Clip from Cannes-Bound ‘Anselm,’ Wim Wenders’ 3D Portrait of Artist Anselm Kiefer, Debuts (EXCLUSIVE)

Wim Wenders’ Tokyo-based Cannes Competition title Perfect Days has clocked a series of international deals for The Match Factory.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” which won the best actor award for Koji Yakusho at the Cannes Film Festival, has sold out worldwide. The Match Factory is handling international sales. As previously announced, North American rights went to Neon and France went to Haut et Court. Further sales included U.K./Ireland/Latin America/Turkey (MUBI), Australia/New Zealand (Madman), Benelux (Paradiso), China (DDDream), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (A Contracorriente), Switzerland (DCM), Baltics (A-One Baltics), Bulgaria (Art Fest), CIS (A-One), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Former Yugoslavia (MCF), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), Hong Kong (Edko Films), Hungary (Cirko), Israel (Lev Cinemas), Poland (Gutek), Portugal (Alambique), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Scandinavia (Future Film) and Taiwan (Applause).

Documentary fans might be forgiven for nurturing a dream – that Cannes would follow the recent example of Venice and Berlin and award its top prize to a nonfiction film. Complete the documentary Triple Crown – the Golden Lion, the Golden Bear and the Palme d’or.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Family animated movie “Pirate Mo and the Legend of the Red Ruby” proved to be a smash hit with international distributors during the Cannes Film Market, with sales agency The Playmaker Munich delivering the film to multiple buyers. During the market, The Playmaker announced first presales to Benelux (Just4Kids), Turkey (Filmarti), Baltics (GPI), Greece (Rosebud) and Bulgaria (Pro Films). The company has now revealed further sales to Poland (M2 Films), Scandinavia (Njuta Films), Hungary and Romania (ADS), Portugal (Outsider Pictures), and Yugoslavia (Blitz Film).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Perfect Days,” which world premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, is reminiscent – in some ways – of “Groundhog Day,” but whereas in the latter film Bill Murray’s character, Phil, is trying to escape the repetitive nature of his existence, in Wim Wenders’ film the protagonist, Hirayama, is “embracing it,” the German director tells Variety. Both films show the lead characters waking at the same time each morning, but whereas, in “Groundhog Day,” Phil is awoken by an alarm clock, in Wenders’ film, as he points out, Hirayama, played by Cannes best actor winner Koji Yakusho, “wakes up on his own, or he wakes up because there’s an old lady brushing the street outside, always on time. He doesn’t need an alarm clock. He doesn’t even own one.” There is a sense that this is a man in harmony with nature, and at peace with his existence, rather than wrestling with it.

It’s a wrap for the 2023 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, where French director Justine Triet’s courtroom thriller “Anatomy of a Fall” has won this year’s Palme d’Or for best film.

“Perfect Days” makes a perfect debut.PERFECT DAYS. Did Wim Wenders just make his best film since UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD? Holy crap.Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” was the hero of the day, earning strong notices and the now-standard standing ovation.

A third Wings of Desire centering on the angels that watch over us, is not in the cards, German director Wim Wenders said today at the Cannes press conference for his latest in competition title at the fest, Perfect Days.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Leonardo Di Caprio, Tobey Maguire, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah were among the guests at Aston Martin’s 110th anniversary party Wednesday at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, on the French Riviera. The luxury car company also unveiled the first in a new generation of sportscars, the DB12. Other actors in attendance included Kate Beckinsale, James Marsden and James Bond actor Jeffrey Wright. They were joined by singer-songwriter Adam Lambert. The world of fashion was represented by leading models Winnie Harlow, Lais Ribeiro, Alessandra Ambrosio and Poppy Delevingne.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” is a hot property in Cannes, and it’s yet to even premiere. Several buyers are currently circling the Japan-set, music-infused title from master filmmaker Wenders, which bows in competition on Thursday. Sources tell Variety that interested parties so far include Utopia, MUBI, Magnolia, Sideshow and Janus Films and Sony Pictures Classics. Wenders’ “Perfect Days” follows Tokyo toilet cleaner Hirayama, who seems content with his simple life. Outside of his everyday routine, he enjoys his passion for books and, in particular, for music. Over the course of the film, a series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Maxime Rappaz’s debut film “Let Me Go,” which plays in the Cannes ACID sidebar, has been sold to Brazil and Taiwan. The film stars Cannes regular Jeanne Balibar in the lead role as a fiftysomething woman torn between her family commitments and pursuing her own desires. Every Tuesday, a neighbor takes care of Claudine’s son while she goes to a mountain hotel to meet men passing through. When one of them decides to extend his stay for her, Claudine is confused and finds herself dreaming of another life. Imovision has acquired all rights for Brazil, and will release the film in cinemas after a Brazilian festival premiere. “The mise en scène is excellent and Jeanne Balibar is extraordinary,” Jean-Thomas Bernardini, president of Imovision, commented.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Flawless, XYZ Films and Tea Shop Productions have acquired the Cannes Critics’ Week selection “Vincent Must Die” for all English-speaking territories from Goodfellas. Flawless, the pioneering film technology company and a leader in the field of visual translation, recently announced it has launched a partnership with XYZ Films and Tea Shop Productions to acquire rights to foreign-language films, converting them to English for distribution in relevant markets. Directed by Stéphan Castang, “Vincent Must Die” is written by Mathieu Naert, produced by Thierry Lounas and Claire Bonnefoy, and stars Karim Leklou and Vimala Pons. In the film, an ordinary man finds himself fighting for his life after he goes out one day and is mysteriously attacked by random strangers in the street with the intent to kill him.

Ed Meza @edmezavar German cinema is in Cannes with new works by Wim Wenders and films that explore Nazi propaganda, gender identity, economic crisis, romance, betrayal and fast cars. In addition to domestic films, a dozen German co-productions are screening in this year’s Cannes Film Festival lineup, including major works from the likes of Wes Anderson, Aki Kaurismäki and Jessica Hausner. Wenders is in Cannes with “Perfect Days,” which is vying for the Palme d’Or, and the documentary “Anselm” in Special Screenings. “Perfect Days” tells the story of a Tokyo janitor (Kôji Yakusho) who seems very content with his simple life, structured routines and passion for music, books and photography. A series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past. The Japanese-German co-production is sold by the Match Factory.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed further sales on “Richard the Stork 2,” and expects to sell the last remaining territories during the Cannes Film Market. The film, also known as “Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel,” is a follow up to “Richard the Stork” (released in North America as “A Stork’s Journey”), which was widely distributed in 155 countries and grossed more than $20 million worldwide. Indie Sales, which sold Oscar nominee “My Life as a Zucchini” to more than 80 territories, is increasingly focusing on acquiring big budget animation.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has closed further presales for “The Offing,” which will star Helena Bonham Carter, and will be directed by Jessica Hobbs, an Emmy Award-winner for “The Crown.” New deals include Spain (Beta Fiction), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Switzerland (Pathé Films), former Yugoslavia (Discovery) and the Middle East (Front Row). CineSky Pictures has picked up worldwide airline rights. A multi-territory deal with Curzon, Cineart and Madman for U.K./Ireland, Benelux and Australia/New Zealand was revealed in April. “The Offing,” which is based on the novel by Benjamin Myers, is set on the northeast English coast shortly after World War II. It tells the story of shy, 16-year-old Robert, and the hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, bohemian recluse Dulcie Piper, played by Bonham Carter, and their unlikely friendship.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Zachary Levi will star in the Christmas film “Teddy’s Christmas” as the voice of the main character Teddy. The film about a Teddy Bear and a little girl will have its U.S. theatrical release in time for this year’s holiday season, following its release in several European countries. Levi is best known for his portrayal of the superhero Shazam in “Shazam!” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” and for his voice actor role in Disney’s “Tangled.” “Teddy’s Christmas” will be released by Capelight Pictures and Blue Fox Entertainment in the U.S.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has closed two multi-territory deals for Bulgarian gay summer-romance film “Liuben,” directed by Venci Kostov. The film has been acquired by TLA Entertainment for North America, France, U.K. and Ireland, and Cinemien for Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and Sweden. “Liuben,” which has its world premiere at Guadalajara Intl. Film Festival in June, is the first openly gay film from Bulgaria. Roma actors, who are usually absent from Bulgarian cinema, play lead roles in the film.

Catherine Bray When audiences consider 3D as a medium, the abiding image seems to be of items popping out from the screen — a limb here in “Jaws 3D,” a dildo there in “Jackass 3D” — and perhaps that is indeed how most filmmakers have used the medium. Not enough directors have capitalized on the ability of 3D to convey a sense of physical depth; fewer still have seized on the possibility of adding philosophical depth. Thank goodness, then, for Wim Wenders. The first of two new films by the German veteran in this year’s Cannes official selection, “Anselm” is a tour de force 3D 6K portrait of the artist Anselm Kiefer, both rich in ideas and breathtaking in technical execution. Though undoubtedly a powerful confrontation with some of the biggest themes art can tackle — mortality, permanence, being, nothingness, all the hits — “Anselm” remains an accessible experience, partly because of its manageable 93-minute runtime and partly because of its endlessly engaging imagery. There’s no reason any reasonably curious audience shouldn’t be able to switch on to its considerable pleasures. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Shellac has boarded “La Mer et ses vagues” as both the international sales agency and the French distributor, ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the ACID sidebar in Cannes. The Lebanese film, directed by Liana and Renaud, follows the young Najwa and the musician Mansour as they cross the Lebanese border and reach Beirut on a full moon night. They follow the trail of smugglers hoping to join a woman, Haifa, on the other side of the sea. A few streets away, Selim, the old lighthouse keeper, tries to repair the electricity in his neighborhood. The cast is led by Mays Mustafa, Roger Assaf, Mohammed Al Ammari and Hanane Hajj-Ali. The producer is Mathieu Mullier-Griffiths for Kafard Films. The co-producer is Monkey Business Virals.

Though he is still mostly known for his lyrical, America-set road movie Paris, Texas, which won the Palme d’Or in 1984, Germany’s Wim Wenders does most of his best work when he’s back on home turf. The Berlin Wall, for example, provided the backdrop for his 1987 masterpiece Wings of Desire, in which philosophical angels roamed a divided city that was still trying to reckon with the shame of the Second World War. His new documentary, Anselm, is ostensibly the biography of a fellow artist, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to read it as a veiled autobiography, in that its subject isn’t so much a person as the way that life experience and intelligence combine to create art.