Month: May 2019

“Chris the Swiss” director Anja Kofmel and producer Sereina Gabathuler are teaming once again, this time on the near-future sci-fi animated feature “Frozen Soil.” The two are pitching the project at the Cannes Film Market, and have shared early work-in-progress art with Variety. The feature will reutilize the blend of animation, live action and documentary

CANNES — Renowned Chilean documentary filmmaker  Patricio Guzmán (“The Battle of Chile,” “The Pearl Button”) has returned to the country to shoot “The Cordillera of Dreams,” 46 years after he was exiled under Augusto Pinochet’s regime of terror. The feature has received a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Sold by Paris’ Pyramide International,

May 19, 2019 8:04PM PT Picture Tree Intl. has clinched first deals on romantic drama “Traumfabrik,” which is produced by Tom Zickler, the former producing partner of German star Till Schweiger. The film has been picked up by Leomus in China; Flins & Piniculas in Spain; LEV Films/Shani Film in Israel; Taiwan in Moviecloud; Media

May 19, 2019 5:00PM PT Even policy wonks will have difficulty getting enthusiastic about this overly chatty, ultra-French drama about the disconnect between political theory and the actual workings of government. Sophomore director Nicolas Pariser follows his politically engaged debut, “The Great Game,” with an even deeper plunge into the disconnect between political theory and

You expect the director of a biographical documentary to have a passion for whoever he’s making a movie about. But the British filmmaker Asif Kapadia spins right past passion and into obsession. He doesn’t just chronicle a personality — he does an immersive meditation on it. Kapadia plunges into the raw stuff of journalism: news

Variety is teaming with Unifrance, an agency that promotes French cinema around the world, to focus attention on four emerging talents in the French movie industry as part of Unifrance’s “New Faces of French Cinema” program. Here Variety profiles the rising filmmakers: Justine Triet, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, Hafsia Herzi and Mati Diop. Mati DiopBorn to a

May 19, 2019 1:30PM PT John Hannah, Corey Johnson and Oded Fehr will star in “Lair,” billed as a socially conscious horror movie about an LGBT family embroiled in one man’s attempt to prove the existence of the supernatural. The trio all appeared in the successful franchise “The Mummy,” and their new picture goes into

CANNES–A panel of leading animation industry executives gathered during the Cannes Film Market on Sunday to shed light on their strategies for the theatrical release of adult-oriented animated features. It was a timely conversation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Five of the 28 animated projects in the Marché du Film are adult audience-focused, including

May 19, 2019 1:20PM PT French writer/director Axelle Ropert is set to direct “Petite Solange,” a film that will star Léa Drucker and Philippe Katerine, who won the best acting nods at this year’s Cesar Awards for their performances in “Custody” and “Sink or Swim,” respectively. MK2 films will handle international sales. Haut et Court

A major new international sales outfit is coming to market. Dutch Film Works (DFW), one of the largest movie distributors in the Benelux region, is moving into film and TV sales. DFW general manager Angela Pruijssers will spearhead the sales effort alongside Charlotte Henskens, who will join from Amsterdam-based Fortissimo Films, where she is director

Gullane, the Brazilian producer of Marco Bellocchio’s Cannes competition player “The Traitor,” has linked with production partners for anticipated projects by two of Brazil’s highest-profile auteurs: Karim Ainouz and Fernando Coimbra. In further news, Luiz Bolognesi, writer-director of Annecy winner “Rio 2096,” is leading “Senna,” Gullane’s biggest movie project to date, a live-action biopic of

Hulu has snagged the U.S. rights to “Untouchable,” the feature doc about disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein, in a seven-figure deal, Variety has learned. The film, directed by Ursula Macfarlane, had its premiere at Sundance. It offers the inside track on the rise of Weinstein and his subsequent fall, amid allegations in the U.S. and Europe

Lena Headey and Iain Glen immigration drama “The Flood” has been picked up by Curzon Artificial Eye for the U.K. Having battled for the Iron Throne in the HBO juggernaut series, the pair star in the timely independent movie about a hot-button issue. After a June 17 event screening of the film, Curzon will release

The Cannes Film Festival is intended to celebrate the best of cinema. It’s the favored venue for world-class auteurs such as Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodóvar, Ken Loach, and Hirokazu Kore-eda, who prefer to launch their latest masterworks in the sun-dappled South of France. But all the glitz and glamour of a Cannes premiere only infrequently

May 19, 2019 1:00PM PT China Film Group and Taihang Pictures have teamed up to produce “Strike Back,” a patriotic action-thriller film. Arclight Films is attached as co-financier and worldwide sales agent. The fact-based story focuses on two Chinese soldiers who decide to avenge the killing of their colleague by a terrorist. One, a young

U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating pressure on Iran is taking its toll on the country’s film industry, with production slowing down owing to the crippled economy and international sales of Iranian movies — especially to U.S. distributors — being hampered by sanctions. “The economic situation is a disaster for independent cinema” in Iran, said Paris-based

With a new parent company and a mandate to back bigger films with A-list casts, Screen Media is raising its profile. Historically, the company has been known for releasing genre titles that lacked visibility. Many of these made money, particularly when DVDs were a major business and in the early days of on-demand. But that’s