Latest news with #CannesCompetition
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sergei Loznitsa's ‘Two Prosecutors' Scores Fresh Deals For Coproduction Office
EXCLUSIVE: Sergei Loznitsa's drama Two Prosecutors, set against the backdrop of Stalin's Great Terror, has chalked up a fresh round of deals following its well-received world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Paris-based Coproduction Office has sealed new sales to Spain (Wanda Vision, Filmin), the Nordics and Iceland (Edge Entertainment), Poland (Aurora Films), Greece (Filmtrade) Turkey (Bir Film), Australia and New Zealand (Sharmill Films), Japan (Longride Inc.), Taiwan (Andrews Film), Hong Kong (Edko), India (Impact), Indonesia (Falcon Pictures), Brazil (Retrato Filmes), and Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay (Zeta Films). More from Deadline Janus Films Acquires Bi Gan's Cannes Prize-winner 'Resurrection' For North America Netflix Buys Richard Linklater's 'Breathless' Homage & Love Letter To Cinema 'Nouvelle Vague' In Record Domestic Deal For A French-Language Movie Breaking Baz @ Cannes: "Even If I'm Fired, I Stay," Declares Defiant Thierry Frémaux; Festival Victors Dance The Night Away After Strongest Selection In Years Previously announced deals include to Italy (Lucky Red), Portugal (Alambique), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Hungary (Vertigo), Eastern Europe (HBO Europe), Estonia (Filmstop), ex-Yugoslavia, Israel (Lev) and Middle East (Falcon Films). The film was pre-acquired by Pyramide Distribution for France, which has set a September release, and Progress Film for Germany. Adapted from the eponymous novel by physicist and Gulag survivor Georgy Demidov, the film is set in the Soviet Union's era of Great Terror, or Great Purge, in the late 1930s, in which Joseph Stalin consolidated his power by either killing or incarcerating political opponents in harsh labor camps. The film focuses on a young prosecutor who sets out to challenge a system during this period after discovering a letter from a prisoner who is a desperate plea for help. Deadline critic Damon Wise noted the contemporary resonance of the story, calling the film 'a bleak warning from history' in his review, adding it held 'relevance to every country wrestling with authoritarian political parties right now.' The film is produced by Kevin Chneiweiss for France's SBS Productions, alongside Loznitsa's Netherlands-based banner Atoms & Void. Additional producers include Germany's Looks Film, Latvia's White Picture, Romania's Avanpost Media, and Lithuania's Studio Uljana Kim. SBS International is handling rights for the U.S. and U.K. Loznitsa, who is best known for his politically charged documentaries and strong fictional narratives, most recently presented his documentary The Invasion in the Special Screening Section at Cannes 2024. His past feature credits include My Joy (Cannes Competition 2010), In the Fog (Cannes Competition 2022), A Gentle Creature (Cannes Competition 2017) and Donbass (Best Director, Cannes Un Certain Regard 2018). Best of Deadline 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far 'The Last Of Us': Differences Between HBO Series & Video Game Across Seasons 1 And 2
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Josh O'Connor Is An Art Thief In First Footage Of Kelly Reichardt's Cannes Competition Film ‘The Mastermind'
EXCLUSIVE: Here's your first footage of Josh O'Connor in Cannes Competition film The Mastermind, which launches at the festival tomorrow. Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza) also stars in Kelly Reichardt's movie, which is set in a sedate corner of Massachusetts circa 1970. The film follows JB Mooney (Josh O'Connor), an unemployed carpenter turned amateur art thief, who plans his first big heist. When things go haywire, his life starring are John Magaro, Hope Davis, Bill Camp, Gaby Hoffmann, Amanda Plummer, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen, Matthew Maher and Rhenzy Feliz. More from Deadline Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value' Wows Cannes In Premiere, Gets Extraordinary 19-Minute Ovation Cannes Film Festival 2025: Read All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews 'Sentimental Value' Review: Joachim Trier's Bergmanesque Family Drama Is A Sister Act With Wonderful Renate Reinsve (But Stellan Skarsgård Steals It) - Cannes Film Festival MUBI will distribute in select territories, retaining rights in North America, UK, Ireland, LATAM, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Turkey, and India, with The Match Factory handling international sales. Producers on the film are Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, and Vincent Savino of filmscience. Filmscience has produced all of Reichardt's films since Old Joy and this will be the second time MUBI has worked with Reichardt, having acquired all rights internationally (excluding US and China) for First Cow in 2021. The filmmaker is also known for well-received movies such as Meek's Cutoff and Certain Women. In-demand Brit actor O'Connor is also in Cannes with The History Of Sound and has been cast in Steven Spielberg's next project. Haim will next be seen in Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another and alongside Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in A24's The Drama. [youtube Best of Deadline Every 'The Voice' Winner Since Season 1, Including 9 Team Blake Champions Everything We Know About 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' So Far 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
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Richard Linklater's ‘Nouvelle Vague' Rolls Into Cannes With 11-Minute Ovation As Quentin Tarantino Sees Pic For Second Time On Same Day
Richard Linklater's Cannes Competition title Nouvelle Vague had its world premiere the Palais this evening and was welcomed with a 11-minute ovation. Quentin Tarantino was at tonight's screening as well and helped lead the long-lasting applause. It was the second time he'd watched the film in about eight hours, having also caught a special screening late Saturday morning. More from Deadline Deadline Studio At Cannes Film Festival 2025: Photos Of Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Imogen Poots, Thora Birch & More 'Nouvelle Vague' Review: Richard Linklater's Splendid Love Letter To French New Wave And Godard Will Make You Fall In Love With Movies All Over Again – Cannes Film Festival Andrew Garfield & Focus Features Nearing Deals To Join Paul Greengrass Peasant Revolt Movie 'The Rage': Cannes Market An homage to Jean-Luc Godard's 1959 classic Breathless, the French-language film reconstructs the story behind the film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. French actor Guillaume Marbeck plays Godard, Zoey Deutch is Seberg, and newcomer Aubry Dullin portrays Belmondo. Five-time Oscar nominee Linklater was last in the Cannes Competition with 2006's Fast Food Nation and played Un Certain Regard with A Scanner Darkly that same year. The filmmaker behind Boyhood and Before Midnight debuted musical drama Blue Moon at this year's Berlinale. RELATED: Standing Ovations At Cannes: How We Clock Those Claps, Which Movie Holds The Record and Why The Industry Loves To Hate The Ritual Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) is the prolific Linklater's 33rd film and partially takes place here in Cannes. Characters in the nostalgic love letter to cinema, which is told in the style and spirit that Godard made Breathless, include the aforementioned legends as well as Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman and Raoul Coutard. In the film's production notes, Linklater says, 'This is not about remaking Breathless, but looking at it from another angle. I want to dive into 1959 with my camera and recreate the era, the people, the atmosphere. I want to hang out with the New Wave crowd. I told all the actors: 'You are NOT making a period film. You are living in the moment. Godard is a well-known critic, but he's a first-time director. You're having fun shooting with him, but you're wondering if this film will ever be released.'' RELATED: ARP Selection produces and distributes in France. Screenwriters include Holly Gent, Vince Palmo, Michèle Halberstadt and Laetitia Masson. International sales are handled by Vincent Maraval's Goodfellas. Erik Pedersen contributed to this report. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About Ari Aster's 'Eddington' So Far
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Low Can You Go: Even at Cannes, Longevity Means Living Lean
📩 Industry insight, unfiltered. Subscribe and check the 'In Development' box. ✉️ Tell us what you think: dana@ or call/text: 323-435-7690 More from IndieWire Kate Mara on Treating 'Friendship' Like a 'Dramatic' Indie and the Surprisingly 'Weird' Connection to Werner Herzog 'Renoir' Review: An 11-Year-Old Girl Ponders the Mysteries of the Universe in Chie Hayakawa's Extremely Low-Key Coming-of-Age Drama 👋 Hello! The Cannes Film Festival was a blur, the American Pavilion was packed, and IndieWire's Future of Filmmaking summit was a huge success. Today I'm flying to Paris for two well-earned days visiting my sister, but here's my take on what Cannes had to tell us about sustainable film careers. Turns out Beverly Hills' sister city had a quite a bit to say. (As always, if you've got anything to say to me reach out at the contacts above.) Richard Linklater on the down low Zero is a minimum guarantee Minimalism is a superpower Here's Richard Linklater's best advice to aspiring filmmakers: 'Keep your overhead low.' Given our location, that might sound ridiculous. We're at the American Pavilion in Cannes and I've asked him how he might advise today's filmmakers, who operate in a world very different than the one that shaped his at IndieWire's Future of Filmmaking summit, the director of Cannes Competition title 'Nouvelle Vague' got real about how much the industry has changed since his 'Slacker' days. 'I don't know if guilty's the word, but when I talk to young filmmakers… it was such a different time that just doesn't exist anymore.' This was my 10th Cannes Film Festival, but my first since 2013. To the naked eye, little changed: massive Carlton Hotel billboards for the latest 'Mission: Impossible'; a stunning Emma Stone on the red carpet, even while being attacked by a bee; and guest appearances by shameless strivers. (The faux Bezos-Sanchez couple was mightily convincing until they were seated in the nosebleed section of the Palais.) However, after talking with independent producers, filmmakers, and sales agents, it's clearly a different world. A $1 million film may make money; $3 million and up is cause for anxiety. We live in the era of the zero m.g., where theatrical distribution doesn't necessarily mean the filmmakers were paid. Negotiations for the advance (or, the minimum guarantee) can start at zero and sometimes that's where they stay. As two producers noted, in separate conversations: 'The worst part is they expect you to be grateful.' So how do you make it work? One unlikely role model is a filmmaker I met in Cannes, Elizabeth Blake-Thomas. Her career doesn't look anything like Linklater's. Originally a U.K. theater director, she's made more than two dozen low-budget genre films you might find on TVODs like Amazon or Tubi, with actors like Mena Suvari or Casper Van Dien. Sometimes the cast includes her daughter and producing partner, Isabella. Blake-Thomas' first film cost $26,000; she's had budgets up to $3 million. Whatever the number, she's never gone over. That applies to her own life as well. She keeps overhead low — very low. Elizabeth and Isabella live in a one-bedroom apartment in the Valley and share a Fiat 500. No debt; no vacations; yes savings. 'If a job wasn't to come straight away, you can still live,' she said. 'That would be awful if I was in that situation.'Most of all, she said, this isn't temporary. Her lean and focused life leaves her the energy to focus on making movies that make money for her investors, which means she can keep making more. 'I don't put time and effort into things that don't matter,' she said. 'I have my dog and my daughter. We love our life. That lets me put my full energy into filmmaking but I have to be really intentional about it, because it takes everything.' This won't be the first time Hollywood's compared to gambling, but: The less you spend at the casino, the longer you last. Aspiring filmmakers need a runway — the time required to meet people, make things, make mistakes. And time is money. 'Everything you do, you're taking a leap,' Linklater said at the summit. 'I tell filmmakers: If no one wants to support you, that just means you are not ready yet. People [need] to believe in you, and that's usually you believing in yourself. You can't fake that. You have to earn that through your own experience, your own confidence, your own hard work and dedication. But I think the timing works out when it's ready.' Not every sustainable career requires sleeping on a sofa bed, but creative lives constantly face factors beyond their control. For people like Blake-Thomas, minimalism means controlling her destiny. Keep it simple, keep costs down, and keep making movies. 'It means I get to be here,' she said from our table overlooking the Mediterranean, 'and do this.' Future of Filmmaking has partnered with Universal Studio Group for a series of virtual panels about the making of TV shows like 'Hacks,' 'Man on the Inside,' and 'The Four Seasons.' Quinta Brunson of 'Abbott Elementary' will also be joining IndieWire at Vidiots on May 20 for another installment of 'Pass the Remote.' Check out USG University: Consider This, starting May to attend 'Pass the Remote' at Vidiots on May 20. 5. by Charles Bastille Pretty self-explanatory from the title and we wish it was more helpful, but this list published on Medium draws a troubling portrait of Trump's effect on American arts programming even before he started bringing up tariffs. From theaters to city parks funding, a huge bite has been taken out of cultural curation in this country and it's time we started recognizing it as an injustice in the same way this piece does. 4. by Dhar Mann Ignoring the eye-catching lead-in, Mann's post on Linkedin this week acknowledges a very important conversation happening in many spaces around Hollywood: Is the creator economy taking over? People tend to balk at the idea of new money and that's what Mann represents with his newly formed YouTube content creation studio in Burbank, but every pipeline we now consider traditional had to start somewhere. 3. by Jon Reiss* With his substack 8 Above, Reiss digs into the fluctuating nuances of global film distribution. For his most recent write-up, he breaks down modern strategies for getting your project seen, with emphasis on eventizing the work for theatrical, as well as building a digital following. 2. by That Final Scene As much as we're intrigued by the creator economy and the opportunities it may bring, we still have an overall appreciation for what some may call 'traditional cinema' and trying to get others to as well is kind of our bag. This seems to be the case with Sophie from That Final Scene as well, who's framework of 'cinema as cultural gyms' might be the most genius marketing tool we've heard in a while. No surprise, considering Sophie was at one point in film marketing herself. 1. by Ted Hope* There's a lot of meat to this breakdown from American film producer Ted Hope via his substack Hope for Film. Some of it is positive, but it mostly serves as a necessary wake-up call. The system that allowed independent filmmaking to thrive has been broken and we deserve better. In an industry that has become all about factoring risk against reward, Hope suggests it's time to be bold in new ways just for the hell of it. *paid subscription Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie The 55 Best LGBTQ Movies and TV Shows Streaming on Netflix Right Now
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Spain Scores a Historic Cannes Competition Double
For the first time since 1988, Spain has two movies in Cannes main competition, neither of whose directors are Pedro Almodóvar: Carla Simón's 'Romería' and Oliver Laxe's 'Sirat.' That says much about this year's Cannes Official Selection, packed with emerging talent. The double also marks, however, what might prove a turning point for Spanish film. From 1988, the feeding frenzy died for films by Carlos Saura in particular and at large titles picturing Spain's dark past from which it had happily just emerged with democracy. Outside Almodóvar, this century, in 15 editions, only one Spanish director had scored a Cannes Competition place since Isabel Coixet in 2009: Albert Serra with 'Pacification' in 2022. More from Variety MMM Film Sales Picks Up Cannes ACID Closer 'The Black Snake,' ARP to Distribute in France: A 'Powerful Story of Tradition, Displacement and Identity' (EXCLUSIVE) Tom Cruise Won't Address 'Mission: Impossible' Future During Surprise Cannes Talk: 'I'd Rather People' Just See 'The Final Reckoning' and Enjoy Tarak Ben Ammar to Receive Variety's International Achievement in Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival Now, however, France – its big festivals, networks, distributors, sale agents, critics and audiences – are embracing Spain with energy, both Spanish film and indeed TV. When it comes to Spain, the change has been long in the making. Cannes loves to 'promote' directors which have worked their way up the prize ranks. Simon won Berlin best first feature with her 2017 debut, 'Summer 1993,' competed for and won a Berlin 2022 Golden Bear with 'Alcarràs.' She's now competing for a Palme d'Or. 'Carla Simón has worked her way up, done the 'schooling' of young artists at Cannes,' said Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux, announcing her selection on April 10. Likewise, Laxe's first feature, 2010's 'You Are All Captains,' scored Cannes' Directors' Fortnight Fipresci Award, his next, 2016's 'Mimosas,' scooped Critics' Week top Grand Prize, then 2019's 'Fire Will Come' an Uncertain Regard Jury Prize. In late 2015, Spain's subsidy rules changed, ditching domestic box office performance as a main criteria in favor of a multi-point system, which for artier films prized a producer or director's festival track-record, plus first features. Spanish arthouse has flowered again in Spain, especially from a new generation of filmmakers. 'There's no part of the world where people are more talented. There are parts of the world, however, where talent is encouraged more,' says María Zamora, producer of 'Romería.' 'Film policies fomenting prior festival selection with shorts and first features mean that directors with their third and fourth films can have more resources, budgets and time which they need for their films to get where Carla and Oliver have reached,' she adds. 'Spanish cinema is changing. For Cannes' competition presence, it's been very dependent on Pedro Almodóvar who remains our leading director, but other voices are now being heard as well, says Guillermo Farré, head of original film and Spanish cinema at Movistar Plus+, the biggest Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator, which co-produces 'Sirat.' This new generation is highly cosmopolitan. 'I remember when I started, 20 years ago, going to co-production forums and we were two or three Spanish co-producers. Now, there are scores of young Spanish producers with projects going everywhere,' says Zamora. Simón studied at the London Film School, Laxe has lived part of his life in France. Of networks, Movistar Plus+ and Atresmedia SVOD service Atresplayer, Spain's biggest film-TV groups have put their weight behind younger generation auteurs, Laxe's 'Sirat' being one of Movistar Plus+'s first slate of six 'event auteur' movies, as it calls them, others directed by 'The Beasts' Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 'Marshland's' Alberto Fernández and 'Querer's' Alauda Ruiz de Azúa. 'Given traditional financing schemes, Spain makes films of a very concrete size, at €1.5 million-€4.5 million [$1.7 million-$5.2 million] budgets, which is what can be financed from TV and international pre-sales and box office,' says Farré. 'Movistar Plus+'s idea is to make films which maybe couldn't be made without us with the ambition and production levels of its series and a unique voice, In a world with so many films and series, what stands out is something that's different but which aims to reach audiences,' he adds. Spain has already begun to take France by storm. Only given a Premiere slot, 'The Beasts' won the 2023 Cesar for best foreign-language film, beating four Cannes competition winners. Released on Arte France in November, 'La Mesías' from Los Jarvis – Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo – has been feted by French critics, Liberation hailing it as 'one of the most beautiful series of the year.' It's no coincidence that it's France, whose large bourgeoisie cherishes culture as one of its hallmarks, has taken Spain to heart. Cannes could now signal Spain's French consecration. The Festival takes place just two months after two Spanish series, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa's 'Querer' and Diego San José's 'Celeste,' scooped in late March the biggest prizes out at France's Series Mania, Europe's biggest TV festival, Ruiz de Azua winning best series in main competition. And it may be no coincidence that three companies – Buenapinta Media, Encanta Films, BTeam – that backed Ruiz de Azúa's feature debut, 'Lullaby,' hailed by Pedro Almodóvar as 'undoubtedly the best debut in Spanish cinema for years,' produced Guillermo Galoe's anticipated feature debut 'Sleepless City,' now selected for Cannes Critics' Week. Once an outlier for Cannes, Spain is emerging as an arbiter of exciting newer talent. Yet, will its consecration be fleeting? Many of the film and TV titles now making a splash in France were produced, co-produced or acquired in Spain by Movistar Plus+. Two weeks ago, charismatic Movistar Plus exec Domingo Corral who has driven its push into artistically ambitious, auteurist series and movies grounded in the realities of Spain, attracting many of the best younger creative talents in Spain, was pink-slipped as Movistar Plus+ director of fiction and entertainment content. The most obvious way to interpret that move is that Movistar Plus+ under new management will now pursue a different production line. 150 prominent figures from the Spanish entertainment sector have signed a public letter expressing their gratitude and consternation. In Europe, France in cinema and the U.K. in TV have been robust industries for decades. Other countries have to hope that the stars align. With ones of Spain's most trailblazing execs no longer in play, Spain fears for the future of its newly won visibility on the world stage. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
