Japanese Animation Powerhouse Studio Ghibli Makes History With Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes

Jamie Lang Animation veteran Guillaume Dubois has partnered with Ankama‘s Anthony Roux to launch Studio Unagi, a new animation studio based in the Canadian animation, vfx and gaming hotbed of Montreal. The banner’s inaugural slate of projects includes “Bestial” and “Sacré Coeur,” both of which are produced by Ankama, the studio behind the cult favorite adult animated feature “Mutafukaz” and video game franchises such as “Dofus” and “Wakfu.” Studio Unagi will specialize in creating 2D animation and Japanese-style animation and will develop content for YouTube and video games. ‘Bestial’ is a new animated series set in the Krosmoz universe, the setting of Ankama’s “Dofus,” “Wakfu” and “Waven” online video games.

Ankama-backed animation company Studio Unagi has officially launched in Montreal after setting up under the radar over the first half of 2024.

Charles Leclerc picked up a very special win at the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2024 on Sunday (May 26) in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.

Ellise Shafer George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola reflected on their lifelong bond as the “Megalopolis” director presented the “Star Wars” auteur with Cannes Film Festival‘s honorary Palme d’Or on Saturday night. In his speech, Coppola recalled his first meeting with Lucas, who shadowed him on the set of his first studio film, “Finian’s Rainbow,” in 1968.

Star Wars creator George Lucas was fêted with an Honorary Palme d’Or at this evening’s Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony.

The Cannes Film Festival will crown its Competition winners tomorrow night and the consensus seems to be building around a few titles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony is to launch an academy that will develop talent involved in the creation of anime, it was announced on Thursday. The initiative was revealed as part of Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Group Corporation’s annual corporate strategy presentation.

Lionsgate is thinking about making “lower-budget” movies for Starz as the TV streaming and linear network is set to split with Lionsgate Studios by the end of the year.

There has been a lot of noise at this year’s Cannes Film Festival about France’s accelerated MeToo movement, particularly by female cinema stars leading the charge. So whether coincidental or not, the world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section last night of Being Maria (aka Maria) seemed like perfect timing and more relevant than ever

EXCLUSIVE: A group of filmmakers are launching an AI film and animation studio and has snagged some A-list advisors.

Christopher Vourlias After making waves on the festival circuit with a pair of heralded short films, Somali filmmaker Mo Harawe makes his auspicious feature debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with “The Village Next to Paradise,” which premieres May 21 in the French fest’s Un Certain Regard section — the first feature from the African nation ever to screen on the Croisette. An intimate family drama set in a windswept Somali fishing village, “Paradise” follows Mamargade (Ahmed Ali Farah), a single father working odd jobs to provide a better life for his son, Cigaal (Ahmed Mohamud Saleban). They’re joined by his sister, Araweelo (Anab Ahmed Ibrahim), who comes back to live with the duo after her divorce.

“It’s f–ing hard to make a good airplane movie,” Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund emphasized multiple times this morning in Cannes as he spoke to international press about his plans for The Entertainment System Is Down, the latest feature he has set to direct starring a buzzy cast led by Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl. 

Babes by Pamela Adlon, co-written and starring Ilana Glazer, debuts in limited release with films by Hang Song-soo and Bertrand Bonello and docs on a controversial Venice Biennale, ground-breaking female clerics, and the Blue Angels Navy Squadron. A trio of festival favorites expand. While eyes now are on fare at Cannes — where Neon has been making high-profile moves — each week Stateside remains a test of indie film’s theatrical boundaries in a post-Covid, streaming-centric marketplace.

Barry Keoghan strikes a pose with his Bird costar Jackie Mellor on the red carpet at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Christopher Vourlias In a different world, had she not been readying her long-awaited sophomore feature, “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” for its Cannes premiere, Rungano Nyoni might have spent the past few weeks preparing her family for its upcoming move to Zambia, the southern African nation where the director was born and spent part of her childhood. Instead, it was a mad dash to get the film across the finish line. “It’s been long hours, non-stop for weeks,” Nyoni says on the eve of the French fest’s opening night.

EXCLUSIVE: ITV panel show Sorry, I Didn’t Know has sealed itself in the record books by becoming the network’s longest-running show from a production company led by Black creatives.

ITV Studios Rejigs Distribution Team With Tom Clark Promoted

Meryl Streep is back at the Cannes Film Festival after a 35-year absence!

Greta Gerwig addressed the growing #MeToo movement in France at the jury press conference on opening day of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “I think people in the community of movies telling us stories and trying to change things for the better is only good,” Gerwig said when asked how she felt about #MeToo-related rumors swirling ahead of the festival. “I have seen substantive change in in the American film community, and I think it’s important that we continue to expand that conversation.

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is set to star with Tom Hardy in 77 Blackout, a crime thriller set on the night when the city that never sleeps lost power and plunged into chaos and lawlessness. Cary Joji Fukunaga is directing. Fresh from the Oppenheimer Best Picture Oscar, Charles Roven is producing along with Madison Weireter for Atlas Entertainment, and William Green and Aaron Ginsburg for The Cut.