Memento International Sells Babak Jalali’s Sundance, SXSW Immigrant Film ‘Fremont’ to Key Markets (EXCLUSIVE)

This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will close with the UK premiere of British Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali’s well-received Sundance pic Fremont.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Breakout Sundance star and rapper Tia Nomore has signed with Range Media Partners for representation in acting and music. Nomore is the lead in Savannah Leaf’s upcoming A24 drama “Earth Mama,” in which she delivered a critically acclaimed debut feature performance at this year’s Sundance Film Festival as a struggling single mother. Well established in hip hop, Nomore rose to prominence as an artist on the Oakland music scene. In “Earth Mama,” Nomore stars as expectant mom Gia, who already has two kids in foster care as she anticipates a third. Though she has the support of a tight-knit community in the Bay Area, she faces formidable challenges in reclaiming her family and building a new life. A24, the studio behind the Oscar winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” will release the film on July 7.

EXCLUSIVE: Artist International Group, the globally minded management and production company founded by David Unger, on Thursday announced its signing of Umut Aral, the award-winning director behind the hit Turkish-language Netflix series, Who Were We Running From?.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leos Carax, whose latest film “Annette” won best director at Cannes in 2021, will shed light on his enigmatic and singular body of work in his next project “It’s Not Me.” The self-portrait film reunites Carax with French actor Denis Lavant whom he directed in five of his most famous films, including “Boy Meets Girl,” “Bad Blood,” “Lovers on the Bridge,” and Berlinale prizewinning “Holy Motors.” Les Films du Losange, the Paris-based company which won this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear with Nicolas Philibert’s On The Adamant, will distribute “It’s Not Me” in France, as well as represent the film in international markets. “It’s Not Me” also reteams Carax with Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema, who produced “Annette.” After world premiering at Cannes, the ambitious English language musical drama went on to win many laurels, including best director at the Cesar Awards. It also earned a Cesar nomination for Driver, and a Golden Globe nomination for Cotillard.

Charna Flam The Sundance Institute has selected four feature film projects and filmmakers for its 2023 Documentary Edit and Story Lab fellowship, which takes place from June 16-24 at the Sundance Resort. The fellows include “Blacked Out Dreams” (U.S.A.), “Concrete Land” (Jordan), “No Other Land” (Palestine, Norway) and “Remaining Native” (U.S.A,). The documentary program’s advisors are Laura Poitras (“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”) and Bhawin Suchak (“Outta The Muck”). The Documentary Edit and Story Lab fellowship is designed to encourage experimentation and risk-taking, for the fellows to develop, interrogate and collaborate in post-production.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry platform has unveiled 27 film projects that will be showcased during its Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch and First Cut+ Works in Progress presentations. The most promising projects, selected by international juries, will receive awards with a total value of 115,000 EUR.  The showcasing of projects to industry professionals will take place in Karlovy Vary, during this year’s KVIFF Industry Days on July 3 (Works in Progress and Works in Development – Feature Launch) and July 4 (First Cut+ Works in Progress). For Works in Progress, 11 fiction and documentary feature films in the late stage of production or post-production from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa have been selected.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent London-based outfit Film Constellation has scored a first round of pre-sales on its upcoming family CG animated feature “The Growcodile” at the Annecy Animation Film Festival. “The Growcodile” tells the story of a young girl and her rather unconventional pet, a crocodile named Gilbert. The feature is being adapted by Luuk van Bemmelenfrom from the bestselling children’s book “Crocodile came within!” from renowned Dutch author Paul Van Loon. The animated film, which is expected to be delivered during the fourth quarter of 2025, has pre-sold to Poland (Kinoswiat), Eastern Europe (ProRom), CIS & Baltics (Volga), Portugal (Nos), Greece & Israel (Tanweer), Turkey & MENA (Italia Film), and Vietnam (Lumix), with several other territories under offer and in discussion. KMBO will release it in French theaters.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has sold its 3D family animation “A Mystery on the Cattle Hill Express,” directed by Will Ashurst, to Viva Kids for North America. The third part in the “Cattle Hill” series is a detective story about the little cow Clara and her friend Gavin who join forces with the world famous detective Agatha Chichester to unveil the thief of a revolutionary Nano-seed stolen from a high-tech laboratory train. New Europe has also sold the film to South Korea (First Run) and South Africa (Red Dot Digitals) and, as previously announced, France (Alba Films), Poland (New Horizons), JUST4KIDS in Benelux, Neo Films in Greece, Birfilm in Turkey, FILMS4YOU in Portugal and Arthousetraffic in Ukraine.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Skip City International D-Cinema Festival, in Saitama, on the outskirts of Tokyo, will hold its 2023 edition with both in-person and online components, long after COVID, which necessitated such hybrid formats, has retreated. The festival, which sees itself as a gateway for emerging talent, and has operated since 2004, will hold its physical edition July 15-23 and its online from July 22- 26, organizers said on Wednesday. This year, the festival will begin with the world premiere of “Confetti,” which was produced to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the festival as well as the 90th anniversary of its Kawaguchi City base.

Rachel Seo Gavin Casalegno is entering his wrestling era. “The Summer I Turned Pretty” actor has joined director Ash Avildsen’s “Queen of the Ring,” his reps confirmed to Variety. “Queen of the Ring” follows the story of WWE Hall of Fame-inducted wrestler Mildred Burke, a world champion who broke glass ceilings throughout the course of her career from the 1930s through the 1950s. Casalegno will play the teenage version of Joe, Burke’s son. The cast also reportedly includes Emily Bett Richards (“Arrow”) and Josh Lucas (“Ford v Ferrari”) as Burke and her husband and business manager, Billy Wolfe. Marie Avgeropoulos (“The 100”) and WWE’s Charlotte Flair and Liv Morgan also star in the film. Avildsen (“Paradise City,” “American Satan”) will direct based on a script he penned. The film is inspired by Jeff Leen’s book of the same name.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “The Inseparables,” Jérémie Degruson’s ambitious animated feature competing this week at Annecy festival, has been sold to a raft of territories by Octopolis and nWave. Based on an original idea by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, the Oscar-nominated writers of “Toy Story,” “The Inseparables” follows the misadventures of Don, a runaway puppet with a boundless imagination and, DJ Doggy Dog, an abandoned stuffed animal toy in need of a friend. Don and DJ Doggy Dog cross paths in Central Park and pair up against all odds for an epic adventure of friendship in New York City. The film was penned by Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker. Budgeted at $25 million, “The Inseparables” was produced by nWave Studios in Belgium, Octopolis in France and A Contracorriente Films in Spain.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Liu Jian’s “Art College 1994,” the critically acclaimed Chinese animated feature competing at this week’s Annecy festival, has been acquired by New York-based outfit Dekanalog for North American distribution. A poignant and vibrant portrait of on-campus youth at the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s, the feature world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival as one of the rare animated movies that have vied for the Golden Bear. “Art College 1994” will open in North American theaters in 2024, following its release in China. “Art College 1994” is set against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world and revolves around a group of college students who take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, these young adults now have to choose who they want to become. The film, whose voice cast includes Venice Golden Lion-winning filmmaker Jia Zhangke, is filled with pop references and deadpan humor.

Eva Longoria picked a story that hits close to home.«This story resonated with me because this story is my story,» the actress and producer says of her new biopic, in ET's exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette. «Not the desire to have more, but to be more.»based on the memoir tells the story of Richard Montañez, a former janitor at Frito-Lay who claims to have invented the iconic Flamin' Hot Cheetos.«It's not just being the underdog, or a rags-to-riches story,» Longoria explains of her film, out on Hulu and Disney+ today.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cohen Media Group has scooped rights to “Kidnapped,” the latest movie by revered Italian master Marco Bellocchio, which world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The drama reconstructs the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th-century Italy. Described by Variety as a “handsomely mounted period drama,” “Kidnapped” opens in 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, where 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.

breakout star Debbie is looking back at some of her most talked-about moments. The 67-year-old reality star made headlines due to her rocky romance with 24-year-old Oussama from Morocco and she spoke to ET's Melicia Johnson about where they currently stand today, as well as reflected on her experiences this season.Debbie broke up with Oussama after she accused him of using her to come to America. Debbie's plan was to move to Morocco to be with Oussama permanently, but he suddenly changed the plan when she arrived and insisted that they needed to go to the United States so he could work as an artist.

Todd Gilchrist editor If an endless array of variations, alternatives and opportunities is a foundational concept of the animated superhero series “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” it also seems like one for the career of Metro Boomin. St. Louis native Leland Tyler Wayne’s musical alter ego is not only the producer of the soundtrack for its sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” but also plays a small role in the film as one of its Spider-people, Metro Spider, and collaborated with Nike on an elaborate, patchwork “Spider-Verse”-themed Air Jordan that sold out almost immediately after he and his siblings modeled for its advertising campaign.A post shared by Jordan (@jumpman23) In just the past few months, he also partnered with Major League Baseball to be the opening-day voice of its 2023 season, starred in a Budweiser Super Bowl commercial, and celebrated the release of “Heroes & Villains (Villains Version),” a remix edition of his second studio album, with a digital comic book and a debut performance at Coachella 2023 assisted by The Weeknd, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Diddy and more performers. This web (excuse the pun) of projects exemplifies the scale of his creative ambition, but even a cursory scan of their results highlights how much effort he puts into each one. After shepherding the sprawling “Across the Spider-Verse” soundtrack to completion, he spent a week on Instagram premiering Spider-person iterations of his collaborators, including Coi Leray, Future, Offset, James Blake and A$AP Rocky; it’s clear he’s not content to sit behind the boards and simply let his indefatigable collection of beats speak for him.

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Chernin’s North Road Company has completed its first major international acquisition, Karga Seven Pictures, one of Turkey’s leading film and TV producers.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Peter Chernin’s global multi-genre studio The North Road Company has acquired Turkish film and TV powerhouse Karga Seven Pictures in its first major move to expand its international market footprint. The company, which is an offshoot of Red Arrow Entertainment Group, originated as a factual content creator in the U.S. before moving into Turkish scripted films and series. Their most recent standout products are Netflix’s original hits “Midnight at the Pera Palace” and “Rise of Empires: Ottoman.” But they now produce many of Turkey’s top shows, including “Hekimoglu” — adapted from the U.S. series “House.” Karga Seven’s founders — Emmy-nominated producers Sarah Wetherbee, Emre Sahin and Kelly McPherson — will remain in leadership roles, according to a statement. Wetherbee and Sahin will serve as global co-CEOs with McPherson as head of English-language content, alongside industry veteran and newly hired Ömer Müjdat Özgüner, who will now serve as Karga Seven’s Turkey CEO.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Momento Film, the leading Swedish banner founded by David Herdies (“Winter Buoy”) and Michael Krotkiewski (“Bellum — The Daemon Of War”), is boasting a slate of projects including the documentaries “Leaving Jesus” and “The Underdog,” as well as Simón Mesa Soto’s “A Poet.” While at Cannes, the banner also started teasing one of its biggest project so far, “The Swedish Torpedo,” Frida Kempff (“Winter Buoy”)’s period film inspired by the life of Sally Bauer, the first Scandinavian to swim across the English Channel in 1939. “The Swedish Torpedo” will start shooting in August with a topnotch cast led by Josefin Neldén (“Border,” “438 Days”), Mikkel Boe Følsgaard (“Royal Affair,” “Borgen”), as well as Lisa Carlehed (“The Emigrants”).

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).