Catalan Films Head to Cannes

Blue Sun Palace was one of the prize winners at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival where it took the French Touch award of the Cannes Critics week selections (Simon Of The Mountains took the Grand Prize, the other major award from the section). French “Touch” is an ironic name for an award to a film where “touch” is key in several scenes depicted in the massage parlor setting where much of the movie takes place.

In accepting the Palme d’Or today for his latest movie Anora, Sean Baker gave a shoutout for the survival of cinema.

Sean Baker’s “Anora,” a comic but devastating Brooklyn odyssey about a sex worker who marries the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch, has won the Cannes Film Festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or.Baker accepted the prize with his movie’s star, Mikey Madison, watching in the audience at the Cannes closing ceremony Saturday. The win for “Anora” marks a new high point for Baker, the director of “The Florida Project.” It’s also, remarkably, the fifth straight Palme d’Or won by indie distributor Neon, following “Parasite,” “Titane,” “Triangle of Sadness” and last year’s winner, “Anatomy of a Fall.”“I don’t really know what’s happening right now,” said Baker.While “Anora” was arguably the most acclaimed film of the festival, its win was a slight surprise.

Selena Kuznikov Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired the North American rights to Alain Guiraudie’s queer crime thriller “Misericordia,” starring Félix Kysyl, Catherine Frot, Jean-Baptiste Durand, Jacques Develay and David Ayala. The film was a selection of the Cannes Premiere section at this year’s festival. The film follows Jérémie (Kysyl), a man returning to his hometown for the funeral of his former employer.

Jack Dunn Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for Gints Zilbalodis’ animated adventure film “Flow,” which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. “We were so excited to see what Gints Zilbalodis would do after his surprising debut feature ‘Away’ in which he did almost all of the work single-handedly,” said Sideshow and Janus Films in a joint statement.

Argentinian director Federico Luis’s first film Simon of the Mountain has won the Grand Prize at the 63rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired the North American rights for Gints Zilbalodis’s animated feature Flow, following an enthusiastic standing ovation at its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard on Wednesday.

appeared to scold security at the red carpet premiere of the French-Italian film “Marcello Mio” during the Cannes Film Festival.Photos from the event showed Rowland pointing her finger towards a female security guard during their heated exchange.But according to insiders, Rowland was not the instigator in the incident.“The people who are assigned to helping stars walk the red carpet were being aggressive and Kelly was trying to ignore it,” a source claimed to the Daily Mail Wednesday.They continued: “By the time she got to the last woman she had had it because she scolded Kelly and told her to move when she was trying to wave to fans and help the paparazzi get their shot.”Rowland appeared to be enjoying herself at the glitzy premiere before the incident. As the source noted, she was initially smiling and waving to fans in her gorgeous red gown with a long train as she made her way up the red carpet steps.But according to the insider, the former Destiny’s Child member isn’t bothered about being in the center of drama.“She doesn’t care if she comes across like a diva if she knows that she is advocating for herself,” said the source.

“Yellowstone” star, 69, insisted that he “didn’t f–king cry” as it seemed he did when his new movie, “Horizon: An American Saga,” received an 11-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. Costner appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday after his trip to France and revealed what was going through his mind when he experienced the positive response to his Western feature. “I actually started walking my life backwards for a second,” he said.

Lise Pedersen Danish-Spanish co-production “Only On Earth,” by award-winning Danish filmmaker Robin Petré (“Pulse,” “From the Wild Sea”), has picked up the top IEFTA Docs-in-Progress Award at Cannes Docs, the Cannes Film Market sidebar dedicated to documentary film. The film forms part of the Five Nordics Showcase, one of eight showcases presenting a total of 34 docs-in-progress this year. The others include Chile, Scotland, Palestine Circle Women Accelerator, Docs By The Sea, the East Doc Platform, and newcomer Switzerland.

Christopher Vourlias RAI Cinema International Distribution (RCID) has taken international sales rights for “Of Dogs and Men,” an upcoming drama directed by Dani Rosenberg (“The Death of Cinema and My Father Too,” “The Vanishing Soldier”) and produced by AR Content. RCID is introducing the film to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival‘s market, where Variety has been given exclusive access to a first-look image. Written by Rosenberg, Ori Avinoam and Itai Tamir (“To Take a Wife,” “Love Life”), “Of Dogs and Men” is produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky (“Loveless,” “Leviathan,” “Beanpole”) of AR Content and Itai Tamir (“Under a Blue Sun”) of Laila Films.

Cannes Film Festival Tuesday. Photos from the event show Rowland smiling at the crowd as she walked up the red carpet steps to go into the theater — before she seemingly got into a heated exchange with a female security guard. The former Destiny’s Child member looked upset and angry as she pointed her finger toward the woman.

Naman Ramachandran Indonesia has unveiled the four film projects that will be the pilot recipients of the country’s first government-funded film grant, Film Matchfund, at the Cannes Film Festival. As revealed by Variety, the $13 million annual fund was launched at Cannes 2023 by Nadiem Makarim, Indonesia‘s minister of education, culture, research and technology.

Katcy Stephan Indian Paintbrush founder Steven Rales has purchased Criterion and Janus Films. The mission and leadership of the companies will not change following the private transaction.

le town.The controversial movie “The Apprentice,” depicting the former president’s rise to fame in New York high society during the 1970s, premiered Monday at the Cannes Film Festival in France to a glamorous crowd including Cate Blanchett and Bella Hadid.The movie received a standing ovation ranging from eight to 11 minutes, according to accounts.In the drama, Sebastian Stan plays a younger Trump as he meets power lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong of “Succession”) and first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”).While his political ambitions are said to be hinted at, “The Apprentice” does not cover the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections or Trump’s four years in the White House. It also has nothing to do with the NBC reality TV series he hosted.What it does have, according to viewers, are shocks aplenty.During one cringey scene, Trump is said to get liposuction and a hair transplant.And, in another jarring moment, he violently rapes Ivana.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sideshow and Janus films (“Drive My Car”) have acquired all North American rights to Payal Kapadia‘s “All We Imagine as Light,” the first Indian film to screen in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 30 years. The movie will world premiere on Thursday, May 23. It’s also one of only four films in the Competition directed by a woman.

seven children at the premiere of his new Western movie, “Horizon: An American Saga” at the Cannes Film Festival. Costner, 69, was joined at the event Sunday by his daughters Annie, 40, Lily, 37, and Grace, 13, and his sons Cayden, 17, and Hayes, 15.His sons Joe, 36, and Liam, 26, were missing from the family reunion.Costner shares his three oldest kids with his first wife, Cindy Silva, whom he was married to from 1978 to 1994.

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.

Annika Pham Billed the ‘Trollywood’ of the North for its close ties to talent, the leading Scandinavian regional film fund Film i Väst in Sweden’s Trollhättan has boarded the Noomi Rapace starrer “Mother, to be helmed by Macedonia’s Teona Stugar Mitevska. The biopic, in which Rapace will play the legendary religious figure Mother Teresa, will mark the English-language debut of esteemed auteur Mitevska, credited for the 2019 Berlin entry “God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya”.

The UK could soon be entering into a heatwave with temperatures reaching a scorching 30C in coming weeks - and the sun could be out even sooner. Speaking on BBC Breakfast today (16 May) weather forecaster Carol Kirkwood said temperatures would start to creep up with “sunny spells and sunshine” on Sunday (19 May).