Charades Strikes Deals on ‘Forever Young,’ Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s Cannes Competition Film (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran “Sex Education” producer Eleven has cast “Ten Pound Poms,” a drama series from “Brassic” creator Danny Brocklehurst for BBC and Australian streamer Stan. Michelle Keegan (“Brassic”), Faye Marsay (“Game of Thrones”) and Warren Brown (“The Responder”) lead the cast alongside Australian actors Rob Collins (“Mystery Road”), Leon Ford (“Elvis”), Declan Coyle (“Long Black”), David Field (“Shantaram”), Stephen Curry (“Hounds of Love”), Hattie Hook (“Savage River”), Finn Treacy (“The Portable Door”) and Emma Hamilton (“The Tudors”).The six-part series follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world, in sun-soaked Australia. But life down under isn’t exactly the idyllic dream the new arrivals have been promised.

Emiliano De Pablos Suggesting an appreciable recovery in the dynamism of international film markets, Madrid-based Latido Films has unveiled a raft of deals on its Cannes line-up, led by standout sales for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Cannes Premiere player “The Beasts.” The Spain-set rural thriller was acquired by Movies Inspired in Italy and Imagine in Benelux. Co-produced by Spain’s Arcadia Motion Pictures and Sorogoyen’s Caballo Films with France’s Le Pacte, “The Beasts” has also been taken by Kino Mediteran in former Yugoslavia territories and Transilvania Film in Romania.Meanwhile, fruit of Latido’s strengthening of its remake rights sales strategies, the company has optioned Mexican movie adaptation rights on Nicolás Postiglione’s drama “Immersion” to Paloma Negra Films and Whisky, as a French redo of Gastón Duprat’s Spanish-Argentine drama “Masterpiece” is moving into production.  Also, Latido is in advanced negotiations on further remake rights deals in France, Italy and Mexico, among other territories.“Our sales expectations are beginning to approach pre-pandemic levels,” said Antonio Saura, Latido Films managing director.“We saw a market with multiple signs of dynamism but, at the same time, we feel that less and less risks are being taken,” argued Juan Torres, head of international sales. “Projects with a commercial vocation today attract the attention of many buyers more quickly,” he explained. “On the other hand, films that are more fragile from a commercial point of view but which previously managed to find acceptance in various territories today seem destined more than ever for festivals or minor online exhibition,” he added.Regarding signs of dynamism, Saura points out, “we see that independent distributors,

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKinology (“Annette”) has closed a raft of deals on two highlights from its slate, “Argonuts,” an animated feature produced by TAT Productions, the banner behind “The Jungle Bunch,” and Emmanuel Mouret’s “Diary of a Fleeting Affair” which premiered at Cannes. A Pixar/Dreamworks-style family film, “Argonuts” is a comedy adventure set in a magical yet hostile world of Greek mythology. It follows the journey of Pathie, a young, smart and daring mouse, and her mate Sam who set off to fight the most bizarre and dangerous creatures in Ancient Greece, including Poseidon himself.“Argonuts” reunites “The Jungle Bunch” director, David Alaux, and producer, Jean-François Tosti at TAT Productions.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSND has closed a flurry of sales across its slate, including the animated feature “The Jungle Bunch: World Tour,” the French comedy “Ooh La la,” and the international melodrama “The Braid.” Produced by leading animation studio TAT Productions, “The Jungle Bunch: World Tour” is the sequel to the animated feature hit “The Jungle Bunch – The 3D Movie” which was one of the highest grossing French productions worldwide in 2017 and sold to over 70 territories. The spinoff movies expand on the popular animated series “The Jungle Bunch” which follows the adventures of a group of misfit animals on a mission to protect their kingdom.

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, MusicSpotify has revealed its performance and panel lineup for this year’s Cannes Lions Festival, taking place Monday, June 20 to Thursday, June 23.Back for an encore is Spotify Beach, which will make its home on the Croisette daily from dusk till dawn.Performances take place each night and will feature Kendrick Lamar, DJ Pee .Wee, aka Anderson .Paak, Kaytranada, the Black Keys and Post Malone, plus an as-yet-unannounced artist.DJ Henrie, the co-host of the Spotify Original Who We Be podcast, will be spinning as Spotify’s ‘House DJ’ throughout the week.Elsewhere on Spotify’s Lions agenda, founder and CEO Daniel Ek will sit for a talk on the future of media, creators and fandom, moderated by Sara Fischer of Axios.

Manori Ravindran International EditorCannes competition title “Pacifiction,” from “Liberté” director Albert Serra, has been acquired for the U.S. by specialty distributors Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films.Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorLeading arthouse sales company The Match Factory has acquired Sophie Linnenbaum’s graduation feature “The Ordinaries,” which will have its international premiere in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Crystal Globe Competition, following its world premiere at Munich Film Festival. In her first foray into feature-length fiction filmmaking, Linnenbaum “playfully explores the process of identity construction within rigid power structures in a filmic meta-world,” The Match Factory said. The film follows her acclaimed documentary “Stories of Dads,” which won the FFF Talent Award at Dokfest Munich last year, and was nominated for the German Documentary Award.“The Ordinaries” depicts a repressive three class-society in which Paula, a simple Supporting Character, is about to face the most important test of her life: she has to prove she deserves to be a Lead.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentParamount+ has partnered with Italian and German public broadcasters RAI and ZDF on coming-of-age TV series “The Gymnasts” from Italy’s Indigo Film (“The Great Beauty”) to be directed by Cosima Spender (“Palio”) and Valerio Bonelli.Also on board as a key partner on “The Gymnasts” — which was recently presented at the Series Mania Co-Pro Pitching Sessions — is London-based super-indie All3Media International, which will be handling international sales of the show in territories not covered by its main broadcasters.The project is part of The Alliance, the production pact forged among continental Europe’s leading public broadcasters to co-finance innovative, high-profile TV series for the international market. But, in an interesting twist, “The Gymnasts” will be premiering as a Paramount+ original in Italy and across France, the U.K., Canada, Australia, Latin America and South Korea.Based on Italian author Ilaria Bernardini’s bestselling novel “Corpo Libero,” the six-episode series revolves around a team of elite female teenage gymnasts engaged in an international competition high up in the snowy Italian Alps.During what is the most important week of their lives, rivalries are fierce and relationships become complex as the young athletes vie for a chance at making the Olympic team.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAustralian production and distribution firm Arcadia has begun development of non-fiction best-selling book “Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer’s Tuscan Cookbook” as a feature film.Envisaged in the style of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” or “Under the Tuscan Sun,” the feature film is currently in development and is being written by Australian film and television writer Katherine Thomson (Amazon TV series “A Place to Call Home,” feature documentary “Women He’s Undressed,” StudioCanal’s upcoming film “Helena!”).Written by two of Australia’s most celebrated cooks and food writers, and published by Penguin, “Tuscan Cookbook,” took readers on a journey, beginning in 1977 when the pair left Australia to open a cooking school in a villa outside of Siena. It records their time in Italy, the dishes cooked, the places visited, people who made it happen and the guests who joined for the ride.

Refresh for latest…: The 75th Cannes Film Festival draws to a close tonight as the main awards, including the Palme d’Or, are soon to be handed out in the Palais. Scroll down for the list of winners which is being updated as prizes are announced.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMK2 Films has locked major territory deals on Leonor Serraille’s drama “Mother and Son” which world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and garnered strong reviews. “Mother and Son” charts the lives of a young African woman, Rose, and two of her four children, Jean and Ernest, who come to France from the Ivory Coast in the 1980s with high ideals.

Clayton Davis The 2022 Cannes Film Festival is nearing its conclusion, and soon the jury will be selecting awards for this year’s impressive, albeit quieter, slate of films. After last year’s “Titane” from Julia Ducournau made history as the first female-directed film to fully win the Palme d’Or (Jane Campion’s “The Piano” tied with “Farewell My Concubine” in 1993), at this point in the festival, it doesn’t seem likely that a woman-directed project will walk away with it this year.“Forever Young” by French-Italian director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi seems to be the only film directed by a woman that has so far invoked any passion for bringing it to the finish line.

HBO Max is getting into business with Omar Sy.

Based on her own time spent in the acting school Les Amandiers, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s “Forever Young” aims to recreate a very specific time and place both in her life and in France, more than it cares to inform her audience about what, exactly, was so special about this school. Funded in the 1980s by Patrice Chéreau, a successful and daring director of theatre, opera and film, Les Amandiers did not last very long but for a few years it was considered to be one of the most exciting places in France and even Europe for young actors to develop their crafts, and for directors to find new talent.

Jessica Kiang There are no more potential-killing words of creative advice than “write what you know.” Certainly it’s a shame that when donning her screenwriter chapeau, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi — a fine actress and a director with a deft, light touch, especially with breezy character comedy — seems to have taken them so to heart. Once again she goes back to the autobiographical well for her latest directorial trifle, “Forever Young,” which she co-writes alongside Agnès De Sacy and regular collaborator Noémie Lvovsky.Once again the result is set in a rarefied world of which Bruni Tedeschi has intimate knowledge: this time the 1980s acting school run by the late French theater, opera and film director Patrice Chéreau.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentWhen Italian-French actress and director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi was in her twenties she had the formative experience of attending the prestigious acting school at the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre, France, led by late great auteur Patrice Chéreau. Her fifth directorial effort, “Forever Young,” which is in competition in Cannes, is a tribute to that time and, ultimately, to any young person’s passion for the theatre. Tedeschi spoke to Variety in Cannes about how she mixed remembrances and re-invention to make this film.

Lise Pedersen Scandinavia is bringing talent old and new to the Cannes Film Market’s Cannes Docs sidebar this year, with a showcase of five feature length films-in-the-making pitched as part of the Scandinavian Showcase on Saturday.“Children of the Lowest Heaven”From Denmark, internationally acclaimed writer-director Birgitte Stærmose Mortensen (“Darling,” “Room 304”), who has been working on mini-series for HBO, Starz and Netflix for the past five years (“Industry” season 2, “The Spanish Princess,” “In From the Cold” and “The English Game”), presented “Children of the Lowest Heaven” (“Ønskeliv”), a hybrid doc set in Kosovo.Inspired by her short “Out of Love” (2009), about a group of children living in poverty in post-war Pristina, it picks up where she left off with the characters, who are now young adults, still fighting to survive in one of Europe’s poorest nations. It’s about the long-term effects of war, and what it means to live a life in poverty.

Cannes has had another protest on the red-carpet, a couple of days after a naked woman demonstrated against violence towards women in Ukraine.