Cannes Film Festival Responds to Looming Workers Strike: We ‘Need to Come Together Around the Bargaining Table’

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Atoms & Void, the Netherlands-based production and sales company run by Sergei Loznitsa and Maria Choustova, has closed a French sale on Loznitsa’s most recent feature documentary “The Invasion,” which premiered on Thursday as a Special Screening in Cannes. Potemkine Films has taken all rights for France, while the film’s French co-producer ARTE France maintains its exclusive TV/VOD window.

Cannes Film Festival. The actress and singer, 31, was moved to tears after her new film, “Emilia Perez” received a 9 minute-long standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. This marked the longest standing ovation for any movie premiere at the France-based cinema bash so far this year.A Variety video shows Gomez smiling and tearing up as the crowd cheers after watching her performance in the film.Directed by Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Perez” is about a Mexican cartel leader, played by Karla Sofía Gascón, who is seeking gender-affirming surgery.

Imagine a film where Cate Blanchett plays a version of Angela Merkel. And Charles Dance is a Joe Biden parody in full British accent.

Alex Ritman Julianne Moore says the film industry has “changed dramatically” since she started out in the early 1990s when it comes to female representation. Speaking as part of Kering’s Women in Motion program at the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar winner said one of the most noticeable differences is when it comes to career longevity for actresses. “Meryl [Streep] said this too the other day [during the festival’s opening ceremony], this idea that when she was 40, she thought it was all going to be over,” she said.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film.

CANNES – You have to give Jacques Audiard credit. The famed French filmmaker has proven time and time again he isn’t afraid to take big swings.

Filmmaker Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” horror had been under wraps for some time. Described as a body horror seen through a feminist lens, for months, all the French writer/director has said about the movie was that it would “push boundaries with a different kind of violence.” But if the Cannes Film Festival synopsis wasn’t already self-evident, the newly released teaser for “The Substance” basically gives up the ghost.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent On Sept. 12, 2022, the day before Jean-Luc Godard died by assisted suicide at 91 in his home in Rolle, Switzerland, the Godfather of French New Wave completed his final 18-minute film, “Scénarios,” which premieres on today in Cannes. “Scénarios” — which comprises two components called “DNA, Fundamental Elements” and “MRI, Odyssey” — is followed by “Exposé du Film Annonce du Film ‘Scènario,’” a 34-minute, behind-the-scenes doc about the making of Godard’s last short.

EXCLUSIVE: Mike Goodridge has been on a rare journey. Not many in the industry can boast a CV that includes running a trade publication, an international sales company, a film festival and being the producer of multiple Cannes Film Festival movies.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Chile’s Quijote Films, behind Cannes 2023 Un Certain Regard Fipresci Prize winner “The Settlers,” has tied down a powerful alliance of international partners on “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” the first feature of 2018 Cannes Cinéfondation top winner Diego Céspedes. An LGBTQ-themed drama, “The Mysterious Gaze” is set in a mining town where a strange illness is said to be transmitted between men who fall in love with each other.

“Mommie Dearest” actress walked the red carpet at the premiere of the action film “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” starring Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy. She was joined by Laurent Bouzereau, 62, who is the director of her new documentary that is premiering at Cannes, and her son Liam Dunaway O’Neill, 43, who appears in the HBO doc.The Hollywood icon wore a black blazer over a white shirt with black pants.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s Les Films du Losange, the iconic distribution company owned by producer Charles Gillibert (“Annette”), has acquired Palmeraie et Desert,” the production company founded by celebrated filmmaker Raymond Depardon. Les Films du Losange, which was bought by Gillibert from longtime manager Margaret Menegoz in 2021, has been dedicated to preserving and promoting cinematic heritage since its inception.

Naman Ramachandran The film adaptation of popular comic strip “Natacha (Almost) Air Hostess” boasts an all-star cast. The cast includes Camille Lou (“Anthracite”), Vincent Dedienne (“We Can Be Heroes”), Fabrice Luchini (“The Empire”), Didier Bourdon (“Cocorico), Elsa Zylberstein (“Coup de Chance”), Isabelle Adjani (“Wingwomen”) and Baptiste Lecaplain (“Meet the Leroys”). The film is loosely based on the comic strip of the same name created by screenwriter François Walthéry, which was published by Editions Dupuy, and which comprises 23 albums and has sold more than five million copies.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor As Cannes Film Festival kicks off, the Paris-based international sales company MK2 Films has revealed it has acquired three films and made substantial investments in new restorations, set against the backdrop of a strong presence at Cannes Classics. MK2 Films has entered into a collaboration with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation on the global rights (excluding the U.S.) for two films directed by artist Niki de Saint Phalle: “Un Rêve plus long que la nuit” (1976) and “Daddy” (1973).

Jamie Lang Uruguay’s José Ignacio International Film Festival (JIIFF) has launched the Pfeffer del Sur Fund, a $50,000 fund dedicated to supporting Ibero-American film projects. The Pfeffer Del Sur Fund, established by JIIFF’s primary benefactors, María and John Pfeffer, will be launched in January 2025 as part of the festival’s 15th anniversary edition. It will be awarded to one of the projects selected from the JIIFF Lab, part of the Working JIIFF industry program.

Jamie Lang Catalan films routinely punch above their weight at high-profile international festivals: Think 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs.” That trend looks primed to continue in 2024. Catalan auteur Albert Serra will debut “Afternoons of Solitude,” co-produced by Catalan companies Andergraun Films and LaCima, with Ideale Audience and Tardes de Soledad.

Ben Croll Shortly before last year’s Cannes Film Festival, director Sophie Fillières attended a cast and crew screening of “Anatomy of a Fall.” The filmmaker had a supporting role in the film, playing the deceased’s sister, and she soon celebrated her work’s Palme d’Or win from afar, hanging back in Paris, where she was preparing to shoot her seventh feature, “This Life of Mine.” The five-week production kicked off in late June, running smoothly and wrapping on the last day of July. The next day, Fillières checked into the hospital; in less than a month, she was gone.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based Nour Films has acquired French rights to Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi’s first feature Norah ahead of its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.

EXCLUSIVE: 20th Century Studios/Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is beating its chest towards a $125M global bow this weekend. At the international box office, we understand the Wes Ball-directed installment is at around $31M through Friday. As Anthony has reported, domestic is looking at a $52M-$55M start for the full frame.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Isabelle Huppert will preside over the main jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival. The revered French actor has a longstanding rapport with the Lido, having won Venice’s Coppa Volpi for best actress twice, first with “Story of Women” in 1988, and subsequently with “La Cérémonie” in 1995, both directed by Claude Chabrol.