‘Quicksand’ Producer FLX to Adapt ‘Shadowland,’ a Thriller About School Bullying in Sweden (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The chief of the Annecy Film Festival, Mickael Marin, has addressed the tragic knife attack that injured five people, including four children, on Thursday morning (June 8) at a busy lakeside park, just days before the start of the international animation film festival. “We are all shocked here. So far, the only thing that I can say is that we really hope that kids and other people injured will be fine. Of course, we will do something (to express our solidarity). For the time being, the only thing that we can do is to pray for the people who were attacked,” Marin told Variety. Two children and one adult are severely injured, according to France Info. The suspect, arrested by police shortly after the attack, is a Syrian refugee who applied for asylum in France and eventually got it from Sweden in April, according to local reports. France’s anti-terrorist prosecutors office hasn’t yet been seized.

Naman Ramachandran The first trailer has been unveiled for documentary “In the Shadow of Beirut,” executive produced by Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Siobhan Sinnerton for HiddenLight Productions. The film is a cinematic portrait of modern-day Lebanon as seen through the eyes of four families living in the impoverished Sabra and Shatila neighbourhoods of the city, the scene of an infamous massacre in 1982. It filmed over four years with unique access to the families within these largely restricted areas and is co-directed by Stephen Gerard Kelly, in his debut, and Garry Keane (Sundance selection “Gaza,” 2019). Kelly built up his relationship with the families over a six-year period.

RuPaul is the undisputed queen of self-confidence — and he shares his tips for learning how to love yourself in the new issue of Us Weekly.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Rajshri Deshpande, star of Rotterdam winner “Sexy Durga” and hit Netflix series “Trial by Fire,” headlines “Privacy,” the first teaser for which has been unveiled. The film will have its world premiere at Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan). “Privacy” is a voyeuristic social thriller set in and around the slums of Mumbai. It follows Roopali (Deshpande), who works at the Mumbai surveillance command and control center as an operator. While being ambitious, she constantly fights her own guilt and resists her dark past. Things start to get complicated when Roopali ignores protocol and begins to investigate a robbery and murder that takes place on her watch. The film takes the neo-noir approach to explore themes of mental health, voyeurism and access to information.

EXCLUSIVE: African streamer Showmax has greenlit a Kenyan crime drama set in the aftermath of a heist gone bad. Scroll down for a teaser.

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”).

Amber Dowling Last April, Sphere Media took the Canadian Screen Awards by storm with 22 awards for its scripted content, including a record 12 wins for the historical Black drama “The Porter” and seven for queer comedy “Sort Of.” It was a big night for Canada’s third-largest independent producer, and in particular for Jennifer Kawaja, Sphere’s president of scripted and feature films for English Canada. Previously, Kawaja spent decades heading up Sienna Films with her business partner, Julia Sereny, helming several award-winning projects like “Cardinal,” “Trickster” and “One Dead Indian.” The duo sold the company to Kew Media Group in 2017 and in 2020, Montreal-based Datsit Sphere snatched it up when Kew was placed into receivership. Last year, Sphere restructured and rebranded under a single banner with the intention of streamlining content creation, production and distribution.

Robin Wagner, one of Broadway’s most prolific and celebrated set designers with three Tony Awards and a roster of major credits including Angels in America, Dreamgirls, A Chorus Line, The Producers and Jelly’s Last Jam, died Monday in his sleep in New York City. He was 89.

tried to predict how the show would end and who would wind up owning Waystar Royco.Would it be Shiv, Kendall and Roman — the offspring of deceased founder Logan Roy? Or Lucas Matsson, the wild-man tech entrepreneur from Sweden? Or maybe some dark-horse who had yet to be considered?At least one person was willing to put his money where his mouth is and not only go public with his prediction but also to post odds for the outcome. (Warning: reading further contains spoilers.)Avello correctly predicted that Waystar Royco would be sold.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Germany’s Beta has licensed Spanish special ops thriller “La Unidad – Kabul,” to Max for the U.S., the third instalment in one of Movistar Plus+’s longest running franchises, “La Unidad,” whose six episodes deliver an engrossing and sometimes shocking take on the 2021 Fall of Kabul. With the purchase, all 18 episodes of Spanish series “La Unidad” are now available to stream on Max in the U.S.   Beta has previously sold the thriller, spangled by action scenes and haunting in its sudden deaths, to 50 territories including France, Latin America, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Australia.  

A Maryland father was savagely beaten to death last week after a school fight was brought to his doorstep. Last Friday, Christopher Micha

Ed Meza @edmezavar Alief has acquired world sales rights to Alex Kahuam’s single-take thriller “Failure!” starring Ted Raimi. Shot in a single, 87-minute take, the Mexican-U.S. co-production follows James (Raimi), a man who has just one hour to choose between financial ruin or murder to protect his family. The film gained a boost after bowing at the inaugural Fantastic Pavilion Galas, the Cannes Film Market’s new genre showcase. “I’m very excited to work with Alief because they understand what true cinema is,” said Kahuam. “The Fantastic Pavilion was the bridge and Alief was the catalyst to move the film where we thought it should go.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent FilmRise, the New York-based film and TV studio and streaming network, and Canal+ Docs have boarded “Missing From Fire Trail Road,” Sabrina Van Tassel (“The State of Texas vs. Melissa”)’s long-gestated documentary film about the crimes against indigenous women. “Missing From Fire Trail Road” sheds light on the case of Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis, a Native-American woman who disappeared in 2020, and exposes how hundreds of indigenous women continue to go missing in the US, perpetuating trans-generational trauma on Indian reservations. The announcement was made today by Max Einhorn, SVP of acquisitions and co-productions at FilmRise, Christine Cauquelin, head of documentaries at Canal+ and Van Tassel, who is also producing the feature.

 If you have not yet binged season 6 of , save this link for later.Bre Tiesi knew her new co-workers would have questions and comments about her personal life, she just didn't realize how much her debut season of  would focus on it.Last year, Bre welcomed her first child with Nick Cannon, his eighth, a son named Legendary. Nick's now dad to 12 kids, splitting time between their houses, with their mothers, some of whom he considers partners. That includes Bre.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Christopher Manning will make his feature directorial debut with “James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty,” a biographical documentary about Oscar-winning director and screenwriter James Ivory. The film will chronicle the life and work of the filmmaker, who is still going strong at age 94, having earned acclaim and an Academy Award for adapting “Call Me By Your Name.” But even before that film hit theaters, Ivory was known as an unparalleled director of dramas about men and women who deal with roiling emotions behind a facade of exquisite manners.  His greatest films include such classics (and yes that over-used descriptor applies) as “A Room with a View,” “Maurice,” “Howards End” and “The Remains of the Day.” He has been nominated for the director Oscar on three occasions, and has been nominated for producing three picture contenders. Many of these movies were made with the help of the late film producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The trio operated under the shingle Merchant Ivory, producing 44 films between 1961 and 2009.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Vincent Cassel (“Black Swan,” “The Shrouds”) and Caterina Murino (“Casino Royal”) will show off their acting range in “The Opera!,” an €11 million film starring famed opera singers Mariam Battistelli andRame Lahaj. Pulsar Content is repping the hot project which is produced by Showlab and RAI Cinema, with Dolce&Gabbana on board to co-produce and design the costumes. “The Opera!” is based on a modern version of the famous Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and will be directed by longtime opera partners Davide Livermore and Paolo Gep Cucco who are the only ones to have presented the world premiere of La Scala four times in a row. The movie, teased by Pulsar at the Cannes Market, showcases different musical references spanning from opera, pop and electro.

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.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mikael Marcimain, the popular Swedish director of “Call Girl” and “Gentlemen,” is on track to direct “Devastation,” an epic and horrific tale of survival set in 1867. “Devastation” is one of the first projects developed by Mylla films, the new banner set up by Jakob Abrahamsson and Patrik Andersson (“Midsommar”). Mylla films has enlisted Nordic distributor and co-producer Scanbox and French boutique genre specialist Alexis Perrin of Rumble Fish as co-producers. A period piece set in Northern Sweden, “Devastation” is penned by Melina Maraki (“The Liberation of Harold Kvist”). Unfolding during the ever-ending winter and famine of 1867, the film revolves around two brothers, one the local industrialist and the other the local preacher, who keep a sawmill society in a tyrannical stronghold. An uprising begins from the most unexpected place.

Tony Award-winning actress Cynthia Erivo will topline a film adaptation of the hit play “Prima Facie,” which she will also executive produce.Participant and Bunya Productions are producing the film, in association with Erivo’s Edith’s Daughter. The film will be directed by BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Susanna White.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “False Flag” director Oded Raz is set to direct “Jerusalem 67,” an epic period thriller retelling Israel’s unlikely victory during the Six Day War in 1967. The long-gestating project is getting ready to shoot on location in Jerusalem on Aug. 16 and is being produced by New York-based Joseph Schick, a U.S. lawyer who started developing it over a decade ago. Yael Grobglas (“Supergirl”) is in advanced negotiations to play the lead role as a civilian haunted by a painful childhood who leaves her family to serve on the frontlines of war. Itzik Cohen, whose acting credits include “Fauda” and “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” is in advanced negotiations to join the cast.