Circle Women Doc Accelerator Reveals Cannes Docs Projects (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Nanni Moretti’s new film “Il sol dell’avvenire” (“A Brighter Tomorrow”), a multi-layered love letter to filmmaking in the age of streaming giants, is doing brisk biz at the home box office ahead of its Cannes Film Festival international premiere. The latest by Moretti — who customarily gets special permission from Cannes to release his works locally before launching them from the Croisette — has already scored close to €3 million ($3.3 million) from 500 screens in Italy via 01 Distribution since its April 20 release. “Brighter Tomorrow” came in second only to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” last weekend, which was a long frame due to the International Workers’ Day holiday on May 1.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Marco Bellocchio’s “Kidnapped” (Rapito), which has its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film starts in 1858 in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, when the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.

The Women’s World Cup faces a potential TV blackout for this summer’s tournament in the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France after FIFA president Gianni Infantino threatened to withhold rights over what he said where insufficient bids. Infantino, speaking Tuesday at at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, said it was the soccer governing body’s “moral and legal obligation not to undersell” the tournament, set for July 20 until August 20 in Australia and New Zealand.“Therefore, should the offers continue not to be fair, we will be forced not to broadcast the FIFA Women’s World Cup into the ‘Big 5’ European countries,” Infantino said, drawing a line in the sand despite FIFA’s media rights agreements with 156 other nations and territories.Prize money will notably increase for this year’s tournament by 300% to $150 million from 2019, which was won by the U.S.

Cannes film festival. He will be joined by French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. actor John C. Reilly will serve as president of the jury of the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes Film Festival. “Salem,” directed by Jean-Bernard Marlin, has been added to the lineup. The other members of the jury will be French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actor Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou, and Belgian actor Émilie Dequenne. The Un Certain Regard section showcases art and discovery films by young auteurs. In a statement, Reilly said: “I have had so many life changing moments at the Festival de Cannes (from my miraculous first trip with Paul Thomas Anderson to celebrating my 50th birthday from the Palais stage!) so to be chosen as the president of Un Certain Regard jury is truly such an incredible honor.”

John C. Reilly will preside over the Un Certain Regard Jury at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, running May 16-27.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Laetitia Casta will soon appear on the big screen as the former wife of an abusive southern Italian man whom she is accused of murdering in the thriller “A Dark Story,” directed by Italy’s Leonardo D’Agostini. In “Dark Story” the French star, whose recent credits include “The Crusade” directed by her husband Louis Garrel, plays Carla (first look image above), the ex-wife of Vito Semeraro, a banker who beat her when they were together and is the father of her three children. She is accused of murdering him a few years after they split up.  Italian sales company True Colours is launching sales in Cannes on this psychological noir that marks the sophomore feature by D’Agostini whose 2019 debut drama “The Champion” – a soccer dramedy about a young male soccer star and a shy academic who becomes his tutor – sold widely via the same outfit. Andrea Carpenzano (“The Champion,” “Boys Cry,” “Chiara”) stars in “Dark Story” alongside Casta.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has come on board to handle the international sales of black comedy “Shooting Blanks,” written and directed by Žiga Virc (“Houston, We Have a Problem!”). The Slovenian film looks at what happens when a family goes to war with itself. The film is in post-production. PTI will present a first private market screening at the Marché du Film in Cannes. Vida’s father France worships his father, a hero of the partisan resistance. When a German supermarket chain decides to build a new store in his hometown, demolishing a statue of his father in the process, France declares war on this new “enemy.”

Late German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld will be honored at the 2023 Met Gala on Monday despite, what many commentators called, his "controversial" past statements and views.  The theme, which was announced in September, will feature an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute titled "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" and display approximately 150 of his designs as well as his original sketches.The dress code of the red carpet event, announced in January, will also be "In honor of Karl."  The Met Gala is a star-studded event where celebrities and other notable figures display unique fashion choices where they raise money for the Met’s Costume Institute However, many media outlets and celebrities called out this year's decision to honor the late fashion designer, claiming that Lagerfeld’s past statements should disqualify him from being honored at the event. He criticized the #MeToo movement in 2018.

Prime Video Picks Up Karl Lagerfeld Doc

Naman Ramachandran Cineflix Rights has acquired international rights to Finestripe Productions‘ feature documentary “The Mysterious Mr. Lagerfeld,” which premiered on BBC Two on April 26, and has sold to Prime Video for Australia, Canada and New Zealand. “The Mysterious Mr Lagerfeld” tells the story of Karl Lagerfeld, the legendary Chanel designer who transformed high fashion into blockbuster, dramatic entertainment over 40 years. The film, directed by Michael Waldman, delves into the life of the charismatic showman who lived a lavish personal life as he earned and spent millions, often courting controversy with his provocative statements. Lagerfeld had an extraordinary entourage, including his beloved cat, Choupette, who is expected to be one of the main heirs of his fortune. The documentary provides insight into the man behind the sunglasses and his legacy.

William Earl Centered on a theme of celebrating locations on screen, Variety held a cocktail reception on the rooftop of Neuehouse in Hollywood Wednesday night, presented by Neom, a sustainable megacity and regional production hub located within Saudi Arabia’s northwestern corner. The event was attended by producers, production supervisors, location managers and others from across the film, television and content creation industries, offering Wayne Borg, Neom’s managing director of media, entertainment and culture, an opportunity to introduce others to what the region has to offer and incentivize decision-makers to consider bringing their productions to the Middle East.

The Arsenal women's plane caught fire on the runway as they were travelling back from Germany after their Champions League match.The football players, including Amber Gill's girlfriend Jen Beattie, Manuela Zinsberger, and lioness Rafaelle Souza, boarded the Boeing 737 to go back home to the UK after the team drew 2-2 with Wolfsburg.They were due to fly back to London on Sunday evening at 7:30pm from Braunschweig Wolfsburg Airport, but the left engine caught fire, according to German publication Bild. An airport spokesman said the fire could have been due to a bird strike and that it is likely several birds got into the turbine and started the fire.

Eric Braeden, best known for his portrayal of Victor Newman on the hit soap opera "The Young and the Restless" is currently battling cancer, the actor revealed in an emotional video on Facebook Live. The German actor, 82, shared with his fans that whilst recovering from knee surgery, he began to have issues with his prostate. "I hate to be his personal, but I think this may be good for some older guys who may or may not listen to this.

Lise Pedersen Toronto-based outfit Syndicado has acquired world rights for Daniel Kötter’s “Landshaft,” which is competing in the Burning Lights sidebar of Swiss international documentary film festival Visions du Réel. In Germany, the film will be distributed by Arsenal Filmverleih. Shot in the form of a road movie as the director travels across Eastern Armenia in an old Lada, the film offers a striking contrast between the region’s peaceful-looking mountains and the voice of his passengers, its inhabitants, who live in the shadow of the threat of war. They speak about the six-week conflict waged in 2020 by neighbouring Azerbaijan over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Although this disputed region is located further to the south, the conflict has now moved further up the border, and runs through the Sotk gold mine, whose concession has been granted to a Russian company by the Armenians.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Rights to ‘Man in Black,” one of two documentary films by China’s Wang Bing to appear in Official Selection at Cannes this year, have been picked up by specialty sales agency Asian Shadows. The 60-minute film, which will debut as a special screening, is a portrait of 86-year-old Wang Xilin, one of China’s most important modern classical composers and is now lives in exile in Germany. It was made in close collaboration with French cinematographer Caroline Champetier, whose credits include Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors,” Amos Gitai’s “Promised Land” and Andre Techine’s “Alice and Martin.” During the 1960s, when China’s Cultural Revolution forced intellectuals into the fields and stripped the middle classes of their wealth, Wang Xilin was the was the target of severe persecution, including beatings, imprisonment and torture. The film examines the body and soul of a man scarred by a life of suffering, who is yet still capable of deep and sincere compassion.

Naman Ramachandran New York based Cargo Film & Releasing has acquired global rights, excluding France and Germany, to Germany-based Florian Film’s “The Books He Didn’t Burn,” which is narrated by Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons. Directed by Jascha Hannover, the film explores how Hitler’s personal library provides a look into his mind and how it significantly informed his worldview. While Hitler is better known for burning books than collecting them, the books he voraciously read provided the horrific rationale that led to the violence and harm he orchestrated toward Jewish people in 1930s and 1940s Europe. Contributors include Timothy W. Ryback, a historian and director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in The Hague, Delphine Horvilleur, France’s third female rabbi and many others.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes. The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country. The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount+ is readying a new doc on King Charles III.

EXCLUSIVE: Details are emerging about Wim Wenders’ 3D documentary Anselm, which will gets its world premiere as a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival next month.