furry dazzle of the snow leopard in her natural Tibetan habitat than on the very act of looking at nature in the first place. Joining two compatriots — leading wildlife photographer Vincent Munier and adventurer Sylvain Tesson — on an arduous trek to catch sight of the beast, the doc thoughtfully ponders the conflicted nature of a one-way relationship between watcher and watched.

More art-house than Animal Planet, complete with...

It follows photographer and explorer Munier and writer Sylvain Tesson as they attempt to track down elusive snow leopards in the heart of the Tibetan highlands.

Modern Films has secured UK and Ireland rights to French documentary The Velvet Queen (La Panthère des Neiges), which debuted at Cannes and played in the Best of Fests section at International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) this week.

The UK distributor plans to release the feature theatrically in early 2022.

Directed by Marie Amiguet, whose credits includeThe Valley Of The Wolves, and Vincent Munier, and produced by Paprika Films, best known for March Of The Penguins and Amazonia,...

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) added 65 titles to its lineup Tuesday, unveiling the non-competitive program sections Best of Fests, Masters and Paradocs. The 34th edition of IDFA takes place from Nov. 17-28 in Amsterdam.

Best of Fests honors award winners, critics’ picks and audience favorites from the year’s festivals. The 46 strong selection includes India-set story about estranged lovers “A Night of Knowing Nothing” by Payal Kapadia, documentary award winner at Cannes, wildlife film “The Velvet Queen,” by debut director Marie Amiguet, “Users,” an exploration of humanity’s future by Natalia Almada, and “Taming the Garden,” the slow-cinema feature by Salomé Jashi.

These are joined by buzzy audience films such as Alison Klayman’s Alanis Morissette biopic “Jagged,” and Bing Liu and Joshua Altman’s “All These Sons,” from the filmmaking team behind “Minding the Gap.” The section also pays tribute to the surprise gems from the festival circuit,...

“The Velvet Queen” (La Panthere des neiges), Marie Amiguet’s lushly lensed documentary which world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Cinema for the Climate section, has lured buyers in major territories, including the U.S.

Represented in international markets by London-based banner The Bureau Sales, “The Velvet Queen” follows award-winning nature photographer Vincent Munier and writer Sylvain Tesson on a journey across the Tibetan highlands to document the infamously elusive snow leopard. Munier introduces Tesson to the subtle art of waiting from a blind spot, tracking animals and finding the patience to catch sight of the beasts. Through their exploration of the Tibetan peaks, the two men engage in a philosophical conversation about the place of humans among living beings and celebrate the beauty of the world.

Produced by Paprika (“Two of Us”), Kobalann and Le Bureau, the highly cinematic documentary also boasts an original score by Warren Ellis featuring Nick Cave.