Just hours ahead of his long-anticipated trial for sexual assault charges on Monday (October 28), Gerard Depardieu’s lawyer said the French actor would not attend due to health concerns and requested a delay in the proceedings.

The 75-year-old star of Cyrano De Bergerac and Green Card was expected at a Paris courthouse after being accused of sexual assault by two women during the 2021 film shoot for Jean Becker’s The Green Shutters (Les Volets Verts), one a set designer and the other an assistant director.

The trial was meant to begin at 1:30 Pm local time. Despite announcing on Friday...

Gérard Depardieu will not attend his trial on charges of sexual assault, related to events on the set of the film The Green Shutters in 2021, which is due to kick off in Paris on Monday afternoon.

The French actor’s lawyer Jérémie Assous said the Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac star had been advised against attending the hearings in person for health reasons, and that the actor was seeking a postponement.

“Gérard Depardieu is extremely affected and unfortunately, his doctors have forbidden him from appearing at the hearing,” Assous said in an interview with Rtl France.

The actor is being tried on charges of sexual assault allegedly committed against two women on the set of the film The Green Shutters in 2021.

The trial is being viewed as a test case for #MeToo in France with the media backlash against the star, who is hailed as one of the country’s greatest actors,...

French actor-writer-director Nicolas Bedos has been sentenced to one year in prison with six months suspended in addition to compulsory addiction and psychological treatment for sexually assaulting two women last year. He was acquitted on another charge of sexual harassment stemming from 2018.

Bedos is best known for his Cannes-premiering features as a director including Mascarade, Oss 117: From Africa With Love in 2021 and La Belle Epoque. His last project was Prime Video seriesAlphonsestarring Jean Dujardin.

Bedo’s lawyer Julia Monowski said she plans to appeal “immediately” and called the sentence “totally unprecedented, unjust and totally unacceptable.”

The charges date back...

Paris—A French court has sentenced Nicolas Bedos, a well-known director and actor, to one year in prison for sexually assaulting two women at a nightclub in Paris. Bedos must serve six months in prison and undergo mandatory treatment as part of his sentence.

The 45-year-old was found guilty of two incidents that occurred in mid-2023. In the first case, Bedos allegedly touched a 25-year-old woman inappropriately at a club on June 1st. A second woman, a waitress at the same club, said Bedos forcibly kissed her neck in May while intoxicated.

At his trial in September, Bedos said he could not remember the June incident due to heavy drinking. While acknowledging struggles with alcohol abuse, for which he claimed to be seeking help for two years, Bedos denied being a sexual predator. “I will never be a sexual aggressor,” he told the court. “We can talk about heaviness, we can talk about flirting…...

French actor-director Nicolas Bedos has received a one-year prison sentence, with six months suspended and compulsory treatment, for the sexual assaults of two women last year, according to Le Parisien.

However, Bedos — who was not present at the sentencing in Paris on Tuesday — was acquitted on a count of sexual harassment in 2018. His attorney, Julia Monkowski, said that she would appeal the sentence, Le Parisien reported.

Bedos is best known for directing “La Belle Epoque,” which played at the Cannes Film Festival and won three Cesar Awards in 2020. Bedos’ latest film, “Mascarade,” a heist romance starring Pierre Niney, Marine Vacth, Isabelle Adjani and Francois Cluzet, played out-of-competition at Cannes in 2022.

The charges against Bedos stemmed from a complaint filed by a woman for an alleged sexual assault on June 1 in a Parisian nightclub. Bedos allegedly put his hand on the crotch of the woman, who was wearing jeans. Two more...

Updated with details on house arrest and appeal at 13.51pm Pt… French actor and director Nicolas Bedos has been sentenced to one-year in prison with six months suspended for sexually assaulting two women in separate incidents in 2023.

The sentence also carries an obligation for the actor to undergo psychological and alcoholism treatment and be placed on France’s sex offenders list.

The popular actor, director and writer – whose directorial credits include La Belle Epoque, Oss 177: From Africa With Love and Mr & Mme Adelman – was tried in Paris in relation to three separate incidents alleged to have taken place between 2018 and 2023.

The actor, who did not attend the hearing, was cleared of a third accusation of sexual harassment dating back to 2018.

At a first hearing at the end of September, the prosecuting judge demanded a suspended one-year sentence for the actor and an obligation that he undergo treatment for this behavior.

French actor-filmmaker Nicolas Bedos is facing a one-year suspended prison sentence on charges of alleged sexual assault and sexual harassment under the influence of alcohol, Variety has confirmed.

During a criminal court hearing on Sept. 26, the Paris prosecutor requested a one-year suspended sentence for Bedos, as well as “an obligation of care for a period of two years,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement sent to Variety. Bedos’ attorney Julia Minkowski had no comment.

Charges against Bedos stem from a complaint filed by a woman for an alleged sexual assault which is alleged to have occurred on June 1 in a Parisian nightclub. Bedos allegedly put his hand on the crotch of the woman who was wearing jeans. Two more women since came forward accusing Bedos of sexual misconduct but neither filed a police complaint. One woman said Bedos grabbed her by the waist and kissed her on the...

The Paris prosecutors office has requested a one-year suspended prison sentence against French actor and director Nicolas Bedos, following a hearing on charges of sexual assault and sexual harassment while under the influence of alcohol.

Cannes regular Bedos – whose recent credits include La Belle Epoque, Oss 177: From Africa With Love and Mascarade – was tried on three allegations.

The first complaint was lodged in June 2023, by a 25-year-old woman, who accused Bedos of approaching her in a club and putting his hand on her crotch.

According to her account, he insulted her when she repelled his advances, and his behavior resulted in him being escorted from the club by a security guard.

The 45-year-old actor was reported to have told investigators at the time that if the gesture had happened it was “accidental”.

After a court hearing was set for September 2024, two more accusations came to light, one for sexual assault,...

Paramount+ has boarded “Zorro” (working title), an adventure comedy series starring Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning actor of “The Artist,” as the iconic character of Diego de la Vega.

Created by Benjamin Charbit (“Gagarine”) and Noé Debré (“Dheepan”), the anticipated show was bought by Paramount+ for France, the U.K., Italy, Germany and Latin America.

In the eight-part series, Dujardin stars opposite well-known Italian comedian Salvatore Ficarra, and French actors, including Audrey Dana, André Dussollier, Eric Elmosnino and Grégory Gadebois. The show will premiere on Paramount+ before rolling out on the pubcaster France Télévisions.

The series unfolds in 1821 as Don Diego de la Vega becomes mayor of Los Angeles and has to face off a corrupt businessman, Don Emmanuel.

Marc Dujardin’s Le Collectif 64 and Julien Seul at Bien Sûr Productions are producing the series which is penned by Charbit, Debré and Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud (“Le Test”). It’s directed by Jean-Baptiste Saurel...

Prime Video is quietly pushing on with the release of new French Original series Alphonse against the backdrop of an impending court appearance for its director Nicolas Bedos on a sexual assault charge.

The streamer announced on Wednesday that the first three episodes of the drama, starring Oscar-winning The Artist star Jean Dujardin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Nicole Garcia and Pierre Arditi, will be made available on October 12 on Prime Video in 240 territories worldwide.

The streamer has kept the precise details of Dujardin’s character under wraps apart from the fact he is a man who tries to satisfy the wishes of the women who cross his path.

Popular actor and director Bedos is due in court in February 2024 on a charge of sexual assault while under the influence of alcohol, which carries a sentence of a maximum five-year prison term and $87,000 fine.

Against this backdrop, the streamer has not organized...

French actor-director Nicolas Bedos, who is facing trial in February 2024 for an alleged sexual assault under the influence of alcohol dating from June 1, is now being investigated on rape and sexual assault charges after three complaints were filed with the Paris prosecutor.

News of the preliminary investigation was first reported in a bombshell investigative report published by French outlet Mediapart. The investigation cites four women, two of whom addressed a letter to the public prosecutor. The prosecutor’s spokesperson confirmed to Variety that a preliminary investigation was opened on July 5 on charges of alleged sexual assault and rape “after receiving three distinct complaints against Nicolas Bedos.”

Bedos’ attorney Julia Minkowski declined to comment.

One of the three complaints was filed by a female actor and screenwriter who also spoke to Mediapart on the basis of anonymity and is accusing Bedos of having sexually assaulted and raped her in 1999. At the time,...

A preliminary investigation into accusations of rape and sexual assault against popular French actor and director Nicolas Bedos has been opened by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.

News of the investigation broke in an in-depth report on the Mediapart news website on Tuesday afternoon and was then confirmed by multiple French outlets overnight.

It follows the actor’s 24-hour detention in police custody in early June after a 25-year-old woman accused him of touching her inappropriately in a nightclub in Paris.

Bedos faces a court hearing in February 2024 related to the accusation on charges of “sexual assault while under the influence of alcohol”.

The new preliminary investigation is for three fresh allegations, one for rape and sexual assault, and two others for sexual assault.

The Mediapart report said that news of the nightclub incident in June had encouraged other women to come forward with allegations against the actor.

Two of...

Les Films du Losange has unveiled the trailer for “Un Silence,” Joachim Lafosse’s thought-provoking film starring Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Devos that will world premiere in competition at San Sebastian Film Festival.

Tackling themes of abuse, the timely film revolves around Astrid (Devos), the wife of an acclaimed lawyer (Auteuil). Silenced for 25 years, her family balance suddenly collapses when her children initiate their own search for justice.

One of Belgium’s leading filmmakers, Lafosse is best known internationally for 2012’s “Our Children,” a heart-wrenching drama based on a true story starring Emilie Dequenne and Tahar Rahim. “Our Children” represented Belgium in the Oscars race. “Un Silence” will mark Joachim’s follow up to “The Restless,” which competed at Cannes in 2021 and also explored imploding family dynamics.

Auteuil, who previously won Cesar and BAFTA awards, notably starred in “La belle époque” by Nicolas Bedos, and “Hidden” by Michael Haneke; while Devos,...

French actor-writer-director was released from custody yesterday after an incident in a Parisian nightclub.

French actor-writer-director Nicolas Bedos is to stand trial for alleged sexual assault after being released from police custody on Thursday (June 22) evening following an incident in a Parisian nightclub.

Bedos entered police custody on Wednesday (June 21) after a woman filed a complaint claiming that Bedos drunkenly touched her inappropriately during a night out in early June.

According to his lawyer Julia Minkowski, Bedos has no memory of the incident. She said in a statement to press that “such a gesture, which he has no recollection of,...

Popular French actor and director Nicolas Bedos is reported have spent 24 hours in police custody in Paris from Wednesday to Thursday following a complaint against him for sexual assault and faces a court hearing in 2024.

According to French news agency, which said it had spoken to sources close to the case, the allegations are related to events in a French night club on the night of June 1 to 2.

The agency reported that a complaint had been lodged by a 25-year-old woman who said the actor approached her while she was having a drink in the club and “held his hand… at the level of her panties”.

The woman said she had repelled his advances and that a security guard had escorted the actor from the club.

The 44-year-old actor is reported to have told investigators that if the gesture happened it was “accidental”.

His lawyer Julia Minkowski has not commented to the press.

Updated: French actor-director Nicolas Bedos will face trial in early 2024 for alleged sexual assault, Variety has confirmed.

Bedos was held in police custody in Paris for over 24 hours and was released on Thursday evening, following a complaint filed by a woman for an alleged sexual assault for an alleged incident which occurred during the night of June 1 in a Parisian club. Bedos allegedly put his hand on the crotch of the woman who was wearing jeans, according to news agency Afp, which reported that it had access to the police complaint.

Bedos will be trialed for alleged sexual assault under the influence of drunkenness and faces five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

In a statement sent to Variety, Bedos’ attorney Julia Minkowski said the “custody was lifted. Nicolas Bedos was able to explain himself to the investigators. He does not...

‘Sulak’ is the first production from Alain Goldman’s Pitchipoï Productions.

Amazon Prime Video France is reteaming with director Melanie Laurent for the feature Sulak and has greenlit five new French feature films and three original series. Laurent directed Amazon’s first French-language original The Mad Women’s Ball in 2021.

Sulak will star newcomer Lucas Bravo as Bruno Sulak, a notorious real-life French criminal known for his non-violent heists on multiple jewelry stores in the 1980s. Sulak managed to escape from prison several times in order to reunite with his lover and accomplice, becoming public enemy number one in the process.

Masquerade is a French movie directed by Nicolas Bedos, starring Isabelle Adjani and François Cluzet.

Adrien, an attractive dancer whose career was shattered by a motorbike accident, wastes his youth in the laziness of the French Riviera, where he is looked after by Martha, a former movie star. Adrien’s life is turned upside down when he meets Margot, a captivating beauty who lives for the thrill of scams and romantic entanglements. Together, they fantasies about a better life and set up a diabolical scheme, an emotional masquerade.

Release date

June 16

Where to Watch Masquerade

Theaters

The Cast Isabelle Adjani Marine Vacth François Cluzet Pierre Niney

The post ‘Masquerade’ (2023) Release Movie on June 16 appeared first on Martin Cid Magazine.

VFX powerhouse MacGuff is using its proprietary tools Face Engine and the new Face Creative Engine, in conjunction with traditional CGI, on a slew of French and international projects for streamers and French broadcasters.

France is one of the world’s biggest VFX hubs, leveraged by its Trip scheme, that enables foreign shoots to tap into a 40 cash rebate on all eligible expenses – including expenses for live action that are not VFX related – for international projects whose VFX expenses surpass €2 million (2.16 million) spent in France.

Philippe Sonrier, MacGuff’s co-founder and joint director, says that the studio is seeing rising demand from streamers. The studio has 70 staff, but plans to grow to around 120 in 2023, due to rising demand.

For Netflix, MacGuff is providing VFX work on three series, including Season 3 of “Lupin,” having worked on Seasons 1 and 2. “Wonderman” is about the life of French empresario Bernard Tapie, in which the studio uses de-ageing tools.

Les Films du Losange has boarded “Un silence,” the new thought-provoking film by Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse (“The Restless”) starring Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Devos. The company has unveiled an exclusive first still of the timely drama on the eve of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous market in Paris which kicks off this week.

The plot remains enigmatic but Les Films du Losange said it will revolve around Astrid (Devos), the wife of an acclaimed lawyer (Auteuil). Silenced for 25 years, her family balance suddenly collapses when her children initiate their search for justice.

Auteuil and Devos are among France’s best known actors. Auteuil previously won Cesar and BAFTA awards. His credits include “La belle époque” by Nicolas Bedos, and “Hidden” by Michael Haneke, while Devos, who also won a Cesar award, previously starred in Jacques Audiard’s “Read My Lips” and Arnaud Desplechin’s movies including “A Christmas tale” and “Kings & Queen.

France’s box office is moving in an upward trajectory in November with 14.8 million admissions.

France’s box office is continuing to move in an upward trajectory in November with 14.8 million admissions for the month, the highest of the year so far according to figures from the Cnc.

The positive figures follow a decent October, when French theatres bounced back with 14.3 million admissions following the worst September in French box office history, with just 7.4 million tickets sold.

In total, 74 films were released in theatres in November, more than a pre-pandemic 61 in November 2019, an average of 15 films per week. US titles...

Following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran, more than 50 French female artists have banded together to show their support of the ongoing protests in Iran.

Amini died in police custody on September 16 after being arrested for not properly wearing her hijab to fully cover her hair. Iranian police said she died of a heart attack, but eyewitnesses claim she was beaten to death. Women around the world have since cut a lock of their hair with #HairForFreedom to show their support for Amini and in solidarity with Iranian women living under the Islamic Republic’s strict theocratic rule.

Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Adjani, and Charlotte Gainsbourg were among the French actresses to cut their hair in a viral Instagram video. Binoche says “for freedom” when blindly cutting her hair atop her head. A Persian version of Italian anti-fascist resistance ballad “Bella Ciao” is performed by...

Update: French actors Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Melanie Laurent, Isabelle Huppert and Charlotte Gainsbourg are among those who have cut off locks of their hair in support of the Iranian protests against the death of Mahsa Amini.

In a video posted to Instagram, the actors are among a number of French industry members who are seen trimming locks of their hair. In Binoche’s case, the “Both Sides of the Blade” actor defiantly lobs off entire inches of her dark hair, while declaring “For freedom!”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Soutien Femmes Iran (@soutienfemmesiran)

The video campaign, which uses the hashtag #HairForFreedom, was organized by Richard Sedillot, with Julie Couturier and Christiane Feral Schuhl.

“It is impossible not to denounce again and again this terrible repression,” reads a statement posted with the video. “There are already dozens of dead men and women, including children. The arrests only swell,...

More than 50 French female artists from the worlds of cinema and music have symbolically cut their hair in a video campaign showing support for the ongoing protests in Iran calling for more freedom for women following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

French actresses Isabelle Adjani, Berenice Bejo, Juliette Binoche, Laure Calamy, Marion Cotillard, Julie Gayet, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Isabelle Huppert and Alexandra Lamy were among those sharing images of themselves cutting off their hair.

Amini died in police custody on September 16 after being arrested for not wearing her hijab properly in accordance with the country’s strict religious laws and allowing some locks of hair to escape.

Police say she died of a heart attack but eyewitnesses and people who were detained with the young woman said she was severely beaten.

Women around the world have been cutting a lock of hair and posting the act on social networks around...

French actress Isabelle Adjani, who was Oscar nominated for “Camille Claudel” and “The Story of Adele H.,” has been under formal investigation for alleged fraud relating to hundreds of thousands of dollars of business expenses since October 2020, a judicial source confirmed to Variety on Monday.

The investigation stems from a police complaint filed by a former business associate, Sebastien G., in 2015, according to the French national newspaper Liberation which was first to report the story. Variety has contacted Adjani’s lawyer, Olivier Pardo, for comment.

According to the story published in Liberation, the case dates back to 2011 when Adjani hired Sebastien G. as a strategy consultant to help her run her production company, Isia Films. Sebastien G. allegedly obtained a credit line for Adjani as well as an American Express card on which she charged €364,000 over a period of 13 months, per the French report. Sebastien G. said he was fired...

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Bedos Takes the Grift Shift in French Riviera Crime Caper

For a film opening with W. Somerset Maugham’s line, “The French Riviera is a sunny place for shady people,” Masquerade falls quite short of its literary aspirations. The third feature from Nicolas Bedos featuring a ravishing cast of actors (once again formulating the juiciest bits for women who are more impressive than their male counterparts) has a lot going for it, especially if you’ve never seen droll crime comedies with double and triple crosses amongst a cadre of cads. The trouble is, most people have, thus casting a deathly derivative pallor over the film, which is also neither as smart or as witheringly written as it should be.…...

Pathé may be one of France’s oldest film groups, but it is young at heart. The only French film company that is still fully involved in exhibition, production, distribution and sales, Pathé has been confronting the challenges wrought by the pandemic and the arrival of streamers with bold steps and ambitious new projects. During the Cannes Film Festival, the company will receive Variety’s Intl. Achievement in Film Award.

In the past two years, the family-owned film group, which is led by the visionary businessman Jérôme Seydoux, saw its “Coda” win three Oscars for family drama; greenlit the country’s biggest-budgeted movies in recent history, “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom” (75 million) and the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, “The Three Musketeers — D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers — Milady” (75 million); it ventured into TV series; and forged bonds with streaming services, including Netflix and Apple TV+.

“When theaters were shut down,...

Orange Studio has unveiled a first still of Nicolas Pariser’s adventure thriller “The Green Perfume” which will close Directors’ Fortnight, the strand running alongside the Cannes Film Festival.

Starring Sandrine Kiberlain (“Nine-Month Stretch”) and Vincent Lacoste (“Lost Illusions”), “The Green Perfume” takes place following the death of a poisoned actor in the middle of a performance at la Comédie Française. Martin, a member of the troupe and friend of the victim, becomes the prime suspect and is also being hunted down by a mysterious organization, the Green Perfume. While leading his own investigation, Martin receives the unexpected help of Claire, an eccentric cartoonist seeking some adventure.

Orange Studio is handling international sales on the movie and will co-distribute it in France with Diaphana. “The Green Perfume” is produced by Bizibi.

“The Green Perfume” is one of the three movies on Orange Studio’s Cannes slate. The Paris-based company is...

Update: The lineup for the 75th Cannes Film Festival — as it stands so far, there are still additions to be made — has been revealed with 18 movies in Competition (see full lists below). Included in the running are such returning Palme d’Or winners as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Cristian Mungiu, Ruben Ostlund and the Dardenne brothers.

Other familiar names who will launch new works in the Competition include James Gray, Claire Denis, Park Chan-wook, Kelly Reichardt, Jerzy Skolimowski, and, as expected, David Cronenberg.

Across the rest of the Official Selection, George Miller’s Three Thousand Years Of Longing was confirmed for an Out of Competition berth while Ethan Coen turns up in Special Screenings with Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind.

In total, 49 movies were announced today, including Michel Hazanavicius’ Z (Comme Z) aka Final Cut, which will open the festival on May 17 out of competition. The Zombie comedy stars Bérénice Bejo and Romain Duris.

After a skipped year and then a delayed year, the Cannes Film Festival is now back in its usual spring slot, taking place May 17 through 28. After many rumors and reports, festival director Thierry Frémaux has now unveiled the main lineup for this 75th Edition.

Featuring new work from David Cronenberg, Claire Denis, Park Chan-wook, Kelly Reichardt, George Miller, James Gray, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Cristian Mungiu, Arnaud Desplechin, Dardennes, Ruben Östlund, and more, it’s quite a promising slate. There was no mention of David Lynch, but Olivier Assayas will also be showing part of his new TV show adaptation of Irma Vep and Ethan Coen will debut his first documentary (on Jerry Lee Lewis), while studio offerings Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis were re-confirmed.

Explore below.

Opening

Z, Michel Hazanavicius (out of competition)

Competition

The Almond Tree, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Armageddon Time, James Gray

Boy From Heaven, Tarik Saleh

Broker, Hirokazu Kore-eda

Brother and Sister,...

The line-up includes films by David Cronenberg, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ruben Östlund, Kelly Reichardt, Park Chan-Wook and Claire Denis.

The Official Selection of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival has been announced.

Scroll down for the line-up

The selection includes films by David Cronenberg, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ruben Östlund, Park Chan-Wook, Kelly Reichardt and Claire Denis. The 18-strong competition features three female directors (Reichardt, Denis and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi).

Michel Hazanavicius’ zombie comedy Z will open the festival out of competition.

47 titles were unveiled today (plus the previously announced Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick), significantly down on last year’s 83, though more titles will...

The press conference will kick off in central Paris at 11:00am local time (10:00 BST).

The Cannes Film Festival will reveal the Official Selection for its 75th edition today (April 14).

General delegate Thierry Frémaux will present the titles alongside outgoing festival president Pierre Lescure at the Normandie Cinema on the Champs-Elysées in central Paris at 11:00am local time (10:00 BST).

This year’s edition is returning to a more traditional May 17-28 slot after being moved to July in 2021 due to the pandemic.

So far the only titles officially announced are Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis and Tom Cruise blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick.

Dujardin stars in comedy-drama Alphonse, written and directed by Nicolas Bedos.

Amazon Prime Video has unveiled a slate of seven new French original productions including projects from Jean Dujardin, Maïmouna Doucouré and Franck Gastambide.

Dujardin stars in comedy-drama Alphonse, written and directed by Nicolas Bedos and produced by Alain Goldman for Montmartre Films. Described as a “sharp-and-witty comedy”, it is based on an original idea by Dujardin and Bedos

Gastambide (creator of TV series Validé) has written and directed action comedy Medellín, about a young YouTuber fascinated by Pablo Escobar who gets kidnapped.

Maïmouna Doucouré follows up Sundance entry Cuties with coming-of-age film Hawa,...

Amazon Prime Video has unveiled seven new shows from the likes of Jean Dujardin, Nicolas Bedos, Franck Gastambide and Maïmouna Doucouré, while recommissioning Celebrity Hunted and Lol: Qui Rit, Sort!. in the region.

The new shows include Academy Award-winning The Artist star Dujardin’s Alphonse, based on an original idea by Dujardin and Bedos and produced by Alain Goldman, who recently signed a deal with Banijay.

The show was positioned by Amazon as a “surprising and funny take on comedy.”

Gastambide’s feature Medellín follows Pablito, a young YouTuber fascinated by Pablo Escobar, who makes his dream come true by flying to the Colombian city to walk in the notorious drug lord’s footsteps. A few days later, a video is posted on social media, showing that Pablito has been kidnapped by a group of dangerous Narcos.

Meanwhile, Federation Entertainment and Yvette Production’s comedy Clasico will be out later...

Amazon Prime in France has unveiled its upcoming slate of director-driven Originals, including ‘Hawa,’ a new movie by “Cuties” director Maimouna Doucouré, Nicolas Bedos’ TV debut “Alphonse” and Franck Gastambide’s “”Medellín.”

“Hawa” follows the coming-of-age tale of a teenage girl who lives with her grandmother and worries she will be removed by social services. She sets off to get adopted by someone she admires more than anything, one of the most powerful woman in the world. “Hawa” is produced by Bien ou Bien Productions.

The movie is currently in post-production and is expected to launch globally on the streamer later this year. As with “Cuties,” Doucouré’s feature debut which won the director prize at Sundance and was acquired by Netflix, “Hawa” will be headlined by first-time actors, including Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Oumou Sangaré, as well as the popular singer Yseult and Sania Halifa.

Doucouré discussed “Hawa” along...

Alain Goldman, the well-respected French producer of “La Vie en rose” who’s just joined forces with Banijay, has teamed up with Amazon Prime Video on “Alphonse,” a humor-laced series by Nicolas Bedos (“La Belle Epoque”)

The high-concept Prime original series is based on an original idea by Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning actor of “The Artist,” and Bedos. It marks the TV debut of Bedos, the Cesar-winning filmmaker of “Monsieur & Madame Adelman” and “La Belle Epoque,” which played out of competition at Cannes in 2019 and sold worldwide

Dujardin will star alongside Pierre Arditi (“La Belle Epoque”), Charlotte Gainsbourg and Nicole Garcia (“Lupin”).

As the series’ teaser poster (pictured above) suggests it, the entire series will unfold in Paris and will showcase some beautiful areas of the French capital.

Although the plot remains under wraps, Goldman revealed that Dujardin will play Alphonse, a chameleon-like man whose main mission is...

The cluelessly arrogant secret agent with a name as silly as his retrograde attitudes — Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, aka agent Oss 117 — is back in Oss 117: From Africa With Love. Everybody loves a secret agent, even a demonstrably buffoonish one, and versatile Jean Dujardin is a deadpan delight as the staunchly patriotic Frenchman whose adventures were last on the big screen in 2009’s Oss 117: Lost In Rio and 2006’s Oss 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies.

Michel Hazanavicius — for whom Dujardin starred in 2011’s five-time Oscar winner The Artist — directed the previous Oss entries. Taking the reins here is talented multi-hyphenate Nicolas Bedos (La Belle Epoque), and while the result is not consistently as funny as the first two installments, this is an entertaining popcorn movie that’s also a healthy satire of imperialist self-assurance, perhaps best summed up by Hubert’s sincere belief that everybody on Earth wishes they were French.

Cannes Closer

Oss 117: From Africa With Love, the latest entry in the spy series starring Jean Dujardin, will bring the curtain down at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film will be shown in the ‘Final Screening’ slot on July 17th in the Grand Théâtre Lumière at the Awards Ceremony. Nicolas Bedos directed the franchise’s most recent edition, which again follows the adventures of Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath. This time, the famed secret agent is dispatched to Kenya, where he teams up with a young agent (Pierre Niney).

Caroline Norton Biography Optioned

Sharon Stirling has optioned the screen rights to author Antonia Fraser’s latest biography The Case of the Married Woman. The book charts the life of Caroline Norton, the celebrated author who found herself at the centre of one of the most scandalous court cases of the 19th century. “Caroline Norton was a family relation of mine,...

The Cannes Film Festival will close its 74th edition with “Oss 117: From Africa With Love,” the third opus of the spy spoof franchise headlined by Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”).

The movie is directed by Nicolas Bedos, the popular French director whose last film, “La Belle Epoque,” world premiered out of competition at Cannes in 2019.

The first two parodic films of the “Oss 117” franchise, which were directed by “The Artist” helmer Michel Hazanavicius, were major B.O. hits in France and traveled around the world.

“From Africa With Love” is set in 1981, 14 years after “Lost in Rio,” and follows Dujardin as the famed secret agent Hubert Bonisseur who leaves on a mission in Kenya and teams up with a young agent, who is played by Pierre Niney. The movie also stars Fatou N’Diaye and Natacha Lindinger, among others.

The film was penned by Jean-François Halin, and is produced...

The Cannes Film Festival is looking to end on a light note, with French spy spoof Oss 117: From Africa With Love to close the 74th Film Festival on July 17.

Jean Dujardin, Nicolas Bedos and Pierre Niney star in Oss 117, which is directed by Nicholas Bedos, whose crowdpleaser La Belle Époque premiered in Cannes 2019.

The film is the third installment in the popular Oss franchise, a Gallic twist on James Bond by way of Pink Panther.

Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) stars as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias Oss 117, a French spy with an over-the-top libido and self-regard. Fatou N’Diaye, Natacha ...

The Cannes Film Festival is looking to end on a light note, with French spy spoof Oss 117: From Africa With Love to close the 74th Film Festival on July 17.

Jean Dujardin, Nicolas Bedos and Pierre Niney star in Oss 117, which is directed by Nicholas Bedos, whose crowdpleaser La Belle Époque premiered in Cannes 2019.

The film is the third installment in the popular Oss franchise, a Gallic twist on James Bond by way of Pink Panther.

Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) stars as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias Oss 117, a French spy with an over-the-top libido and self-regard. Fatou N’Diaye, Natacha ...

Gaumont’s international sales arm will launch four new upcoming titles at Pre-Cannes Screenings next week.

French sales, production and distribution giant Gaumont has unveiled four new projects to introduce to buyers at the Pre-Cannes Screenings.

Shooting has just begun on Ramzi Ben Sliman’s in-house production Neneh Superstar, a ballet school drama starring big-screen debutant Oumy Bruni Garrel, Maïwenn and Aïssa Maïga. Bruni Garrel, who is the daughter of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Louis Garrel, plays a 12-year-old girl who wins a place at the prestigious dance school of the Opéra de Paris. She outshines the other students but...

The Cannes Film Festival has completed the extensive film lineup of its Official Selection, including the animated feature “Where Is Anne Frank?” directed by Oscar-nominated Ari Folman (“Waltz with Bashir”).

The festival has also added “Vortex” by Gaspar Noe to the Cannes Premiere section and “Mes Freres Et Moi” by Yohan Manca to Un Certain Regard.

Additional midnight screenings include “Tralala” by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu and “Supremes” by Audrey Estrougo.

Special screenings added include “Bill Murray’s Party: New Worlds, The Cradle of a Civilisation” by Andrew Muscato; “Mi iubta Mon amour” by Neomie Ferlant; Les Heroiques by Maxime Roy; and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Wen Shipei.

“Anne Frank’s Diary” is a passion project for Folman who was granted privileged access to Anne Frank’s diary, various texts and family archives. The film follows the journey of Kitty, the imaginary friend to whom Anne dedicated her diary,...

Nicolas Bedos, the French writer-director behind the Cannes-premiering “La Belle Epoque,” is set to direct “Mascarade,” a French Riviera-set drama-comedy with Isabelle Adjani, Pierre Niney and Francois Cluzet.

The ambitious film boasts a significant budget of €14 million ($17 million) and is bring produced by Francois Kraus and Denis Pineau-Valencienne at Les Films du Kiosque, and Pathé. Marine Vacth (“DNA”), Emmanuelle Devos (“Read My Lips”) and Laura Morante (“Cherry on the Cake”) complete the cast. Bedos, a former satirical commentator on a popular weekly talk show who is known for writing sharp-minded original scripts, described “Mascarade” as a potent mix of “robberies, crimes and passion.” The plot will be unveiled at a later stage.

Pathe is also handling international sales on “Mascarade” and will be distributing the film with Orange Studio in France. Orange Studio is also co-producing with TF1 Films Production, with the participation of Canal Plus, TF1 and Tmc.

Filming...

French cinema saw its international box office receipts fall to €86.6 million ($105.4 million), a near 70% drop, in 2020, according to a study unveiled by French promotion org UniFrance during the virtual Rendez-Vous market.

The drastic decline is explained by the fact that theaters worldwide were closed for several months due to the pandemic. The number of French films released in foreign theaters fell by 30% to 611 titles.

International ticket sales, meanwhile, fell to 13.7 million, down 69.8% on 2019. The extent of the drop in overseas admissions mirrors the decline in admissions for French films at home, which were down 60.7% compared with 2019 levels. UniFrance also points to the absence of a major hit and the downturn in emerging markets such as China.

Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” and Ladj Ly’s “Les Miserables” were the three French films that sold the most admissions overseas...

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,...

Throughout the anxious weeks leading up to the opening night of the 19th Transilvania International Film Festival, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread across Romania, government officials began to impose a series of increasingly rigorous safety protocols that cast the festival’s viability in doubt. But the organizers insisted that the show would go one.

“When we realized that the [case] numbers were increasing…we immediately created a crisis committee” to determine how to create a safe movie-going environment, says TIFF founder Tudor Giurgiu. In the picturesque medieval city of Cluj, which plays host to the festival, a series of outdoor venues were marshaled into service—from open-air cinemas to public squares to a leafy courtyard at the local agricultural university. After ensuring the necessary health and hygiene measures were in place, the green light from the government finally came with just days to spare.

“I think we’ve been...

Romantic drama will challenge societal norms.

Paris-based mk2 films has boarded sales on Carine Tardieu’s upcoming 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.

“It’s a modern and nuanced drama where love defies society’s standards,” said mk2 films sales chief Fionnuala Jamison.

Ardant plays an elegant, retired architect whose path crosses with a happily married doctor in his 40s, who first made an impression on her in a brief meeting 15 years previously.

Both are quite troubled to meet again and begin an affair.

Romantic drama will challenge societal norms.

Paris-based mk2 films has boarded sales on Carine Tardieu’s upcoming romantic drama The Young Lovers, starring Fanny Ardant opposite Melvil Poupard as a 70-year-old woman who embarks on an affair with a married doctor 25 years her junior.

“It’s a modern and nuanced drama where love defies society’s standards,” said mk2 films sales chief Fionnuala Jamison.

Ardant plays an elegant, retired architect whose path crosses with a happily married doctor in his 40s, who first made an impression on her in a brief meeting 15 years previously.

Both are quite troubled to meet again and begin an affair.

Yesterday, the César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, were handed out. Taking the top prize, in somewhat of a surprise, was Les Misérables from Ladj Ly. Clearly a top contender for the award, it faced stiff competition from An Officer and a Spy, as well as especially from Portrait of a Lady on Fire. However, France’s submission to the Academy Awards had that upper hand, and in the end, it led the way here. Of course, what was most noteworthy was actress and nominee Adèle Haenel (from Portrait of a Lady on Fire) walked out of the ceremony when it was announced that Roman Polanski had won the Best Director prize for An Officer and a Spy. Her protest made waves throughout the industry, and even thought Polanski was not in attendance, it was a powerful statement, to be sure… Here now are the Cesar Award results: Best Film “La Belle Epoque,...