Catherine Corsini, Director of Cannes Competition Movie, Addresses Reports of Inappropriate Behavior During Filming

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes Film Festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux asked journalists Monday if they really believed Cannes was celebrating rapists, as recently suggested by “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actor Adele Haenel in an open letter published last week in Telerama. Haenel, who quit acting in films after Roman Polanski won best director at the Cesar Awards in 2020, said she retired from the film industry for political reasons, and said Cannes was “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs,” citing Polanski, Gerard Depardieu and Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board (CNC). Fremaux told journalists at a press conference ahead of the 2023 festival’s opening night that Haenel, who was at Cannes to present “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” in competition in 2019, was making “radical” comments that were “false.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The city of Cannes has banned protests along the Croisette and its surroundings during the Cannes Film Festival. The labor union CGT, which is represented by Denis Gravouil on the administration board of the Cannes Film Festival, is still preparing a large demonstration on May 21 but it will take place along Boulevard Carnot, far away from the Croisette and from the festival’s headquarters. There will also be a rally of hospitality workers, including staff from hotels, cafes and restaurants, in front of the Carlton hotel – whose famous guests this year include Martin Scorsese — on May 19, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The rally, which will likely involve protesters banging saucepans to express their anger, is technically allowed because the front of the Carlton is a private area.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Orange Studio is launching several French projects at the Cannes Film Market, including Simon Bouisson’s “Drone,” a thriller produced by Haut et Court (“The Night of the 12th”), and “Miss Violet,” a period drama directed by Eric Besnard (“Delicious”) and starring Alexandra Lamy (“Rolling to You”). Bouisson, who is directing “Drone,” previously penned and directed the short-format series “Stalk” which was hit on France Televisions’ youth-centered service and has been optioned for a remake in the U.S. The thriller stars Marion Barbeau, the dancer-turned-actor who broke through in Cedric Klapisch’s “Rise,” as well as Eugénie Derouand (“Paris Police”), Cédric Kahn (“November”) and Stefan Crepon (“Peter Von Kant”)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sales banner Best Friend Forever has unveiled the teaser for Ramata Toulaye-Sy’s buzzed-about Senegalese drama “Banel & Adama,” which is the sole feature debut slated for the competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The lushly lensed female emancipation drama, set to bow on May 20, takes place in a remote village of Northern Senegal where Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. Longing for a home of their own, they have decided to live apart from their families. When Adama refuses his blood duty as future chief and informs the village council of his intentions, the whole community is disrupted and chaos ensues. The film was shot in Pulaar language with a cast of local non-professional actors, including Khady Mane, Mamadou Diallo, Binta Racine Sy and Moussa Sow.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off a successful collaboration on “Charlatan,” Films Boutique has boarded Agnieszka Holland’s next film “The Green Border,” which just completed principal photography in Poland. Now in post production, “The Green Border” tells the fateful story of a family of Syrian refugees, a solitary English teacher from Afghanistan and a young border guard, all of whom meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis triggered by President Lukaschenko opening doors to migrants in Belarus as a back door to enter the EU.  The screenplay, penned by Holland, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko and Maciej Pisuk, is inspired by real events. Research for the film included hundreds of hours of document analysis, interviews with refugees, border guards, borderland residents, activists and experts.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Flo,” a biopic of popular French sailor Florence Arthaud slated to world premiere at Cannes’ Cinema de la Plage, has been boarded by Other Angle. The French sales company will introduce the film to buyers at Cannes. Set to unspool on May 19, “Flo” charts Arthaud’s unique achievement in the male-dominated world of sailing, notably her victory of the Route du Rhum, a transatlantic sailing race, in 1990. The movie also portrays Arthaud as a fiercely independent woman who chose to live her dreams to the fullest rather than follow her pre-determined path. The film is directed by Geraldine Danon and is produced by Manuel Munz, in association with Metropolitan which will release the film in French theaters on Nov. 25.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Can you believe it took 75 years to nominate a woman as the president of the Cannes Film Festival?” Iris Knobloch asks, reflecting on her 2022 appointment as the fest’s top executive. Known for her strong will, the chic, charismatic German is used to being a rare woman in power — she essayed various roles at the top of WarnerMedia in Europe for 25 years, where she cultivated relationships with such Hollywood players as Warner Bros. Discovery consultant and former Disney chief Alan Horn, filmmakers Christopher Nolan and Todd Phillips, Amazon Studios and MGM film head Courtenay Valenti and Amazon Studios marketing chief Sue Kroll.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Noémie Merlant, the French actor of “Tár,” is reteaming with Celine Sciamma, who directed her in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” for her sophomore outing, “The Balconettes.” The fantastical comedy horror movie is being written by Merlant with the collaboration of Céline Sciamma. MK2 Films will launch sales at the Cannes Film Market. Filming is slated to begin this summer. Set in a boiling Marseille neighborhood plagued by a heat wave, the movie revolves around three roommates who gleefully meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their balcony. Until a late-night drink turns into a bloody affair. Merlant stars in the film alongside Souheila Yacoub (“Dune”) and Sanda Codreanu (“Mi Iubita Mon Amour”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Adèle Haenel, the French star of Cannes prize-winning film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” vanished from the film world in the aftermath of the 2020 Cesar Awards ceremony. That year, Roman Polanski won best director and Haenel, who was on the ground for her nomination with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” walked out of the ceremony in a burst of anger upon hearing Polanski’s name, shouting “Bravo pedophilia!” Several months prior, Haenel had accused French director Christophe Ruggia of having sexually harassed her for years starting when she was just 12 years old, prompting the birth of France’s #MeToo movement. Since then, Haenel exited the movie biz to dedicate herself to political activism, as well as theater and dance with the artist Gisèle Vienne. She recently appeared on French TV to support the strike and protest against the country’s unpopular pension reform.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Anonymous Content has come on board California surf-themed animated feature adapted from illustrator AJ Dungo’s celebrated graphic memoir, “In Waves.” Produced by Paris-based Silex Films, “In Waves” marks the feature debut of Phuong Mai Nguyen (“Brazen”), and is being penned by Fanny Burdino and Samuel Doux, whose screenwriting credits include “After Love” and “The Origin of Evil.” The feature is produced by Priscilla Bertin and Judith Nora, co-Founders of Silex Films, alongside Charades and Nick Shumaker, Garrett Kemble, and David Levine who will executive produce on behalf of Anonymous Content.

The 76th Festival de Cannes already had a jury president in two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Ostlünd. It now has eight more members to fill out its jury.

Playtime has unveiled a strong Cannes film market sales slate, which includes competition titles “About Dry Grasses” and “Homecoming.” “About Dry Grasses” is by Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won the Palme d’Or in 2014 for “Winter Sleep.” The film follows Samet, a young art teacher, who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in, and hopes that his encounter with fellow teacher Nuray will help him overcome his angst. Deniz Celiloğlu, Merve Dizdar and Musab Ekici are among the cast.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has set Xavier Gens’ (“Gangs of London”) untitled Paris-set genre movie starring Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist“) and Nassim Lyes (“Overdose”) as its next French film original. Set in the Summer of 2024, the film unfolds in Paris which is hosting the World Triathlon Championships on the Seine for the first time. Sophia, a brilliant scientist, learns from Mika, a young environmental activist, that a large shark is swimming deep in the river. To avoid a bloodbath at the heart of the city, they have no choice but to join forces with Adil, the Seine river police commander. Bejo and Lyes star in the film opposite Léa Léviant. The film is produced by Let Me Be and is slated for a launch on Netflix in 2024.

French director Catherine Corsini and her producer Elisabeth Perez have published an open letter denying wrongdoing on the set of upcoming Cannes Palme d’Or contender Le Retour.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to Cédric Klapisch’s (“The Spanish Apartment”) hit dance film “Rise” (“En corps”) from Studiocanal. One of 2022’s highest grossing French films, “Rise” sold nearly 1.3 million tickets in local theaters and was sold around the world. The movie tells the story of a young ballet dancer whose life is upended when she suffers a career-threatening injury and catches her  boyfriend cheating on her. As she begins her physical and emotional rehabilitation, she finds solace in friends, a new love, and a new contemporary dance troupe. Marion Barbeau, a dancer-turned-actor, delivers a breakthrough performance in the lead role, and stars opposite French stars, including François Civil (“Three Musketeers”), Pio Marmaï (“How I Became a Super Hero”), Denis Podalydès (“Anaïs in Love”), as well as Hofesh Shechter (“Send Me an Angel”).

COMPETITION“Black Flies” (Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire)“LE RETOUR“Le Retour” (Catherine Corsini)CANNES PREMIÈRE“Perdidos en la Noche” (Amat Escalante)“L’Amour et les Forets” (Valérie Donzelli)“Eureka” (Lisandro Alonso)OUT OF COMPETITION“L’abbe Pierre – Une Vie de Combats” (Frédéric Tellier)UN CERTAIN REGARD“Only the River Flows” (Wei Shujun)“Une Nuit” (Alex Lutz)The film will be screened Out of Competition – Closing Un Certain RegardSHORT FILM“Filles du Feu” (Pedro Costa)SPECIAL SCREENINGS“Little Girl Blue” (Mona Achache)“Bread and Roses” (Sahra Mani)“Le Theoreme de Marguerite” (Anna Novion)MIDNIGHT SCREENING“Hypnotic” (Robert Rodriguez)“Project Silence” (Kim Tae-gon)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies” starring Sean Penn, and Catherine Corsini’s “Le retour” have been added to the competition lineup of the upcoming 76th Cannes Film Festival. As many as 13 movies have been peppered across several sections, including the competition, special screening, Un Certain Regard and out of competition. Robert Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic” and Kim Tae-gon’s “Project Silence” are joining the Midnight Screening roster, while Amat Escalante’s Mexican drama “Perdidos en la Noche” and Argentinian helmer Lisandro Alonso’s thriller “Eureka” starring Viggo Mortensen and José María Yazpik, will bow at Cannes Premiere, a non-competitive section launched in 2021. Alonso previously won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with his 2014 movie “Jauja.” Also slated for Cannes Premiere is Valerie Donzelli’s drama “L’Amour et les forets.”

A little under two weeks ago, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its lineup for the upcoming event. However, as we know with film festivals, the initial lineup is far from complete and more films can be added at any time.

The Cannes Film Festival has announced a raft of new additions to the Official Selection of its 76th edition running May 16 to 27.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pixar will be back at the Cannes Film Festival on closing night (May 27) with the world premiere of their new feature “Elemental.”   Presented Out of Competition, the film will be released in theaters on June 16 in the U.S. and on June 21 in France.