Alice Rohrwacher’s ‘La Chimera’ Revels In Nine-Minute Standing Ovation At Triumphant Cannes Film Festival Premiere

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera,” in which “The Crown” star Josh O’Connor plays a British archeologist named Arthur who gets involved in an international network of stolen Etruscan artifacts during the 1980s, has sold worldwide after premiering positively in Cannes. The Match Factory has inked deals for the film in the U.K. and Ireland (Curzon); Australia and New Zealand (Palace Entertainement); Benelux (September Film); Germany (Piffl Medien); Hong Kong (Edko);  Spain (Elastica); South Korea (M&M International); China (Jetsen); Japan (Bitters End); Taiwan (Swallow Wings); Austria (Stadtkino); Baltics (A-One); Bulgaria (Art Fest); CIS (Mauris Film); Czech Republic & Slovakia (Aerofilms); Finland (B-Film); Denmark (Filmbazar); Former Yugoslavia (MCF): Greece (Cinobo); Hungary (Cirko); Middle East and North Africa (Moving Turtle); Poland (Aurora Films); Portugal (Midas); Romania (Independenta); Singapore (Anticipate Pictures); Thailand (Documentary Club); and Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic). 

Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s latest pic La Chimera has inked a series of international deals for The Match Factory following its well-received debut at last month’s Cannes Film Festival.

Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera” flits between languages (English, Italian, French, German) as fluidly as it does mediums (35mm, Super16mm, and 16mm cinematography) and styles (jerkily sped up Chaplin-esque scenes, clinical CCTV footage, audacious 180-degree camera flips). Rohrwacher uses this mosaic of disparate approaches to hone in on other kinds of incongruous and unpredictable interplay: modern Italy and its ancient past, heartbreak and new love, and the real world and its spiritual mirror realm.

Guy Lodge Film Critic In “La Chimera,” the ancient past nestles mere inches below the surface of the present, eventually breaking above ground and disrupting, if not the space-time continuum, the more mundane order of things. The borders between life and death feel similarly frictious and permeable, as if we could merely visit one from the other, as easily as sleeping and waking. Arthur (Josh O’Connor), the wandering Brit at the center of Alice Rohrwacher’s marvelously supple and sinuous new film, is accustomed to such limbo states. So are admirers of Rohrwacher’s filmmaking, which, in this eccentric, romantic tale of competing grave-robbers in Central Italy, touches the transcendental without diving into the outright fabulism of 2018’s “Happy as Lazzaro.”

A Chimera is something one tries to achieve but alas, never manages to find. It is the heart and soul of a quest in life, in different ways, for the cast of characters in writer/director Alice Rohrwacher’s beautiful new film La Chimera premiering today as one of the last entries in competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. It also happens to be one of the best.

In less than 10 years, Alice Rohrwacher has carved out a formidable reputation for herself, notably by gatecrashing the boys’ club that is traditionally the Cannes competition, and the fact that she did so in 2014 with only her second film, The Wonders, is further proof of a distinctive talent. One competition slot doesn’t guarantee another, yet Rohrwacher was back in 2018 with the follow-up, Happy as Lazzaro. Both films won prizes — Grand Prix and Best Screenplay, respectively — which means that expectations are high for the Oscar-nominated 41-year-old Italian, whose new film, La chimera, makes it three in a row.

A24 has unveiled a raft of key territory deals for Jonathan Glazer’s hotly tipped Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or frontrunner The Zone Of Interest ahead of the awards ceremony on Saturday.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s RAI Cinema, which has four titles in this year’s Cannes selection, has closed a deal on Ron Howard’s next movie “Origin of Species,” a hot project at the Cannes market starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco said the company – which is the film arm of Italian state broadcaster RAI – has teamed up with Rome-based Lucisano Media Group to acquire Italian rights from CAA Media Finance on Howard’s survival thriller penned by Noah Pink (“Tetris”) about a a group of eclectics who turn their backs on civilization and head to the Galapagos. In Cannes, RAI Cinema also picked up Italian rights from Gaumont on family movie “Moon The Panda,” by French humans and animals adventures specialist Gilles de Maistre, known for “Mia and the White Lion”and “The Wolf and the Lion.” De Maistre’s latest, about the friendship between a boy and a panda, is set to shoot later this month in China’s Sichuan mountains.

Kristen Stewart, Josh O’Connor and Elle Fanning are to lead The Match Factory and Mubi’s Rosebushpruning from Firebrand director Karim Aïnouz.

Lily-Rose Depp is one proud daughter!

Lily-Rose Depp is one proud daughter!ET's Rachel Smith spoke to Lily-Rose virtually from the Cannes Film Festival in the South of France Tuesday, where she said she couldn't be happier for her father, Johnny Depp, following the seven-minute standing ovation he received after the premiere of his new biographical drama, .The film marked the opening of the 76th annual event, and the  star's first leading role since his highly publicized defamation trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.The French-language film sees Johnny as King Louis XV. Set in the 18th century,  tells the story of Jeanne Bécu (Maïwenn), the daughter of an impoverished seamstress who rose through the Court of Louis XV and became his last official mistress.«I'm super happy for him.

Neon has acquired North American rights to Justine Triet’s Cannes Competition feature Anatomy of a Fall.

Sam Levinson’s The Idol, the new HBO series starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, received a five-minute-plus standing ovation after its world premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday night.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Alice Rohrwacher is in the Cannes competition for the third time with “La Chimera,” in which “The Crown” star Josh O’Connor plays a young British archeologist named Arthur who gets involved in an international network of stolen Etruscan artifacts during the 1980s. For Rohrwacher, the film is connected to growing up in Umbria, once the center of the Etruscan civilization. But it’s also the final piece of a triptych on a territory that she started with her previous Cannes entries: “The Wonders” and “Happy as Lazzaro.” Three works that, as she has put it, pose a central question: “What to do with the past?”  

Martin Scorsese got emotional after receiving a nine-minute standing ovation at the premiere of Killers Of The Flower Moon, taking place at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.At the end of the film, the legendary director walked into the Grande Theatre Lumiere at Cannes Film Festival to greet the audience. He appeared grateful and emotional as he reacted to the standing ovation, thanking the crowd over and over again.After nine-minutes of applause, Scorsese told the crowd: “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like this.”9-minute standing ovation for Martin Scorsese at the premiere of his next film Killers of the Flower Moon.

adapted from David Grann’s book of the same name — is set in Oklahoma during the 1920s and depicts the serial murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, which was later dubbed the Reign of Terror and led to the formation of the FBI. The Post reached out to Scorsese for comment.“It’s taken its time to come around, but Apple did so great by us, shooting out there … there was lots of grass — I’m a New Yorker,” said the “Goodfellas” director in a post-film speech.

Alicia Vikander was greeted with an eight-minute standing ovation at the May 21 Cannes premiere of Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand,” from a crowd that included best actress Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Marion Cotillard.With her husband Michael Fassbender beaming on from the row behind, Vikander motioned for the cheering audience to stop or she would cry. But then she gave into the adulation and blew kisses to the upper balconies Vikander’s co-star Jude Law and Aïnouz also got huge applause. Vikander joins a group of Cannes leading ladies including Lily Gladstone, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore who have turned in show-stopping performances.

Todd Haynes returned to the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night with his latest, May December, playing in competition. The complex melodrama starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore scored an eight-minute standing ovation inside the Grand Theatre Lumière.

Martin Scorsese’s anticipated epic Killers of the Flower Moon just had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where the audience gave the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone a nine-minute standing ovation.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Yes, the Cannes Film Festival has only just started. But Hollywood is already quietly planning for the Venice Film Festival lineup, as the unofficial launch of awards season in late August is starting to shape up with several high-profile titles, Variety has learned. Among the films in contention to bow on the Lido: Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ surrealist science-fiction romance “Poor Things,” with Emma Stone and Marc Ruffalo, among entries believed to be locked-in for a Venice launch. Zendaya was last in Venice in 2021 with “Dune,” but Denis Villeneuve’s sequel, which has an early November launch date, is not expected to follow suit to the fest.