Marking a welcome re-embrace of the streamlined murdery perversities of his terrific “Stranger by the Lake,” Alain Guiraudie gives the Cannes Premiere section one of its darkly sparkling standouts with the unsettlingly offbeat “Misericordia.” In the director’s best work, Guiraudie’s trademark is to infuse genre dalliances with mordant wit and a deliciously peculiar, defiant queerness. And while it may initially appear to be straightforward — and while it thankfully avoids the wild tonal swings of muddy tragicomedy “Staying Vertical” (2016) and rather baffling terrorism sex-farce “Nobody’s Hero” (2022) — nobody could ever accuse this increasingly twisted psychodrama of playing it straight.
From the start, there’s something off. The prologue is a driving sequence, shot from the point of view of the unseen driver, through the narrowing country roads of hilly southwestern France. There is nothing overtly odd going on, even the landscape is banal, shot in hazy earth tones by Claire Mathon’s clever,...
From the start, there’s something off. The prologue is a driving sequence, shot from the point of view of the unseen driver, through the narrowing country roads of hilly southwestern France. There is nothing overtly odd going on, even the landscape is banal, shot in hazy earth tones by Claire Mathon’s clever,...
- 5/27/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Alain Guiraudie is back at Cannes with a bittersweet and unexpectedly warmhearted dark comedy about latent homosexual desire, “Miséricorde.” Remember, the French writer/director is the filmmaker behind the 2013 perverse gay classic “Stranger by the Lake,” a simmering and sinister cruising tale about how our drives toward death and sex are of the same flesh. “Miséricorde,” debuting in the Cannes Premiere section, is a decidedly lighter-on-its-feet (in all senses of the idiom) story of a lonely and faithless man’s obsession with his dead former boss, who’s also the father of the childhood best friend he maybe once loved.
When Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) returns to Saint-Martial, a provincial village nestled in a wood in Southern France, he immediately bonds with his former boss’ widow, Martine (Catherine Frot). Is it romantic obsession, or projecting a mother figure upon her? Or is Jérémie really in love with her dead husband, and...
When Jérémie (Félix Kysyl) returns to Saint-Martial, a provincial village nestled in a wood in Southern France, he immediately bonds with his former boss’ widow, Martine (Catherine Frot). Is it romantic obsession, or projecting a mother figure upon her? Or is Jérémie really in love with her dead husband, and...
- 5/17/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Willy Wonka, the eccentric founder of the Wonka Chocolate Factory from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has been played by Gene Wilder, Johnny Depp and Timothée Chalamet on the big screen.
He’s now set to come to the small-screen in a much different way.
Deadline understands that Netflix is preparing a reality competition series based on the Roald Dahl story. This comes after the streamer acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021.
The expansive project is the latest example of a burgeoning trend in the unscripted market in the U.S. – The Bake-Off.
We hear that Netflix went out to a number of production companies, believed to include American Idol producer Fremantle, Wall to Wall, the British production company behind Who Do You Think You Are?, Nobody’s Hero, the production company behind Netflix’s Bullsh*t: The Game Show and Snack vs. Chef, and The Garden, which was...
He’s now set to come to the small-screen in a much different way.
Deadline understands that Netflix is preparing a reality competition series based on the Roald Dahl story. This comes after the streamer acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021.
The expansive project is the latest example of a burgeoning trend in the unscripted market in the U.S. – The Bake-Off.
We hear that Netflix went out to a number of production companies, believed to include American Idol producer Fremantle, Wall to Wall, the British production company behind Who Do You Think You Are?, Nobody’s Hero, the production company behind Netflix’s Bullsh*t: The Game Show and Snack vs. Chef, and The Garden, which was...
- 5/9/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Memento International has boarded “Arenas,” Camille Perton’s feature debut set in the world of professional soccer, starring Édgar Ramírez (“Carlos”), Iliès Kadri (“Nobody’s Hero”), Sofian Khammes (“November”) and Lorenzo Zurzolo (“Eo”).
Now in post-production, the film shot across Lyon, Monaco, Nice and Baku in Azerbaijan. Memento International will kick off sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris next week.
The film follows Brahim, a rising soccer star who is about to sign his first contract at his prestigious hometown club. But when a mysterious and powerful agent disrupts the negotiations, Brahim discovers the shady side of the business. Torn between loyalty and money, he will engage in a race against time to claim his destiny.
“Arenas” is produced by Eve Robin and Judith Lou Lévy for Les Films du Bal, the ambitious independent company behind Mati Diop’s Cannes prizewinner “Atlantics,” “Ahed’s Knee” by Nadav Lapid and the...
Now in post-production, the film shot across Lyon, Monaco, Nice and Baku in Azerbaijan. Memento International will kick off sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris next week.
The film follows Brahim, a rising soccer star who is about to sign his first contract at his prestigious hometown club. But when a mysterious and powerful agent disrupts the negotiations, Brahim discovers the shady side of the business. Torn between loyalty and money, he will engage in a race against time to claim his destiny.
“Arenas” is produced by Eve Robin and Judith Lou Lévy for Les Films du Bal, the ambitious independent company behind Mati Diop’s Cannes prizewinner “Atlantics,” “Ahed’s Knee” by Nadav Lapid and the...
- 1/8/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Amidst the potential 2024 majors––Jia Zhangke, Olivier Assayas, Leos Carax, Arnaud Desplechin, Paul Schrader, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa but a handful––we should invest as much hope in a new film from Alain Guiraudie. Late last year we reported on his feature Miséricorde (Mercy in English), and this week CG Cinéma’s Romain Blondeau announced the commencement of shooting with Claire Mathon (his Dp on Staying Vertical and Stranger By the Lake) in tow.
Miséricorde is said to follow a noir-like plot concerning Jérémie, a 30-year-old who returns to his native Saint-Martial for a friend’s funeral. While there “he must contend with rumors and suspicion, until he commits an irreparable act and finds himself at the centre of a police investigation.” Knowing Guiraudie’s unflinching visions of violence and sexuality (not least in his superb novel Now the Night Begins), I am already girding my loins. Catherine Frot, Felix Kysyl,...
Miséricorde is said to follow a noir-like plot concerning Jérémie, a 30-year-old who returns to his native Saint-Martial for a friend’s funeral. While there “he must contend with rumors and suspicion, until he commits an irreparable act and finds himself at the centre of a police investigation.” Knowing Guiraudie’s unflinching visions of violence and sexuality (not least in his superb novel Now the Night Begins), I am already girding my loins. Catherine Frot, Felix Kysyl,...
- 11/1/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
We Don’t Need Another Hero: Guiraudie Gets Kooky in Political Comedy of Errors
Alain Guiraudie migrates from rural perversity to urban calamity in the comically inclined Nobody’s Hero (Viens je t’emmène), wherein a handful of (mostly) colorful characters grapple with uncomfortable realities in contemporary France. Utilizing the microcosm of Clermont-Ferrand, straddling old-world ideals confronted with a new world order, Guiraudie glides into another farce of sexuality with mixed results, somehow embracing the possibility of hopeful camaraderie in a world where nothing is certain, as paranoia and desire commingle deliriously.
Considering the esoteric queerness which has defined Guiraudie’s body of work, this is certainly a new frontier for the provocateur, who has spent the last decade enjoying international acclaim for being brazenly defiant in mining the precariousness of sexual desires.…...
Alain Guiraudie migrates from rural perversity to urban calamity in the comically inclined Nobody’s Hero (Viens je t’emmène), wherein a handful of (mostly) colorful characters grapple with uncomfortable realities in contemporary France. Utilizing the microcosm of Clermont-Ferrand, straddling old-world ideals confronted with a new world order, Guiraudie glides into another farce of sexuality with mixed results, somehow embracing the possibility of hopeful camaraderie in a world where nothing is certain, as paranoia and desire commingle deliriously.
Considering the esoteric queerness which has defined Guiraudie’s body of work, this is certainly a new frontier for the provocateur, who has spent the last decade enjoying international acclaim for being brazenly defiant in mining the precariousness of sexual desires.…...
- 6/12/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Event formerly known as Colcoa runs October 10-16.
The North American premiere of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Notre-Dame On Fire (Notre-Dame Brûle), a dramatised account of the April 2019 fire that damaged the Gothic Parisian landmark, will open American French Film Festival (formerly Colcoa) in Los Angeles on October 16.
The week-long event will close with the North American premiere of Dominik Moll’s thriller The Night Of The 12th (La Nuit du 12) and the annual filmmaker focus will be dedicated to Moll. The world theatrical premiere of Olivier Assayas’s series Irma Vep will also screen on closing day.
The line-up...
The North American premiere of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Notre-Dame On Fire (Notre-Dame Brûle), a dramatised account of the April 2019 fire that damaged the Gothic Parisian landmark, will open American French Film Festival (formerly Colcoa) in Los Angeles on October 16.
The week-long event will close with the North American premiere of Dominik Moll’s thriller The Night Of The 12th (La Nuit du 12) and the annual filmmaker focus will be dedicated to Moll. The world theatrical premiere of Olivier Assayas’s series Irma Vep will also screen on closing day.
The line-up...
- 9/20/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
The 27th edition of Busan International Film Festival will open with Scent of Wind by the Iranian director Hadi Mohaghegh and close with A Man by Japan’s Kei Ishikawa.
Launched in 1996, Busan has long been considered Asia’s premiere film festival, famous both for launching the careers of exciting new Korean and Asian auteurs, as well as its festive beachfront vibe, with tented restaurants serving soju and Korean seafood specialities into the wee hours.
This year, Busan festival director Heo Moon-young has promised an edition that represents “a full recovery” from the pandemic, restoring various programs and forums that were interrupted over the past two years due to the Seoul government’s social distancing measures. In 2022, the festival will screen 354 films from 71 countries, with various satellite events happening across town.
Scent of Wind is the fourth film by Mohaghegh, whose feature film...
The 27th edition of Busan International Film Festival will open with Scent of Wind by the Iranian director Hadi Mohaghegh and close with A Man by Japan’s Kei Ishikawa.
Launched in 1996, Busan has long been considered Asia’s premiere film festival, famous both for launching the careers of exciting new Korean and Asian auteurs, as well as its festive beachfront vibe, with tented restaurants serving soju and Korean seafood specialities into the wee hours.
This year, Busan festival director Heo Moon-young has promised an edition that represents “a full recovery” from the pandemic, restoring various programs and forums that were interrupted over the past two years due to the Seoul government’s social distancing measures. In 2022, the festival will screen 354 films from 71 countries, with various satellite events happening across town.
Scent of Wind is the fourth film by Mohaghegh, whose feature film...
- 9/12/2022
- by Soomee Park
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Leung to attend to receive Asian Filmmaker of the Year award and present a showcase of his films.
The 27th Busan International Film Festival is set to open with the international premiere of Hadi Mohaghegh’s Iranian film Scent Of Wind and close with Ishikawa Kei’s Venice title A Man.
Hong Kong star Tony Leung Chiu-Wai will also attend the opening ceremony to receive Biff’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year award. The festival will dedicate a six-film showcase dubbed In The Mood For Tony Leung with titles the actor personally selected, including Happy Together, Infernal Affairs and In The Mood For Love.
The 27th Busan International Film Festival is set to open with the international premiere of Hadi Mohaghegh’s Iranian film Scent Of Wind and close with Ishikawa Kei’s Venice title A Man.
Hong Kong star Tony Leung Chiu-Wai will also attend the opening ceremony to receive Biff’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year award. The festival will dedicate a six-film showcase dubbed In The Mood For Tony Leung with titles the actor personally selected, including Happy Together, Infernal Affairs and In The Mood For Love.
- 9/7/2022
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Hong Kong star of “In The Mood For Love” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has been named Asian Filmmaker of the Year by the Busan International Film Festival. Leung will collect his award at the festival’s opening ceremony on Oct. 5. 2022.
The festival will open with a screening of “Scent of Wind” by Hagi Mohaghegh. The Iranian director previously won the 2015 New Currents competition in Busan with his second feature “Immortal.”
The festival will close with “A Man,” from Japan’s Ishikawa Kei. The title premiered this week at the Venice film festival in the Orrizonti section.
Busan organizers said that the festival will play a total of 243 films (features and shorts) from 71 countries and territories. These include 89 world premieres and 13 international premieres.
After two years of disruptions the festival will operate largely normally. This includes a red carpet opening ceremony,...
The festival will open with a screening of “Scent of Wind” by Hagi Mohaghegh. The Iranian director previously won the 2015 New Currents competition in Busan with his second feature “Immortal.”
The festival will close with “A Man,” from Japan’s Ishikawa Kei. The title premiered this week at the Venice film festival in the Orrizonti section.
Busan organizers said that the festival will play a total of 243 films (features and shorts) from 71 countries and territories. These include 89 world premieres and 13 international premieres.
After two years of disruptions the festival will operate largely normally. This includes a red carpet opening ceremony,...
- 9/7/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The sixth season of Paramount+ original series “Seal Team” has a new official trailer ahead of its September 18 premiere. Produced by CBS Studios, the series will debut episodes of its ten-episode season weekly on Sundays on Paramount+.
The show stars David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Neil Brown, Jr., A.J. Buckley, Toni Trucks and Raffi Barsoumian. The military drama follows the professional and personal lives of an elite unit of Navy SEALs, who are often deployed on missions worldwide at a moment’s notice.
“Seal Team” is produced by CBS Studios and executive produced by Spencer Hudnut, Christopher Chulack, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Mark Owen and David Boreanaz. The series is distributed worldwide by Paramount Global Content Distribution. Watch the full trailer below.
Also in today’s TV news:
Streaming
The CNN Originals hub on Discovery+ debuted today in the United States giving subscribers access to a library of CNN content from...
The show stars David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Neil Brown, Jr., A.J. Buckley, Toni Trucks and Raffi Barsoumian. The military drama follows the professional and personal lives of an elite unit of Navy SEALs, who are often deployed on missions worldwide at a moment’s notice.
“Seal Team” is produced by CBS Studios and executive produced by Spencer Hudnut, Christopher Chulack, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Mark Owen and David Boreanaz. The series is distributed worldwide by Paramount Global Content Distribution. Watch the full trailer below.
Also in today’s TV news:
Streaming
The CNN Originals hub on Discovery+ debuted today in the United States giving subscribers access to a library of CNN content from...
- 8/19/2022
- by EJ Panaligan and Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan,” which world premiered at Cannes and won the Fipresci prize. The film, which is represented in international markets by Films Boutique, will have its North American premiere at Toronto in the Special Screenings section.
Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.
Produced by Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.
Touzani said “The Blue Caftan...
Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.
Produced by Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.
Touzani said “The Blue Caftan...
- 8/9/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Ahead of Disney’s TV upfront presentation on Tuesday, National Geographic announced its next slate of nonfiction programming, doubling down on its recent streak of personality-driven shows with five new series led by “Dance the World” starring “Dancing With The Stars” legend Derek Hough.
“Dance the World” will see Hough team up with a celebrity guest to explore the cultural roots behind some of the world’s most famous dances, with each episode ending with a performance of that dance routine.
Other projects announced include chef Kristen Kish’s “Restaurants at the End of the World,” urban gardener Indy Srinath’s “Farming Is Life,” Christian Cooper’s avian nature series “Extraordinary Birder,” and an untitled travel series starring blogger Jeff Jenkins.
National Geographic also announced a new series based on the Emmy and SXSW Audience Award-winning documentary “Science Fair,” which will see directors Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster return to...
“Dance the World” will see Hough team up with a celebrity guest to explore the cultural roots behind some of the world’s most famous dances, with each episode ending with a performance of that dance routine.
Other projects announced include chef Kristen Kish’s “Restaurants at the End of the World,” urban gardener Indy Srinath’s “Farming Is Life,” Christian Cooper’s avian nature series “Extraordinary Birder,” and an untitled travel series starring blogger Jeff Jenkins.
National Geographic also announced a new series based on the Emmy and SXSW Audience Award-winning documentary “Science Fair,” which will see directors Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster return to...
- 5/16/2022
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Ahead of its Disney’s Upfront presentation Tuesday in NYC, National Geographic has announced greenlights for six new nonfiction series as part of its latest programming slate.
They include Dance The World With Derek Hough, a series which takes viewers on a global cultural journey of the origins of some of the most popular dance styles; Restaurants At The End Of The World, hosted by chef and entrepreneur Kristen Kish; an untitled series with adventurer and travel blogger Jeff Jenkins; Farming Is Life, with urban gardener and influencer Indy Srinath; Extraordinary Birder, hosted by lifelong birder Christian Cooper, and Science Fair: The Series, from the directors and producers of the Emmy-winning documentary film Science Fair, featuring high school competitors of a global science fair competition.
The new series, which follow on the success of Gordon Ramsay: Unchartered, Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller and Running Wild With Bear Grylls, will premiere...
They include Dance The World With Derek Hough, a series which takes viewers on a global cultural journey of the origins of some of the most popular dance styles; Restaurants At The End Of The World, hosted by chef and entrepreneur Kristen Kish; an untitled series with adventurer and travel blogger Jeff Jenkins; Farming Is Life, with urban gardener and influencer Indy Srinath; Extraordinary Birder, hosted by lifelong birder Christian Cooper, and Science Fair: The Series, from the directors and producers of the Emmy-winning documentary film Science Fair, featuring high school competitors of a global science fair competition.
The new series, which follow on the success of Gordon Ramsay: Unchartered, Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller and Running Wild With Bear Grylls, will premiere...
- 5/16/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Alain Guiraudie’s “Nobody’s Hero” which is handled by Films du Losange and world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.
The movie, which opened the Berlinale Panorama section, is set in Clermont-Ferrand revolves around Frederic, a 35 year-old man who falls in love with with a middle-aged sex worker who is married.
“Nobody’s Hero” marks the third collaboration between Strand and Guiraudie which began with the helmer’s most successful film “Stranger By The Lake,” followed by his Cannes Competition title, “Staying Vertical.”
“Alain has been a dear colleague to our company, and we are so happy to be working with him again on this wonderfully exuberant comedy that is not only funny, but humane and completely original,” said Strand Releasing’s Jon Gerrans who negotiated the deal with Alice Lesort for Films du Losange. Guiraudie previously contributed to Strand Releasing’s...
The movie, which opened the Berlinale Panorama section, is set in Clermont-Ferrand revolves around Frederic, a 35 year-old man who falls in love with with a middle-aged sex worker who is married.
“Nobody’s Hero” marks the third collaboration between Strand and Guiraudie which began with the helmer’s most successful film “Stranger By The Lake,” followed by his Cannes Competition title, “Staying Vertical.”
“Alain has been a dear colleague to our company, and we are so happy to be working with him again on this wonderfully exuberant comedy that is not only funny, but humane and completely original,” said Strand Releasing’s Jon Gerrans who negotiated the deal with Alice Lesort for Films du Losange. Guiraudie previously contributed to Strand Releasing’s...
- 4/4/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
As far-right sentiment surges in France ahead of April’s presidential elections — and lawmakers continue to concern themselves with hijab bans — the time is urgently right for artists to challenge the country’s enduring history of Islamophobia. On the face of it, “Nobody’s Hero” seems like a useful contribution in that regard. Set amid the tense aftermath of a radical terrorist attack in the placid central French city of Clermont-Ferrand, Alain Guiraudie’s latest feature centers on a weak-willed white man caught between being an ally and an oppressor to a homeless Muslim youth in his neighborhood, wryly commenting on a middle-class society that oscillates between liberal altruism and wary prejudice. Yet this promising setup is derailed by a separate, not especially complementary narrative detailing the same protagonist’s troubled romance with a married local sex worker: Moonlighting as a broad bedroom farce, this heavily plotted but oddly low-energy film...
- 2/10/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Alain Guiraudie’s “Nobody’s Hero,” which opened the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival, is lighter than his last two films, the critically adored “Stranger By the Lake” (a Hitchcockian tale of murder and cruising) and its less loved follow-up, “Staying Vertical.” But one thing it shares with them is its abundance of naked flesh and candid sex.
The wry opening scene introduces Médéric (Jean Charles Clichet), an unattached thirtysomething who lives in Clermont-Ferrand in central France. The gray, rainy town is presented as being resolutely ordinary, and so is Médéric, a freelance computer programmer who is always either sucking on his e-cigarette or jogging up and down the hilly streets in unflattering running gear. He isn’t wholly conventional, though. After a moment’s hesitation, he marches up to a fiftysomething prostitute (Noémie Lvovsky) and announces that he wants to have coffee with her. True, he wants to have sex with her,...
The wry opening scene introduces Médéric (Jean Charles Clichet), an unattached thirtysomething who lives in Clermont-Ferrand in central France. The gray, rainy town is presented as being resolutely ordinary, and so is Médéric, a freelance computer programmer who is always either sucking on his e-cigarette or jogging up and down the hilly streets in unflattering running gear. He isn’t wholly conventional, though. After a moment’s hesitation, he marches up to a fiftysomething prostitute (Noémie Lvovsky) and announces that he wants to have coffee with her. True, he wants to have sex with her,...
- 2/10/2022
- by Nicholas Barber
- Indiewire
Cinephiles love to quote Roberto Rossellini, after his viewing of Chaplin’s oft-maligned late work A King in New York: “This is the film of a free man.” Alain Guiraudie, among the more accomplished French filmmakers of this century, is one of few who directs with that similar sense of freedom––which is not to say he’s on the same canonical level as Chaplin, or most other auteurs, where that line is invoked. Although there are many ways one can interpret the adjective “free,” Guiraudie’s work seems very related to his unconscious, manifesting the eclectic amorous desires that bubble up from there, in strange combinations that push the boundaries of queer sexuality ever further. And there’s also the sense that audience and industry reaction––especially after Stranger By the Lake brought him wider attention a decade ago––is not something that makes him second guess his natural instincts.
- 2/10/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
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