It has been a big week for beloved musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the 1964 Palme d’Or and went on to international acclaim and five Oscar nominations and served as one of the key inspirations for Damien Chazelle’s La La Land.
The film got a special 60th anniversary Cannes Classics screening Thursday of the exquisitely new restoration at the Agnes Varda Theatre, which is named after the late director and is also wife of late Cherbourg writer-director Jacques Demy. This week also has seen the world premieres of two documentaries related to the film here. On Saturday night at the Buñuel Theatre in the Palais came the premiere of Once Upon a Time: Michel Legrand, an extensive two-hour documentary on the late great composer of Cherbourg and so much more.
Then on Wednesday night, also at the Buñuel, was the unveiling...
The film got a special 60th anniversary Cannes Classics screening Thursday of the exquisitely new restoration at the Agnes Varda Theatre, which is named after the late director and is also wife of late Cherbourg writer-director Jacques Demy. This week also has seen the world premieres of two documentaries related to the film here. On Saturday night at the Buñuel Theatre in the Palais came the premiere of Once Upon a Time: Michel Legrand, an extensive two-hour documentary on the late great composer of Cherbourg and so much more.
Then on Wednesday night, also at the Buñuel, was the unveiling...
- 5/23/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The Swiss/French “Dog on Trial” is set to disrupt, move and entertain the Croisette from what is revealed in a first clip from sales outfit MK2 Films, exclusively shared with Variety.
The film world premieres at Cannes Un Certain Regard May 19.
Writer/actor-turned-director Laetitia Dosch, who delivered what Variety reviewer Peter Debruge called a ‘blazing-wildfire performance’ in the 2017 Camera d’or winner “Jeune Femme”, is herself taking a chance this year on the coveted award. Meanwhile Cosmos the Dog (aka Kodi in the film) will battle for the leather dog collar Palme Dog win.
As the main protagonist Alice, Dosch wears an attorney’s gown to defend the four-legged Cosmos, accused of multiple bite attacks. Known for taking up lost causes, she will rise to the challenge, confront the legal system and advocate both for animal rights and women’s rights.
Next to Dosch and the dog Kodi, the...
The film world premieres at Cannes Un Certain Regard May 19.
Writer/actor-turned-director Laetitia Dosch, who delivered what Variety reviewer Peter Debruge called a ‘blazing-wildfire performance’ in the 2017 Camera d’or winner “Jeune Femme”, is herself taking a chance this year on the coveted award. Meanwhile Cosmos the Dog (aka Kodi in the film) will battle for the leather dog collar Palme Dog win.
As the main protagonist Alice, Dosch wears an attorney’s gown to defend the four-legged Cosmos, accused of multiple bite attacks. Known for taking up lost causes, she will rise to the challenge, confront the legal system and advocate both for animal rights and women’s rights.
Next to Dosch and the dog Kodi, the...
- 5/17/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
After nearly two years of planning, the digital platform “The Gleaners and I: Revisiting Agnès Varda’s Edit” is about to go live.
Supported by Martin Scorsese, the pedagogical platform will open the treasure trove of Agnès Varda’s archives, making never-before-seen footage and hours of unused rushes available to nascent filmmakers across the globe. Through “The Gleaners and I,” students at participating universities will be able to re-edit and completely rethink Varda’s 2000 documentary of the same name — pooling from 62 hours of rushes, all subtitled in English – under the proviso that each new clip edit be uploaded back on to the platform.
“Agnès would have surely loved the idea of having her work live on in this way,” says daughter and project leader Rosalie Varda. “She would want to give the students full freedom – and that’s what we’ve done. Participants can really reconceive the work however they see fit.
Supported by Martin Scorsese, the pedagogical platform will open the treasure trove of Agnès Varda’s archives, making never-before-seen footage and hours of unused rushes available to nascent filmmakers across the globe. Through “The Gleaners and I,” students at participating universities will be able to re-edit and completely rethink Varda’s 2000 documentary of the same name — pooling from 62 hours of rushes, all subtitled in English – under the proviso that each new clip edit be uploaded back on to the platform.
“Agnès would have surely loved the idea of having her work live on in this way,” says daughter and project leader Rosalie Varda. “She would want to give the students full freedom – and that’s what we’ve done. Participants can really reconceive the work however they see fit.
- 5/17/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
As Cannes Film Festival kicks off, the Paris-based international sales company MK2 Films has revealed it has acquired three films and made substantial investments in new restorations, set against the backdrop of a strong presence at Cannes Classics.
MK2 Films has entered into a collaboration with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation on the global rights (excluding the U.S.) for two films directed by artist Niki de Saint Phalle: “Un Rêve plus long que la nuit” (1976) and “Daddy” (1973). “Un Rêve plus long que la nuit” has been restored in 4K by L’Immagine Ritrovata (Bologna-Paris) under the supervision of Arielle de Saint Phalle and with funding from Dior. It was presented at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, New York Film Festival and the new Los Angeles Festival of Movies. “Daddy” will soon be available in a restored version. MK2 Films described it as a “unique feminist work by one of...
MK2 Films has entered into a collaboration with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation on the global rights (excluding the U.S.) for two films directed by artist Niki de Saint Phalle: “Un Rêve plus long que la nuit” (1976) and “Daddy” (1973). “Un Rêve plus long que la nuit” has been restored in 4K by L’Immagine Ritrovata (Bologna-Paris) under the supervision of Arielle de Saint Phalle and with funding from Dior. It was presented at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, New York Film Festival and the new Los Angeles Festival of Movies. “Daddy” will soon be available in a restored version. MK2 Films described it as a “unique feminist work by one of...
- 5/14/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Cyprien Vial’s Guadalope-set volcano drama Magma, and Sophie Deraspe’s Bergers, about a man and women who trades in their lives as an ad exec and a civil servant to become shepherds in rural France, head Pyramide International’s busy Cannes Market slate.
Marina Fois, Theo Christine and Mathieu Demy star in Magma, which is produced by Isabelle Madelaine’s Dharamsala and Emilie Tisné’s Darius Films. Fois plays a woman running the Guadeloupe Volcano Observatory who dreams of managing a major eruption and comes face to face with the unpredictable La Soufrière volcano. Shot in Guadeloupe, the film...
Marina Fois, Theo Christine and Mathieu Demy star in Magma, which is produced by Isabelle Madelaine’s Dharamsala and Emilie Tisné’s Darius Films. Fois plays a woman running the Guadeloupe Volcano Observatory who dreams of managing a major eruption and comes face to face with the unpredictable La Soufrière volcano. Shot in Guadeloupe, the film...
- 5/9/2024
- ScreenDaily
Ms Novak’s (Mia Wasikowska) students Fred (Luke Barker), Ragna (Florence Baker), Helen (Gwen Currant), Elsa (Ksenia Devriendt), and Ben (Samuel D Anderson) in Jessica Hausner’s bewitching Club Zero
In the second installment with Jessica Hausner on Club Zero (co-written with Geraldine Bajard) and scored by Markus Binder (European Film Award winner), starring Mia Wasikowska (as Conscious Eating instructor Ms Novak), we discussed her longtime collaborators, costume designer Tanja Hausner and cinematographer Martin Gschlacht plus Sidse Babett Knudsen and Peter & The Wolf.
Jessica Hausner on using Peter & The Wolf in Club Zero: “It’s a very common fairytale and we found out that it’s really very well known …” Photo: Anne Katrin Titze
The parents of the students are played by Elsa Zylberstein (Simone Veil in Olivier Dahan’s all-embracing portrait Simone: Woman Of The Century) Mathieu Demy, Camilla Rutherford...
In the second installment with Jessica Hausner on Club Zero (co-written with Geraldine Bajard) and scored by Markus Binder (European Film Award winner), starring Mia Wasikowska (as Conscious Eating instructor Ms Novak), we discussed her longtime collaborators, costume designer Tanja Hausner and cinematographer Martin Gschlacht plus Sidse Babett Knudsen and Peter & The Wolf.
Jessica Hausner on using Peter & The Wolf in Club Zero: “It’s a very common fairytale and we found out that it’s really very well known …” Photo: Anne Katrin Titze
The parents of the students are played by Elsa Zylberstein (Simone Veil in Olivier Dahan’s all-embracing portrait Simone: Woman Of The Century) Mathieu Demy, Camilla Rutherford...
- 4/2/2024
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Exclusive: France TV Distribution has posted new deals for French director Delphine Deloget’s custody battle drama All To Play For (Rien à perdre) starring Virgine Efira.
The drama has sold to Canada (Films We Like), Spain (Divisa Red), Benelux (Vertigo Films), Italy (Just Wanted), Portugal (Outsider Films), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (C+ Poland) and Latin America (Imovision).
The film, which is Deloget’s debut fiction feature, world premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2023. It is produced by Curiosa Films, Unité and France 3 Cinema.
Ad Vitam released the film last November in France, where it has grossed around $1.4M to date.
Efira stars as a single mother who loses custody of her son when he is injured in an accident at home, while she is away working at night to support them.
Accused of negligence, the situation spirals as the family finds itself caught in the cross hairs of social services.
The drama has sold to Canada (Films We Like), Spain (Divisa Red), Benelux (Vertigo Films), Italy (Just Wanted), Portugal (Outsider Films), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (C+ Poland) and Latin America (Imovision).
The film, which is Deloget’s debut fiction feature, world premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2023. It is produced by Curiosa Films, Unité and France 3 Cinema.
Ad Vitam released the film last November in France, where it has grossed around $1.4M to date.
Efira stars as a single mother who loses custody of her son when he is injured in an accident at home, while she is away working at night to support them.
Accused of negligence, the situation spirals as the family finds itself caught in the cross hairs of social services.
- 2/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
"Don't you get it? It's a question of faith." Film Movement has revealed an official trailer for Club Zero, an unsettling dark comedy thriller from provocative Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner. This premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews (here's ours defending it), because it is a very interesting film that dares to provoke a reaction from the audience by confronting them with freaky blind faith. Mia Wasikowska stars as Miss Novak, a young teacher who takes a job at an elite school and forms a strong bond with five students who join her group called "Club Zero", challenging them to participate in "conscious eating". Combining a pitch-black comedic sensibility with elements of body horror, Club Zero satirizes the contemporary inclinations toward myopic insularity and blind faith brought on by anxieties regarding food, consumerism and environmental catastrophe. Though I think it's digging even deeper than that getting at religion,...
- 2/6/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
There’s a new diet trend with sinister intentions, courtesy of Jessica Hausner’s latest dark comedy “Club Zero.”
The film, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, stars Mia Wasikowska as a nefarious teacher who encourages her students to stop eating altogether. The reason? Other than weight loss and pseudo-environmental concerns, it’s a tactic to gain new cult members.
“Club Zero” competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes before going on to become a Best Picture nominee at both the Sitges and Munich International Film Festivals.
The official synopsis reads: “At an international boarding school, an unassuming yet rigorous Miss Novak (Wasikowska) joins the teaching staff to instruct a new class on ‘conscious eating.’ Her impressionable teenage students each have their own reasons for joining the class – to improve fitness, reduce their carbon footprint, or get extra credit. Although early lectures focus on mindful consumption, Miss Novak...
The film, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, stars Mia Wasikowska as a nefarious teacher who encourages her students to stop eating altogether. The reason? Other than weight loss and pseudo-environmental concerns, it’s a tactic to gain new cult members.
“Club Zero” competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes before going on to become a Best Picture nominee at both the Sitges and Munich International Film Festivals.
The official synopsis reads: “At an international boarding school, an unassuming yet rigorous Miss Novak (Wasikowska) joins the teaching staff to instruct a new class on ‘conscious eating.’ Her impressionable teenage students each have their own reasons for joining the class – to improve fitness, reduce their carbon footprint, or get extra credit. Although early lectures focus on mindful consumption, Miss Novak...
- 2/6/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed, whose epic “Kira and El Gen” about local resistance to British occupation recently scored at the local box office, is being feted with a career award by the El Gouna Film Festival.
The Egyptian fest, running Oct. 13-20 in the Red Sea resort roughly 250 miles south of Cairo, is also paying tribute to the Sudanese Film Group, a groundbreaking collective of filmmakers, and is planning an homage to late great British-French icon Jane Birkin.
Hamed (pictured above) broke out internationally in 2006 with his bold adaptation of Alaa Aswany’s bestselling novel “The Yacoubian Building” that became a game-changer in Egytian cinema due to the way it depicted homosexuality, Islamic fundamentalism and government corruption. After “Yacoubian” become a local hit and travelled widely Hamed scored again big time with “The Blue Elephant,” a thriller with supernatural elements and its sequel “The Blue Elephant 2” that more...
The Egyptian fest, running Oct. 13-20 in the Red Sea resort roughly 250 miles south of Cairo, is also paying tribute to the Sudanese Film Group, a groundbreaking collective of filmmakers, and is planning an homage to late great British-French icon Jane Birkin.
Hamed (pictured above) broke out internationally in 2006 with his bold adaptation of Alaa Aswany’s bestselling novel “The Yacoubian Building” that became a game-changer in Egytian cinema due to the way it depicted homosexuality, Islamic fundamentalism and government corruption. After “Yacoubian” become a local hit and travelled widely Hamed scored again big time with “The Blue Elephant,” a thriller with supernatural elements and its sequel “The Blue Elephant 2” that more...
- 10/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
With Jane Birkin’s passing, France loses both an icon and one of its greatest enigmas. To focus on France is not to diminish the fact that Birkin’s death will be mourned around the world. Alongside Brigitte Bardot, Françoise Hardy and Catherine Deneuve, Birkin was one of the last surviving 1960s femmes who sparked global interest in French culture.
Except that Birkin wasn’t French. She was born in London and clung to her English accent all her life. Birkin was perfectly fluent, but cultivated a faux-naïf way of speaking her adopted language that reinforced her persona as the eternal child. For the French, it was all part of her singular charm, established decades earlier… and which she sometimes struggled to escape.
As partner and muse to Svengali-like songwriting genius Serge Gainsbourg, Birkin posed for the cover of his “Histoire de Melody Nelson” album, wearing only a red wig and open-waisted blue jeans,...
Except that Birkin wasn’t French. She was born in London and clung to her English accent all her life. Birkin was perfectly fluent, but cultivated a faux-naïf way of speaking her adopted language that reinforced her persona as the eternal child. For the French, it was all part of her singular charm, established decades earlier… and which she sometimes struggled to escape.
As partner and muse to Svengali-like songwriting genius Serge Gainsbourg, Birkin posed for the cover of his “Histoire de Melody Nelson” album, wearing only a red wig and open-waisted blue jeans,...
- 7/16/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix made headlines at Cannes for buying Todd Haynes’ “May December” for $11 million, but it’s also spending money on film history. The streamer is one of several entities getting into the Agnes Varda business this year by investing in a new project to reignite interest in the late French New Wave filmmaker’s work.
Varda’s daughter, producer Rosalie Varda, announced at Cannes this week that she had secured financing for “Education in Images: ‘The Gleaners and I,'” an ambitious heritage project for film students built out of restored dailies from Varda’s seminal 1999 documentary. The digital platform will be made available to film schools around the world and cull from 60 hours of rushes from Varda’s poetic 2000 documentary “The Gleaners and I,” which explores the unique lives and challenges of gleaners throughout French society. Students will be able to use the platform to create their own versions...
Varda’s daughter, producer Rosalie Varda, announced at Cannes this week that she had secured financing for “Education in Images: ‘The Gleaners and I,'” an ambitious heritage project for film students built out of restored dailies from Varda’s seminal 1999 documentary. The digital platform will be made available to film schools around the world and cull from 60 hours of rushes from Varda’s poetic 2000 documentary “The Gleaners and I,” which explores the unique lives and challenges of gleaners throughout French society. Students will be able to use the platform to create their own versions...
- 5/24/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
“Club Zero,” a teen-cult thriller from director Jessica Hausner, may have Cannes Film Festival attendees thinking twice about ordering that second croissant on the Croisette.
The movie, which preaches the art of “conscious eating” and will definitely force viewers to consider the way they consume food, may be one of the more polarizing titles to debut at this year’s festival. Still, it earned a five-minute standing ovation at Monday night’s premiere.
In the film, Mia Wasikowska, a favorite from “Jane Eyre” and “Alice in Wonderland,” stars as a nutrition teacher from hell at an elite prep school. It all starts innocently, as teen cults are wont to do, with Miss Novak instructing her students that eating less is healthy, for themselves and for the environment. By the time the other educators and parents take note, an unthinkable reality has already started to unfold.
The film prompted at least...
The movie, which preaches the art of “conscious eating” and will definitely force viewers to consider the way they consume food, may be one of the more polarizing titles to debut at this year’s festival. Still, it earned a five-minute standing ovation at Monday night’s premiere.
In the film, Mia Wasikowska, a favorite from “Jane Eyre” and “Alice in Wonderland,” stars as a nutrition teacher from hell at an elite prep school. It all starts innocently, as teen cults are wont to do, with Miss Novak instructing her students that eating less is healthy, for themselves and for the environment. By the time the other educators and parents take note, an unthinkable reality has already started to unfold.
The film prompted at least...
- 5/22/2023
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Leading French producer Michael Gentile’s Paris-based outfit The Film is about to start shooting Julie Delpy’s next directorial outing, “The Barbarians,” and Laurence Arné’s “Les Hennedricks” starring Dany Boon.
Delpy’s comeback to French filmmaking since “Lolo,” “The Barbarians” is a satirical comedy unfolding in a small town in Brittany which is preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees after voting unanimously to greet them in exchange for subsidies from the government. But instead of seeing Ukrainians come into town, they see Syrian refugees, causing some tensions among locals and testing their liberal beliefs. Delpy will star in the film opposite Sandrine Kiberlain (“Mademoiselle Chambon”), Laurent Lafitte (“Elle”) and Ziad Bakri (“The Weekend Away”), India Hair (“Angry Annie”), Mathieu Demy (“The Bureau”) and Delpy’s father Albert Delpy.
Delpy penned the script with Matthieu Rumani (“Family Business”), in collaboration with Lea Domenech (“Bernadette”). “The Barbarians” will start filming on...
Delpy’s comeback to French filmmaking since “Lolo,” “The Barbarians” is a satirical comedy unfolding in a small town in Brittany which is preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees after voting unanimously to greet them in exchange for subsidies from the government. But instead of seeing Ukrainians come into town, they see Syrian refugees, causing some tensions among locals and testing their liberal beliefs. Delpy will star in the film opposite Sandrine Kiberlain (“Mademoiselle Chambon”), Laurent Lafitte (“Elle”) and Ziad Bakri (“The Weekend Away”), India Hair (“Angry Annie”), Mathieu Demy (“The Bureau”) and Delpy’s father Albert Delpy.
Delpy penned the script with Matthieu Rumani (“Family Business”), in collaboration with Lea Domenech (“Bernadette”). “The Barbarians” will start filming on...
- 5/19/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Jessica Hausner’s English-language film stars Mia Wasikowska, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Elsa Zylberstein.
Philippe Bober’s Coproduction Office has added new members to Club Zero, Jessica Hausner’s buzzy sixth feature in Competition here at Cannes.
The English-speaking drama set at an elite boarding school continues its global sales sweep, adding Neue Visionen in Germany, Sphere Films in Canada, Aerofilms in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Folkets Bio in Sweden, Another World in Norway, Obala in Bosnia, McF in Former Yugoslavia, A Plus in Bulgaria, Arthouse Traffic in Ukraine, Trt Sinema in Turkey, Shaw in Singapore, Sahamongkol in Thailand and Aardwolf for airline rights.
Philippe Bober’s Coproduction Office has added new members to Club Zero, Jessica Hausner’s buzzy sixth feature in Competition here at Cannes.
The English-speaking drama set at an elite boarding school continues its global sales sweep, adding Neue Visionen in Germany, Sphere Films in Canada, Aerofilms in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Folkets Bio in Sweden, Another World in Norway, Obala in Bosnia, McF in Former Yugoslavia, A Plus in Bulgaria, Arthouse Traffic in Ukraine, Trt Sinema in Turkey, Shaw in Singapore, Sahamongkol in Thailand and Aardwolf for airline rights.
- 5/17/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Film also stars Mathieu Demy, Elsa Zylberstein and Sidse Babett Knudsen.
Coproduction Office has added members to Club Zero with multiple buyers snapping up Jessica Hausner’s psychological drama at the EFM.
The ensemble film set at an elite boarding school sold to Bac Films in France, Klockworx in Japan, Academy Two in Italy, Karma in Spain, September Films in Benelux, Camera in Denmark, Praesens Film in Switzerland, Bio Paradis in Iceland, Alambique in Portugal, Ama Films in Greece, New Horizons in Poland, Vertigo in Hungary, Independenta in Romania, Filmstop Inspiration in the Baltic countries and Front Row in the Middle East.
Coproduction Office has added members to Club Zero with multiple buyers snapping up Jessica Hausner’s psychological drama at the EFM.
The ensemble film set at an elite boarding school sold to Bac Films in France, Klockworx in Japan, Academy Two in Italy, Karma in Spain, September Films in Benelux, Camera in Denmark, Praesens Film in Switzerland, Bio Paradis in Iceland, Alambique in Portugal, Ama Films in Greece, New Horizons in Poland, Vertigo in Hungary, Independenta in Romania, Filmstop Inspiration in the Baltic countries and Front Row in the Middle East.
- 2/28/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
While Agnès Varda explored her own work throughout her career, including in The Beaches of Agnès, her TV series From Here to There, and her final film Varda by Agnès, a new documentary has been announced that will take a look at the late, legendary Belgian-born French director’s massive contributions to the art of cinema.
Variety reports Mk2 Films, Cinétévé Sales, and Varda’s own Ciné-Tamaris have backed Viva Varda!, which will feature never-before-seen archival footage along with interviews from directors, including Atom Egoyan and Audrey Diwan. Helmed by Pierre-Henri Gibert, the film features interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy, and Jonathan Romney. With a French Cinémathèque retrospctive also taking place the fall, here’s hoping the documentary will debut for the occasion.
“With the upcoming homage at the French Cinémathèque, I felt like...
Variety reports Mk2 Films, Cinétévé Sales, and Varda’s own Ciné-Tamaris have backed Viva Varda!, which will feature never-before-seen archival footage along with interviews from directors, including Atom Egoyan and Audrey Diwan. Helmed by Pierre-Henri Gibert, the film features interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy, and Jonathan Romney. With a French Cinémathèque retrospctive also taking place the fall, here’s hoping the documentary will debut for the occasion.
“With the upcoming homage at the French Cinémathèque, I felt like...
- 2/17/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Agnès Varda, the late New Wave cinema legend, is the subject of “Viva Varda!,” a documentary boasting exclusive archive footage and interviews by filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan and Audrey Diwan. Mk2 Films is co-representing the documentary feature with Cinétévé Sales.
“Viva Varda!” will be first portrait of the Honorary Oscar recipient that’s not directed by Varda herself. The last film she directed was “Varda par Agnes,” a documentary shedding light on her own experiences as a filmmaker. Her sprawling career and legacy will be celebrated this fall at the French Cinémathèque.
Pierre-Henri Gibert, a film buff who’s made several documentaries about filmmakers, including Jacques Audiard, explored different aspects of Varda’s life and body of work and conducted insightful interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy and Jonathan Romney, among others.
“Viva Varda!
“Viva Varda!” will be first portrait of the Honorary Oscar recipient that’s not directed by Varda herself. The last film she directed was “Varda par Agnes,” a documentary shedding light on her own experiences as a filmmaker. Her sprawling career and legacy will be celebrated this fall at the French Cinémathèque.
Pierre-Henri Gibert, a film buff who’s made several documentaries about filmmakers, including Jacques Audiard, explored different aspects of Varda’s life and body of work and conducted insightful interviews with friends, family, and collaborators, including Varda’s children, Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy, along with Sandrine Bonnaire, Patricia Mazuy and Jonathan Romney, among others.
“Viva Varda!
- 2/16/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Usually taking a handful of years to develop her projects, Jessica Hausner has now finally embarked on her follow-up to 2019’s Little Joe. The Austrian director, also behind the acclaimed Lourdes and Amour Fou, has also expanded her cast of the drama, titled Club Zero.
Screen Daily reports that Mia Wasikowska, Luke Barber, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Amir El-Masry, Elsa Zylberstein, and Mathieu Demy round out the case of the psychological drama. Wasikowska stars as Miss Novak, a new teacher at an elite school “who forms a strong bond with five of the students, which takes a dangerous turn.” Babett Knudsen will take the role of the principal and El-Masry that of a teacher.
With a UK shoot now underway, it’ll head to Austria this fall ahead of a likely 2023 festival premiere. See the first behind-the-scenes image above as we await more details.
The post Jessica Hausner Begins Shooting Club...
Screen Daily reports that Mia Wasikowska, Luke Barber, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Amir El-Masry, Elsa Zylberstein, and Mathieu Demy round out the case of the psychological drama. Wasikowska stars as Miss Novak, a new teacher at an elite school “who forms a strong bond with five of the students, which takes a dangerous turn.” Babett Knudsen will take the role of the principal and El-Masry that of a teacher.
With a UK shoot now underway, it’ll head to Austria this fall ahead of a likely 2023 festival premiere. See the first behind-the-scenes image above as we await more details.
The post Jessica Hausner Begins Shooting Club...
- 8/15/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
There’ll be a whole load of people in the Club Zero camp as we learned via the Screen Daily folks that Limbo pairing Sidse Babett Knudsen and Amir El-Masry were cast alongside Mia Wasikowska in Jessica Hausner‘s next film (the trade also has a first look of the production) currently in production. The highly anticipated drama probably filled with a generous dose of malaise will undoubtably be earmarked for a Palme d’Or comp slot. Also added to the cast we find vets Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy. Production commenced the United Kingdom and will move Austria in early October.…...
- 8/12/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy have also joined the cast, as the UK shoot commences.
Danish actor Sidse Babett Knudsen and British-Egyptian star Amir El-Masry have joined the cast of Little Joe filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, as the shoot commences in Oxford, UK.
France’s Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy are also set to star, alongside the previously announced Mia Wasikowska.
The first image from the production has also been released, featuring Hausner directing Wasikowska and newcomer Luke Barker.
Club Zero is an intense psychological drama set in an elite school and stars Wasikowska as a new teacher...
Danish actor Sidse Babett Knudsen and British-Egyptian star Amir El-Masry have joined the cast of Little Joe filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, as the shoot commences in Oxford, UK.
France’s Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy are also set to star, alongside the previously announced Mia Wasikowska.
The first image from the production has also been released, featuring Hausner directing Wasikowska and newcomer Luke Barker.
Club Zero is an intense psychological drama set in an elite school and stars Wasikowska as a new teacher...
- 8/12/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The Netflix dramedy On the Verge has been cancelled after just one season, according to star and creator Julie Delpy.
The news was quietly confirmed by Delpy — who also served as executive producer, writer and director — in an Instagram response to a follower seeking an update.
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“Cancelled,” she wrote, “but they forgot to announce it was cancelled.”
When asked about a potential Season 2 on Marc Maron...
The news was quietly confirmed by Delpy — who also served as executive producer, writer and director — in an Instagram response to a follower seeking an update.
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“Cancelled,” she wrote, “but they forgot to announce it was cancelled.”
When asked about a potential Season 2 on Marc Maron...
- 4/9/2022
- by Nick Caruso
- TVLine.com
Colcoa, the L.A.-based French film and series festival, has unveiled the television section of its upcoming 25th anniversary edition.
“In Treatment,” Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s French adaptation of the original Israeli series “BeTipul”; Julie Delpy’s series debut “On The Verge”; and “Germinal,” the 19th century-set ambitious period series adapted from Emile Zola’s masterpiece created by Julien Lilti (“Hippocrate”) are among the nine TV titles set to have their North American premiere at Colcoa.
The other series set to compete at Colcoa include “High Intellectual Potential” starring Audrey Fleurot (“Spiral”) as an intractable cleaning lady-turned-ace detective and “Nona and her Daughters,” co-written and directed by Valerie Donzelli (“Declaration of War”).
Set to take place Nov. 1-7 at the DGA, the festival will showcase 12 programs, including seven series, four TV movies and one documentary. The section is being backed by Titrafilm and has enlisted some of France’s top companies,...
“In Treatment,” Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s French adaptation of the original Israeli series “BeTipul”; Julie Delpy’s series debut “On The Verge”; and “Germinal,” the 19th century-set ambitious period series adapted from Emile Zola’s masterpiece created by Julien Lilti (“Hippocrate”) are among the nine TV titles set to have their North American premiere at Colcoa.
The other series set to compete at Colcoa include “High Intellectual Potential” starring Audrey Fleurot (“Spiral”) as an intractable cleaning lady-turned-ace detective and “Nona and her Daughters,” co-written and directed by Valerie Donzelli (“Declaration of War”).
Set to take place Nov. 1-7 at the DGA, the festival will showcase 12 programs, including seven series, four TV movies and one documentary. The section is being backed by Titrafilm and has enlisted some of France’s top companies,...
- 9/24/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
French In Motion Sets Up In LA
Exclusive: French In Motion, the non-profit that brings together French and American professionals from the film and TV industry is launching a chapter in Los Angeles, with Martine Melloul set to run the new office. Headquartered in New York with an existing chapter in Washington DC, the org supports international co-productions and collaborations between France and the United States through its partnership with the Gotham Film & Media Institute and has been doing so since 2016. The org is also creating an honorary board, composed of talent from the independent film and television industry whose work and influence span both sides of the Atlantic. U.S.-based French filmmakers Mathieu Demy and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire have both joined the board alongside French In Motion’s Founder Nathalie Perus.
Msr Hire
Production outfit Msr Media has appointed Nick Royak to the newly-created role of Vice President of Development.
Exclusive: French In Motion, the non-profit that brings together French and American professionals from the film and TV industry is launching a chapter in Los Angeles, with Martine Melloul set to run the new office. Headquartered in New York with an existing chapter in Washington DC, the org supports international co-productions and collaborations between France and the United States through its partnership with the Gotham Film & Media Institute and has been doing so since 2016. The org is also creating an honorary board, composed of talent from the independent film and television industry whose work and influence span both sides of the Atlantic. U.S.-based French filmmakers Mathieu Demy and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire have both joined the board alongside French In Motion’s Founder Nathalie Perus.
Msr Hire
Production outfit Msr Media has appointed Nick Royak to the newly-created role of Vice President of Development.
- 2/10/2021
- by Tom Grater and Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Julie Delpy’s first TV drama, “On the Verge,” is one of the rare shows that managed to shoot in Los Angeles between the first and second waves of the pandemic.
Produced by Michael Gentile and Lauraine Heftler at The Film TV for France’s Canal Plus and Netflix, the 12-episode series endured a three-month delay and then filmed from late August until Thanksgiving.
Covid-safe protocols cost approximately $2 million but proved effective: There wasn’t a single coronavirus case during production. In addition to creator and co-director Delpy, the series — set to debut next fall — stars Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Jones and Giovanni Ribisi.
Congrats on pulling off this shoot under very unique circumstances! How did the pandemic impact the casting process and production?
We did 90% of the casting on Zoom. It was a bit complicated to feel the chemistry between two actors on Zoom, or even get a sense of their height,...
Produced by Michael Gentile and Lauraine Heftler at The Film TV for France’s Canal Plus and Netflix, the 12-episode series endured a three-month delay and then filmed from late August until Thanksgiving.
Covid-safe protocols cost approximately $2 million but proved effective: There wasn’t a single coronavirus case during production. In addition to creator and co-director Delpy, the series — set to debut next fall — stars Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Jones and Giovanni Ribisi.
Congrats on pulling off this shoot under very unique circumstances! How did the pandemic impact the casting process and production?
We did 90% of the casting on Zoom. It was a bit complicated to feel the chemistry between two actors on Zoom, or even get a sense of their height,...
- 12/24/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has acquired the French drama “DNA,” the latest film from actress and filmmaker Maïwenn in which she also stars and explores her Algerian family heritage.
Netflix picked up the English-language rights for the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Middle East. Le Pacte has acquired the film for French audiences and will release the movie theatrically on October 28. Wild Bunch International is also handling sales rights has already secured several international territories.
“DNA” (or its French title “Adn”) was an official selection of the canceled 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and it finally made its world premiere at the Deauville American Film Festival. Here’s the synopsis:
“DNA” follows Neige, a divorced mother of three, who regularly visits her Algerian grandfather in the nursing home where he lives. She loves and respects this pillar of the family who raised her and, above all, protected her from toxic parents.
Netflix picked up the English-language rights for the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Middle East. Le Pacte has acquired the film for French audiences and will release the movie theatrically on October 28. Wild Bunch International is also handling sales rights has already secured several international territories.
“DNA” (or its French title “Adn”) was an official selection of the canceled 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and it finally made its world premiere at the Deauville American Film Festival. Here’s the synopsis:
“DNA” follows Neige, a divorced mother of three, who regularly visits her Algerian grandfather in the nursing home where he lives. She loves and respects this pillar of the family who raised her and, above all, protected her from toxic parents.
- 9/25/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
For her sixth feature film, French writer-director-actress Maïwenn (Polisse, Mon Roi) has definitely made one of her most introspective works yet.
I say introspective and not “autobiographical” — a term, which, per the press notes, is one that Maïwenn finds “reductive and inadequate.” And yet, the 44-year-old filmmaker is very much the beating heart of this latest family drama (or melodrama, which may be a more adequate term), both as the inspiration for the script (which she co-wrote with Mathieu Demy), the person playing the lead character and the director putting it all together in her own unruly and idiosyncratic ...
I say introspective and not “autobiographical” — a term, which, per the press notes, is one that Maïwenn finds “reductive and inadequate.” And yet, the 44-year-old filmmaker is very much the beating heart of this latest family drama (or melodrama, which may be a more adequate term), both as the inspiration for the script (which she co-wrote with Mathieu Demy), the person playing the lead character and the director putting it all together in her own unruly and idiosyncratic ...
- 9/14/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
For her sixth feature film, French writer-director-actress Maïwenn (Polisse, Mon Roi) has definitely made one of her most introspective works yet.
I say introspective and not “autobiographical” — a term, which, per the press notes, is one that Maïwenn finds “reductive and inadequate.” And yet, the 44-year-old filmmaker is very much the beating heart of this latest family drama (or melodrama, which may be a more adequate term), both as the inspiration for the script (which she co-wrote with Mathieu Demy), the person playing the lead character and the director putting it all together in her own unruly and idiosyncratic ...
I say introspective and not “autobiographical” — a term, which, per the press notes, is one that Maïwenn finds “reductive and inadequate.” And yet, the 44-year-old filmmaker is very much the beating heart of this latest family drama (or melodrama, which may be a more adequate term), both as the inspiration for the script (which she co-wrote with Mathieu Demy), the person playing the lead character and the director putting it all together in her own unruly and idiosyncratic ...
- 9/14/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
If both your parents were famous and beguiling filmmakers, at some point you have to make a choice between turning your back on lineage to become a teacher or lawyer or something completely non-showbiz, or just embracing your genealogy and accepting the struggle to emerge from two very imposing shadows.
For Mathieu Demy there was never any doubt about which road he would take. He first appeared onscreen at age 5 in One Sings, the Other Doesn’t under the direction of his mother, Agnes Varda, and made his mark in his 20s as a man with AIDS in the musical Jeanne and the Perfect Guy. His father Jacques Demy had a way with musicals as well, having directed the immortal The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort, as well as Lola, Bay of Angels and Une Chambre en Ville.
Lately, Mathieu, who calls Los Angeles home but is currently working in Paris,...
For Mathieu Demy there was never any doubt about which road he would take. He first appeared onscreen at age 5 in One Sings, the Other Doesn’t under the direction of his mother, Agnes Varda, and made his mark in his 20s as a man with AIDS in the musical Jeanne and the Perfect Guy. His father Jacques Demy had a way with musicals as well, having directed the immortal The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort, as well as Lola, Bay of Angels and Une Chambre en Ville.
Lately, Mathieu, who calls Los Angeles home but is currently working in Paris,...
- 7/6/2020
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
Kad Merad, star of Dany Boon’s “Welcome to the Sticks,” the highest-grossing film of all time in France, will star in Stéphane Berthomieux’s “Playback,” which has been picked up for international sales by Paris-based Luxbox.
Produced by director Mathieu Demy, whose credits include Salma Hayek-starrer “Americano” and TV series “The Bureau,” “Playback,” the fiction feature debut of documentarian Berthomieux. Pic co-stars Déborah François, star of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Palme d’Or winning “The Child,” and Geraldine Chaplin.
Variety has also had exclusive access to the film’s poster.
Co-written by Demy and Berthomieux, “Playback” begins on the day of Dean Martin’s death, when Daniel, a French crooner, decides to sell his vintage American car to go to Los Angeles for the funeral of his idol. Witnessing the demolition of Las Vegas’ Sands Hotel — the ultimate symbol of his Dean Martin-esque fantasy — Daniel kills off his beloved crooner persona,...
Produced by director Mathieu Demy, whose credits include Salma Hayek-starrer “Americano” and TV series “The Bureau,” “Playback,” the fiction feature debut of documentarian Berthomieux. Pic co-stars Déborah François, star of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Palme d’Or winning “The Child,” and Geraldine Chaplin.
Variety has also had exclusive access to the film’s poster.
Co-written by Demy and Berthomieux, “Playback” begins on the day of Dean Martin’s death, when Daniel, a French crooner, decides to sell his vintage American car to go to Los Angeles for the funeral of his idol. Witnessing the demolition of Las Vegas’ Sands Hotel — the ultimate symbol of his Dean Martin-esque fantasy — Daniel kills off his beloved crooner persona,...
- 6/22/2020
- by John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
After getting a tease and the announcement of a theatrical touring retrospective, The Criterion Collection have now announced their Agnès Varda boxset, aptly titled The Complete Films of Agnès Varda. A gorgeous, epic undertaking, this treasure trove of cinematic beauty is split into different aspects of the Belgian-born French director’s life and career.
Arriving on a fifteen-disc Blu-ray release on August 11, the set features digital restorations of thirty-nine films, including the first home-video presentations of Les créatures, Jacquot de Nantes, and the television series Agnès de ci de là Varda. There’s also over seven hours of archival programs from Varda, a 200-page book, video introductions by the late filmmaker herself, and much, much more. Check out the details below.
The Films
Agnès Forever – Varda by Agnès (2019), Les 3 boutons (2015)
Early Varda – La Pointe Courte (1955), Ô saisons, ô châteaux (1958), Du côté de la côte (1958)
Around Paris – Cléo from 5 to 7...
Arriving on a fifteen-disc Blu-ray release on August 11, the set features digital restorations of thirty-nine films, including the first home-video presentations of Les créatures, Jacquot de Nantes, and the television series Agnès de ci de là Varda. There’s also over seven hours of archival programs from Varda, a 200-page book, video introductions by the late filmmaker herself, and much, much more. Check out the details below.
The Films
Agnès Forever – Varda by Agnès (2019), Les 3 boutons (2015)
Early Varda – La Pointe Courte (1955), Ô saisons, ô châteaux (1958), Du côté de la côte (1958)
Around Paris – Cléo from 5 to 7...
- 5/11/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Rosalie Varda, a seasoned French film producer who is the daughter of late New Wave filmmaking icons Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy, has been appointed senior advisor at MK2 Films.
MK2 Films is part of the arthouse production, sales and exhibition group headed by Nathanael and Elisha Karmitz which had five movies in competition at Cannes last year and in 2018.
Under this newly-created position, Varda will be advising Nathanael Karmitz at MK2 Films on the acquisition and distribution strategy, in France and abroad, with regards to the company’s prestigious library which boasts more than 800 movies, including many classics by François Truffaut, Charlie Chaplin, Alain Resnais, as well as Varda and Demy, among others.
Activities linked to its library are a significant part of MK2 Films’ business. MK2 Films recently signed a non-exclusive deal with Netflix in France giving the streaming service access to 50 movies from MK2’s library, notably pics by Truffaut,...
MK2 Films is part of the arthouse production, sales and exhibition group headed by Nathanael and Elisha Karmitz which had five movies in competition at Cannes last year and in 2018.
Under this newly-created position, Varda will be advising Nathanael Karmitz at MK2 Films on the acquisition and distribution strategy, in France and abroad, with regards to the company’s prestigious library which boasts more than 800 movies, including many classics by François Truffaut, Charlie Chaplin, Alain Resnais, as well as Varda and Demy, among others.
Activities linked to its library are a significant part of MK2 Films’ business. MK2 Films recently signed a non-exclusive deal with Netflix in France giving the streaming service access to 50 movies from MK2’s library, notably pics by Truffaut,...
- 4/21/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Rebecca Zlotowski on intertextuality in An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile): “It’s a reproduction of the prologue of the summer tale by Éric Rohmer, the beginning of La Collectionneuse is Haydée Politoff, the main actress on the beach, shot exactly the same.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
There is nothing easy about being an easy girl in Rebecca Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile), co-written with Teddy Lussi-Modeste, shot by Georges Lechaptois, which is a highlight of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.
Naïma (Mina Farid), Sofia (Zahia Dehar), Philippe (Benoît Magimel), and Andres (Nuno Lopes) in An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile)
Naïma (Mina Farid) has just turned 16. She lives in Cannes with her mother who works as a maid in one of the fancy hotels. When her older bombshell cousin Sofia (Zahia Dehar) visits for the summer, a new chapter begins in her life. Naima is in awe...
There is nothing easy about being an easy girl in Rebecca Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile), co-written with Teddy Lussi-Modeste, shot by Georges Lechaptois, which is a highlight of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.
Naïma (Mina Farid), Sofia (Zahia Dehar), Philippe (Benoît Magimel), and Andres (Nuno Lopes) in An Easy Girl (Une Fille Facile)
Naïma (Mina Farid) has just turned 16. She lives in Cannes with her mother who works as a maid in one of the fancy hotels. When her older bombshell cousin Sofia (Zahia Dehar) visits for the summer, a new chapter begins in her life. Naima is in awe...
- 3/13/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Los Angeles-based production-distribution house Cinema Libre Studio has acquired U.S. rights to Frédéric Choffat and Julie Gilbert’s “My Little One,” in the wake of its U.S. premiere at the Miami Film Festival.
The deal was closed by Philippe Diaz, Cinema Libre Studio chairman and Loic Magneron, founder of Paris’ Wide Management, the film’s sales agent.
Produced by Anne Deluz and Jessica Huppert Berman for Luc Peter’s Intermezzo Films and Les Films du Tigre, and co-produced by public broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (Rts), “My Little One” has been seen to date, of festivals, at Germany’s Frankfurt Biennal, Tübingen and Stuttgart and Mannheim-Heidelberg, as well as France’s Beaujolais French-Language Cinema Meetings and Switzerland’s Solothurn Film Festival, before its theatrical release in Switzerland.
“My Little One” has been licensed to South Korea in an all rights deal and to Eastern Europe, for premium pay TV and VOD.
The deal was closed by Philippe Diaz, Cinema Libre Studio chairman and Loic Magneron, founder of Paris’ Wide Management, the film’s sales agent.
Produced by Anne Deluz and Jessica Huppert Berman for Luc Peter’s Intermezzo Films and Les Films du Tigre, and co-produced by public broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (Rts), “My Little One” has been seen to date, of festivals, at Germany’s Frankfurt Biennal, Tübingen and Stuttgart and Mannheim-Heidelberg, as well as France’s Beaujolais French-Language Cinema Meetings and Switzerland’s Solothurn Film Festival, before its theatrical release in Switzerland.
“My Little One” has been licensed to South Korea in an all rights deal and to Eastern Europe, for premium pay TV and VOD.
- 3/11/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Arnaud Desplechin (with Anne-Katrin Titze) on an Ingmar Bergman film: "I remember this scene that I saw so young … in Cries & Whispers, where Erland Josephson is visiting Liv Ullmann.” Photo: Ed Bahlman
Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy!, co-written with Léa Mysius, shot by Irina Lubtchansky, music composed by Grégoire Hetzel stars Léa Seydoux, Roschdy Zem, Sara Forestier, and Antoine Reinartz.
Arnaud Desplechin on his Oh Mercy! composer: “It was not a Bernard Herrmann inspiration or George Delerue inspiration. It was just pure Grégoire Hetzel. It was a perfect fit with the plot. ” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my in-depth conversation with the director the morning before the North American premiere at the New York Film Festival we discussed his work with editor Laurence Briaud, listening to Ryuchi Sakamoto and Toru Takemitsu, not having a Bernard Herrmann or George Delerue inspiration for Grégoire Hetzel’s score, what...
Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy!, co-written with Léa Mysius, shot by Irina Lubtchansky, music composed by Grégoire Hetzel stars Léa Seydoux, Roschdy Zem, Sara Forestier, and Antoine Reinartz.
Arnaud Desplechin on his Oh Mercy! composer: “It was not a Bernard Herrmann inspiration or George Delerue inspiration. It was just pure Grégoire Hetzel. It was a perfect fit with the plot. ” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the first instalment of my in-depth conversation with the director the morning before the North American premiere at the New York Film Festival we discussed his work with editor Laurence Briaud, listening to Ryuchi Sakamoto and Toru Takemitsu, not having a Bernard Herrmann or George Delerue inspiration for Grégoire Hetzel’s score, what...
- 10/12/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
When Agnès Varda died in March at the age of 90, Jean-Luc Godard sent a sympathy gift to her daughter. That small gesture should resonate for anyone who saw “Faces/Places,” Varda’s Oscar-nominated penultimate feature, which culminated at Godard’s doorstep. Varda’s good-natured attempt to introduce the fellow French New Wave filmmaker to her new friend and co-director Jr is a bittersweet moment, because the reclusive Godard stands them up. Godard was a close acquaintance of Varda before he receded to the shadows, but his absence in “Faces/Places” didn’t tell the whole story.
“He sent me a kind of photo collage of Agnés,” said Rosalie Varda, who produced “Faces/Places.” “It was something special. It’s a secret. But he sent me something nice. I think he cared for Agnès a lot. He saw all her films.”
It’s only fitting that a plot point from Varda...
“He sent me a kind of photo collage of Agnés,” said Rosalie Varda, who produced “Faces/Places.” “It was something special. It’s a secret. But he sent me something nice. I think he cared for Agnès a lot. He saw all her films.”
It’s only fitting that a plot point from Varda...
- 9/5/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Colorado’s San Juan Mountains will soon be alive with the sights and sounds of movies.
The line-up for the 46th Telluride Film Festival has been announced.
The starry slate includes the world premiere of “Judy,” director Rupert Goold’s biopic about the final months of Judy Garland’s life with Renée Zellweger in the title role. “Maybe because Renée hasn’t done a huge number of things in the past few years, she’s saved up all of her tenderness, all of that vulnerability to bring to this role,” Telluride co-director Julie Huntsinger told Variety.
“Judy” is certainly not the only world premiere during this year’s festivities, which run from Friday, Aug. 30 to Monday, Sept. 2. James Mangold’s real-life car racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale is on the bill. Edward Norton will premiere his directorial debut “Motherless Brooklyn,” with an ensemble including Gugu Mbatha-Raw,...
The line-up for the 46th Telluride Film Festival has been announced.
The starry slate includes the world premiere of “Judy,” director Rupert Goold’s biopic about the final months of Judy Garland’s life with Renée Zellweger in the title role. “Maybe because Renée hasn’t done a huge number of things in the past few years, she’s saved up all of her tenderness, all of that vulnerability to bring to this role,” Telluride co-director Julie Huntsinger told Variety.
“Judy” is certainly not the only world premiere during this year’s festivities, which run from Friday, Aug. 30 to Monday, Sept. 2. James Mangold’s real-life car racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale is on the bill. Edward Norton will premiere his directorial debut “Motherless Brooklyn,” with an ensemble including Gugu Mbatha-Raw,...
- 8/29/2019
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival is saluting director Agnès Varda with its official poster, which depicts the filmmaker, then in her mid-20s, shooting her first feature, 1955’s “La Pointe Courte.”
The announcement reflects the enormous respect the director-cum-visual-artist had earned from Cannes and the film community worldwide as a pioneering director — the woman whose independent debut paved the way for the French New Wave. Later, Varda went on to make “Cléo from 5 to 7,” which premiered in competition at Cannes in 1962 and featured a cameo from “Breathless” director Jean-Luc Godard, whose own film career was catalyzed in part by her example. Varda died at 90 last month.
Varda was a regular at Cannes, whether or not she had a film to screen there — and she presented many, including “Jacquot de Nantes,” “The Gleaners and I,” and, most recently, “Faces Places” — and served on the jury in 2005, the year Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne...
The announcement reflects the enormous respect the director-cum-visual-artist had earned from Cannes and the film community worldwide as a pioneering director — the woman whose independent debut paved the way for the French New Wave. Later, Varda went on to make “Cléo from 5 to 7,” which premiered in competition at Cannes in 1962 and featured a cameo from “Breathless” director Jean-Luc Godard, whose own film career was catalyzed in part by her example. Varda died at 90 last month.
Varda was a regular at Cannes, whether or not she had a film to screen there — and she presented many, including “Jacquot de Nantes,” “The Gleaners and I,” and, most recently, “Faces Places” — and served on the jury in 2005, the year Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne...
- 4/15/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Agnès Varda, the French New Wave director and filmmaking icon behind such films as “Cleo From 5 to 7” and “Vagabond,” has died at age 90. Varda passed away from breast cancer at her home in Paris early March 29. The death was confirmed by Varda’s family, who issued a statement saying Varda was “surrounded by her family and friends” at the time of her passing. The family described the filmmaker as a “joyful feminist” and “passionate artist.” Varda’s funeral is expected to take place in Paris on Tuesday.
Varda got her start as a still photographer before making the jump to feature filmmaking with the 1955 drama “La Pointe Courte.” The film, starring Silvia Monfort and Philippe Noiret, is widely considered to be one of the forerunners of the French New Wave.
Varda’s second feature, “Cleo From 5 to 7,” was entered into the Cannes Film Festival and earned her international acclaim.
Varda got her start as a still photographer before making the jump to feature filmmaking with the 1955 drama “La Pointe Courte.” The film, starring Silvia Monfort and Philippe Noiret, is widely considered to be one of the forerunners of the French New Wave.
Varda’s second feature, “Cleo From 5 to 7,” was entered into the Cannes Film Festival and earned her international acclaim.
- 3/29/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Lille, France — Leading French independent production-finance-distribution sales company Federation Entertainment has secured international sales rights on upcoming French psychological thriller “Torn.”
The series was created and written by director Lionel Bailliu (“Innocente”)and Yann Le Gal and world premieres in the official French competition on March 25 at France’s Series Mania TV festival. Attending the series’ premiere will be French actress – producer Julie Gayet, Bailliu, Le Gal, as well as Elephant producers Gaëlle Cholet and Guillaume Renouil.
Elephant Story and At-Production co-produced with participation from France Télévisions. France 3, Belgian public broadcaster Rtbf and TV5 Monde are already set to broadcast.
In the series, a school teacher named Victoire moves to a small village in rural France with her young family. There, she runs into Florent, her first love from a lifetime ago, and their long-dormant feelings for one another reignite. Unable to suppress their desires for one another, the...
The series was created and written by director Lionel Bailliu (“Innocente”)and Yann Le Gal and world premieres in the official French competition on March 25 at France’s Series Mania TV festival. Attending the series’ premiere will be French actress – producer Julie Gayet, Bailliu, Le Gal, as well as Elephant producers Gaëlle Cholet and Guillaume Renouil.
Elephant Story and At-Production co-produced with participation from France Télévisions. France 3, Belgian public broadcaster Rtbf and TV5 Monde are already set to broadcast.
In the series, a school teacher named Victoire moves to a small village in rural France with her young family. There, she runs into Florent, her first love from a lifetime ago, and their long-dormant feelings for one another reignite. Unable to suppress their desires for one another, the...
- 3/25/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
After receiving an honorary Oscar in 2017 and an honorary Palme d’Or in 2015, iconic auteur Agnes Varda received a career tribute at the 17th Marrakech Film Festival during a star-studded ceremony on Sunday.
Varda’s tribute was introduced by Cannes Film Festival’s artistic director Thierry Fremaux and French actress Chiara Mastroianni. Martin Scorsese, who presented the tribute to Robert De Niro the day before, was there as well and came up on stage to pose with Varda, along with her children, the director Mathieu Demy and Rosalie Varda, the artist Jr, who collaborated with Varda on “Faces, Places,” and Melita Toscan du Plantier, director of Marrakech Film Festival.
“Francois Truffaut used to say that in the (French film industry), the boss was Jean Renoir. When it comes to women, the boss is Agnes Varda,” said Fremaux, who started off his speech with a few words on three revered industry figures who have recently died,...
Varda’s tribute was introduced by Cannes Film Festival’s artistic director Thierry Fremaux and French actress Chiara Mastroianni. Martin Scorsese, who presented the tribute to Robert De Niro the day before, was there as well and came up on stage to pose with Varda, along with her children, the director Mathieu Demy and Rosalie Varda, the artist Jr, who collaborated with Varda on “Faces, Places,” and Melita Toscan du Plantier, director of Marrakech Film Festival.
“Francois Truffaut used to say that in the (French film industry), the boss was Jean Renoir. When it comes to women, the boss is Agnes Varda,” said Fremaux, who started off his speech with a few words on three revered industry figures who have recently died,...
- 12/3/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Above: Soviet poster for The Ghost That Never Returns (Abram Room, Soviet Union, 1929). Designed by the Sternberg Brothers.Have you seen what’s playing on Mubi lately? Many of you who read my column may not often partake of the best of what Mubi has to offer, which is a beautifully curated, constantly changing selection of films which amounts to a top-notch repertory cinema on your laptop and in your living room. Now that Mubi is on the Roku app too there is even more reason to subscribe to the best film streaming deal on the internet. I know, I know, there is always too much to see and too little time, but for me what elevates Mubi over other streaming services—and I’m not just saying this because I write for them—is the 30-day model which offers you a new surprise every morning as well as the...
- 1/27/2017
- MUBI
By Jeremy Carr
“Do you like being filmed and talking about yourself,” director Agnès Varda asks star and subject Jane Birkin in the 1987 film Jane B. for Agnès V. “Yes and no,” comes the fittingly ambiguous answer. This fascinating film, recently released on a Cinelicious Pics Blu-ray alongside Kung-Fu Master! (1987), the purely fictional feature born from the quasidocumentary’s unique study of Birkin as an actress and the art of performance in general, is a movie made of memories, fantasies, and the hazy area where the two coalesce. Essentially derived from Birkin’s stated fear of turning 40, Jane B. for Agnès V. is a ruminative examination of Birkin’s life and work, but it is just as much a revealing look at Varda as an inventive filmmaker. “I'm filming your self-portrait,” Varda says to Birkin, setting up the blurring of authorial lines and not for the first time calling attention...
“Do you like being filmed and talking about yourself,” director Agnès Varda asks star and subject Jane Birkin in the 1987 film Jane B. for Agnès V. “Yes and no,” comes the fittingly ambiguous answer. This fascinating film, recently released on a Cinelicious Pics Blu-ray alongside Kung-Fu Master! (1987), the purely fictional feature born from the quasidocumentary’s unique study of Birkin as an actress and the art of performance in general, is a movie made of memories, fantasies, and the hazy area where the two coalesce. Essentially derived from Birkin’s stated fear of turning 40, Jane B. for Agnès V. is a ruminative examination of Birkin’s life and work, but it is just as much a revealing look at Varda as an inventive filmmaker. “I'm filming your self-portrait,” Varda says to Birkin, setting up the blurring of authorial lines and not for the first time calling attention...
- 7/9/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Grégoire Hetzel with Anne-Katrin Titze: "It's like Bernard Herrmann or Ravel." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Grégoire Hetzel scored Mathieu Amalric's chronicle of fluid crime The Blue Room (La Chambre Bleue) and César winning director Arnaud Desplechin's mythical braid of adventure My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse), A Christmas Tale (Un Conte De Noël); Kings & Queen (Rois Et Reine); La Forêt and The Beloved (L'Aimée).
Grégoire recently worked on Cédric Anger's Next Time I'll Aim For The Heart (La Prochaine Fois Je Viserai Le Coeur); Anne Fontaine's The Innocents (Agnus Dei); Renaud Fely's L'Ami (François D'Assise Et Ses Frères), Mathieu Demy's Americano and Catherine Corsini's Summertime (La Belle Saison), which he presented at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
Arnaud Desplechin: "In Arnaud's films the music is always underscored …" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Gilles Deleuze, Bernard Herrmann and Maurice Ravel eventually reverberated...
Grégoire Hetzel scored Mathieu Amalric's chronicle of fluid crime The Blue Room (La Chambre Bleue) and César winning director Arnaud Desplechin's mythical braid of adventure My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs De Ma Jeunesse), A Christmas Tale (Un Conte De Noël); Kings & Queen (Rois Et Reine); La Forêt and The Beloved (L'Aimée).
Grégoire recently worked on Cédric Anger's Next Time I'll Aim For The Heart (La Prochaine Fois Je Viserai Le Coeur); Anne Fontaine's The Innocents (Agnus Dei); Renaud Fely's L'Ami (François D'Assise Et Ses Frères), Mathieu Demy's Americano and Catherine Corsini's Summertime (La Belle Saison), which he presented at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.
Arnaud Desplechin: "In Arnaud's films the music is always underscored …" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Gilles Deleuze, Bernard Herrmann and Maurice Ravel eventually reverberated...
- 3/15/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
As a supplement to our Recommended Discs weekly feature, Peter Labuza regularly highlights notable recent home-video releases with expanded reviews. See this week’s selections below.
In 1987, Agnès Varda, one of the few female directors to emerge from the French New Wave, began a friendship with English superstar and model Jane Birkin. While Birkin had appeared as a cinematic object of desire as far back as Antonioni’s Blow-Up, Varda had no interest in continuing this trend. Instead, she listened. The resulting two films — one a documentary-like fiction, the other a fiction-like documentary — are signs of two major feminist icons of very different sorts finding ways to explore their own stories.
Their first collaboration might win an award for the most surprising title, given the subject matter, but Kung-Fu Master! does aptly describe one of the central metaphors in this gender-flipped Lolita narrative. Birkin plays a single mother named Mary-Jane...
In 1987, Agnès Varda, one of the few female directors to emerge from the French New Wave, began a friendship with English superstar and model Jane Birkin. While Birkin had appeared as a cinematic object of desire as far back as Antonioni’s Blow-Up, Varda had no interest in continuing this trend. Instead, she listened. The resulting two films — one a documentary-like fiction, the other a fiction-like documentary — are signs of two major feminist icons of very different sorts finding ways to explore their own stories.
Their first collaboration might win an award for the most surprising title, given the subject matter, but Kung-Fu Master! does aptly describe one of the central metaphors in this gender-flipped Lolita narrative. Birkin plays a single mother named Mary-Jane...
- 3/10/2016
- by Peter Labuza
- The Film Stage
One of the best double features you could treat yourself to this year would be a back-to-back viewing of two Agnes Varda films starring Jane Birkin, rescued from obscurity in 2015 thanks to Cinelicious Pics. Both released originally in 1988, the imaginary bio-pic Jane B. Par Agnes V. and the provocative fictional narrative Kung-Fu Master! are available on a lovingly restored disc set (as the playful Venn diagram cover art implies, the titles are more inextricably connected than initially seems apparent). Both titles received a theatrical release at New York’s Lincoln Center, followed by a VOD release.
Jane B. Par Agnes V.
A playful exploration of the multi-faceted actress, singer, and icon Jane Birkin as she balances career choices and motherhood long after the initial scandals that brought her international attention. Filmed in tandem with their other collaboration, the fictional narrative Kung Fu Master!, both titles were released theatrically in 1988 when...
Jane B. Par Agnes V.
A playful exploration of the multi-faceted actress, singer, and icon Jane Birkin as she balances career choices and motherhood long after the initial scandals that brought her international attention. Filmed in tandem with their other collaboration, the fictional narrative Kung Fu Master!, both titles were released theatrically in 1988 when...
- 3/8/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.
The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson)
Dense and lacking the playful quality of his more straightforward work, this represents a new multi-narrative direction for Maddin, and a kind of rabbit hole. Working within the art world verses the film world, Maddin’s work, style and influences have a tremendous amount of power applicable to cinema within the space of a gallery installation. Night Mayor, his first collaboration with the Nfb, fictionalized the tension between the Nfb’s mission and government controls,...
The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson)
Dense and lacking the playful quality of his more straightforward work, this represents a new multi-narrative direction for Maddin, and a kind of rabbit hole. Working within the art world verses the film world, Maddin’s work, style and influences have a tremendous amount of power applicable to cinema within the space of a gallery installation. Night Mayor, his first collaboration with the Nfb, fictionalized the tension between the Nfb’s mission and government controls,...
- 3/8/2016
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
Cinelicious Pics, after releasing the films in theaters late last year, are releasing two of director Agnes Varda’s most interesting, and yet underseen, features on DVD and Blu-ray this week. Teaming Varda with actress Jane Birkin (best known for her turn in Blow Up), a pairing of a French New Wave icon and a multi-hyphenate actress/singer/model that would foster two truly breathtaking experiments the likes of which are rarely seen.
Entitled Jane B. Par Agnes V. and Kung-Fu Master!, we’ve previously reviewed both films during their theatrical run in Los Angeles, and here are a few thoughts about each film from your’s truly:
Jane B. Par Agnes V.:
Jane B. Par Agnes V. finds Varda at her most playful. Described by Varda, in the film itself, as “an imaginary bio-pic,” Jane is a faux-documentary about actress and singer Birkin, coming out of the idea...
Entitled Jane B. Par Agnes V. and Kung-Fu Master!, we’ve previously reviewed both films during their theatrical run in Los Angeles, and here are a few thoughts about each film from your’s truly:
Jane B. Par Agnes V.:
Jane B. Par Agnes V. finds Varda at her most playful. Described by Varda, in the film itself, as “an imaginary bio-pic,” Jane is a faux-documentary about actress and singer Birkin, coming out of the idea...
- 3/8/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
There are few filmmakers in the history of the art that are comparable to one Agnes Varda. And even fewer actresses like Jane Birkin. Varda, a staple of the French New Wave who is still turning out groundbreaking pieces of cinema that blend genres, mediums and even fact and fiction, the director is one of film’s great experimenters, with such classics as Cleo From 5 to 7 forever changing film. Then there is Birkin, who was not only a superb actress (just look at Blow Up if you’re unsure of this fact), but a fashion queen, a singer and even the muse for one of music’s great enfants terrible, Serge Gainsbourg (with whom she would have a daughter, Charlotte). So sparks should undoubtedly fly when these two forces finally come together, right?
Jane B. Par Agnes V.Kung-Fu Master! prove that these two may have been put...
Jane B. Par Agnes V.Kung-Fu Master! prove that these two may have been put...
- 11/14/2015
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
La cinephiles have the pleasures of seeing two Agnès Varda discoveries from the middle of her career beginning November 13 at the Laemmle Royal. Watch exclusive clips from both below. Cinelicious Pics presents the double bill of "Jane B. par Agnès V." and "Kung-Fu Master," both starring Euro icon Jane Birkin, and both restored from their original 35mm negatives. Supervised by Varda, the new restorations look gorgeous in digital 2K. Less a biopic than a quasi-fiction, poetic-realist documentary, "Jane B. par Agnes V" looks at the actress' many faces. Really, it's Varda's "Orlando," a time-hopping tapestry of Birkin's best and least-favorite roles, and the parts she dreams of playing (including Joan of Arc). The film features Birkin's longtime collaborator and erstwhile lover Serge Gainsbourg, New Wave actor Jean-Pierre Léaud (a.k.a. Antoine Doinel), Birkin's daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg and Varda's son Mathieu Demy, whom...
- 11/13/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
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