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Can animals act? Sensible people would say not: Our four-legged friends can’t read a script or construct a character, and if they come across charismatically on screen, that’s simply down to obeying commands, plus the deft touch of an editor. The more whimsically accommodating among us would say those last two points are true of some human actors too; Hitchcock, with his infamous “actors are cattle” quip, suggested as much. Either way, it’s hard to watch Kodi, the ragged, hungry-eyed canine star of “Dog on Trial,” without sensing, whether by sheer good fortune or some mysterious process of empathy, a genuine performance afoot.

Called upon to jump, slump, tremble and even (sort of) sing, with an expressive range spanning untethered aggression and resigned melancholy, the biscuit-colored crossbreed hits every mark required of him by Laetitia Dosch’s endearingly eccentric directorial debut, and emerges as its most compelling element.

"Don't we want to live in a world that respects the nature of each dog – his singularity?" The Jokers in France has revealed an offiical trailer for a loud and wild comedy called Dog on Trial, marking the feature directorial debut of Swiss-French actress Laetitia Dosch. This initially premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year out of competition, though it earned some good buzz and great reviews already (here's mine). Still waiting for this to get a US release date (probably in early 2025 at this point) but happy to start the buzz early anyway - especially for dog lovers. Set in Switzerland, and inspired by a true story, the film is about Avril, a young lawyer specializing in animal defense. She goes a bit overboard to try and save her client, a repeat-offender dog, from capital punishment in Switzerland, in a trial about the dog biting a woman.

A decade after “La Famille Belier,” which was remade as the Oscar-winning “Coda,” another comedy featuring protagonists with disabilities, “A Little Something Extra” has stormed the French box office. It’s not only the year’s biggest hit so far, but the highest grossing French movie since before the pandemic.

Released May 1 by Pan Distribution and modestly budgeted at €6.1 million ($6.55 million), the feel-good movie (called “Un p’tit truc en plus” in French) has grossed an estimated €50.7 million ($54 million) from 7.2 million tickets sold as of June 16 — two times more than Warner Bros. tentpole “Dune 2” starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya.

It’s a mighty feat, considering that that unlike “La Famille Belier,” in which the deaf and speech-disabled characters are played by bankable European stars — Karin Viard and Francois Damiens — “A Little Something Extra” has an ensemble cast of young non-professionals with different types of disabilities.

The movie, produced by Pierre Forette...

Kodi, the canine defendant in Laetitia Dosch’s Dog on Trial, was named top dog at the Cannes Film Festival, snatching the Palm Dog prize for the best canine performance.

In a rare treat, Kodi, a 9-year-old Griffon, attended the event, a boozy and chaotic affair, as is the Palm Dog tradition, at the Plage du Festival in Cannes on Friday. He even gave a demonstration of his howling performance from the film, something the director said he had to be trained to do, not being a natural howler in real life.

In Dog on Trial, Kodi plays Cosmos, the four-legged companion of a visually impaired man (François Damiens) who, after a biting incident, finds himself at the center of an absurd trial to decide whether he will be put down. Avril (Laetitia Dosch), a lawyer accustomed to lost causes, decides to represent Cosmos.

Dosch said she insisted on having...

The Swiss/French “Dog on Trial” is set to disrupt, move and entertain the Croisette from what is revealed in a first clip from sales outfit MK2 Films, exclusively shared with Variety.

The film world premieres at Cannes Un Certain Regard May 19.

Writer/actor-turned-director Laetitia Dosch, who delivered what Variety reviewer Peter Debruge called a ‘blazing-wildfire performance’ in the 2017 Camera d’or winner “Jeune Femme”, is herself taking a chance this year on the coveted award. Meanwhile Cosmos the Dog (aka Kodi in the film) will battle for the leather dog collar Palme Dog win.

As the main protagonist Alice, Dosch wears an attorney’s gown to defend the four-legged Cosmos, accused of multiple bite attacks. Known for taking up lost causes, she will rise to the challenge, confront the legal system and advocate both for animal rights and women’s rights.

Next to Dosch and the dog Kodi, the...

Both features will form part of Paris-based mk2 films’ line-up at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris event this week.

mk2 films, the sales outfit behind Anatomy Of A Fall and How To Have Sex, has acquired Jonathan Millet’s thriller Ghost Trail and Laetitia Dosch’s high-concept comedy Who Let the Dog Bite? ahead of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema that opens tomorrow in Paris.

Inspired by real-life events, Ghost Trail is about a Syrian man pursuing some of the people who perpetrated horrors in the name of the regime during the civil war. His mission takes him to France...

Belgian-French comedy is directed by Stefan Liberski

Paris and London-based The Bureau has inked early pre-sales for Stefan Liberski’s Art Or F-art? starring Camille Cottin and Benoit Poelvoorde.

The Bureau co-produces alongside Belgium’s Artemis Productions and is handling international sales for the satirical look at the world of contemporary art.

Art or F-art? (L’Art de Rien) stars Poelvoorde as a conceptual painter who leaves Brussels after a career setback to settle down in French Normandy in search of creative inspiration. Cottin plays a gallery owner and manipulator who disrupts his concentration as he interacts with colourful locals...

Paris-based Playtime has unveiled a strong Cannes film market sales slate, which includes competition titles “About Dry Grasses” and “Homecoming.”

“About Dry Grasses” is by Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won the Palme d’Or in 2014 for “Winter Sleep.” The film follows Samet, a young art teacher, who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in, and hopes that his encounter with fellow teacher Nuray will help him overcome his angst. Deniz Celiloğlu, Merve Dizdar and Musab Ekici are among the cast.

“Homecoming,” by French director Catherine Corsini who won the 2021 Queer Palm for “The Divide,” follows Khédidja, who minds a wealthy Parisian family’s children for a summer in Corsica. She brings along her own two...

Soudain, seuls

A thriller book-to-film adaptation that was originally meant to be worked in the English language and set to star Jake Gyllenhaal (The Sisters Brothers) and Vanessa Kirby and would then be transferred onto Gilles Lellouche and Melanie Thierry, Thomas Bidegain moved into production in September of last year in Iceland. A longtime scribe for Jacques Audiard’s films, Soudain, seuls (Suddenly) is Bidegain’s second feature following 2015’s Les Cowboys (which starred François Damiens) which was also produced by Tresor Films’ Alain Attal. We’re getting Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness vibes with this true litmus relationship test.…...

Lockdown Tower has sold to UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, and German-speaking Europe

Paris-based sales company Elle Driver has closed a slew of sales for Guillaume Nicloux’s Lockdown Tower and Yann Samuell’s The Lulus ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris.

Lockdown Tower has sold to Signature Entertainment for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, to California Filmes for Latin America and to Capelight for German-speaking Europe. Other sales include Vie Vision Pictures for Taiwan, Klockworks in Japan, Media4Fun in Poland, Nk Contents in Korea and Capella Film for Cis and the Baltics.

Prime Video France used a lavish dinner in Paris to unveil an agreement with several local entertainment unions and several new original films, shows and channels.

The agreement with interprofessional organizations AnimFrance, Satev, Sedpa, Spi, Uspa and Sacd will be for an initial four years and, according to Prime Video France Country Manager Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, reflects “the parties’ shared vision of promoting the diversity, renewal and influence of French audiovisual creation.”

Prime Video has already signed up to spend 20 of its French revenues on French content, alongside Apple TV+, Disney+ and Netflix, and today’s agreement brings the streamer closer to the local production sector, with the guilds representing sectors ranging from animation through to docs.

Also unveiled at the event, which was held at the Lutetia Hotel and attended by many French actors and creatives, were the greenlight of Prime Video Original movies Sentinelle, Drone Games and La Graine,...

Amazon Prime Video has come a long way since launching in France in 2016. The streamer, whose first French film original, “The Mad Women’s Ball,” recently picked up an International Emmy Award, unveiled a landmark deal with French guilds during a posh dinner with industry players and talent in Paris on Wednesday evening (Nov. 30).

On the guest list at the chic Lutetia Hotel was a laundry list of talent that’s in business with Prime Video, including Philippe Lacheau (“Lol”), Franck Gastambide (“Medellin”), Eloise Lang (“La Graine”), Melha Bedia (“Miskina”), Ziad Doueiri (“Coeurs Noirs”), as well as producers Alain Goldman, Pathé Films’ Ardavan Safaee, Mandarin’s Eric Altmayer, CG Cinema’s Charles Gillibert, Metropolitan FilmExport’s Victor Hadida, Newen’s Romain Bessi, and Asasha Group’s Gaspard de Chavagnac, among many others.

Announced by Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, Prime Video’s country manager in France, the four-year deal was signed with the guilds AnimFrance,...

Exclusive: Paris-based Superprod studio has acquired The Co-Production Company, the NY-based firm launched last year by former DreamWorks executive Doug Schwalbe for financing and distribution of international productions.

Terms weren’t disclosed for the deal, which bolster Superprod’s U.S. development and production footprint with an expanded bicoastal presence.

Schwalbe, previously SVP of coproduction for DreamWorks Animated Television, is president of the new Superprod US Inc. subsidiary. Former Cartoon Network executive, Tatiana Krokar, is vice president.

Krokar, based in Los Angeles, co-reports to Schwalbe and Superprod SVP, Animation, Virginie Creance. Krokar’s roles at Cartoon Network included Director of Development, Original Series, responsible for acquiring and developing projects including with Justin Roiland (Rick & Morty), Andy Ristaino (Adventure Time) and James Burks (Bird & Squirrel). Since 2019, she’s been developing, creating and writing original television content.

Shwalbe launched The Co-Production Company in March of 2021 with Superprod as an initial backer.

A trio of French films, the melodrama “A Family for 1640 Days,” political thriller “Goliath” and comedy “Adieu Paris,” are set to be released in the U.S. by the New York-based company Distrib Films.

Both Fabien Gorgeart’s “A Family for 1640 Days” (“Une vraie famille”) and Edouard Baer’s “Adieu Paris” are represented in international markets by Le Pacte.

“A Family for 1640 Days,” winner of the top prize at last year’s American French Film Festival, revolves around Simon, a six-year old adopted boy who is about to reunite with his biological father. The movie stars Melanie Thierry (“En therapie”) and Lyes Salem. Distrib Films is planning to release the film in early 2023 and have it play at festivals.

A love letter to the French capital, “Adieu Paris” marks the fourth directorial outing of actor-turned-helmer Baer, who last directed “Ouvert la nuit” in which he starred opposite Audrey Tautou and Sabrina Ouazani.

Le Pacte is set to host market premieres for Édouard Baer’s “Adieu Paris” and Giordano Gederlini’s “On the Edge” at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, which takes place this week.

“Adieu Paris” stars an ensemble cast, including some of France and Belgium’s best-known actors, notably Benoît Poelvoorde, François Damiens, Gérard Depardieu, Isabelle Nanty, Pierre Arditi and Ludivine Sagnier. The dialogue-driven comedy takes place entirely at a Parisian bistro. Camille Neel, head of international sales at Le Pacte, said the film will appeal to traditional French films lovers and admirers of iconic actors. “Adieu Paris” is the fourth directorial outing of actor-turned-helmer Baer, who last directed “Ouvert la nuit” in which he starred opposite Audrey Tautou and Sabrina Ouazani. The film, produced by Cinéfrance Studios, Les Films en Cabine, Le Pacte and Artémis Productions, had its world premiere at the Lumiere Festival in Lyon, France.

“On the Edge...

“What if the mob, but funny?” is the question asked by “Love Songs for Tough Guys,” and if your answer is “Isn’t that just ‘Analyze This?’” you aren’t alone. Still, this French spin on the thug-with-a-heart-of-gold story distinguishes itself somewhat with a romantic bent that is, at least in fits and starts, genuinely romantic. The rest of the time, co-writer-director Samuel Benchetrit’s lighthearted romp struggles to find a place for itself.

Leading the eponymous group of heavies is Jeff de Claerke (François Damiens), whose low-level thuggery leaves him just enough time to take a poetry class so he can woo a local checkout girl. His wife (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) isn’t aware of his would-be affair, leading her to believe the poorly written ode she finds discarded in the trash one day is actually for her. His crew isn’t the most intimidating — one is always quoting books on inner peace,...

French actor, director, producer and writer Edouard Baer, in Lyon for the premiere of “Adieu Paris!” at the Lumière Festival, drew endless laughs from his audience at his masterclass in the city’s Comédie Odéon theater.

Displaying a gifted talent for improvisation, Baer amused the audience with self-deprecating tirades and anecdotes. Commenting on the short introductory film displaying his career highlights, he told the crowd: “It’s easy to make me look good with smooth editing and good music. Really, it’s just a succession of small accidents. There aren’t just masterpieces there. But from bad movies to acceptable ones, you build a small career and then you die happy,” he smiled.

Baer brings together a stellar cast in “Adieu Paris!” including Gérard Depardieu, Pierre Arditi, Jean-Francois Stévenin – who passed away in July and to whom the film is dedicated – and Belgian duo Benoît Poelvoorde and François Damiens, who...

After beating the odds last year by hosting a physical edition in the midst of the pandemic, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux’s Lumière Festival kicked off in Lyon with great fanfare and prestigious guests including Paolo Sorrentino, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Netflix’s co-ceo Ted Sarandos, Valeria Golino, Joachim Trier, Rossy de Palma, Melanie Laurent and Edouard Baer.

The festival, which unfolds in the birthplace of the Cinematograph and its creators, the Lumière brothers, is dedicating its 13th edition to its long-time president Bertrand Tavernier, the beloved filmmaker who recently died.

During his opening speech, the usually voluble Frémaux had to take a moment to regain his composure as he paid an emotional tribute to Tavernier, his friend and close collaborator, with whom he worked side by side for nearly four decades at the Lumière Institute.

“Bertrand has left us with a heritage that is so major and so immense, and your...

Gaumont has come on board “Fantasies,” a sex-themed French comedy headlined by Monica Bellucci (“Spectre”), Carole Bouquet (“For Your Eyes Only”) and Karine Viard (“Famille Belier”).

Directed by David and Stephane Foenkinos, the omnibus film follows six couples and revolves around their intimate lives and fantasies, from role-playing to exhibitionism and abstinence.

Besides Bellucci, Bouquet and Viard, the film stars Suzanne Clément (“Mommy”), Jean-Paul Rouve (“C’est la Vie!”), Joséphine Japy (“Love at Second Sight”), Denis Podalydès (“An Officer and a Spy”), Céline Sallette (“The Returned”), Nicolas Bedos (“Mr & Mrs Adelman”), Ramzy Bedia (“Lost Bullet”), Alice Taglioni (“Claire Darling”), Joséphine de Meaux (“Dheepan”) and William Lebghil (“C’est la Vie!”)

“Fantasies” is in post-production and will be released in France by Gaumont during the second semester of 2021. Gaumont is handling international sales on the movie and will introduce it to buyers at the American Film Market, which kicks off Monday.

“With its glamorous cast,...

The short answer is strong local films and major state subsidies.

Mourir Peut Attendre, which translates as ‘Dying Can Wait’ is the French title for the James Bond film No Time To Die, and unexpectedly apt.

As in the rest of the world, French exhibitors had high hopes for the new Bond title as the only major US production left on the release calendar for this autumn, as they battle to stay afloat in the face of historically low admissions and a lack of crowd-drawing blockbusters.

The move of the Bond film to April 2021 is a huge blow but unlike...

French sellers will market premiere a number of Cannes 2020 label titles.

MK2 Films is launching Carine Tardieu’s romantic drama The Young Lovers, starring Fanny Ardant opposite Melvil Poupaud as a 70-year-old woman who embarks on an affair with a married doctor 25 years her junior, and Ratatouille screenwriter Jim Capobianco’s stop-motion animation feature The Inventor about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, featuring Stephen Fry and Daisy Ridley in the voice cast. It will also market premiere Cannes 2020 titles The Big Hit by Emmanuel Courcol and Israeli filmmaker Nir Bergman’s father-and-son tale Here We Are.

Charades is running...

The Belgian institution has published its review of 2019, which also demonstrates a clear decline in attendance levels for Belgian movies. Given the current global health situation, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation’s Film and Audiovisual Centre (Cca) was obliged to publish an online review of the year 2019 last Friday. While the number of projects supported increased slightly, attendance levels for French-language Belgian films in both France and Belgium clearly plummeted. It should be said that 2018 turned out to be an excellent year in terms of box-office takings, thanks in particular to two top performers that largely plumped up the results: Mon Ket, the feature debut by François Damiens, and So Help Me God, the documentary by Jean Libon and Yves Hinant, which is the big-screen version of the TV series Strip Tease. However, as mentioned above, attendance levels were down by 39% compared to 2018. If we consider the total...

Under the new leadership of industry veteran Kristina Zimmermann, Orange Studio, the film/TV division of the French telco group Orange, is launching three new projects at Berlin’s European Film Market: “Last Film Show,” “Old Fashioned” and “Love Song for Tough Guys.”

Directed by Pan Nalin (“Samsara”), “Last Film Show” follows Samay, a 9-year-old boy living with his family in a remote village in India. One day, he discovers films and is instantly mesmerized. Against his father’s wishes, he returns to the cinema day after day and sets off to become a filmmaker at all costs.

“It’s a personal film for Pan Nalin as it’s inspired by his own life, and it has a beautiful cinematography, because Pan Nalin is also a talented photographer,” said Zimmermann, who joined Orange Studio last July after working for nearly three decades at Canal Plus Group. “‘Last Film Show’ is...

Showcasing the wide scope and many nuances of French comedies, Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Lost Prince,” “Mama Weed” with Isabelle Huppert (pictured), “The Lion” with Dany Boon, and “Welcome to the Jungle” with Catherine Deneuve are having their market premieres at the 22nd edition of the UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris, which runs Jan. 16-20.

Sold by Studiocanal, “The Lost Prince” is fantasy-filled family comedy headlined by Omar Sy (“Intouchables), François Damiens (“Heartbreaker”) and Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”).

“Mama Weed” directed by Jean-Paul Salomé, is a crime comedy starring Huppert, the Oscar-nominated actress, as a French-Arabic translator working for the anti-drug squad in Paris. Le Pacte is handling international sales.

“The Lion” is an action comedy about Romain (Philippe Katerine), a psychologist who is fascinated by his patient, Leo Milan (Boon), who claims to be a highly-trained international spy.

Helmed by Hugo Benamozig and David Caviglioli,...

Jan Kounen’s comedy “My Cousin,” starring Vincent Lindon and François Damiens, will be one of the biggest French releases of the year. The film screens Friday at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris. In an exclusive interview with Variety, he talks about his key motivations for the project.

“My Cousin” is about two cousins (Lindon and Damiens) with wildly incompatible personalities and different ways of life, set in a luxurious Bordeaux vineyard. It marks a major new departure for Kounen, and is his first feature film for 11 years, after his 2009 Cannes closing film, “Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky.”

Kounen has a cult following from previous pics such as “Dobermann” (1997), and spiritual Western “Blueberry” (2004), and is well known for his interest in shamanism, including his 2004 documentary “Other Worlds.” This interest has fed into his recent Vr projects – “Ayahuasca” (Kosmik Journey), “7 Lives” and “-22.7°C.”

“My Cousin” is produced by Richard Grandpierre’s Eskwad,...

The director also stars among the cast of this Single Man production distributed by Ugc, alongside Vanessa Paradis, François Damiens, Ramzy Bedia, JoeyStarr, Bouli Lanners and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. The final days of filming are underway for Cette musique ne joue pour personne, the 7th feature film by Samuel Benchetrit whose previous works include Janis & John (2003), I Always Wanted to be a Gangster, Macadam Stories (the focus of a special screening in Cannes in 2015) and Dog (presented in Locarno’s Piazza Grande in 2017). The cast stars the director himself, alongside Vanessa Paradis (nominated for the 2000 Best Actress César award for Girl on the Bridge and at her best in Heartbreaker and Knife + Heart among others), Belgium’s François...

"We're in too much trouble, let's call your mum." Studiocanal UK has debuted an official UK trailer for the French crime comedy The World Is Yours, originally released under the title Le monde est à toi (which translates to the same) in France last year. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Directors' Fortnight last summer, and earned some rave reviews (read mine here). The World Is Yours is a fun crime comedy / thriller about a former drug dealer who has to get back in the business one more time to get his life back on track. The film stars Karim Leklou, Vincent Cassel, Isabelle Adjani, Oulaya Amamra, Philippe Katerine, François Damiens, and Norbert Ferrer. Featuring a score by Jamie Xx and SebastiAn. This is a fantastic French crime film, and it's definitely worth discovering whenever you have a chance to catch it. Here's the official UK trailer (+ French...

Sink Or Swim Photo: Mika Cotellon The French Film Festival - which runs from November 7 to December 16 at cinemas across the country - has announced its line-up.

The festival, which has announced will screen films from across the Francophone world, will feature the latest films from established names - including Jean-Luc Godard's The Image Book, Jean Becker's The Red Collar and Christophe Honoré's Sorry Angel - as well as new directors. The up-and-comers in the Discovery Horizons section include Marie Monge’s thriller Treat Me Like Fire, Hubert Charuel’s Bloody Milk and Dany, which is the directorial debut of actor François Damiens.

Other films screening include Gilles Lelouche's crowdpleaser Sink Or Swim - based on the same real-life story as UK production Swimming With Men - and Stéphane Brizé's At War, starring Vincent Lindon.

Festival director Richard Mowe said: “Serendipity and, of course, careful planning has...

The Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival has provided some strong picks this year, including French heist comedy The World Is Yours which was rousingly received. The second feature from Romain Gavras (son of Costa-Gavras), who is best known for his music video work with such artists as Mia, Kanye West and Justice, stars Vincent Cassel who appeared in and produced his 2010 debut Our Day Will Come. The collaborators chatted with Deadline this week about the film, riffing on one another and the influence of Italian comedies on this stylish sophomore effort (check out the video above).

The World Is Yours follows François, a small-time drug dealer who wants to call it quits and become the official distributor of the Mr Freeze popsicle brand in North Africa. His dream vanishes when he learns that his mother (Isabelle Adjani) has spent all his life savings. When his boss presents...

Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning director of “The Artist” whose latest film “Redoutable” competed at Cannes Film Festival last year, is set to direct “The Lost Prince,” a fantasy-filled family comedy which will star Omar Sy (“Intouchables), François Damiens (“Heartbreaker”) and Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”).

“The Lost Prince” is produced by Philippe Rousselet and Jonathan Blumental. Pathé, Studiocanal and TF1 Films Production are co-producing. Studiocanal also handles international sales and will begin pre-sales at Cannes. Pathé will release the film in France. Shooting will begin July 30.

“The Lost Prince” will star Sy as Djibi, a devoted single father whose life revolves around his beloved 7-year-old daughter Sofia.

Every night as Sofia falls asleep, Djibi takes her into “Storyland”, a fantasy film studio where their extraordinary fairytale adventures come to life starring Djibi in the lead role as the heroic Prince Charming. As Sofia eventually grows out of her father’s stories,...

Pathé will release in France whilst Studiocanal will commence worldwide sales in Cannes.

The Lost Prince, the new film from director by Michel Hazanavicius, has been unveiled.

The Studiocanal, Prélude, Pathé, and TF1 Films co-production stars Omar Sy (The Intouchables), François Damiens (Just To Be Sure) and Bérénice Bejo (The Artist).

Pathé will release in France whilst Studiocanal will commence worldwide sales in the Cannes market.

The shoot starts July 30 and is scheduled to wrap on October 5.

The project revolves around Djibi, a father who tells his seven-year-old daughter Sofia fairytales about a fantasy film studio called “Storyland” with himself as Prince Charming.

Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius is set to helm fantasy family film, The Lost Prince. The co-production from Prélude, Pathé, Studiocanal and TF1 Films stars The Intouchables‘ Omar Sy, La Famille Bélier‘s François Damiens and The Artist‘s Berenice Bejo.

Shooting begins July 30 on the story of Djibi whose life revolves around his beloved 7-year-old daughter Sofia. The devoted single father never misses their cherished ritual of bedtime stories. Every night as Sofia falls asleep, he takes her into “Storyland,” a fantasy film studio where their extraordinary fairy tale adventures come to life with Djibi in the lead role as the heroic Prince Charming.

Five years later and nearly a teenager, Sofia starts to grow out of her father’s stories and instead makes up tales of her own with Djibi no longer the heroic lead. As his roles in both the real world and in “Storyland” begin to change,...

Michel Hazanavicius and Berenice Bejo have found their next project in StudioCanal's The Lost Prince.

The real-life husband and wife have worked together on several films, including 2014's The Search and 2017's Godard Mon Amour. They most famously won the Palme d'Or for The Artist, which went on to win the best picture Oscar in 2011. Bejo also took Cannes best actress prize for The Past in 2013.

The family-friendly film will co-star Omar Sy, best known stateside for X-Men: Days of Future Past, and François Damiens, who stars in the upcoming Cannes Director's Fortnight entry The World is Yours....

Michel Hazanavicius and Berenice Bejo have found their next project in StudioCanal's <em>The Lost Prince</em>.

The real-life husband and wife have worked together on several films, including 2014's <em>The Search </em>and 2017's <em>Godard Mon Amour</em>. They most famously won the Palme d'Or for <em>The Artist</em>, which went on to win the best picture Oscar in 2011. Bejo also took Cannes best actress prize for <em>The Past</em> in 2013.

The family-friendly film will co-star Omar Sy, best known stateside for <em>X-Men: Days of Future Past</em>, and François Damiens, who stars in the upcoming Cannes Director's Fortnight entry<em> The World is Yours</em>. <em>What ...</em>...

Get your first look at one of the films premiering at the Cannes Film Festival. The World Is Yours, or Le monde ou rien in French, is the next film from French director Romain Gavras (Our Day Will Come) and it was just announced as one of the films in the official selection for the Directors' Fortnight sidebar at Cannes. The World Is Yours is a crime comedy/thriller about a former drug dealer who has to get back in the business one more time to get his plans back on track. The cast includes Karim Leklou, Vincent Cassel, Isabelle Adjani, François Damiens, Oulaya Amamra, Philippe Katerine, Michael John Treanor, and Norbert Ferrer. Featuring a score by Jamie Xx and SebastiAn. This teaser trailer doesn't reveal too much but the footage we do see in this is quite wild. I'm curious to find out what this is all about. Here's...

Stéphanie Di Giusto on The Dancer: "The movie is always in movement." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Stéphanie Di Giusto's The Dancer (La Danseuse), screenplay in collaboration with Les Cowboys director Thomas Bidegain, based on the book Loïe Fuller: Danseuse De La Belle Époque by Giovanni Lista, stars Soko as Fuller with Lily-Rose Depp as Isadora Duncan. The supporting cast includes Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, François Damiens, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Amanda Plummer, and Denis Ménochet.

I met up with the director at the restaurant inside the Marlton Hotel the day before her debut film opened in New York. We discussed how Nick Cave and Warren Ellis got involved through Andrew Dominik's The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, her costume designer Anaïs Romand who won a César, working with cinematographer Benoît Debie, seeing Soko in Alice Winocour's Augustine, and Harvey Weinstein's reaction after seeing The Dancer at Cannes.

From RedBand.Ca, Sneak Peek restricted 'red band' footage from the award-winning drama "The Dancer" (aka "La Danseuse") written and directed by Stéphanie Di Giusto, based on the novel by author Giovanni Lista, starring Soko, Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, Lily-Rose Depp, François Damiens, Louis Garrel and William Houston:

"...in 1887, after the death of her father, 25-year-old 'Marie-Louise' leaves her life in the American West to join her mother in New York and pursue her dream of becoming an actress.

"On stage one night, she avoids falling by spinning the fabric of her long dress in a graceful gesture,and the 'Serpentine Dance' is born. The dazzled audience calls out for more.

"Marie-Louise becomes 'Loïe Fuller' and leaves New York for Paris, where imitators try to steal her radical innovations in modern dance, including Isadora Duncan' ..."

Cast also includes Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Denis Ménochet, Amanda Plummer and Shimehiro Nishikawa.

"We'll drag this place into the new century." Palace Films has unveiled a new trailer from Australia for the release of the indie drama The Dancer, also known as La danseuse in French, a period set drama about a rivalry between two dancers. This originally premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, and is just getting a release in Us theaters this December. Lily-Rose Depp stars as Isadora Duncan, the protégé and rival of dancer Loïe Fuller, played by French actress/musician Soko, the "toast of the Folies Bergères at the turn of the 20th century and an inspiration for Toulouse-Lautrec and the Lumière Brothers." The full cast includes Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, François Damiens, Denis Ménochet, Amanda Plummer, and Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. This seems like a very passionate, intense, dance film to watch. Check it out. Here's the official Australian trailer (+ old poster) for Stéphanie Di Giusto's The Dancer,...

“Resistance” the story of the famed mime Marcel Marceau and how he learned to mime in order to survive and to save the lives of Jewish orphans in World War II France, written and to be directed by “Hands of Stone” director Jonathan Jakubowicz and produced by Claudine Jakubowicz and Carlos Garcia de Paredes, will star the curly haired and fast talking Jesse Eisenberg who played Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film “The Social Network”. Baptiste Marceau, the oldest son of Marcel, has been closely involved in the research for this European coproduction that CAA is packaging and representing in Cannes. Marceau the artist of silence gave his first major performance to 3,000 American troops after the liberation of Paris in August 1944.

Michael Jackson and Marcel Marceau

The producers of last year’s Norwegian hit, “The Wave”, have turned their attention to Marius Holst’s “Betrayed”, the story of the Norwegian Jews...

Baker, Nyoni, Jasper and Carpignano join Cannes veterans Denis, Ferrara, Dumont, Garrel and Gitai.Scroll Down For Full List

Tangerine director Sean Baker, the UK’s Rungano Nyoni and Italo-American film-maker Jonas Carpignano will be among the buzzed-about names premiering new works at the 49th edition of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight this year (18-28 May).

Artistic director Edouard Waintrop unveiled the eclectic selection, comprising 19 feature-length films and another 11 shorts, at a press conference at the Cinéma Le Grand Action in Paris on Thursday (20 April).

Read more: Cannes 2017: Official Selection in full

Opening And Closing Films

Claire Denis will open the 49th edition – running May 18-28 - with Un Beau Soleil Intérieur starring Juliette Binoche, Gérard Depardieu and Xavier Beauvois.

Us director Geremy Jasper’s debut feature Patti Cake$ - which world premiered at Sundance this year has been selected as the closing film.

Us Presence

It is one of two Sundance titles in this year’s selection...

Katell Quillévéré on Steven Spielberg's E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial: "For me it was something from my childhood ..." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The danger of living is lurking at every corner at the start of Katell Quillévéré's medical thriller Heal The Living (Réparer Les Vivants), co-written with Gilles Taurand, based on a novel by Maylis De Kerangal, starring Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen (Catherine Breillat's Abus De Faiblesse with Isabelle Huppert), Tahar Rahim, Gabin Verdet, Théo Choldbi, and Finnegan Oldfield (Thomas Bidegain's Les Cowboys).

I first met Katell Quillévéré when she was presenting her film Suzanne, which stars Sara Forestier, Adèle Haenel, François Damiens, and Paul Hamy. Katell also participated, along with Julie Gayet, Axelle Ropert, Isabelle Giordano, Rebecca Zlotowski, Stacie Passon, Ry Russo-Young, Deborah Kampmeier, and Justine Triet, in activities at the French Institute Alliance Française on International Women’s Day during the 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York.

"'What to do with the rest of our lives?' is now the question." Music Box has debuted a new trailer for the film The Brand New Testament from Belgium, directed by filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael who last made Mr. Nobody. His new film is religious parody about a man in Brussels who is apparently God - as played by Benoît Poelvoorde. He lives with his family and the story focuses on his ten-year-old daughter Ea, played by Pili Groyne, who decides to text everyone in the world with their date of death. The full cast includes Catherine Deneuve, François Damiens, Yolande Moreau, Laura Verlinden and Serge Larivière. There's some really wacky scenes in this, but I like the concept and it seems like a totally one-of-a-kind film. Here's the first trailer (+ poster) for Jaco Van Dormael's The Brand New Testament, from YouTube: God exists! He lives in Brussels,...

After the wildly ambitious sci-fi feature Mr. Nobody (which we named one of the best of the century thus far), director Jaco Van Dormael is back with The Brand New Testament, a comedy which imagines what would happen if God exists on Earth, and he’s not exactly what you might assume he would be. Having premiered at Cannes last year and earning a Golden Globe nomination as well as nearly making the final Oscar cut, it’ll finally arrive next month in the United States and now Music Box Films have released a new trailer.

We said in our positive review, “If you were to take the charm and playful visual language of Jean-Pierre Jenuet’s Amelie and pair it with a blistering satire of religious dogma, the end result would look something like The Brand New Testament, a new film from Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael. His previous feature,...

John C Reilly and Finnegan Oldfield in Thomas Bidegain's soul searching Les Cowboys

On the afternoon when Thomas Bidegain is presenting Les Cowboys at the Alliance Française, where the week before I introduced Axelle Ropert's Tirez La Langue, Mademoiselle, he gave me some insight on working with Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Jacques Audiard and Noé Debré. Connecting Paul Schrader's Hardcore with Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and John Ford's The Searchers by way of Slavoj Žižek in Sophie Fiennes' The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology and the Iliana Zabeth Bertrand Bonello Saint Laurent and House of Tolerance link to Finnegan Oldfield and Nocturama weave through our conversation.

Alain (François Damiens) and Nicole (Agathe Dronne)

François Damiens (Katell Quillévéré's Suzanne) plays Alain, husband to Nicole (Agathe Dronne) whose daughter Kelly's (Iliana Zabeth) disappearance during a French country-western festival triggers a relentless search that jeopardises the family's unity.

It’s hard to blame Thomas Bidegain for thinking that a contemporary remake of “The Searchers” might be a good idea. After all, the same virulent otherness that pumped through John Ford’s classic Western is at the heart of the Islamophobia that plagues modern Europe, and has percolated beneath the surface of its cinema since at least “The Battle of Algiers.” The recent attacks in Paris and Belgium, neither of which occurred until long after “Les Cowboys” was in the can, only serve to add a greater sense of urgency to Bidegain’s film, a vigilante tale whose wayward white hero is stymied by the same cultural divide that terrorists sacrifice their lives in order to deepen and expand.

But Bidegain’s update, however clever and opportunistic it might be, inevitably runs into a problem that didn’t affect the original: It’s not directed by John Ford.

Which...

To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list here, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for June 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, June 24. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Free State of Jones

Director: Gary Ross

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Keri Russell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Jacob Lofland

Synopsis: “In Jones County, Miss., Newt Knight joins forces with other farmers and a group of slaves to lead a rebellion against the Confederacy.”

Independence Day: Resurgence...

Thomas Bidegain on John C Reilly in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster and Matteo Garrone's Tale of Tales: "I think he has a secret plan to become a European film star." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Thomas Bidegain known for his screenwriting artistry with Jacques Audiard on Dheepan, A Prophet, and Rust And Bone and Joachim Lafosse on Our Children and The White Knights, met for a conversation on his directorial debut. Co-produced by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, co-written with Noé Debré, Les Cowboys stars François Damiens, Finnegan Oldfield (Eva Husson's Bang Gang) and John C Reilly with Agathe Dronne, Iliana Zabeth (Bertrand Bonello’s Saint Laurent and House Of Tolerance), Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Ellora Torchia, Mounir Margoum, Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Maxim Driesen.

Alain (François Damiens) with daughter Kelly (Iliana Zabeth)

David Lynch's Mulholland Drive cowboy, a Bronski Beat Smalltown Boy rendition, James Coburn in Sergio Leone's Duck,...

In Thomas Bidegain’s skilful directorial debut, a country-music obsessed family travel to Pakistan after the disappearance of their daughter

Hitherto best known for the excellent screenplays he wrote for several French auteurs, particularly Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone, Dheepan) and Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent), Thomas Bidegain makes his debut as director in his own right with this craftily elliptical, intimate epic. In the mid-1990s, a rural family of four enthusiastic country and western fans, who like all things to do with cowboy hats and line-dancing, are devastated when their daughter disappears one night at the local hoedown. Father Alain (François Damiens, touching) spends years searching for her, despite the fact that she seemingly doesn’t want to be found, having eloped with a Muslim boy who may or may not have jihadist sympathies. Kid, her younger brother (eventually played as an adult by a somewhat stiff...

Thomas Bidegain has made the transition from screenwriting to directing more smoothly than most with “Les Cowboys,” a contemporary reimagining of John Ford’s “The Searchers.” Bidegain’s updated take on the Western classic stars François Damiens as a Stetson-wearing Frenchman whose teenage daughter suddenly disappears one day, apparently having run off with the Muslim boyfriend her parents didn’t even know existed. Ahead of the film’s theatrical release tomorrow, Indiewire has been exclusively provided with a clip from the film.

Read More: Cannes Review: ‘Les Cowboys,’ Directed By ‘Rust & Bone’ Writer Thomas Bidegain, Starring John C. Reilly

In the scene, Damiens makes his way through the makeshift encampment where he thinks his daughter might be hiding out. She’s not there, of course, but some residents who don’t take kindly to his presence certainly are.

Read More: Arthouse Audit: Starry ‘A Bigger Splash’ and Cannes-Winner ‘Dheepan’ Lead...

Excepting the chance that some very obvious parallels went over a critic’s head, there’s nary a review of Thomas Bidegain’s Les Cowboys that lacks mention of John Ford’s The Searchers, so let’s lay those cards on the table before going much further. The cowboy-led search for a girl kidnapped by Native Americans in the American west circa 1868 has been replaced by a father-son pairing (François Damiens and Finnegan Oldfield, respectively), a willful runaway, Islamists of (it-seems-purposefully) vague nationality, a mixture of European towns and (it-seems-purposefully) vague Middle Eastern terrain, and more-or-less-contemporary surroundings. What are we left with? Old and young men, prejudices against a dark-skinned other, the wonders and horrors of unknown land, and an unknowable woman at the center of every component.

Les Cowboys is not as fine a film as The Searchers much in the same way most ever made are not as...