Although he only made two fiction features, filmmaker Michael Roemer benefited greatly from an early rediscovery in the 1990s, thanks to the fortuitous unearthing of a film he made in 1969, The Plot Against Harry, a wry, dry comedy starring Martin Priest. His other film, 1964’s Nothing But a Man, is often compared by critics to the slicker, middle-America-friendly films that Sidney Poitier was making during the same era. Almost without exception, film about the minority experience in ’60s America were smoothed-over paeans to “the triumph of the human spirit,” starring or co-starring whites whose presence is required as witnesses, arbiters, and the final, thankful beneficiaries of growth and change. Bland but well-meaning, films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and A Patch of Blue, seeking to instruct the white moviegoer by giving them a diagrammatic path to sociopolitical enlightenment, had a funny habit of discounting, even nullifying, the Black experience.
- 2/22/2024
- by Jaime N. Christley
- Slant Magazine
The idea of found footage as a filmmaking technique stretches back to at least 1961 with the release of Shirley Clarke's relatively obscure drama "The Connection." The found footage style was used to present scripted material as if it were documentary footage, employing a lot of shaky, handheld camera work and extemporaneous-sounding dialogue. The term "found footage" sprung from a common conceit of the style, which often implied that something horrible had happened to the filmmakers that prevented them from assembling and editing their footage. Once their footage was found, it was edited by a third party and presented in the theater.
There were many found footage films from 1961 until 2007, but the release and overwhelming success of Oren Peli's "Paranormal Activity" sparked a years-long wave of the format, with most of its glory-chasers employing horror as their baseline. Late 2000s found footage horror was largely effective, as it often...
There were many found footage films from 1961 until 2007, but the release and overwhelming success of Oren Peli's "Paranormal Activity" sparked a years-long wave of the format, with most of its glory-chasers employing horror as their baseline. Late 2000s found footage horror was largely effective, as it often...
- 1/28/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Documentary festival IDFA, which runs Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam, has revealed its first 50 titles, including the top 10 Chinese films selected by Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing, IDFA’s Guest of Honor.
The festival has also revealed the films playing in two of the three Focus programs: Fabrications, which probes the difference between reality and realism, and 16 Worlds on 16, an homage to 16mm film.
Wang’s selection will take the viewer “on a contemplative journey into contemporary Chinese cinema,” according to the festival. “The films and their politics are subtle in their film language, representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.”
The selection (see below), which covers films produced since 1999, includes Lixin Fan’s 2009 film “Last Train Home,” which was supported by IDFA’s Bertha Fund. The film documents the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.
Fabrications explores the relationship of trust between documentary film and audiences,...
The festival has also revealed the films playing in two of the three Focus programs: Fabrications, which probes the difference between reality and realism, and 16 Worlds on 16, an homage to 16mm film.
Wang’s selection will take the viewer “on a contemplative journey into contemporary Chinese cinema,” according to the festival. “The films and their politics are subtle in their film language, representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.”
The selection (see below), which covers films produced since 1999, includes Lixin Fan’s 2009 film “Last Train Home,” which was supported by IDFA’s Bertha Fund. The film documents the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.
Fabrications explores the relationship of trust between documentary film and audiences,...
- 9/19/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Cédric Jiminez’s focus on police operations in the aftermath of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks doesn’t give a real sense of who any of the agents involved are
Artistic responses to the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks – including You Will Not Have My Hate, Paris Memories and the excellent You Resemble Me – have rightly erred on the side of the contemplative, though even that couldn’t excuse last year’s soft-rock stage musical For You I’d Wait. With November, the director and co-writer Cédric Jiminez, who excavated the origins of The French Connection in his 2014 thriller The Connection, zeroes in on the police operation in the immediate aftermath of the attacks when the terrorists were still on the run. Jiminez’s Connection star Jean Dujardin oversees the hunt, calling his wife to say “Give the kids my love” before five solid days of barking at suspects and pointing at maps.
Artistic responses to the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks – including You Will Not Have My Hate, Paris Memories and the excellent You Resemble Me – have rightly erred on the side of the contemplative, though even that couldn’t excuse last year’s soft-rock stage musical For You I’d Wait. With November, the director and co-writer Cédric Jiminez, who excavated the origins of The French Connection in his 2014 thriller The Connection, zeroes in on the police operation in the immediate aftermath of the attacks when the terrorists were still on the run. Jiminez’s Connection star Jean Dujardin oversees the hunt, calling his wife to say “Give the kids my love” before five solid days of barking at suspects and pointing at maps.
- 6/19/2023
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Jean Dujardin, best known for his roles in light-hearted films such as the Oscar-winning “The Artist,” plays the fierce boss of a highly-secretive police brigade that tracked down the assailants of the 2015 Paris attacks in Cedric Jimenez’s “November.”
Written by Olivier Demangel (“Atlantics”), the fast-paced and tense thriller world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and is being represented in international markets by Studiocanal. Jimenez, who was at Cannes last year with another action-packed police thriller, “The Stronghold,” sat alongside Dujardin with Variety during the festival to discuss the genesis of “November,” how the ensemble cast — including Dujardin, Sandrine Kiberlain, Anais Demoustier and a flurry of fresh faces — worked together, and what it meant for them to tackle this recent tragedy.
“November” is one of the few recent movies alluding to, or set against the backdrop of the Paris terror attacks of 2015, for instance Alice Winocour’s “Paris Memories...
Written by Olivier Demangel (“Atlantics”), the fast-paced and tense thriller world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and is being represented in international markets by Studiocanal. Jimenez, who was at Cannes last year with another action-packed police thriller, “The Stronghold,” sat alongside Dujardin with Variety during the festival to discuss the genesis of “November,” how the ensemble cast — including Dujardin, Sandrine Kiberlain, Anais Demoustier and a flurry of fresh faces — worked together, and what it meant for them to tackle this recent tragedy.
“November” is one of the few recent movies alluding to, or set against the backdrop of the Paris terror attacks of 2015, for instance Alice Winocour’s “Paris Memories...
- 5/27/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Jean Dujardin and Cédric Jimenez, the star and director of French Paris terror attack film Novembre, have said they did not want to portray the police who caught the attackers as “heroes” but were aiming for an uber-realistic representation of a “deeply secret” department.
Speaking at a Cannes press conference the day after Novembre’s premiere, Jimenez said his mission was to show how the anti-terrorist unit experienced five “awful days” during which officers were tasked with a “huge responsibility.”
“The idea was not to turn them into heroes,” he added, flanked by cast and crew. “Even though the situation was resolved, there are only losers: the many people who died, the witnesses who are upset forever, the police officers who resigned because it was such a terrible hardship. In this kind of event, there are no winners.”
Dujardin, who also led Jimenez’s 2014 pic The Connection, concurred with his...
Speaking at a Cannes press conference the day after Novembre’s premiere, Jimenez said his mission was to show how the anti-terrorist unit experienced five “awful days” during which officers were tasked with a “huge responsibility.”
“The idea was not to turn them into heroes,” he added, flanked by cast and crew. “Even though the situation was resolved, there are only losers: the many people who died, the witnesses who are upset forever, the police officers who resigned because it was such a terrible hardship. In this kind of event, there are no winners.”
Dujardin, who also led Jimenez’s 2014 pic The Connection, concurred with his...
- 5/23/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline’s annual group of Ones to Watch in Cannes is made up of actors and filmmakers who are all bringing something fresh to the festival. The distinction isn’t always reserved for brand new faces; rather, we’ve selected people who are branching out, or who find themselves in waters where they are liable to make waves. Cannes can be a place of reinvention, after all.
French director, writer and producer Cédric Jimenez is known for his gritty crime thrillers inspired by real-life stories involving specific police departments. They include 2014 Toronto Film Festival debut The Connection (La French) about magistrate Pierre Michel, who waged an obsessive six-year battle to bring down Marseille’s infamous ‘French Connection’ drug ring; and last year’s box office hit The Stronghold (Bac nord), based on a 2012 police corruption case, also in Marseille.
The latter was acquired by Netflix outside France where it was the No.
French director, writer and producer Cédric Jimenez is known for his gritty crime thrillers inspired by real-life stories involving specific police departments. They include 2014 Toronto Film Festival debut The Connection (La French) about magistrate Pierre Michel, who waged an obsessive six-year battle to bring down Marseille’s infamous ‘French Connection’ drug ring; and last year’s box office hit The Stronghold (Bac nord), based on a 2012 police corruption case, also in Marseille.
The latter was acquired by Netflix outside France where it was the No.
- 5/21/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Happening is a drama about a young student in small-town France in 1963 who needs an abortion, a medical chore made extremely difficult because abortion is outlawed. I first saw this film in early March, and it was a harrowing and very necessary cinematic experience.
I saw Happening again just after the unprecedented leak from the US Supreme Court indicating that the justices will soon overturn the landmark case of Roe v Wade, effectively outlawing abortion across wide swathes of America. Anyone paying attention in recent years knew this was coming, but the seeming confirmation of it was shocking anyway. Watching this film for the second time with the almost certain knowledge that what it depicts may shortly no longer be historical but current reality once more was like a kick in the teeth.
I cannot overstate the absolute urgency of this film. Movies don’t get much more essential than this one.
I saw Happening again just after the unprecedented leak from the US Supreme Court indicating that the justices will soon overturn the landmark case of Roe v Wade, effectively outlawing abortion across wide swathes of America. Anyone paying attention in recent years knew this was coming, but the seeming confirmation of it was shocking anyway. Watching this film for the second time with the almost certain knowledge that what it depicts may shortly no longer be historical but current reality once more was like a kick in the teeth.
I cannot overstate the absolute urgency of this film. Movies don’t get much more essential than this one.
- 5/6/2022
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The cast of Happening, from left, Louise Orry-Diquero, Anamaria Vartolomei and Luàna Bajrami. Audrey Diwan: 'My desire to make the film came out of the shock of learning about the reality, the truth of what Annie Ernaux had gone through' Photo: UniFrance She may not exactly be a new kid on the block. In fact, Audrey Diwan, whose latest film plays at Glasgow Film Festival this week, admits she has been around the block a few times in her chosen crafts as a novelist and scriptwriter frequently working with her ex-partner Cédric Jimenez on such cutting-edge thrillers as Bac Nord and previously La French.
Audrey Diwan: 'Cinema is about freedom' Photo: UniFrance Her trajectory may be about to change after her second solo feature Happening won the Golden Lion (or should that be Lioness?) at the Venice Film Festival last year in the wake of another femme victory by...
Audrey Diwan: 'Cinema is about freedom' Photo: UniFrance Her trajectory may be about to change after her second solo feature Happening won the Golden Lion (or should that be Lioness?) at the Venice Film Festival last year in the wake of another femme victory by...
- 3/8/2022
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Banijay has partnered with Alain Goldman, the French producer of “La Vie en rose” to produce premium scripted series and feature films through his two production entities, Pitchipoï Productions and Montmartre Films.
Goldman, whose production company was previously named Legende Films, will work alongside Banijay France.
The French producer had been working with nearly every French film studios, notably Gaumont, and has also been collaborating with streamers such as Netflix with “The Spy,” starring Sacha Baron Cohen, and Amazon Prime with Caroline Vigneaux’s “Flashback” and Mélanie Laurent’s “The Mad Women’s Ball.” Besides “La Vie en Rose,” which earned Marion Cotillard an Oscar, Goldman has also produced “An Officer and a Spy” (2019), “The Connection” (2014) and “The Crimson Rivers” (2000).
“Banijay shares our vision for the company going forward, and their immediate understanding and belief in our ethos makes them the perfect partner for our future,” said Goldman. “Joining a forward-thinking...
Goldman, whose production company was previously named Legende Films, will work alongside Banijay France.
The French producer had been working with nearly every French film studios, notably Gaumont, and has also been collaborating with streamers such as Netflix with “The Spy,” starring Sacha Baron Cohen, and Amazon Prime with Caroline Vigneaux’s “Flashback” and Mélanie Laurent’s “The Mad Women’s Ball.” Besides “La Vie en Rose,” which earned Marion Cotillard an Oscar, Goldman has also produced “An Officer and a Spy” (2019), “The Connection” (2014) and “The Crimson Rivers” (2000).
“Banijay shares our vision for the company going forward, and their immediate understanding and belief in our ethos makes them the perfect partner for our future,” said Goldman. “Joining a forward-thinking...
- 2/11/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
One of the reasons that the Blair Witch Project is such a memorable film in the legacy of the horror genre is due to the fact that it easily popularized the found footage concept. Now, the 1999 feature isn’t the first movie to document in the found footage style. Cannibal Holocaust is a well-known cult classic that used the found footage format. The use of this genre actually goes way back into the early 60’s with a drama movie called The Connection – which is about a director trying to film a group of junkies waiting for a Cowboy to
Is It Time To End The Found Footage Concept?...
Is It Time To End The Found Footage Concept?...
- 1/28/2022
- by Jeffrey Bowie Jr.
- TVovermind.com
Novembre
Perhaps France’s answer to Antoine Fuqua, Cédric Jimenez has padded his decade long filmography working mostly with gritty texts that either get in tight with the criminal world or police procedurals. Jimenez gained traction on the film fest circuit with 2014’s La French (a Toronto selection) with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lellouche, he moved to WWII HHhH (The Man with the Iron Heart) starring Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O’Connell, Jack Reynor, and Mia Wasikowska and most recently was invited to Cannes with an Out of Comp slot for Bac Nord which reunited the filmmaker with Lellouche. Next up we find him working with Dujardin again plus the weighty cast Anaïs Demoustier, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jérémie Renier, Lyna Khoudri and Cédric Kahn in a project set against the backdrop of the Paris terror attacks of 2015.…...
Perhaps France’s answer to Antoine Fuqua, Cédric Jimenez has padded his decade long filmography working mostly with gritty texts that either get in tight with the criminal world or police procedurals. Jimenez gained traction on the film fest circuit with 2014’s La French (a Toronto selection) with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lellouche, he moved to WWII HHhH (The Man with the Iron Heart) starring Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O’Connell, Jack Reynor, and Mia Wasikowska and most recently was invited to Cannes with an Out of Comp slot for Bac Nord which reunited the filmmaker with Lellouche. Next up we find him working with Dujardin again plus the weighty cast Anaïs Demoustier, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jérémie Renier, Lyna Khoudri and Cédric Kahn in a project set against the backdrop of the Paris terror attacks of 2015.…...
- 1/7/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: CAA has signed French filmmaker and novelist Audrey Diwan. Her second film, L’Evenement (Happening), won the Golden Lion on Saturday, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. The picture immediately becomes a hot awards-season title, and domestic distribution is being sorted by CAA Media Finance and Wild Bunch.
While the adaptation of the Annie Ernaux 2000 autobiographical novel is set in France in 1964, the abortion tale has a current relevance to the issue of restrictions being placed on women’s control of their bodies; Texas was a shot across the bow, with more conservative states expected to test Roe V Wade. In the film, a bright young student becomes pregnant. Not ready to become a mother, she confronts the pain and shame of an abortion, risking prison is she follows through. Abortion wasn’t legalized in France for another 11 years. Deadline called it “a bravura piece of filmmaking.
While the adaptation of the Annie Ernaux 2000 autobiographical novel is set in France in 1964, the abortion tale has a current relevance to the issue of restrictions being placed on women’s control of their bodies; Texas was a shot across the bow, with more conservative states expected to test Roe V Wade. In the film, a bright young student becomes pregnant. Not ready to become a mother, she confronts the pain and shame of an abortion, risking prison is she follows through. Abortion wasn’t legalized in France for another 11 years. Deadline called it “a bravura piece of filmmaking.
- 9/13/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The feature is adapted from French writer Annie Ernaux 2019 on her illegal abortion in 1964.
French novelist, screenwriter and director Audrey Diwan broke into cinema as the co-writer of a series of thrillers including Paris Under Watch, The Connection and recent Cannes selection and box office hit Bac Nord with her former partner Cédric Jimenez.
She arrives in competition at the Venice Film Festival this year with her second solo feature Happening. Adapted from the 2019 work of respected French writer Annie Ernaux, it recounts the author’s struggle to get an abortion as a student in 1964, 11 years before abortion was legalised...
French novelist, screenwriter and director Audrey Diwan broke into cinema as the co-writer of a series of thrillers including Paris Under Watch, The Connection and recent Cannes selection and box office hit Bac Nord with her former partner Cédric Jimenez.
She arrives in competition at the Venice Film Festival this year with her second solo feature Happening. Adapted from the 2019 work of respected French writer Annie Ernaux, it recounts the author’s struggle to get an abortion as a student in 1964, 11 years before abortion was legalised...
- 9/6/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Crime thriller is directed by Cédric Jimenez and stars Gilles Lellouche.
Netflix has swooped on worldwide rights to Cédric Jimenez’s French crime thriller The Stronghold from Studiocanal, ahead of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The deal with the streaming giant excludes France, where Studiocanal will release the film theatrically under its original title Bac Nord on August 18. It is set to world premiere out of competition at Cannes on Monday (July 12) and Netflix plan to release the feature on its platform this autumn.
The film stars Gilles Lellouche as the commander of a tough police brigade operating...
Netflix has swooped on worldwide rights to Cédric Jimenez’s French crime thriller The Stronghold from Studiocanal, ahead of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The deal with the streaming giant excludes France, where Studiocanal will release the film theatrically under its original title Bac Nord on August 18. It is set to world premiere out of competition at Cannes on Monday (July 12) and Netflix plan to release the feature on its platform this autumn.
The film stars Gilles Lellouche as the commander of a tough police brigade operating...
- 7/7/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Aakash Prabhakar’s maiden venture in cinema 'Freddie’s Piano' makes it to the official lineup of Nyiff 2021. Nyiff Celebrates Unmatched Breadth of Indian Cinema with films in 15 languages this year. The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) is North America's oldest and most prestigious film festival which features cinema from India. 'Freddie's Piano' was screened virtually at the Scottsdale International Film Festival last year.
'Freddie’s Piano' is a young adult film about two half-brothers Aden and Freddie. Aden wants to give Freddie a piano to fulfill their father’s dream; Freddie wants to give Aden the freedom he dreamed about when their father was alive. In the end, both brothers learn that what they really need is each other. Freddie’s Piano is a simple film about what Aden does to get his younger brother Freddie a grand piano for Christmas.
Aakash comes from a theatre background and has done several plays,...
'Freddie’s Piano' is a young adult film about two half-brothers Aden and Freddie. Aden wants to give Freddie a piano to fulfill their father’s dream; Freddie wants to give Aden the freedom he dreamed about when their father was alive. In the end, both brothers learn that what they really need is each other. Freddie’s Piano is a simple film about what Aden does to get his younger brother Freddie a grand piano for Christmas.
Aakash comes from a theatre background and has done several plays,...
- 5/18/2021
- by Glamsham Editorial
- GlamSham
Cedric Jimenez, the French director of “The Connection,” the Rosamund Pike-starrer “HHhH” and “Bac Nord,” will next be directing “November,” an action-packed thriller set against the backdrop of the Paris terror attacks of 2015 with a prestigious cast led by Oscar-winning Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”), Anais Demoustier (“Alice and The Mayor”) and Sandrine Kiberlain (“In Safe Hands”).
Written by Olivier Demangel, the screenwriter of Mati Diop’s “Atlantics,” “November” unfolds during the five days following the attacks which shook Paris, and revolves around the sprawling investigation carried on by a highly-secretive police brigade called Sdat (anti-terrorist sub-directorate) to track down the terrorists – including the two masterminds — behind the attacks.
Budgeted at $20 million, “November” is produced by Hugo Selignac at Chi-Fou-Mi Films, who had teamed with Jimenez on “Bac Nord,” and Mathias Rubin at Recifilms. Studiocanal is co-producing and is handling French distribution, as well as international sales on the film,...
Written by Olivier Demangel, the screenwriter of Mati Diop’s “Atlantics,” “November” unfolds during the five days following the attacks which shook Paris, and revolves around the sprawling investigation carried on by a highly-secretive police brigade called Sdat (anti-terrorist sub-directorate) to track down the terrorists – including the two masterminds — behind the attacks.
Budgeted at $20 million, “November” is produced by Hugo Selignac at Chi-Fou-Mi Films, who had teamed with Jimenez on “Bac Nord,” and Mathias Rubin at Recifilms. Studiocanal is co-producing and is handling French distribution, as well as international sales on the film,...
- 4/30/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Range Media Partners, a new management firm staffed with veteran Hollywood agents, has announced a slew of filmmaker signings.
Tim Van Patten, the Emmy Award-winning director, writer and creator behind shows like “The Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire” and the recent HBO hit “Perry Mason,” has joined the firm.
Van Patten is joined by Swedish-born Niclas Larsson, an award-winning commercial director and writer who also helmed the whimsical two-part Vogue series “The Magic Diner,” featuring Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Anna Wintour.
Ricky Staub and Dan Walser, the creative team behind “Concrete Cowboy,” are also on board. The official TIFF selection stars Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin, and was purchased by Netflix following its festival premiere. The pair operate through their production company Neighborhood Films, which counts an apprenticeship program that recruits the formerly incarcerated to help them develop a versatile skill set that they can parlay into future opportunities.
Also on deck is Corin Hardy,...
Tim Van Patten, the Emmy Award-winning director, writer and creator behind shows like “The Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire” and the recent HBO hit “Perry Mason,” has joined the firm.
Van Patten is joined by Swedish-born Niclas Larsson, an award-winning commercial director and writer who also helmed the whimsical two-part Vogue series “The Magic Diner,” featuring Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Anna Wintour.
Ricky Staub and Dan Walser, the creative team behind “Concrete Cowboy,” are also on board. The official TIFF selection stars Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin, and was purchased by Netflix following its festival premiere. The pair operate through their production company Neighborhood Films, which counts an apprenticeship program that recruits the formerly incarcerated to help them develop a versatile skill set that they can parlay into future opportunities.
Also on deck is Corin Hardy,...
- 12/8/2020
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Range Media Partners has strengthened its filmmaker roster, signing Tim Van Patten, Niclas Larsson, Ricky Staub & Dan Walser, Corin Hardy and Cédric Jimenez.
Van Patten is the Emmy-winning director, creator/writer whose credits include Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and most recently Perry Mason.
Larsson is an award winning commercial director/writer; Staub and Walser are the creative duo behind Concrete Cowboy, which they wrote and Staub directed. Pic premiered at virtual Toronto and stars Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin.
Hardy is a filmmaker, illustrator, sculptor and writer whose credits include The Hallow, The Nun, and Gangs Of London. Jimenez is the French producer, director and writer behind The Connection, The Man With The Iron Heart, and Stronghold, which makes its debut on Netflix this Christmas.
The filmmakers stay with their agencies: Van Patten is repped by CAA; Larsson is UTA, attorney Warren Dern and commercial agent Mjz; Hardy is WME...
Van Patten is the Emmy-winning director, creator/writer whose credits include Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and most recently Perry Mason.
Larsson is an award winning commercial director/writer; Staub and Walser are the creative duo behind Concrete Cowboy, which they wrote and Staub directed. Pic premiered at virtual Toronto and stars Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin.
Hardy is a filmmaker, illustrator, sculptor and writer whose credits include The Hallow, The Nun, and Gangs Of London. Jimenez is the French producer, director and writer behind The Connection, The Man With The Iron Heart, and Stronghold, which makes its debut on Netflix this Christmas.
The filmmakers stay with their agencies: Van Patten is repped by CAA; Larsson is UTA, attorney Warren Dern and commercial agent Mjz; Hardy is WME...
- 12/8/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
30 Years of The Film Foundation
Equally impressive as his towering career is Martin Scorsese’s dedication to restoring previously lost classics and championing underseen gems with The Film Foundation. Now celebrating 30 years, they’ve been given the spotlight on The Criterion Channel, featuring a wealth of highlights as well as a conversation between Scorsese and Ari Aster. The lineup of essentials includes The Broken Butterfly (1919), Trouble in Paradise (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), L’Atalante (1934), The Long Voyage Home (1940) The Chase (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), The River (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Bigamist (1953), Ugetsu (1953), Senso (1954), The Big Country (1958), Shadows (1959), The Cloud-Capped Star (1960), Primary (1960), The Connection (1961), Salvatore Giuliano (1962), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West...
30 Years of The Film Foundation
Equally impressive as his towering career is Martin Scorsese’s dedication to restoring previously lost classics and championing underseen gems with The Film Foundation. Now celebrating 30 years, they’ve been given the spotlight on The Criterion Channel, featuring a wealth of highlights as well as a conversation between Scorsese and Ari Aster. The lineup of essentials includes The Broken Butterfly (1919), Trouble in Paradise (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), L’Atalante (1934), The Long Voyage Home (1940) The Chase (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), The River (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Bigamist (1953), Ugetsu (1953), Senso (1954), The Big Country (1958), Shadows (1959), The Cloud-Capped Star (1960), Primary (1960), The Connection (1961), Salvatore Giuliano (1962), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West...
- 11/20/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The November 2020 lineup for The Criterion Channel has been unveiled, toplined by a Claire Denis retrospective, including the brand-new restoration of Beau travail, along with Chocolat, No Fear, No Die, Nenette and Boni, Towards Mathilde, 35 Shots of Rum, and White Material.
There will also be a series celebrating 30 years of The Film Foundation, featuring a new interview with Martin Scorsese by Ari Aster, as well as a number of their most essential restorations, including films by Jia Zhangke, Ritwik Ghatak, Luchino Visconti, Shirley Clarke, Med Hondo, and more.
There’s also David Lynch’s new restoration of The Elephant Man, retrospectives dedicated to Ngozi Onwurah, Nadav Lapid, and Terence Nance, a new edition of the series Queersighted titled Queer Fear, featuring a new conversation between series programmer Michael Koresky and filmmaker and critic Farihah Zaman, and much more.
See the lineup below and learn more on the official site.
There will also be a series celebrating 30 years of The Film Foundation, featuring a new interview with Martin Scorsese by Ari Aster, as well as a number of their most essential restorations, including films by Jia Zhangke, Ritwik Ghatak, Luchino Visconti, Shirley Clarke, Med Hondo, and more.
There’s also David Lynch’s new restoration of The Elephant Man, retrospectives dedicated to Ngozi Onwurah, Nadav Lapid, and Terence Nance, a new edition of the series Queersighted titled Queer Fear, featuring a new conversation between series programmer Michael Koresky and filmmaker and critic Farihah Zaman, and much more.
See the lineup below and learn more on the official site.
- 10/27/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Graham Moore, the Oscar-winning writer behind The Imitation Game, will pen the futuristic thriller Mind Fall for Solstice Studios and Studio 8.
The Connection director Cedric Jimenez has been tapped to helm the movie, which is set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, where she soon finds herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella and John ...
The Connection director Cedric Jimenez has been tapped to helm the movie, which is set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, where she soon finds herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella and John ...
- 5/27/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Graham Moore, the Oscar-winning writer behind The Imitation Game, will pen the futuristic thriller Mind Fall for Solstice Studios and Studio 8.
The Connection director Cedric Jimenez has been tapped to helm the movie, which is set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, where she soon finds herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella and John ...
The Connection director Cedric Jimenez has been tapped to helm the movie, which is set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, where she soon finds herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella and John ...
- 5/27/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Solstice Studios is developing the futuristic thriller “Mind Fall” with Cedric Jimenez directing and Oscar winner Graham Moore scripting.
It’s the second project for two-year-old Solstice under its partnership with Studio 8, which includes Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming action thriller “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck.
“Mind Fall” will be produced by Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella, John Graham and Scoop Wasserstein. Solstice will finance and distribute the film in the U.S. and handle international sales.
“Mind Fall” is set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, leading to her being accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Jimenez is best known for his 2014 crime thriller “The Connection,” inspired by the events in 1971’s “The French Connection.
It’s the second project for two-year-old Solstice under its partnership with Studio 8, which includes Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming action thriller “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck.
“Mind Fall” will be produced by Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella, John Graham and Scoop Wasserstein. Solstice will finance and distribute the film in the U.S. and handle international sales.
“Mind Fall” is set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, leading to her being accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Jimenez is best known for his 2014 crime thriller “The Connection,” inspired by the events in 1971’s “The French Connection.
- 5/27/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Companies collaborate on second project after previously announced action thriller Hypnotic.
Studio 8 and Solstice Studios are partnering on the sci-fi thriller Mind Fall from The Imitation Game writer Graham Moore and have attached Cedric Jimenez to direct.
Solstice will finance and distribute Mind Fall in the Us and handle international sales.
The story takes place in the near future where illegal technology allows memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, soon finding herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Studio 8 and Solstice Studios are partnering on the sci-fi thriller Mind Fall from The Imitation Game writer Graham Moore and have attached Cedric Jimenez to direct.
Solstice will finance and distribute Mind Fall in the Us and handle international sales.
The story takes place in the near future where illegal technology allows memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s. The story follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories, soon finding herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
- 5/27/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Solstice Studios has picked up the Graham Moore scripted futuristic thriller Mind Fall and has set French filmmaker Cedric Jimenez to direct.
Mind Fall is the second project from Studio 8 and Solstice Studios’ strategic partnership, their most recent movie being Robert Rodriguez’s action thriller Hypnotic starring Oscar-winner Ben Affleck.
Set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s, Mind Fall follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories. She soon finds herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Mind Fall will be produced by Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella and John Graham, with Solstice financing and releasing the pic stateside. Solstice will also handle international sales on the title.
Jimenez is best known for The Connection, the action crime thriller inspired by the...
Mind Fall is the second project from Studio 8 and Solstice Studios’ strategic partnership, their most recent movie being Robert Rodriguez’s action thriller Hypnotic starring Oscar-winner Ben Affleck.
Set in the near future where illegal new technology allows specific memories to be removed from one person’s brain and inserted into another’s, Mind Fall follows one woman’s journey into the black market of memories. She soon finds herself accused of murdering a man she has no recollection of knowing.
Mind Fall will be produced by Studio 8’s Jeff Robinov, Guy Danella and John Graham, with Solstice financing and releasing the pic stateside. Solstice will also handle international sales on the title.
Jimenez is best known for The Connection, the action crime thriller inspired by the...
- 5/27/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Gilles Lellouche, François Civil, Karim Leklou, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Kenza Fortas are among the cast of this Chi-Fou-Mi production being sold by StudioCanal. The first clapperboard is set to slam on 5 August for Bac Nord (lit. “Northern Anti-Crime Squad”), the fourth feature by Cédric Jimenez, following Paris Under Watch (2012), The Connection and The Man with the Iron Heart (2017). For the cast, the filmmaker is teaming up once again with Gilles Lellouche. He will be flanked by François Civil (popular in the...
Studiocanal has come on board “Bac Nord” from Cedric Jimenez (“The Man With the Iron Heart”), a French crime thriller with Gilles Lellouche set in the dangerous northern neighborhoods of Marseille.
The movie reteams Studiocanal with Hugo Sélignac and Vincent Mazel at Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, the Paris-based company behind the Cesar-nominated “Sink or Swim,” one of France’s highest-grossing local movies in 2018, and “In Safe Hands,” both of which were handled by Studiocanal.
“‘Bac Nord’ marks our fifth collaboration with Hugo Selignac, a talented and ambitious French producer,” said Nicolas Dumont, Studiocanal’s exec VP of French production, theatrical distribution and home entertainment. Dumont cited Lellouche’s “Sink or Swim,” Jeanne Herry’s “In Safe Hands,” Francois Damiens’s “Mon Ket” and Romain Gavras’ “The World Is Yours.”
Studiocanal is co-producing the film with France 2 Cinéma and has acquired all rights, including the international sales.
“Bac Nord” will follow a police...
The movie reteams Studiocanal with Hugo Sélignac and Vincent Mazel at Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, the Paris-based company behind the Cesar-nominated “Sink or Swim,” one of France’s highest-grossing local movies in 2018, and “In Safe Hands,” both of which were handled by Studiocanal.
“‘Bac Nord’ marks our fifth collaboration with Hugo Selignac, a talented and ambitious French producer,” said Nicolas Dumont, Studiocanal’s exec VP of French production, theatrical distribution and home entertainment. Dumont cited Lellouche’s “Sink or Swim,” Jeanne Herry’s “In Safe Hands,” Francois Damiens’s “Mon Ket” and Romain Gavras’ “The World Is Yours.”
Studiocanal is co-producing the film with France 2 Cinéma and has acquired all rights, including the international sales.
“Bac Nord” will follow a police...
- 6/21/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
France’s top producer Hugo Selignac, who had a banner year in 2018 with “Sink or Swim” and “In Safe Hands,” is set to produce the next projects of high-profile filmmakers Cedric Jimenez (“The Man With the Iron Heart”) and Quentin Dupieux (“Deerskin”).
Jimenez’s project, “Bac Nord,” is an ambitious thriller following a police brigade working in the dangerous northern neighborhoods of Marseille, where the level of crime is higher than anywhere else in France.
“Bac Nord” will be headlined by a strong cast of French stars, including Gilles Lellouche, the director “Sink of Swim” and actor of “Little White Lies 2,” as well as Francois Civil (“Wolf’s Call”), who just won the Chopard Trophy Award for rising talent; Karim Leklou, who earned a Cesar nomination for best newcomer for his performance in “The World Is Yours”; Adele Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Color”); and Kenza Fortas, who just won...
Jimenez’s project, “Bac Nord,” is an ambitious thriller following a police brigade working in the dangerous northern neighborhoods of Marseille, where the level of crime is higher than anywhere else in France.
“Bac Nord” will be headlined by a strong cast of French stars, including Gilles Lellouche, the director “Sink of Swim” and actor of “Little White Lies 2,” as well as Francois Civil (“Wolf’s Call”), who just won the Chopard Trophy Award for rising talent; Karim Leklou, who earned a Cesar nomination for best newcomer for his performance in “The World Is Yours”; Adele Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Color”); and Kenza Fortas, who just won...
- 5/22/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The film has already out-grossed the first two Transformers films.
The Chinese box office contracted drastically to fall by 50% week-on-week following the end of the New Year holiday. Bumblebee dominated again in the absence of strong contenders between January 7-13.
Paramount’s Transformers spinoff Bumblebee added $46.9m for a gross of $104.9m to date after just 10 days. It has surpassed the lifetime total of each of the first two Transformers in the original franchise - Transformers in 2007, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009, and is enroute to beat the third installment,Transformers: Dark of the Moon, in 2011. Its 10-day...
The Chinese box office contracted drastically to fall by 50% week-on-week following the end of the New Year holiday. Bumblebee dominated again in the absence of strong contenders between January 7-13.
Paramount’s Transformers spinoff Bumblebee added $46.9m for a gross of $104.9m to date after just 10 days. It has surpassed the lifetime total of each of the first two Transformers in the original franchise - Transformers in 2007, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009, and is enroute to beat the third installment,Transformers: Dark of the Moon, in 2011. Its 10-day...
- 1/14/2019
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
In 1961, Shirley Clarke finished directing her first feature film and debuted The Connection at the Cannes Film Festival to much acclaim.
Previously, Clarke had begun her creative career as a dancer before moving on to direct many well-respected short experimental films, such as 1958’s Bridges-Go-Round. Clarke had always aimed her sights high with her career and, despite the improbability of a woman directing an independent feature film in the early 1960s, she accomplished just that.
The Connection was originally a play written by Jack Gelber and performed by New York City’s Living Theatre in 1959. The plot revolves around a group of junkies waiting around one afternoon for their drug dealer to arrive.
Clarke had seen and loved the play, but it was her brother-in-law — theater critic Kenneth Tynan — who convinced her to make a film of it. Money was raised through Lewis Allen, a theater investor who wanted to move into producing films.
Previously, Clarke had begun her creative career as a dancer before moving on to direct many well-respected short experimental films, such as 1958’s Bridges-Go-Round. Clarke had always aimed her sights high with her career and, despite the improbability of a woman directing an independent feature film in the early 1960s, she accomplished just that.
The Connection was originally a play written by Jack Gelber and performed by New York City’s Living Theatre in 1959. The plot revolves around a group of junkies waiting around one afternoon for their drug dealer to arrive.
Clarke had seen and loved the play, but it was her brother-in-law — theater critic Kenneth Tynan — who convinced her to make a film of it. Money was raised through Lewis Allen, a theater investor who wanted to move into producing films.
- 9/9/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In October 1968, the transcript of a conversation between filmmakers Shirley Clarke and Storm de Hirsch was published in the 46th issue of Film Culture magazine. Excerpts from that conversation are below.
At the time, Clarke and de Hirsch were totally unique in their respective careers. While there were certainly many women filmmakers active in the New American Cinema movement of the late ’60s, only these two had directed feature films. Clarke had directed three: The Connection, The Cool World and Portrait of Jason; and de Hirsch just one: Goodbye in the Mirror.
Therefore, most of the conversation in Film Culture revolved around the ideas of women making feature films — from differences in “masculine” and “feminine” storytelling to the future of women working in the industry, either independently like themselves or within the Hollywood system.
Both women have very different opinions on the subject. De Hirsch frequently states that she sees...
At the time, Clarke and de Hirsch were totally unique in their respective careers. While there were certainly many women filmmakers active in the New American Cinema movement of the late ’60s, only these two had directed feature films. Clarke had directed three: The Connection, The Cool World and Portrait of Jason; and de Hirsch just one: Goodbye in the Mirror.
Therefore, most of the conversation in Film Culture revolved around the ideas of women making feature films — from differences in “masculine” and “feminine” storytelling to the future of women working in the industry, either independently like themselves or within the Hollywood system.
Both women have very different opinions on the subject. De Hirsch frequently states that she sees...
- 8/19/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
It’s been six years since Jean Dujardin improbably charmed his way to an Oscar for a sparkling star turn in “The Artist,” and since then, even the French film industry has struggled to make optimum use of the funnyman’s outsize, old-school screen presence. Drug thriller “The Connection” was a solid enough play-it-straight vehicle, but by the time Dujardin showed up as a digitally modified little person in the dubious 2016 romcom “Up for Love,” Michel Hazanavicius’s beguiling silent-film pastiche itself seemed ancient history. That “I Feel Good” finally hands Dujardin a role he can wrap his arms around is perhaps the greatest of its many offbeat pleasures; he repays Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s ultimately sunny anti-capitalist comedy with a performance of x-factor charm, yes, but also wounded human complexity.
Dujardin’s urbane star quality isn’t the likeliest of matches for Delépine and Kervern, a cheerfully...
Dujardin’s urbane star quality isn’t the likeliest of matches for Delépine and Kervern, a cheerfully...
- 8/11/2018
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival’s official selection might be lacking in new works from female directors, but elsewhere in this year’s lineup, women are staking a claim for supremacy. In the International Critics’ Week sidebar, they’re actually leading the way. In the first time in a decade, this year’s competition slate includes a majority of films made by female directors.
The seven titles that will play in Critics’ Week include four directed by women: Agnieszka Smoczynska’s (best known for her wild debut “The Lure”) “Fugue,” Anja Kofmel’s “Chris the Swiss,” Rohena Gera’s “Sir,” and Sofia Szilagyi’s “One Day.” Also competing in the section: Benedikt Erlingsson’s “Kona Fer I Strid” (“Woman at War”), Camille Vidal-Naquet’s “Sauvage,” and Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s “Diamantino.”
The last time female directors offered up the majority of films in the sidebar’s competition, it was...
The seven titles that will play in Critics’ Week include four directed by women: Agnieszka Smoczynska’s (best known for her wild debut “The Lure”) “Fugue,” Anja Kofmel’s “Chris the Swiss,” Rohena Gera’s “Sir,” and Sofia Szilagyi’s “One Day.” Also competing in the section: Benedikt Erlingsson’s “Kona Fer I Strid” (“Woman at War”), Camille Vidal-Naquet’s “Sauvage,” and Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s “Diamantino.”
The last time female directors offered up the majority of films in the sidebar’s competition, it was...
- 4/16/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Author: Zehra Phelan
To celebrate the release of The Man with the Iron Heart on Blu-ray and DVD, we have an exclusive featurette taking us behind the scenes on the making of the film with cast members Rosamund Pike, Jason Clarke and Jack O’Connell sharing their thoughts on their latest project.
The latest offering from director Cédric Jimenez (The Connection) is based on the bestselling novel HHhH from Laurent Binet and tells the story of how the brave men and women of the Resistance sacrificed everything in the name of freedom.
Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) takes on the title character, the steely-eyed and unflinching Reinhard Heydrich, also known as ‘the blond beast’ and behind some of the worst atrocities of the war; Rosamund Pike (Oscar-nominated for Gone Girl) stars as Heydrich’s wife Lina; and Stephen Graham (Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire) is the diabolical SS general Heinrich Himmler.
To celebrate the release of The Man with the Iron Heart on Blu-ray and DVD, we have an exclusive featurette taking us behind the scenes on the making of the film with cast members Rosamund Pike, Jason Clarke and Jack O’Connell sharing their thoughts on their latest project.
The latest offering from director Cédric Jimenez (The Connection) is based on the bestselling novel HHhH from Laurent Binet and tells the story of how the brave men and women of the Resistance sacrificed everything in the name of freedom.
Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) takes on the title character, the steely-eyed and unflinching Reinhard Heydrich, also known as ‘the blond beast’ and behind some of the worst atrocities of the war; Rosamund Pike (Oscar-nominated for Gone Girl) stars as Heydrich’s wife Lina; and Stephen Graham (Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire) is the diabolical SS general Heinrich Himmler.
- 1/5/2018
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
After his Jean Dujardin-led crime thriller The Connection served as a break-out, director Cédric Jimenez is back with a higher-profile follow-up with quite the ensemble. Led by Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O’Connell, Jack Reynor, and Mia Wasikowska, The Man with the Iron Heart is a World War II thriller and the first trailer has arrived.
Hailing from France, where it’s using the unfortunate original title of HHhH when it arrives this summer, the first trailer shows the story already captured in last year’s Anthropoid, following two young recruits who set out to kill a top Nazi leader. While it doesn’t look to reinvent the genre, the preview sells an intense-looking thriller with a strong cast.
Also starring Stephen Graham and Céline Sallette, check out the trailer below.
1942: The Third Reich is at its peak. The Czech resistance in London decides to plan the...
Hailing from France, where it’s using the unfortunate original title of HHhH when it arrives this summer, the first trailer shows the story already captured in last year’s Anthropoid, following two young recruits who set out to kill a top Nazi leader. While it doesn’t look to reinvent the genre, the preview sells an intense-looking thriller with a strong cast.
Also starring Stephen Graham and Céline Sallette, check out the trailer below.
1942: The Third Reich is at its peak. The Czech resistance in London decides to plan the...
- 4/17/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Operation Anthropoid, in which a team of Czechoslovak British-trained paratroopers assassinated Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich during World War II, has been Hollywood movie bait dating back to the 1940s. The story was last depicted on the big screen as recently as 2016, when Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan starred in “Anthrophoid,” but it looks like we’ll be getting another version of the story in the coming months.
Read More: Weinstein Company Picks Up U.S. Rights to Nazi Thriller ‘HHhH’
“HHhH,” based on the international bestseller of the same name by Laurent Binet, marks the English-language debut of French director Cédric Jimenez (“The Connection”). Rising talents Jack O’Connell and Jack Raynor play the two paratroopers whose high stakes mission resulted in Heydrich’s assassination. Jason Clarke is playing the Nazi Officer, while Rosamund Pike and Mia Wasikowska round out the cast
The Weinstein Company picked up U.S. distribution...
Read More: Weinstein Company Picks Up U.S. Rights to Nazi Thriller ‘HHhH’
“HHhH,” based on the international bestseller of the same name by Laurent Binet, marks the English-language debut of French director Cédric Jimenez (“The Connection”). Rising talents Jack O’Connell and Jack Raynor play the two paratroopers whose high stakes mission resulted in Heydrich’s assassination. Jason Clarke is playing the Nazi Officer, while Rosamund Pike and Mia Wasikowska round out the cast
The Weinstein Company picked up U.S. distribution...
- 4/14/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Jean Dujardin has moved from Wme to CAA, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
As the silent screen idol in 2011’s The Artist, he became the first French actor to win the Academy Award for best leading actor, to go with similar accolades from the SAG Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Independent Spirit Awards and the Cannes Film Festival.
Since then, Dujardin has appeared in Hollywood movies The Wolf of Wall Street and The Monuments Men, as well as several films from his native France, including Up for Love, Un + Une and The Connection...
As the silent screen idol in 2011’s The Artist, he became the first French actor to win the Academy Award for best leading actor, to go with similar accolades from the SAG Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Independent Spirit Awards and the Cannes Film Festival.
Since then, Dujardin has appeared in Hollywood movies The Wolf of Wall Street and The Monuments Men, as well as several films from his native France, including Up for Love, Un + Une and The Connection...
- 2/3/2017
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Altitude and Picturehouse strike deal for Second World War drama starring Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson.
Picturehouse Entertainment and Altitude Film Distribution have struck a deal for UK rights to Vincent Perez’s Alone In Berlin, ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated between Altitude Film Entertainment’s Will Clarke, Picturehouse’s Clare Binns, producers Paul Trijbits and Christian Grass and Alison Thompson from sales outfit Cornerstone Films, which handles international rights.
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) and Daniel Brühl (Rush) star in the Second World War drama-thriller based on the true story of a working class couple who conducted a series of anonymous protests against the Nazi regime in Berlin.
Actor-director Perez’s feature is adapted from the classic novel Every Man Dies Alone by German writer Hans Fallada.
Producers are X Filme powerhouse duo Stefan Arndt (Amour) and Uwe Schott ([link...
Picturehouse Entertainment and Altitude Film Distribution have struck a deal for UK rights to Vincent Perez’s Alone In Berlin, ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated between Altitude Film Entertainment’s Will Clarke, Picturehouse’s Clare Binns, producers Paul Trijbits and Christian Grass and Alison Thompson from sales outfit Cornerstone Films, which handles international rights.
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) and Daniel Brühl (Rush) star in the Second World War drama-thriller based on the true story of a working class couple who conducted a series of anonymous protests against the Nazi regime in Berlin.
Actor-director Perez’s feature is adapted from the classic novel Every Man Dies Alone by German writer Hans Fallada.
Producers are X Filme powerhouse duo Stefan Arndt (Amour) and Uwe Schott ([link...
- 2/12/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
After highlighting 50 films that are most certainly worth seeing this year, it’s time we venture into the unknown. While a multitude of 2016 previews simply regurgitate a list of dated releases, we’ve set out to focus on 100 films we’re genuinely looking forward to, regardless of their marketing budgets. While some might not have a release date — let alone any confirmed festival premiere — most have wrapped production and will likely debut at some point in 2016, so make sure to check back for updates over the next twelve months and beyond.
It should be noted that there are a number of films we’re greatly looking forward to, but whose release we aren’t confident about, including the next features from Claire Denis and Michael Haneke. (Rest assured, however, that we’ll have updates as they come in.)
Lastly, despite not coming out last year, as was planned, Orson Welles...
It should be noted that there are a number of films we’re greatly looking forward to, but whose release we aren’t confident about, including the next features from Claire Denis and Michael Haneke. (Rest assured, however, that we’ll have updates as they come in.)
Lastly, despite not coming out last year, as was planned, Orson Welles...
- 1/11/2016
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
The Weinstein Company said today it is acquiring U.S. rights to HHhH, the Nazi-era thriller from The Connection director Cédric Jimenez that was one of the hot titles up for grabs during this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O'Connell, Jack Reynor and Mia Wasikowska are attached to star and production began this month in Budapest. Based on Laurent Binet's bestselling historical novel, the story revolves around the true story of two exiled…...
- 10/28/2015
- Deadline
The Weinstein Company is set to acquire U.S. rights to the Nazi-era thriller "HHhH" which Cedric Jimenez ("The Connection") is directing and which just began production in Budapest.
Based on Laurent Binet's bestselling historical novel, the story revolves around the true story of two exiled operatives who escaped Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and successfuly assassinated key Hitler cabinet member Reinhard 'The Butcher Of Prague' Heydrich.
The duo changed the course of history, but in doing so met brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O'Connell, Jack Reynor and Mia Wasikowska are attached to star.
David Farr, Audrey Diwan and Jimenez wrote the screenplay.
Source: Deadline...
Based on Laurent Binet's bestselling historical novel, the story revolves around the true story of two exiled operatives who escaped Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and successfuly assassinated key Hitler cabinet member Reinhard 'The Butcher Of Prague' Heydrich.
The duo changed the course of history, but in doing so met brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Jack O'Connell, Jack Reynor and Mia Wasikowska are attached to star.
David Farr, Audrey Diwan and Jimenez wrote the screenplay.
Source: Deadline...
- 10/28/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
To celebrate the release of The Connection, out on DVD now, HeyUGuys are giving 2 lucky winners the chance to win a copy of the DVD. The Connection follows young investigating magistrate Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) who arrives in Marseille, a city riddled with organised crime, in 1975 with his wife (Céline Sallette, House Of
The post Win The Connection on DVD appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post Win The Connection on DVD appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 10/21/2015
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Amazon
To celebrate the release of The Connection, out now on DVD, What Culture are giving 2 lucky winners the chance to win a copy of the DVD.
The Connection follows young investigating magistrate Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) who arrives in Marseille, a city riddled with organised crime, in 1975 with his wife (Céline Sallette, House Of Tolerance, Rust and Bone, Marie Antoinette) and children. He sets to work tackling the French Connection, a mafia organisation that exports heroin around the world. Despite protests from his family and colleagues, he sets his own safety aside to embark on a personal crusade against Gaëtan Zampa (Gilles Lellouche, Little White Lies, The Players, Point Blank), the iconic underworld figure and untouchable godfather of the French Connection. But as he delves deeper into the case, Pierre realises his old methods no longer apply.
A blend of style and intensity, The Connection is a visually stunning...
To celebrate the release of The Connection, out now on DVD, What Culture are giving 2 lucky winners the chance to win a copy of the DVD.
The Connection follows young investigating magistrate Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) who arrives in Marseille, a city riddled with organised crime, in 1975 with his wife (Céline Sallette, House Of Tolerance, Rust and Bone, Marie Antoinette) and children. He sets to work tackling the French Connection, a mafia organisation that exports heroin around the world. Despite protests from his family and colleagues, he sets his own safety aside to embark on a personal crusade against Gaëtan Zampa (Gilles Lellouche, Little White Lies, The Players, Point Blank), the iconic underworld figure and untouchable godfather of the French Connection. But as he delves deeper into the case, Pierre realises his old methods no longer apply.
A blend of style and intensity, The Connection is a visually stunning...
- 10/20/2015
- by Laura Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Cedric Jimenez‘s The Connection is a handling of a scenario touched upon from an American perspective in William Friedkin’s classic 1971 film The French Connection. A nicely mounted production peppered with several visually arresting moments and fine attention to period detail doesn’t have the same powerful draw as the earlier title. Unfortunately, Jimenez’s film often feels a bit too derivative by today’s standards of true crime epics. A great cast, headlined by Jean Dujardin and Gille Lelouche are reason enough to give the title a look, while it’s mid-July theatrical release (following mostly positive reviews out of the premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival) yielded mild box office.
The Connection (aka La French) may not appear to be anything special. And the truth of the matter is, it really isn’t, except for the fact that it’s loosely related to the long spanning...
The Connection (aka La French) may not appear to be anything special. And the truth of the matter is, it really isn’t, except for the fact that it’s loosely related to the long spanning...
- 9/22/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
[Editor's Note: This post is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of Indie Film Month. Today's pick, "The Connection," is available now On Demand. Need help finding a movie to watch? Let TWC find the best fit for your mood here.] Read More: Exclusive: Jean Dujardin's Methods Aren't Quite Legal In Clip From Crime Drama 'The Connection' Magistrate Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) — the "French cowboy," as he’s known around Marseilles, France — enacted illegal surveillance techniques and filed false arrest reports in his obsessive pursuit to link kingpin Tany Zampa (Gilles Lellouche) to the famous French Connection drug trade. Now standing in Zampa’s nightclub, he doesn’t know he also lost his wife and kids (though only for a brief time). As he stares down his target through a mirrored door, the blaring disco lights cast a pitch-black shadow across the left side of his face, further...
- 9/21/2015
- by Nick Romano
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Cinderella (Kenneth Branagh)
Disney is once again, after a reasonable hiatus, back in the business of princesses. Since the studio’s surprise success and subsequent exploitation of Frozen, the Mouse House seems destined to resurrect all their classic animated female characters in a manner resembling Marvel’s superhero line-up. After the empty and muddled special-effects spectacles that were Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent, the proposition of...
Cinderella (Kenneth Branagh)
Disney is once again, after a reasonable hiatus, back in the business of princesses. Since the studio’s surprise success and subsequent exploitation of Frozen, the Mouse House seems destined to resurrect all their classic animated female characters in a manner resembling Marvel’s superhero line-up. After the empty and muddled special-effects spectacles that were Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent, the proposition of...
- 9/18/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
After earning an Oscar nomination for her chilling portrayal of maybe-sociopath Amy Dunne in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike has landed another role that may be worthy of her formidable talent. The actress has signed on to star opposite Jon Hamm in Brad Anderson’s political thriller High Wire Act, which boasts a script by The Bourne Identity screenwriter Tony Gilroy.
Set in 1980s Beirut, the thriller will follow a former U.S. diplomat named Mason Skiles (Hamm) who is called back into action in order to prevent the murder of a former colleague from the group that may be responsible for his own family’s death. Pike will take on the role of a CIA field agent working undercover at the American embassy, who makes it her mission to keep Mason alive and ensure his top-secret mission goes off without a hitch.
This is just one of...
Set in 1980s Beirut, the thriller will follow a former U.S. diplomat named Mason Skiles (Hamm) who is called back into action in order to prevent the murder of a former colleague from the group that may be responsible for his own family’s death. Pike will take on the role of a CIA field agent working undercover at the American embassy, who makes it her mission to keep Mason alive and ensure his top-secret mission goes off without a hitch.
This is just one of...
- 7/20/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The Cannes Film festival was an exceptional edition for French films this year. A focus on the rising generation of French actors and directors that have been highlighted in Cannes and will most certainly be the stars of tomorrow was compiled by Unifrance chief Isabelle Giordano.
They are a force to be reckoned with. Unifrance films is ready to bet that you will certainly hear about these ten talented people. They represent the French cinema of today and will soon be on the screens worldwide.
Emmanuelle Bercot
An actress and a director, Emmanuelle Bercot began by enrolling at the Cours Florent drama school and taking dancing lessons after her baccalaureate. She graduated from Femis in 1998, after winning the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for her short film "Les Vacances," in 1997. After her first few roles in the films of Jean-François Richet and Michel Deville, her career as an actress took off when Claude Miller gave her one of the main roles in "La Classe de neige" (1998). The following year, she made the headlines with the medium-length film she directed called "La Puce," presented in the selection of Un Certain Regard at Cannes. This film tells of the love affair between a 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, played by Isild Le Besco.
Her first feature-length film, "Clément" (2001), is about the life of a troubled woman who has one adventure after another with various men until she meets a 14-yearold boy. Her second film, "Backstage" (2004), continues to explore teenage angst through a relationship between a hit singer and a young obsessional fan. She earned her first critical and public acclaim with "On My Way" (2013), the third film written by the director for Catherine Deneuve, in which the star plays a woman who has decided to leave everything behind and hit the road in France.
She was indisputably the most talked about person during the Cannes Film Festival 2015, both as an actress and a director. Thierry Frémaux surprised everyone by announcing that "Standing Tall," Emmanuelle Bercot’s fourth feature-length film would open the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Emmanuelle Bercot says that she has rediscovered the social fiber of her beginnings with this tale of juvenile delinquency. After the enthusiastic and unanimous reception of her film, she won the Best Actress Award for her role as a woman under the influence of love in the film "Mon Roi" by Maïwenn, with whom she co-wrote the script for "Polisse," which won the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012
Thomas Bidegain
Thomas Bidegain may well be one of the best known French screenwriters in the profession today, but it took him ten years to achieve this status. His career path in film is anything but ordinary. He started out in the 1990s by distributing and producing independent American films: "Ice Storm" by Ang Lee and "Chasing Sleep" by Michael Walker. He came back to France and joined MK2 where he became director of distribution. In 1999, he returned to production for "Why Not." In 2007, he told the story of his attempt to stop smoking in "Arrêter de fumer tue," a personal diary that was turned into a documentary, then a book.
In the meantime, he began screenwriting and worked on several projects. In 2009, he wrote the screenplay for Jacques Audiard’s film, "A Prophet," alongside Nicolas Peufaillit and Abdel Raouf Dafri, which won the Grand Prix du Jury in 2009. He participated in Audiard’s next film, "Rust and Bone" and "Our Children" by Joachim Lafosse. He was also the co-writer for "Saint Laurent" by Bertrand Bonello. Winning a César for the best original script and a César for the best adaptation, he presented "Cowboys" at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes this year, his first film as a director. He is also co-writer of "Ni le ciel ni la terre" by Clément Cogitore, presented during the Semaine de la Critique, as well as co-writer of the script for Jacques Audiard’s latest film, "Dheepan," which won the Palme d’Or.
Louise Bourgoin
Louise Bourgoin attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts for five years, during which she began her career as a model. After she graduated from art school in 2004, she radically changed direction and became a presenter on cable TV. She was Miss Météo in Le Grand Journal on Canal + from 2006 to 2008. Her slot became essential viewing and attracted a wide audience, including the attention of the film industry.
She began her acting career in "The Girl from Monaco" by Anne Fontaine, and her performance earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. This recognition led to a whole series of roles and launched her career in film. She headed the bill of several films in 2010 ("White as Snow" by Christophe Blanc, "Sweet Valentine" by Emma Luchini, and "Black Heaven" by Gilles Marchand). The same year, Luc Besson selected her for the leading role in "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec."
Since then, Louise Bourgoin has played in film after film, and has taken her first steps in the international scene with her part in the American film "The Love Punch" by Joel Hopkins. She attracted attention at the Cannes Film Festival this year with her unusual role in Laurent Larivière’s first film, "I Am a Soldier," presented at Un Certain Regard.
Anaïs Demoustier
Her passion for acting started at a very young age and rapidly pushed her to take drama classes. She auditioned, when still a teenager, and got her first role alongside Isabelle Huppert in "Time of the Wolf" by Michael Haneke. After this, her career was launched and she played in a series of films among which "L’Année suivante" by Isabelle Czajka, "Hellphone" by James Huth, "The Beautiful Person" by Christophe Honoré, "Sois sage" by Juliette Garcias, "Sweet Evil" by Olivier Coussemacq, "Dear Prudene" by Rebecca Zlotowski, "Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Robert Guédiguian, "Thérèse Desqueyroux" by Claude Miller, "Quai d’Orsay" by Bertrand Tavernier, "Paris Follies" by Marc Fitoussi, etc.
A filmography rich of 30 films for an actress who isn’t 30 years old yet. In 2014, the press talked about the blooming of Anaïs Demoustier because her face and poise became essential to cinema. Present in "Bird People" by Pascale Ferran, "Caprices" by Emmanuel Mouret, "À trois on y va" by Jérôme Bonnell and "The New Girlfriend" by François Ozon, she is Marguerite in the last Valérie Donzelli’s film, "Marguerite et Julien" screened in Official selection in Cannes.
Louis Garrel
The son of actress Brigitte Sy and the director Philippe Garrel, he began his career in film thanks to his father, who started filming him at the age of six in "Emergency Kisses," alongside his mother and his grandfather, Maurice Garrel. He went onto study drama at the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique. He made his real cinema debut in 2001 in the film "Ceci est mon corps" by Rodolphe Marconi. Two years later, he played opposite Michael Pitt and the future Bond girl, Eva Green, in "The Dreamers" by Bernardo Bertolucci.
He then starred in another of his father’s films, "Regular Lovers". His performance earned him the César for the Most Promising Actor in 2005. Since then, he has played alongside the greatest, such as Isabelle Huppert in "Ma mère" by Christophe Honoré. This marked the beginning of a long collaboration between the filmmaker and the actor. They worked together in the film "In Paris" with Romain Duris, then in 2007 in "Love Songs" with Ludivine Sagnier, in "The Beautiful Person" with Léa Seydoux, in "Making Plans" for Lena with Chiara Mostroianni and, finally, in " Beloved" with Catherine Deneuve. He also topped the bill with Valéria Bruni Tedeschi in "Actresses," whom he worked with again in 2013 in "A Castle in Italy."
In 2010, he directed a short film, "The Little Tailor," in which he directed Léa Seydoux. He performed once again in one of his father’s films, "A Burning Hot Summer," followed by "Jealousy." In 2014, he starred in Bertrand Bonello’s film "Saint Laurent," a role which led to another César nomination, but this time in the best supporting role category. His first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented at a Certain Regard, was applauded by the critics. He also starred in "Mon Roi," Maïwenn’s fourth feature-length film, alongside Emmanuelle and Vincent Cassel, presented as part of the official selection.
Guillaume Gouix
After studying at the Conservatoire in Marseille and the Ecole Régionale d’Acteur de Cannes, Guillaume Gouix began his career in television. He played the male lead in "The Lion Cubs," by Claire Doyon, in 2003. Noted for his performance, especially the highly physical aspect of it and his intense gaze, he then played a series of supporting roles as a young hoodlum in "Les Mauvais joueurs" by Frédéric Balekdjian and in "Chacun sa nuit," by Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold. He featured in the 2007 war film "Intimate Enemies" by Florent Emilio Siri, thus confirming his taste for complex characters.
The following year, he was applauded for his performance in the film "Behind the Walls" by Christian Faure. In 2010, he starred in "22 Bullets" by Richard Berry and in 2011, he established his reputation with roles in "Nobody Else But You" by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu, "Et soudain, tout le monde me manque" by Jennifer Devoldere, and "Jimmy Rivière," Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s film debut.
He also appeared in "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. He more recently starred in "Attila Marcel," by Sylvain Chomet, in which he played the lead role, in "French Women" by Audrey Dana, and "The Connection" by Cédric Jimenez with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lelouche. He performed in three films presented at Cannes this year ("Les Anarchistes" by Elie Wajeman, which opened the Semaine de la Critique, "La Vie en grand" by Mathieu Vadepied, which closed the week, and in "Enragés" by Eric Hannezo, screened at the Cinéma de la Plage). He also directed his first short film "Alexis Ivanovitch, vous êtes mon héros" in 2011 and will soon start on a feature-length film, which is currently being written. He will be topping the bill in 2015 with "Braqueurs," a thriller by Julien Leclercq.
Ariane Labed
Born in Greece to French parents, Ariane Labed has always navigated between her two countries. She studied drama at the University of Provence and began her acting career treading the boards. After setting up a company combining dance and theater, Ariane Labed returned to live in Greece where she played at the National Theater of Athens. 2010 was the year of her first film, "Attenberg," directed by Athiná-Rachél Tsangári. "Alps" by Yorgos Lanthi-mos, the following year, confirmed the talent of this strangely charming actress. Two years later, she starred in "Before Midnight" by Richard Linklater where she played the role of Anna. The follow-up to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," this third part of the saga was a great success, making Labed known to a wider audience.
In 2014, she played a young sailor in "Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey," who is torn between faithfulness and her desire to live her life. Winning the best actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and nominated for a César, the French actress gives a brilliant performance in Lucie Borleteau’s first feature-length film. She joined Yorgos Lanthimos in Cannes in 2015, where he won the Prix du Jury for his film "The Lobster."
Vincent Macaigne
Vincent Macaigne is the leading light in young French cinema. He joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris in 1999, appearing on stage and assuming the role of director. His free adaptations of the great classics of literature and drama earned him public and critical acclaim. He directed "The Idiot" by Dostoïevski and presented "Au moins j’aurai laissé un beau cadavre in Avignon," inspired by Hamlet. He also rapidly made a name for himself in demanding art-house films. In 2001, he was seen for the first time in "Replay" by Catherine Corsini. In 2007, he starred in "On War" by Bertrand Bonello and in 2010, in "A Burning Hot Summer" by Philippe Garrel.
Since 2011, Vincent Macaigne’s presence in short, medium and full-length films has gradually increased. Faithful to his directors, he has starred in several of their films. As is the case with his friend Guillaume Brac, who directed him in "Le Naufragé," "Tonnerre" and "Un monde sans femmes." He was awarded the Grand Prix and the Prix Télérama at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Prix Lutin for Best Actor in this film. Under the direction of Vincent Mariette, he played in "Les Lézards" then "Fool Circle." In 2013, we find the funny and touching thirty-something in "La fille du 14 juillet" by Antonin Peretjatko, "Age of Panic" by Justine Triet, and "2 Autumns, 3 Winters" by Sébastien Betbeder.
He was discovered by the general public at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Considered a figurehead of the revival of French cinema, Vincent has drawn the attention of the Cahiers du Cinéma, and even the British newspaper The Observer, which referred to him as the “new Gérard Depardieu”. In 2011, he directed "What We’ll Leave Behind," a very well-received medium-length film which won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. He also starred in Mia Hansen-løve’s 2014 film "Eden." He plays one of the main roles in the actor Louis Garrel’s first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented during the Semaine de la Critique. He also featured in his 2011 film, La Règle de trois.
Vimala Pons
From the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, where she attended drama classes even though she wanted to be a screenwriter, to circus tents, Vimala Pons is an acrobat in all senses of the word. The 29-year-old actress has established her physical and poetic presence in French art-house films. She began her career in film with Albert Dupontel in "Enfermés dehors" in 2006. She then starred in "Eden Log" by Franck Vestiel in 2007, then in "Granny’s Funeral" by Bruno Podalydès in 2012.
Since then, we have seen her cross France in a little blue dress in "La Fille du 14 juillet," (she plays the girl) by Antonin Peretjatko, and changing into a lioness in "Métamorphoses," by Christophe Honoré. The impetuous muse of French independent film, Vimala Pons played in "Vincent" by Thomas Salvador this year. The actress has made a name for herself in 2015, in particular with "Comme un avion" by Bruno Podalydès, "Je suis à vous tout de suite" by Baya Kasmi, "La vie très privée de Monsieur Sim" by Michel Leclerc, and "L’Ombre des femmes" by Philippe Garrel (presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs this year in Cannes). She has also begun an international career, with a leading role in Paul Verhoeven’s latest film, "Elle."
Alice Winocour
The director Alice Winocour started out at Femis. After going into law, she returned to film and won three prizes for her short film "Kitchen: Prix TV5" for the best French-language short film, best international short film and the Silver Bear at the Festival of Nations (Ebensee). For "Magic Paris," she was awarded the jury prize at the St. Petersburg International Documentary, Short Film and Animated Film Festival.
She continued her career by writing the script for the film "Ordinary," by Vladimir Perisic. At the Cannes Film Festival 2012, Alice Winocour made a marked entry in the international arena with a film by a woman about women and the unchanging way of looking at them. In the film "Augustine," we are told the story of a professor and his patient, played by Vincent Lindon and Soko respectively. In 2015, she brought out her second feature-length film, "Maryland," which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. She is also the co-writer of "Mustang," by Denis Gamze Ergüven, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
They are a force to be reckoned with. Unifrance films is ready to bet that you will certainly hear about these ten talented people. They represent the French cinema of today and will soon be on the screens worldwide.
Emmanuelle Bercot
An actress and a director, Emmanuelle Bercot began by enrolling at the Cours Florent drama school and taking dancing lessons after her baccalaureate. She graduated from Femis in 1998, after winning the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for her short film "Les Vacances," in 1997. After her first few roles in the films of Jean-François Richet and Michel Deville, her career as an actress took off when Claude Miller gave her one of the main roles in "La Classe de neige" (1998). The following year, she made the headlines with the medium-length film she directed called "La Puce," presented in the selection of Un Certain Regard at Cannes. This film tells of the love affair between a 35-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl, played by Isild Le Besco.
Her first feature-length film, "Clément" (2001), is about the life of a troubled woman who has one adventure after another with various men until she meets a 14-yearold boy. Her second film, "Backstage" (2004), continues to explore teenage angst through a relationship between a hit singer and a young obsessional fan. She earned her first critical and public acclaim with "On My Way" (2013), the third film written by the director for Catherine Deneuve, in which the star plays a woman who has decided to leave everything behind and hit the road in France.
She was indisputably the most talked about person during the Cannes Film Festival 2015, both as an actress and a director. Thierry Frémaux surprised everyone by announcing that "Standing Tall," Emmanuelle Bercot’s fourth feature-length film would open the 68th Cannes Film Festival. Emmanuelle Bercot says that she has rediscovered the social fiber of her beginnings with this tale of juvenile delinquency. After the enthusiastic and unanimous reception of her film, she won the Best Actress Award for her role as a woman under the influence of love in the film "Mon Roi" by Maïwenn, with whom she co-wrote the script for "Polisse," which won the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012
Thomas Bidegain
Thomas Bidegain may well be one of the best known French screenwriters in the profession today, but it took him ten years to achieve this status. His career path in film is anything but ordinary. He started out in the 1990s by distributing and producing independent American films: "Ice Storm" by Ang Lee and "Chasing Sleep" by Michael Walker. He came back to France and joined MK2 where he became director of distribution. In 1999, he returned to production for "Why Not." In 2007, he told the story of his attempt to stop smoking in "Arrêter de fumer tue," a personal diary that was turned into a documentary, then a book.
In the meantime, he began screenwriting and worked on several projects. In 2009, he wrote the screenplay for Jacques Audiard’s film, "A Prophet," alongside Nicolas Peufaillit and Abdel Raouf Dafri, which won the Grand Prix du Jury in 2009. He participated in Audiard’s next film, "Rust and Bone" and "Our Children" by Joachim Lafosse. He was also the co-writer for "Saint Laurent" by Bertrand Bonello. Winning a César for the best original script and a César for the best adaptation, he presented "Cowboys" at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes this year, his first film as a director. He is also co-writer of "Ni le ciel ni la terre" by Clément Cogitore, presented during the Semaine de la Critique, as well as co-writer of the script for Jacques Audiard’s latest film, "Dheepan," which won the Palme d’Or.
Louise Bourgoin
Louise Bourgoin attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts for five years, during which she began her career as a model. After she graduated from art school in 2004, she radically changed direction and became a presenter on cable TV. She was Miss Météo in Le Grand Journal on Canal + from 2006 to 2008. Her slot became essential viewing and attracted a wide audience, including the attention of the film industry.
She began her acting career in "The Girl from Monaco" by Anne Fontaine, and her performance earned her a César nomination for Most Promising Actress. This recognition led to a whole series of roles and launched her career in film. She headed the bill of several films in 2010 ("White as Snow" by Christophe Blanc, "Sweet Valentine" by Emma Luchini, and "Black Heaven" by Gilles Marchand). The same year, Luc Besson selected her for the leading role in "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec."
Since then, Louise Bourgoin has played in film after film, and has taken her first steps in the international scene with her part in the American film "The Love Punch" by Joel Hopkins. She attracted attention at the Cannes Film Festival this year with her unusual role in Laurent Larivière’s first film, "I Am a Soldier," presented at Un Certain Regard.
Anaïs Demoustier
Her passion for acting started at a very young age and rapidly pushed her to take drama classes. She auditioned, when still a teenager, and got her first role alongside Isabelle Huppert in "Time of the Wolf" by Michael Haneke. After this, her career was launched and she played in a series of films among which "L’Année suivante" by Isabelle Czajka, "Hellphone" by James Huth, "The Beautiful Person" by Christophe Honoré, "Sois sage" by Juliette Garcias, "Sweet Evil" by Olivier Coussemacq, "Dear Prudene" by Rebecca Zlotowski, "Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Robert Guédiguian, "Thérèse Desqueyroux" by Claude Miller, "Quai d’Orsay" by Bertrand Tavernier, "Paris Follies" by Marc Fitoussi, etc.
A filmography rich of 30 films for an actress who isn’t 30 years old yet. In 2014, the press talked about the blooming of Anaïs Demoustier because her face and poise became essential to cinema. Present in "Bird People" by Pascale Ferran, "Caprices" by Emmanuel Mouret, "À trois on y va" by Jérôme Bonnell and "The New Girlfriend" by François Ozon, she is Marguerite in the last Valérie Donzelli’s film, "Marguerite et Julien" screened in Official selection in Cannes.
Louis Garrel
The son of actress Brigitte Sy and the director Philippe Garrel, he began his career in film thanks to his father, who started filming him at the age of six in "Emergency Kisses," alongside his mother and his grandfather, Maurice Garrel. He went onto study drama at the Conservatoire National d’Art Dramatique. He made his real cinema debut in 2001 in the film "Ceci est mon corps" by Rodolphe Marconi. Two years later, he played opposite Michael Pitt and the future Bond girl, Eva Green, in "The Dreamers" by Bernardo Bertolucci.
He then starred in another of his father’s films, "Regular Lovers". His performance earned him the César for the Most Promising Actor in 2005. Since then, he has played alongside the greatest, such as Isabelle Huppert in "Ma mère" by Christophe Honoré. This marked the beginning of a long collaboration between the filmmaker and the actor. They worked together in the film "In Paris" with Romain Duris, then in 2007 in "Love Songs" with Ludivine Sagnier, in "The Beautiful Person" with Léa Seydoux, in "Making Plans" for Lena with Chiara Mostroianni and, finally, in " Beloved" with Catherine Deneuve. He also topped the bill with Valéria Bruni Tedeschi in "Actresses," whom he worked with again in 2013 in "A Castle in Italy."
In 2010, he directed a short film, "The Little Tailor," in which he directed Léa Seydoux. He performed once again in one of his father’s films, "A Burning Hot Summer," followed by "Jealousy." In 2014, he starred in Bertrand Bonello’s film "Saint Laurent," a role which led to another César nomination, but this time in the best supporting role category. His first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented at a Certain Regard, was applauded by the critics. He also starred in "Mon Roi," Maïwenn’s fourth feature-length film, alongside Emmanuelle and Vincent Cassel, presented as part of the official selection.
Guillaume Gouix
After studying at the Conservatoire in Marseille and the Ecole Régionale d’Acteur de Cannes, Guillaume Gouix began his career in television. He played the male lead in "The Lion Cubs," by Claire Doyon, in 2003. Noted for his performance, especially the highly physical aspect of it and his intense gaze, he then played a series of supporting roles as a young hoodlum in "Les Mauvais joueurs" by Frédéric Balekdjian and in "Chacun sa nuit," by Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold. He featured in the 2007 war film "Intimate Enemies" by Florent Emilio Siri, thus confirming his taste for complex characters.
The following year, he was applauded for his performance in the film "Behind the Walls" by Christian Faure. In 2010, he starred in "22 Bullets" by Richard Berry and in 2011, he established his reputation with roles in "Nobody Else But You" by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu, "Et soudain, tout le monde me manque" by Jennifer Devoldere, and "Jimmy Rivière," Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s film debut.
He also appeared in "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen. He more recently starred in "Attila Marcel," by Sylvain Chomet, in which he played the lead role, in "French Women" by Audrey Dana, and "The Connection" by Cédric Jimenez with Jean Dujardin and Gilles Lelouche. He performed in three films presented at Cannes this year ("Les Anarchistes" by Elie Wajeman, which opened the Semaine de la Critique, "La Vie en grand" by Mathieu Vadepied, which closed the week, and in "Enragés" by Eric Hannezo, screened at the Cinéma de la Plage). He also directed his first short film "Alexis Ivanovitch, vous êtes mon héros" in 2011 and will soon start on a feature-length film, which is currently being written. He will be topping the bill in 2015 with "Braqueurs," a thriller by Julien Leclercq.
Ariane Labed
Born in Greece to French parents, Ariane Labed has always navigated between her two countries. She studied drama at the University of Provence and began her acting career treading the boards. After setting up a company combining dance and theater, Ariane Labed returned to live in Greece where she played at the National Theater of Athens. 2010 was the year of her first film, "Attenberg," directed by Athiná-Rachél Tsangári. "Alps" by Yorgos Lanthi-mos, the following year, confirmed the talent of this strangely charming actress. Two years later, she starred in "Before Midnight" by Richard Linklater where she played the role of Anna. The follow-up to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," this third part of the saga was a great success, making Labed known to a wider audience.
In 2014, she played a young sailor in "Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey," who is torn between faithfulness and her desire to live her life. Winning the best actress award at the Locarno Film Festival and nominated for a César, the French actress gives a brilliant performance in Lucie Borleteau’s first feature-length film. She joined Yorgos Lanthimos in Cannes in 2015, where he won the Prix du Jury for his film "The Lobster."
Vincent Macaigne
Vincent Macaigne is the leading light in young French cinema. He joined the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris in 1999, appearing on stage and assuming the role of director. His free adaptations of the great classics of literature and drama earned him public and critical acclaim. He directed "The Idiot" by Dostoïevski and presented "Au moins j’aurai laissé un beau cadavre in Avignon," inspired by Hamlet. He also rapidly made a name for himself in demanding art-house films. In 2001, he was seen for the first time in "Replay" by Catherine Corsini. In 2007, he starred in "On War" by Bertrand Bonello and in 2010, in "A Burning Hot Summer" by Philippe Garrel.
Since 2011, Vincent Macaigne’s presence in short, medium and full-length films has gradually increased. Faithful to his directors, he has starred in several of their films. As is the case with his friend Guillaume Brac, who directed him in "Le Naufragé," "Tonnerre" and "Un monde sans femmes." He was awarded the Grand Prix and the Prix Télérama at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Prix Lutin for Best Actor in this film. Under the direction of Vincent Mariette, he played in "Les Lézards" then "Fool Circle." In 2013, we find the funny and touching thirty-something in "La fille du 14 juillet" by Antonin Peretjatko, "Age of Panic" by Justine Triet, and "2 Autumns, 3 Winters" by Sébastien Betbeder.
He was discovered by the general public at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Considered a figurehead of the revival of French cinema, Vincent has drawn the attention of the Cahiers du Cinéma, and even the British newspaper The Observer, which referred to him as the “new Gérard Depardieu”. In 2011, he directed "What We’ll Leave Behind," a very well-received medium-length film which won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. He also starred in Mia Hansen-løve’s 2014 film "Eden." He plays one of the main roles in the actor Louis Garrel’s first feature-length film, "Two Friends," presented during the Semaine de la Critique. He also featured in his 2011 film, La Règle de trois.
Vimala Pons
From the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, where she attended drama classes even though she wanted to be a screenwriter, to circus tents, Vimala Pons is an acrobat in all senses of the word. The 29-year-old actress has established her physical and poetic presence in French art-house films. She began her career in film with Albert Dupontel in "Enfermés dehors" in 2006. She then starred in "Eden Log" by Franck Vestiel in 2007, then in "Granny’s Funeral" by Bruno Podalydès in 2012.
Since then, we have seen her cross France in a little blue dress in "La Fille du 14 juillet," (she plays the girl) by Antonin Peretjatko, and changing into a lioness in "Métamorphoses," by Christophe Honoré. The impetuous muse of French independent film, Vimala Pons played in "Vincent" by Thomas Salvador this year. The actress has made a name for herself in 2015, in particular with "Comme un avion" by Bruno Podalydès, "Je suis à vous tout de suite" by Baya Kasmi, "La vie très privée de Monsieur Sim" by Michel Leclerc, and "L’Ombre des femmes" by Philippe Garrel (presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs this year in Cannes). She has also begun an international career, with a leading role in Paul Verhoeven’s latest film, "Elle."
Alice Winocour
The director Alice Winocour started out at Femis. After going into law, she returned to film and won three prizes for her short film "Kitchen: Prix TV5" for the best French-language short film, best international short film and the Silver Bear at the Festival of Nations (Ebensee). For "Magic Paris," she was awarded the jury prize at the St. Petersburg International Documentary, Short Film and Animated Film Festival.
She continued her career by writing the script for the film "Ordinary," by Vladimir Perisic. At the Cannes Film Festival 2012, Alice Winocour made a marked entry in the international arena with a film by a woman about women and the unchanging way of looking at them. In the film "Augustine," we are told the story of a professor and his patient, played by Vincent Lindon and Soko respectively. In 2015, she brought out her second feature-length film, "Maryland," which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. She is also the co-writer of "Mustang," by Denis Gamze Ergüven, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
- 7/5/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Connection
Written by Audrey Diwan & Cédric Jimenez
Directed by Cédric Jimenez
France / Belgium, 2014
The Connection masterfully mixes police procedurals, gangster sagas, and chain smoking into a riveting crime drama. Less about the gritty realism of The French Connection or the atmospheric cool of Heat, Cédric Jimenez’ film captures the ebb-and-flow of a high-stakes narcotics investigation. Though punctuated by the occasional shootout or adrenaline-fueled chase, The Connection really draws its power from the passion and politics of living on the edge of oblivion. This is smart, savvy cinema that rewards your patience and attention.
It’s 1975 in Marseilles and a growing drug syndicate known as “The French” traffics heroin with impunity. Everyone knows that “Tany” Zampa (Gilles Lellouche) is running the show, but no one has the stones to risk his brutal reprisals. No one, that is, until Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) takes over as the new Organized Crime magistrate.
Written by Audrey Diwan & Cédric Jimenez
Directed by Cédric Jimenez
France / Belgium, 2014
The Connection masterfully mixes police procedurals, gangster sagas, and chain smoking into a riveting crime drama. Less about the gritty realism of The French Connection or the atmospheric cool of Heat, Cédric Jimenez’ film captures the ebb-and-flow of a high-stakes narcotics investigation. Though punctuated by the occasional shootout or adrenaline-fueled chase, The Connection really draws its power from the passion and politics of living on the edge of oblivion. This is smart, savvy cinema that rewards your patience and attention.
It’s 1975 in Marseilles and a growing drug syndicate known as “The French” traffics heroin with impunity. Everyone knows that “Tany” Zampa (Gilles Lellouche) is running the show, but no one has the stones to risk his brutal reprisals. No one, that is, until Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) takes over as the new Organized Crime magistrate.
- 6/5/2015
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
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