Elsa Keslassy International Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pulsar Content has acquired “Niki,” a film about the famous French-American artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, for international sales. The Paris-based banner will introduce the period project to buyers at the Cannes market with exclusive first stills. “Niki” marks the feature debut of popular French actor Céline Sallette and stars Charlotte Le Bon (“The Walk” “Saint-Laurent”) as de Saint-Phalle. Le Bon recently made her feature debut with “Falcon Lake” — which bowed at Cannes last year — and previously starred in Robert Zemeckis’s “The Walk,” as well as Terry George’s “The Promise” and Jalil Lespert’s “Saint-Laurent.” Le Bon stars in “Niki” opposite Damien Bonnard (“Les Misérables“).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Frédéric Corvez’s Paris-based Urban Sales has boarded “Pictures of Ghosts”, the latest film of renowned Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (“Aquarius”, “Bacurau”). The movie, which marks Mendonça Filho’s fifth feature film, will world premiere at Cannes in the Special Screenings section. “Pictures of Ghosts” will mark the director’s third film to bow at Cannes, following two competition entries, “Bacurau” (co-directed by Juliano Dornelles) which won the Jury Prize n 2019, and “Aquarius” in 2016. “Pictures of Ghosts” combines archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories. The film is produced by Emilie Lesclaux at CinemaScópio Produções and co-produced by Silvia Cruz and Felipe Lopes’ Vitrine Filmes.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Films Boutique, the Berlin-based company behind “Pacifiction” and “The Burdened,” has come on board three international movies slated for the Cannes Film Festival. These include a pair of films set for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, “Terrestrial Verses” and “The Buriti Flower,” as well as “Tiger Stripes” which will bow at Critics’ Week. “Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors. Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Catherine Corsini, the French director of “Le Retour,” which was added to the competition lineup for the 76th edition of Cannes on Monday, has addressed the reports in French media of alleged inappropriate incidents during production of the film. Corsini’s competition slot was on hold for nearly 10 days after Cannes’s administration board heard that a scene of a sexual nature involving the 15-year old female protagonist of the film was added to the script and allegedly filmed without the consent of the Commission des Enfants du Spectacle, a government-backed organization. French reports also said Corsini was allegedly being accused of harassment by crew members, while other members of the crew had been allegedly been accused of inappropriate acts against two female actors.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to Cédric Klapisch’s (“The Spanish Apartment”) hit dance film “Rise” (“En corps”) from Studiocanal. One of 2022’s highest grossing French films, “Rise” sold nearly 1.3 million tickets in local theaters and was sold around the world. The movie tells the story of a young ballet dancer whose life is upended when she suffers a career-threatening injury and catches her  boyfriend cheating on her. As she begins her physical and emotional rehabilitation, she finds solace in friends, a new love, and a new contemporary dance troupe. Marion Barbeau, a dancer-turned-actor, delivers a breakthrough performance in the lead role, and stars opposite French stars, including François Civil (“Three Musketeers”), Pio Marmaï (“How I Became a Super Hero”), Denis Podalydès (“Anaïs in Love”), as well as Hofesh Shechter (“Send Me an Angel”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies” starring Sean Penn, and Catherine Corsini’s “Le retour” have been added to the competition lineup of the upcoming 76th Cannes Film Festival. As many as 13 movies have been peppered across several sections, including the competition, special screening, Un Certain Regard and out of competition. Robert Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic” and Kim Tae-gon’s “Project Silence” are joining the Midnight Screening roster, while Amat Escalante’s Mexican drama “Perdidos en la Noche” and Argentinian helmer Lisandro Alonso’s thriller “Eureka” starring Viggo Mortensen and José María Yazpik, will bow at Cannes Premiere, a non-competitive section launched in 2021. Alonso previously won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with his 2014 movie “Jauja.” Also slated for Cannes Premiere is Valerie Donzelli’s drama “L’Amour et les forets.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Vivendi, the parent company of French pay TV banner Canal+ Group,has sees revenues rise by 3.3% to €2.29 billion ($2.52 billion) during the first quarter of 2023. Vivendi attributes the growth to all its subsidiaries, in particular Studiocanal, the film and TV production and distribution company of Canal+, whose revenues went up by 13.6% compared with the first quarter of 2022 driven by the success of several films, including the comedy “Alibi.com 2” and “John Wick 4.” Among the several high profile deals signed by the company during the first quarter, Canal+ inked an agreement with French telco Orange to acquire all shares of its pay TV package OCS, as well as Orange Studio, the film and series co-production subsidiary.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent SF Studios, the leading Scandinavian banner behind “Snabba Cash” and “A Man Called Otto,” has boarded “Kingmaker,” the sequel of the 2004 Danish hit movie “Kongekabale.” The political thriller is an adaptation of Niels Krause-Kjær’s second novel “Mørkeland” about the adventures of an investigative journalist, Ulrik Torp. The initial movie was a local blockbuster, selling over 550,000 tickets in Danish theaters. The film, directed by Mikkel Serup, brings back Anders W. Berthelsen in the lead role as Ulrik Torp, starring alongside Danish star Nicolas Bro (“Riders of Justice”) and Charlotte Munck (“Open Spaces”) also returning in their roles. Penned by Marie Østerbye, “Kingmaker” is produced by Sara Namer and Morten Kjems Hytten Juhl at Meta Film, and executive produced by Meta Film’s Louise Foldager. SF Studios distributes the film in the Nordics, while REinvent handles international sales.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leo Maidenberg’s Paris-based company Place du Marché Productions is developing a slate of French and international films and TV series with acclaimed talents, including Daphna Levin, the creator of the Israeli series “Euphoria,” as well as Sarah Kaminsky (“Raid Dingue”) and Leïla Sy (“Banlieusards”). Maidenberg, who launched Place du Marché in 2018 after a career in diplomacy and made his producing debut with Caroline Fourest’s politically charged action film “Sisters in Arms,” has teamed with Kim Younes at Elvie Productions on a pair of high concept Israeli series. The first title produced by the two banners is “The Truth,” a police thriller series co-written and directed by Levin, whose credits also include the original Israeli series “In Therapy.” Set in Tel Aviv, “The Truth” opens on the day of the final verdict for the most controversial murder case in Israel, 10 years after the incident which took place in a high school gym. That same day, a new murder happens in identical circumstances. Juvenile inspector Rachel Zohar, a student at the high school at the time of the first murder, must revisit her trauma to solve the case. Aurit Zamir (“Babysitter”) co-wrote the series with Levin.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has set the launch date for Part 3 of “Lupin,” its popular heist series starring Omar Sy, for Oct. 3. Louis Leterrier, who’s just been tapped to helm the next installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, is back in the director’s chair for the third part of “Lupin,” which will come more than two years after Part 2. As previously reported, the new season of “Lupin” started filming in the French capital in November 2021, so the launch comes a good deal of time after Part 2 debuted in June 2021. Sy is reprising his role as Assane Diop, a character inspired by the world-famous gentleman thief and master of disguise, Arsène Lupin. The cast will also bring back Ludivine Sagnier and Clotilde Hesme, among others.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Quentin Tarantino has been named honorary guest at the upcoming edition of Directors’ Fortnight, the selection running alongside the Cannes Film Festival. The tribute will take place on May 25, on the closing of Directors Fortnight. “As an exceptional and generous cinephile, Tarantino is at home at the Fortnight. He will be our guest this year to present a secret screening and discuss his counter-history of cinema,” said Directors’ Fortnight in a statement. Tarantino was recently in Paris to promote his first non-fiction book, “Cinema Speculation,” which tells his coming-of-age as a director through a look at iconic American films from the 1970s era.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent A flamboyant man who was once a sales clerk, singer, actor, sports impresario, business mogul and government minister, Bernard Tapie led a rollercoaster life wilder than most fictional characters depicted in pop culture, even those created by Martin Scorsese. No wonder that it took a decade for Tristan Seguela and Olivier Demangel to create and pen “Tapie,” a Netflix original series charting the swaggering man’s epic rise, from his blue-collar origins to his glorious days as a wealthy businessman and president of one of France’s biggest soccer clubs, Olympique de Marseille. The limited series tells intimate parts of his life, including his relationship with loved ones and business partners, as well as some of his setbacks and legal problems. Tapie died in 2021.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In a bid to showcase the utility of NFT’s in cinema, the team behind Mounia Meddour’s (“Papicha”) Rome-premiering film “Houria” is launching a limited impact NFT collection. Meddour’s follow up to her Cesar-winning feature debut “Papicha,” “Houria” is still playing in theaters in France and was recently boarded by “CODA” Star Troy Kotsur who is now executive producer on the movie. Kotsur made history last year as the first Deaf man to take home an acting award at the Oscars.  The initiative, which is being engineered by the film’s producers Ink Connection and High Sea, as well as the banners MADworld and Lumiere, will allow for the creation of a series of NFT’s focusing on “Houria”‘s central themes — sign language and dance. Powered by blockchain technology, a portion of the NFT proceeds will be donated to the Paris-based non-profit org Femmes Sourdes Citoyennes et Solidaires (United Deaf Women Citizens).  

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pixar will be back at the Cannes Film Festival on closing night (May 27) with the world premiere of their new feature “Elemental.”   Presented Out of Competition, the film will be released in theaters on June 16 in the U.S. and on June 21 in France.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Catherine Corsini was meant to be the seventh female director in competition at the 72nd edition of Cannes with her film “Le Retour” (The Return). But her competition slot is on hold for now after news broke about several alleged inappropriate incidents during filming. The night before the press conference on April 13, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux confirmed to the director that she would have a competition slot, but shortly before the start of the announcement, the festival’s administration board decided to hold off on including the title as part of the lineup. The delay came after the board discovered that Corsini was allegedly being accused of harassment by crew members, while other members of the crew had been allegedly been accused of inappropriate acts against two female actors, according to French reports. Fremaux told Variety the “administration board wished to gather more information about the situation around the film before taking a decision on whether to include the film in its Official Selection.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has swooped on “Vortex,” the event drama-fantasy series which recently launched on France Televisions and garnered stellar ratings. The limited series will be available on Netflix in 190 countries starting June 2. The mini-series was produced by Quad Drama, the banner behind “Women at War” and “The Bonfire of Destiny” — a pair of highly successful shows which were jointly commissioned by Netflix and TF1. Set in 2025, the show stars Sisley as Ludovic, the police captain in the French city of Brest who lost the love of his life, Melanie, 27 years prior in a tragic accident. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent One of France’s most beloved and long-running TV hosts, Arthur Essebag, is preparing to take his leading unscripted production banner Satisfaction into English-language markets with top partners, ranging from James Corden, Leo Pearlman, Ben Winston, Benjamin, Gabriel Turner, Richard Bacon to Elisabeth Murdoch. A few days after announcing its stake in Yes Yes Media, the company founded by Richard Bacon alongside Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister Media, Satisfaction has formed a joint venture with Fulwell 73, the U.K.-based production company behind “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” The London-based outfit was founded in 2005 by Winston, Pearlman and Benjamin and Gabriel Turner. Corden was appointed a director in the company in 2017. Although the banner is headquartered in the U.K., as much as 70% of its turnover in 2020 came from the U.S. where Winston has produced the Grammy Awards, among other shows.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Plan B’s new owner Mediawan is pursuing its buying spree with the acquisition of a majority stake in the Emmy Award-winning company Submarine. The Amsterdam-based company develops and produces international scripted series and feature films and documentaries, and owns the largest animation studio in the Netherlands. Submarine’s film and series credits include the Emmy Award-winning documentary “Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World,” and the Netflix original production “Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press.” Most recently, Submarine produced Richard Linklater’s latest film “Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood” for Netflix, and the Amazon Prime Video series “Undone” created by Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob Waksberg. Upcoming projects include the upscale drama series “The Kollective” written by “Gomorrah” and “ZeroZeroZero” showrunner Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Rvaglia; as well as “Safe Harbor” which is inspired by true events crime series and is created by Mark Williams (“Ozark”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off a successful edition that premiered Charlotte Wells’ celebrated film “Aftersun” with Paul Mescal, Cannes’ Critics Week is back with an international lineup spanning South Korea and Malaysia to France and Jordan, among others. The Critics Week sidebar runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, and focuses on first and second films. Under the leadership of artistic director Ava Cahen since last year, the lineup will boast 11 feature films chosen from 1,000 submitted movies. Out of these 11 movies, seven are feature debuts and six are directed by women. Among them is “Ama Gloria,” directed by French helmer Marie Amachoukeli, who previously won Cannes’ Golden Camera for “Party Girl” which she co-directed with Claire Burger and Samuel Theis.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Once pitted againsteach other as rivals, streamers and broadcasters have become unlikely allies in the face of increased competition and economic pressure following the pandemic and the launch of more content viewing platforms.  Even in France, where Netflix was referred to as the “devil” by France Televisions president Delphine Ernotte Cunci in a 2019 interview, the tide has turned and a number of ambitious series have been jointly financed by both local broadcasters and streamers.  Examples of collaborations vary from period drama series such as “The Bonfire of Destiny” and “Women at War,” from TF1 and Netflix, to action series like Ziad Doueiri’s “Dark Hearts,” from  France Televisions and Amazon Prime Video. What do these shows have in common? They shot in French with local casts, and have the high budgets and production values that are typically allocated to international co-productions like “Marie Antoinette,” which shot in English and was produced with French and foreign TV partners. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes Film Festival’s longtime director Thierry Fremaux sat down with Variety following the announcement of this year’s lineup, which includes a bevy of star-studded period movies, including Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand” and Jonathan Glazer’s “Zone of Interest.” Along with a raft of politically-minded films, there’s also a record six movies directed by female helmers in competition, including newcomers like Senegalese direcotr Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s feature debut “Banel et Adama.” Fremaux said his only regret this year is to miss out on “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” but he’s keeping high hopes to convince Scorsese to vie for a second Palme d’Or 47 years after winning his first with “Taxi Driver.” He also revealed that as many as two or three movies are expected to be added to the competition next week, after Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week announce their respective lineups.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Apple and Canal+ have signed a landmark deal that will bring Apple TV+ to all Canal+ subscribers in France, along with some other European territories. The deal is different from the aggregation agreements that Canal+ has in place with other streamers such as Disney+ and Netflix, whose offers are being accessible as part of the French pay TV operator’s bundle. Under the pact, Apple TV+ will be available at no extra cost to Canal+ subs from April 20. Canal+ customers can seamlessly and easily access the films and series of Apple TV+ directly on their existing set-top box — with no separate app or subscription necessary. This is a multi-territory agreement for France, French speaking-Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iconic French fashion house Saint Laurent is launching a film production banner spearheaded by its artistic director Anthony Vaccarello. Named Saint Laurent Productions, the subsidiary is kicking off with a trio of films from renowned filmmakers, including a pair of shorts world premiering at Cannes: “Strange Way of Life” by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Vaccarello, a cinephile who became the artistic director of Saint Laurent in 2016, said launching this new division gives him “the opportunity to expand the vision I have for Saint Laurent through a medium that has more permanence than clothes.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The anticipation is running high at the Cannes Film Festival’s packed annual press conference on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where festival chief Thierry Fremaux is expected to unveil the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition. The festival has been teasing cinephiles with splashy announcements about Martin Scorsese returning to the Croisette with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” 38 years after winning best director with “After Hour,” as well as Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, “Strange Way of Life.” But Fremaux, who is leading the presser with the festival’s new president Iris Knobloch, is expected to have saved a few high-profile surprises, including Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” starring an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton; Todd Haynes’ “May December” with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore; Karim Aïnouz’s Henry VIII drama “Firebrand” with Alicia Vikander and Jude Law; and HBO’s “The Idol,” the Weeknd-led series.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Gustav Möller, who won the Audience Award at Sundance with his previous film “The Guilty,” has just completed the shooting of “Vogter,” a psychological thriller which has been boarded by Nordisk Film and Les Films du Losange. “Vogter” boasts a stellar Nordic cast including Sidse Babett Knudsen, the BAFTA-winning actor of “Borgen,” Dar Salim (“Game of Thrones”) and up-and-comer Sebastian Bull. The film follows Eva, an idealistic prison officer who is faced with the dilemma of her life when a young man from her past gets transferred to the prison where she works. Without revealing her secret, Eva asks to be moved to the young man’s ward – the toughest and most violent in the prison. Here begins an unsettling psychological thriller, where Eva’s sense of justice puts both her morality and future at stake.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor Gerard Depardieu, who’s already indicted on rape and sexual assault charges in connection to a 2018 case, is now being accused of sexual misconduct by 13 women in an investigative report published by Mediapart. The accusations were made by female actors, make-up artists and production staff, some of whom spoke on the basis of anonymity, and allegedly occurred during the filming of 11 films released between 2004 and 2022. Mediapart said “one actress has just given her account to the French justice system.” None of these 13 women have taken legal action against Depardieu, according to a statement provided to Variety by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pedro Almodóvar’s “Strange Way of Life” will world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Official Selection. The festival confirmed the news and said Almodovar will attend the premiere with his two lead actors, Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, in attendance. The short marks Almodovar’s second English-language experience, after “The Human Voice” in 2020. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Pedro Almodóvar and the filmmaking team. “Strange Way of Life” was produced by Agustín Almodóvar at El Deseo. Almodovar revealed in a statement that the film’s title “alludes to the famous fado by Amalia Rodrigues, whose lyrics suggest that there is no stranger existence than the one that is lived by turning your back on your own desires.” 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Elsa Zylberstein (“Simone: Woman of the Century”) will star as the French feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir in a feature film that will be penned by Oscar-winning writer Christopher Hampton and directed by Anne Fontaine. Zylberstein’s Sonia Films will produce the film with Philippe Carcassone’s banner Cine@ and Master Movie, the production vehicle of Marco and Lola Pacchioni. Rather than a biopic, the movie will revolve around the passionate transatlantic romance between de Beauvoir and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Nelson Algren. Zylberstein has scooped the adaptation rights of de Beauvoir’s “Lettres à Nelson Algren” from Gallimard. Through those letters, the film will chart the pair’s affair, which spanned nearly two decades from 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, to 1964. Two-thirds of the movie will take place in Chicago, and the reminder will unfold in Paris.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor-director Maiwenn, whose latest film “Jeanne du Barry” starring Johnny Depp is set to open the Cannes Film Festival, is being sued by Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of Mediapart magazine for allegedly attacking him at a restaurant. A police complaint was filed on March 7 by Plenel, accusing Maiween of aggression. Variety confirmed the filing with the Paris prosecutor’s office following local news reports. In the complaint, Plenel alleges that he was assaulted by Maiwenn in late February while eating at a restaurant in the posh seventh arrondissement of Paris. Maiwenn, who was sitting by herself at a nearby table, allegedly came to his table and grabbed him by the hair before spitting in his face without saying a word, then stormed out of the venue, leaving Plenel “traumatized by the incident,” according to the news outlet AFP, which quoted the police complaint.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Brut, the influential digital media publisher which became one of the main partners for the Cannes Film Festival last year, has just finalized its fourth funding round for approximately $40 million. The company, founded by Guillaume Lacroix, Renaud Le Van Kim and Laurent Lucas six years ago, has enlisted a pair of powerful financial backers: CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping company owned by billionaire businessman Rodolphe Saadé, which also recently nabbed 10% of France’s second biggest commercial network M6, and the daily newspaper La Provence; and MoonPay, a leading Miami-based financial service company for web3 whose investors include former tennis star Maria Sharapova, as well as Snoop Dogg, Drake and Justin Bieber, among others. Aryeh B. Bourkoff’s LionTree advised the deal with MoonPay.