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Toward the end of Jessica Palud’s “Being Maria,” an uneven but poignantly restorative portrait of “Last Tango in Paris” star Maria Schneider (played here by “Happening” breakout Anamaria Vartolomei), the actress sits for an interview in which she reflects on her recent experience shooting Jacques Rivette’s self-disowned “Merry-Go-Round.”

With a warm smile on her face, Schneider describes the serendipity of the film’s premise, which revolves around a boy and a girl who cross paths in Paris after being summoned there by someone neither of them can find: “It’s about two people who meet because the person they were supposed to meet doesn’t show up.”

The production of Rivette’s creatively unmoored film was not a happy one, but you’d never know that from the way it’s discussed in “Being Maria.” So far as Palud is concerned, there’s more value — more truth — to...

Last Tango in Paris was both a breakout role and turning point in the life and career of Maria Schneider––a traumatic filming experience that inspired her to become an advocate for women in the film industry, and the often redundant depictions of female characters in cinema. Her steadfastness and increasing ability to not suffer fools gladly after her experiences with Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando saw her walk out on several major directors midway through shooting, earning her a reputation for being difficult, frustrations largely ignored as this behavior coincided with her own battles with mental health and drug addiction, both of which were weaponized as reasons to not hire her. Any writing on Schneider characterizes her most famous role as an albatross around her neck, which saw her turn down any role that felt like it would similarly corner her in an unsafe working condition, which could make...

"I told you I wanted it intense." Kino Lorber has unveiled the US trailer for Being Maria, a French indie film about actress Maria Schneider and her experiences on set. This first premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival last year, and it already opened in French cinemas last summer. The film is finally opening in the US in art house theaters starting later this month. The film is an examination of how the idea of a young actress performing might seem exciting to viewers, but it might also be horrifying to the actress playing the role. This profiles Schneider's rise to fame after Last Tango in Paris and its controversial production's impact on her life and career. Based on the behind-the-scenes true story of the making of Last Tango in Paris (director Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1972 film originally given the X rating by the MPAA and even banned in...

The Being Maria trailer reveals a new biopic dramatizing the filming of Marlon Brando's most controversial movie. Written and directed by Jessica Palud, the upcoming French film follows actress Maria Schneider's experiences filming the 1972 erotic drama Last Tango in Paris, her subsequent rise to fame, and the impact the controversial production had on her life and career. Being Maria stars Anamaria Vartolomei in the titular role and Matt Dillion as Brando alongside Céleste Brunnquell, Giuseppe Maggio, Yvan Attal, Marie Gillain, and Jonathan Couzinié.

Now, Kino Lorber has released the first official trailer for Being Maria, finding Schneider as a promising young actress who receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to star in a film from an acclaimed Italian director, Bernardo Bertolucci (Giuseppe Maggio), and starring a beloved American actor, Brando. They get along great initially, but everything changes when the two men secretly plan an unscripted sexual assault scene without her consent.

Now, it’s time for late actress Maria Schneider’s story to be fully shared onscreen.

Schneider, who famously starred in controversial “Last Tango in Paris” at age 19 alongside Marlon Brando, is portrayed by “Happening” breakout Anamaria Vartolomei in biopic “Being Maria.” Originally titled “Maria,” the film is adapted from the memoir “My Cousin Maria” by Vanessa Schneider. Molly Ringwald wrote the English translation for the book, which detailed Schneider’s life after filming an exploitative simulated rape scene for “Last Tango in Paris” in 1973. Per the memoir, “Last Tango in Paris” director Bernardo Bertolucci did not tell Schneider the full extent of the film’s plot until right before production.

Matt Dillon portrays Schneider’s “Last Tango in Paris” co-star Brando, with Giuseppe Maggio as Bertolucci. Yvan Attal, Marie Gillain, Stanislas Merhar, Céleste Brunnquell, Jonathan Couzinié, and Alexis Corso co-star. The film, which debuted at Cannes and will make...

A new action thriller has exploded onto Netflixand is finding huge success as audiences flock to stream this tale of a police officer who stumbles upon a conspiracy while investigating the suspicious deaths of two of his colleagues. Combining action and police procedural thrills, Squad 36has shot up the global Netflix top 10, and could be the gritty thriller you’ve been looking for.

Directed by Olivier Marchal and starring Victor Belmondo, Tewfik Jallab, and Yvan Attal, the French mystery action thriller Squad 36 drops audiences in present-day Paris, and centers on a rebellious former elite police officer, Antoine Cerda, who, after two of his former colleagues are killed and a third goes missing, begins his own investigation, discovering a bitter feud withing the police force. Squad 36 is now #2 on the Netflix worldwide chart, just behind another recent action thriller hit, Counterstrike, and you can check out the official synopsis below.

Picture: Netflix

The latest movie from director Olivier Marchal, also creator of the show Blood Coast, stars Victor Belmondo investigating the gruesome murders of two of his former colleagues on his own.

For close to three decades, writer, actor, and director Olivier Marchal has enjoyed a steady career as one of the most in-demand talents for gritty crime dramas and thrillers in France. His newest movie, Squad 36, has been produced by his longtime studio, Gaumont, for Netflix and is his second movie produced directly for streamers, after Overdose, produced for Prime Video in 2022. A former police detective himself, Marchal is also fond of carrying gritty French novels to the screen, this time with the book Flic Requiem by Michel Tourscher. The movie is set in the elite anti-criminal unit Bri, and Marchal dedicates the movie to some of his acquaintances who have worked within the unit. This tale of corruption,...

“Squad 36” is a Netflix film starring Victor Belmondo, Tewfik Jallab, Yvan Attal and directed by Olivier Marchal.

Today marks the arrival of a French thriller that always pleases the audience while not leaving an excessive mark: a police story with a good plot, solid development, and characters with depth.

Directed by Olivier Marchal, “Squad 36” offers a raw and intense look into the world of Parisian law enforcement. Marchal, known for his gritty police thrillers like “Overdose” and “36th Precinct,” is no stranger to exploring the dark intricacies of police work. With “Squad 36,” he adapts Michel Tourscher’s novel “Flic Requiem” to the screen, creating a narrative that delves into the complexities and moral ambiguities of modern policing.

Plot

The story follows Antoine Cerda, a high-ranking police officer played by Victor Belmondo, grandson of the legendary Jean-Paul Belmondo. Cerda is transferred to the Anti-Crime Brigade after being sanctioned by the General Inspection.

Picture: IFC Midnight

The second month of the year is here, and the movie lineup for the month is actually looking strong, albeit less so on the Netflix Original side, with most of the big hitters saved for March onwards. Below, we’ll give our picks of the best new movies coming up throughout the month.

As always, we will split our picks up into two buckets. First, we’ll cover the Netflix Originals we’re most excited about throughout the month. For the most part, these will be arriving on Netflix globally. We’ll only cover two this month, as their lineup is a little underwhelming. We’ll then look into the licensed movies headed specifically to US Netflix, with other regions’ lineups varying.

You can find the complete list of everything coming up on Netflix throughout February 2025 here.

Most Anticipated Netflix Original Movies in February 2025 The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep...

French director Jérôme Salle, known for films including Zulustarring Orlando Bloom,Largo Winch,andAnthony Zimmerstarring Sophie Marceau and Yvan Attal,has launched film and TV production company Syzygy, backed by Paris-based production and distribution powerhouse Federation Studios.

Syzgy’s first project is the English-language thriller seriesOkavango,based on the novel of the same name by Caryl Ferey about wild animal trafficking in South Africa.Ferey also wrote the novel ‘Zulu’ on which Salle’s 2013 film was based.

Salle will produce each project as well as taking on a showrunner or director role where appropriate.

Federation Studios, which has a 51% stake in Syzgy,...

French-Danish actor and director Niels Arestrup, best known to international audiences for playing a Corsican crime boss in Jacques Audiard’s Cannes Grand Prix, Oscar-nominated A Prophet, has died at the age of 75.

His wife, actress and writer Isabelle Le Nouvel, announced the news, saying Arestrup had died on Sunday (December 1) following “a courageous battle against illness” at their home outside of Paris.

Arestrup won best supporting actor César awards for his 2009 A Prophet performance and for playing the petty gangster father in Audiard’s 2005 BAFTA-winning The Beat That My Heart Skipped. He earned a third César award for Bertrand Tavernier...

Mélanie Laurent’s follow-up to last year’s Wingwomen sees the actress-turned-filmmaker going for the Bonnie and Clyde-style caper in Freedom, a true-crime drama inspired by Bruno Sulak. Dubbed “the gentleman robber”, he earned that nickname since he doesn’t resort to violence and killing his victims upon committing a robbery. Played by the charming Lucas Bravo, best known for his role as Gabriel in TV’s Emily in Paris, his character is first seen robbing a grocery store with the help of his friend and accomplice Drago (Steve Tientchier). His girlfriend Annie (Léa Luce Busato) is responsible for driving as she sits and waits in the getaway car.

Here, Laurent opens her movie with a sensual close-up shot of Annie as the camera rotates while focusing on her pouty red lips and beautiful face, showcasing the director’s firm grasp on magnetic visuals. There’s a buoyant energy during the opening robbery scene,...

Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to “Being Maria,” a French movie revolving around the controversial production of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 film “Last Tango in Paris.”

Directed by Jessica Palud, the movie stars “Happening” breakout Anamaria Vartolomei as Maria Schneider and Matt Dillon as Marlon Brando.

“Being Maria” had its world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it was the only female-directed film selected for the Premieres section. It’s now playing at the American French Film Festival at the DGA. where Kino Lorber’s boss Richard Lorber will be receiving an honorary tribute over the weekend.

The movie charts the turbulent life and career of the late French actress Maria Schneider, who was a promising young actress struggling to break into film when she was cast by Bertolucci, then still rising as a face of Italian cinema, to star in “Last Tango in Paris” alongside an American superstar,...

Rather than taking the obvious route with an action-heavy, fictionalized portrait of French thief Bruno Sulak’s criminal misadventures of the late 1970s and early ’80s, filmmaker Mélanie Laurent shrewdly treats “Freedom” as an introspective, tragic romance centered on one man’s purpose and passion. Her creative instincts prove correct, though flawed and not exactly all that unique given the existence of “Heat,” “Thief” and a litany of other titles that traverse similar thematic territory. While she and co-writer Christophe Deslandes hit tonal notes at an efficient pace and introduce fascinating angles connecting the three leads, their spin on true-life events, exploring the psyches behind all involved, barely scratches the surface, leaving its impact severely blunted.

When we first meet rebellious mastermind Bruno, he’s knocking over small-town supermarkets for sport with his getaway-driver girlfriend Annie (Léa Luce Busato) and burly bagman buddy Drago (Steve Tientcheu). They’ve been raking...

This frothy film tells the true-crime story of the so-called polite bandit Bruno Sulak, who goes on a crime spree in 1980s France, but insists his gang never fire their guns

Fast-rising French star Lucas Bravo, best known so far for playing love interest chef Gabriel in the series Emily in Paris, plays polite armed robber Bruno Sulak in this frothy true-crime story. Set largely in a version of the 1980s where everyone avoids wearing the most heinous trends of the time (and instead rock all the chic 80s styles designers have been reviving recently such as huge feather earrings and animal print) the story apparently sticks reasonably close to the historical record as it tracks Sulak’s career.

The handsome bandit specialises at first in robbing les supermarchés in the sticks. His gang includes stalwart wingman Drago (busy character actor Steve Tientcheu) and Bruno’s girlfriend/getaway driver Annie.

Prime Video has announced the lineup of movies and TV shows that will be available on the service in November. The Prime Video November 2024 lineup includes new Amazon original movies, TV shows, and specials. Below, you can also view the titles available on Amazon Freevee.

Members can look forward to Citadel: Honey Bunny, Cross, Cruel Intentions, Dinner Club Season 3, Libre, Look Back, My Old Ass, Wish List Games, and more.

Prime Video Originals

The Prime Video November 2024 programming includes the following Originals.

Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words (2024 – Streaming October 31)

Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words offers unprecedented access to the multi-faceted woman behind the persona. Follow the Houston native’s journey on the road to stardom as she tenaciously navigates fame, grief, pressure, and success.

The documentary unpacks Megan’s most vulnerable moments in a powerful way that allows fans to meet the real Megan Pete.

Libre

Libre (2024 – Streaming...

November 2024 brings an exciting lineup of Prime Video Originals, featuring a diverse range of films and series that cater to various tastes. Kicking off the month is Freedom on November 1, a gripping French thriller inspired by the true story of a notorious gangster, featuring a strong cast led by Lucas Bravo. Following this, on November 7, the Hindi action series Citadel (Honey Bunny), a spin-off of the acclaimed original, delves into the world of international spies with stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Varun Dhawan. The disaster film Every Minute Counts arrives on November 8, chronicling the aftermath of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.

On November 10, the documentary series German Cocaine Cowboy examines the rise of gangster Joe Marx within the Cali cartel. Other highlights include the thriller series Cross on November 14, the action-adventure film Red One on November 15, and the intriguing docu-film Billions Mike on November 17. Comedy fans can look forward to Jeff Dunham...

Actress, now director Mélanie Laurent’s ‘heist romance’ feature “Freedom” (“Libre”), based on a true story, stars Lucas Bravo, streaming November 1, 2024 on Amazon Prime Video:

“…’Bruno Sulak’, is a degenerate con artist who orchestrates heists without firing a single shot.

“The film also charts Sulak’s cat-and-mouse game with ‘George Moréas’ (Yvan Attal), a tenacious police commissioner…

“…as well as his numerous escapes from prison and relationship with lover ‘Annie’, played by Léa Luce Busato…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

The new season of Emily in Paris is out now and you can already get excited for another project from Lucas Bravo!

The 36-year-old French actor is starring in the upcoming thriller movie Freedom, directed by actress Melanie Laurent.

Inspired by the daring exploits of a legendary outlaw in France in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Freedom follows the electrifying story of Bruno Sulak (Bravo), a suave and daring criminal who stole hearts alongside riches. Known for his charm and finesse, Sulak masterminded daring heists without firing a single shot. But as his infamy grew, so did the relentless pursuit of George Moréas (Yvan Attal), a tenacious police commissioner with a knack for outsmarting criminals. As Moréas closes in, Sulak’s escapes from prison become legendary, fuelled by a lust for freedom, and a burning desire for his lover Annie (Léa Luce Busato). Amidst the chaos of their criminal spree,...

Prime Video has released the official trailer and poster for Mélanie Laurent’s new film Freedom (“Libre”), starring Lucas Bravo of Emily in Paris. The film will begin streaming globally on November 1.

Inspired by the daring exploits of a legendary outlaw in France in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Freedom follows the electrifying story of Bruno Sulak (Lucas Bravo), a suave and daring criminal who stole hearts alongside riches. Known for his charm and finesse, Sulak masterminded daring heists without firing a single shot.

But as his infamy grew, so did the relentless pursuit of George Moréas, a tenacious police commissioner with a knack for outsmarting criminals. As Moréas closes in, Sulak’s escapes from prison become legendary, fuelled by a lust for freedom, and a burning desire for his lover Annie (Léa Luce Busato).

Amidst the chaos of their criminal spree, Sulak and Annie become the ultimate symbols...

On the same day it was announced that Emily in Paris would return for Season 5, the next project for one of the show's biggest stars just got an exciting new look. Prime Video has officially unveiled the first trailer for Freedom, the upcoming action thriller which is set to premiere on November 1. The film will star Lucas Bravo, Yvan Attal, Rgis Fortino, and La Luce Basato. Bravo is best known for playing Gabriel in the hit Netflix show Emily in Paris but has also portrayed Paul in Ticket to Paradise, the 2022 romantic comedy starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Attal is an actor/writer who most recently wrote the screenplay for The Accusation, and he also starred alongside Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, and recent Emmy-winner Hiroyuki Sanada in Rush Hour 3.

Lucas Bravo is bringing one of France’s most iconic criminals to life in Mélanie Laurent’s “Freedom.”

The Amazon Prime Video feature is inspired by true story of Bruno Sulak, who infamously masterminded jewelry-store heists — sans guns — in the 1970s and early 1980s. Bravo portrays Sulak in the biopic.

Here’s more, straight from the film’s official synopsis: “Known for his charm and finesse, Sulak masterminded daring heists without firing a single shot. But as his infamy grew, so did the relentless pursuit of George Moréas (Yvan Attal), a tenacious police commissioner with a knack for outsmarting criminals. As Moréas closes in, Sulak’s escapes from prison become legendary, fueled by a lust for freedom, and a burning desire for his lover Annie (Léa Luce Busato). Amidst the chaos of their criminal spree, Sulak and Annie become the ultimate symbols of defiance in the most exhilarating game of...

Actress Anouk Aimée, the sophisticated French beauty who graced the films of Federico Fellini, Jacques Demy, Sidney Lumet, Bernardo Bertolucci and Claude Lelouch, has died. She was 92.

Aimee’s daughter said in an Instagram post on Tuesday that the star died at her home in Paris without providing further details.

Perhaps best known for her role opposite Jean-Louis Trintignant in Lelouch’s A Man and a Woman (1966) — for which she received an Oscar nomination for best actress and won a Golden Globe — Aimée also starred in such art house standouts as Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) and 8 1/2 (1963), Demy’s Lola (1961), Jacques Becker’s Montparnasse 19 (1958) and Bertolucci’s Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981).

Her career kicked off in the late 1940s and lasted all the way through a reunion with Trintignant in The Best Years (Les Plus belles annees), Lelouch’s 2019 epilogue to A Man and a Woman.

With more than 80 feature credits,...

The French box office bounced back in May after an April plunge to reach 15.6 million admissions, up 13.5% from the same month last year.

Ticket sales year on year from January through May are down by 11.6% compared to the same period in 2023 after a slow start to the year and admissions to French cinemas falling by 35.5% in what was an abysmal April.

However, the June-May total of 171 million admissions is equal to the same period year on year. More was merrier for a month when 74 new films were released compared to 63 in 2023.

The renewed May momentum was mostly due to local-language phenomenon A Little Something Extra,...

Read all of Deadline’s Cannes Film Festival reviews below, including Palme d’Or winner Anora.

The New York-set romantic dramedy charts the story of a stripper from Brooklyn who transforms into a modern Cinderella when she meets the son of a Russian oligarch.

The film, playing in the official Competition three years after Baker’s success in Cannes with the Simon Rex-starring Red Rocket, scored a 10-minute ovation earlier this week. It was one of a number of critically praised films this edition. Check out all our reviews below.

All We Imagine as Light ‘All We Imagine as Light’

Section: Competition

Director: Payal Kapadia

Cast: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya KAdam, Hridhu Haroon

Deadline’s takeaway: And at a time when so much attention is being paid to the lives of the haves and the have-nots amid such financial imbalance worldwide, it’s refreshing to see the spotlight...

“Being Maria” is a flawed but fascinating look at the turbulent life of actor Maria Schneider, played by a game Anamaria Vartolomei (“Happening”). It limns her rebellious teen years, her big breakthrough at 19 in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris,” and how her trauma on set and the film’s notoriety impacted her subsequent career and mental health. Helmer Jessica Palud (“Back Home”) and co-scripter Laurette Polmanss loosely adapt a memoir by Schneider’s younger cousin to show events through the star’s eyes. Despite a clunky air of earnestness and some soap opera-like scenes, plus the overly familiar arc of a celebrity spiraling out of control, the film resonates because the central topic is so of the moment. It’s a cautionary tale about a naïve and powerless young talent abused in the name of art, as well as the agonizing aftermath of her maltreatment.

The narrative depicts...

When New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael wrote a long and heated rave of Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris after its premiere in 1972, she stated, among other things, that “this is a movie people will be arguing about for as long as there are movies.”

Kael may have been overdoing it when she stressed Last Tango‘s monumental importance, claiming it was a “movie breakthrough” and that it “altered the face of the art form.” But in terms of people arguing years later about the film’s legacy, she was spot-on.

Case in point: Being Maria, a new biopic of tormented French actress Maria Schneider, who at age 19 starred opposite Marlon Brando in the Bertolucci movie — a feat that launched her career as a promising new international actress while destroying her life at the same time.

The reasons for this are well known, and resurfaced over the past...

Rolling off their partnership on Studiocanal’s “‘Mayhem!” (“Farang”) and Netflix hit movie “Watch Under Paris,” popular genre filmmaker Xavier Gens (“Gangs of London”) is joining forces with Vincent Roget and Eric Lavaine’s banner Sameplayer to launch a new production company.

Named Good Players, the Paris-based company will aim at developing and producing action, thriller, aventure, fantasy and horror movies that have an international appeal. The inaugural slate of projects includes “Les Opposums,” directed by Eva Munoz (“Hannya”); “Drive” by Abel Danan; “C’est pas nous les diables” by Meryl Estragnat (“Promenons-nous”), and “Ferris Wheel” by Julien Hosmalin (“Magic World”). These projects will enter production between this year’s second half and end of 2025.

Gens, who is based in Paris, is also currently developing with Netflix “Malin Fors,” a gritty series based on Mons Kallentoft’s Scandinavian novels. Gens, who will produce via Good Players and direct, said the...

Matt Dillon is taking on the legacy of Marlon Brando for a biopic about the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s controversial “Last Tango in Paris.”

Dillon portrays Brando alongside Anamaria Vartolomei as Maria Schneider for Jessica Palud’s upcoming “Maria,” which is set to debut at Cannes later this week in the Cannes Premiere section. “Maria” follows Schneider’s life after starring in “Last Tango in Paris” at age 19, during which she filmed an unsimulated rape scene with Brando in 1973 at director Bertolucci’s (Giuseppe Maggio) instruction. The film is based on Vanessa Schneider’s 2018 memoir “My Cousin Maria Schneider,” which was translated by Molly Ringwald.

Per the memoir, Bertolucci did not tell Schneider the full extent of the film’s plot until right before production. Schneider allegedly was unaware of the pivotal scene in which Brando’s character anally rapes her character using a stick of butter as lubricant.

French director Olivier Marchal has begun filming new police thriller Bastion 36 for Netflix, which is billed as a contemporary cop drama adapted from Michel Tourscher’s novel Flic Requiem.

Set in Paris, the movie revolves around Antoine Cerda, a senior police officer with the prestigious Investigation and Intervention Brigade, who is transferred to the Anti-Crime Brigade after being sanctioned by the General Inspectorate of the French National Police. The move sees him turn his back on his former comrades and unit, led by the charismatic Sami Belkaïm.

When two officers from his old squad are killed in less than 24 hours and a third goes missing in mysterious circumstances, Cerda embarks on his own investigation. His inquiries will reveal an intense police rivalry and take him on a terrible downward spiral.

The movie is not a sequel but takes the director back to the world of Marchal’s 2004 police thriller Precinct...

French actor Guillaume Canet is starring, writing and producing the new Netflix thriller Ad Vitam.

Rodolphe Lauga (It’s Complicated) is directing the action film, which has begun shooting in Paris. Netflix will release the movie worldwide next year.

Canet plays Franck Lazareff who, after surviving an attempt on his life, finds his wife has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of armed men. Trying to rescue her, Frank finds his past catching up with him. Stéphane Caillard, Nassim Lyes, Zita Hanrot and Alexis Manenti co-star.

Canet and Lauga co-wrote the script to Ad Vitam in association with David Corona and Canet is producing, together with Jean Cottin for the Cabanes shingle.

Canet recently directed himself as Gallic comic book hero Asterix in the live-action feature Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and appeared in the French thriller Breaking Point. from director Yvan Attal. The multi-hyphenate has directed several films, including...

Exclusive: French detective Inspector Adamsberg has returned for another case, and France TV Distribution is opening his latest murder file at MIPTV.

Yvan Attal plays the detective, known in Fred Vargas’ novels as Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, in the two-part special Beyond the Grave: A New Adamsberg’s Case. France Télévisions’ sales arm is launching the title in Cannes.

Adapted by Emmanuel Carrère and based on Vargas’ novel Sur la Dalle, the series also stars Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Sylvie Testud, Virginie Ledoyen, Olivier De Benoist, Micha Lescot and Eric Caravaca. The book was the second best-selling new novel in France last year.

France 2 is the broadcaster, Passion Films the producer and Josée Dayan is the director. Delivery is expected in Q3 of this year.

In the series, Inspector Adamsberg investigates a murder in a village in Brittany. The main suspect is a local figure, a descendant of the famous writer Chateaubriand.

Streaming in Europe on Netflix, “Bardot" is a 6-episode, France-produced drama TV series, created, directed by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, starring Julia de Nunez as the iconic film actress:

"...the series follows the career of French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot, from her first casting as a teenager...

"...to the filming of Henri-Georges Clouzot's feature "La Vérité"..."

Cast also includes Victor Belmondo as 'Roger Vadim', Jules Benchetrit as 'Sami Frey'...

...Géraldine Pailhas as 'Anne-Marie Mucel'...

...Hippolyte Girardot as 'Louis Bardot', Yvan Attal as 'Raoul Lévy'......

...... Anne Le Ny as 'Olga Horstig', Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as 'Henri-Georges Clouzot'...

...Laurent Stocker as 'Pierre Lazareff'...

...Oscar Lesage as 'Jacques Charrier', Noham Edje as 'Jean-Louis Trintignant'...

...Fabian Wolfrom as 'Sacha Distel' and Mikaël Mittelstadt as 'Gilbert Bécaud'.

Click the images to enlarge...

Brothers, starring Matthieu Kassovitz and Yvan Attal, as siblings who were survived for several years alone in the wilderness when they were abandoned by their mother as young children, has been picked up by France’s Ginger & Fed and is being launched at the EFM.

Directed by Olivier Casas, the film is based on a true story by Casas and Michel Lafregeyre, one of the real-life brothers. Casas penned the script in collaboration with well-known French novelist and screenwriter Olivier Adam. It is Casas’ second feature following comedy drama Baby Phone.

Brothers is produced by Quad Films with Traveling Angel,...

The film is directed by five rising female directors.

Six rising female directors from around the world have joined forces for the animation anthology Animal Tales Of Christmas Magic which is being launched by The Bureau Sales at this week’s Rendez -Vous With French Cinema in Paris this week.

Caroline Attia, Ceylan Beyoglu, Olesya Shchukina, Haruna Kishi, Camille Almeras and Natalia Chernysheva have used uses poetry and humour to tell five Christmas stories that take place across the globe from Japan to the Far North and the Northern Lights.

The stories are all told in 2D digital animation, and...

Snd will kick off sales for marriage thriller at Rendez-Vous in Paris.

Snd has taken on international sales for Anne Le Ny’s psychological thriller Out Of Control (Histoire d’Un Mariage) starring Vanessa Paradis, Omar Sy, José Garcia and Elodie Bouchez, ahead of Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

Set in Brittany, the story follows a couple whose marriage is threatened when the husband’s first love returns to town.

It is produced by Bruno Levy’s Move Movie, with Snd releasing in France later this year. Snd is the film arm of France’s M6 Group.

“[Out Of Control] is a...

French President Emmanuel Macron made history on Tuesday as he appointed 34-year-old politician Gabriel Attal as France’s youngest ever prime minister.

Macron has a complex relationship with France’s cinema industry, where his pension reforms, attitude to cultural funding and support of Gérard Depardieu have come under fire from some quarters, but his new prime minister comes with interesting film world connections.

The new rising star of French politics is the son of late lawyer and film producer Yves Attal, who took credits on Pedro Almodóvar’s High Heels, Roberto Benigni’s The Monster and Bernardo Bertolucci’s Stealing Beauty.

Attal’s mother Marie de Couriss also worked in a production company.

As a teenager, Attal had a small role in Christophe Honoré’s 2008 drama The Beautiful Person co-starring Louis Garrel and Léa Seydoux.

But Attal chose not to follow in his parents’ footsteps.

After private schooling at Paris’s prestigious École Alsacienne,...

Some 600 French art and entertainment world figures have signed a “counter-petition” decrying moves to defend iconic actor Gérard Depardieu in the face of multiple accusations of sexual assault and one of rape.

The petition described a recent open letter in support of Depardieu, signed by 56 cinema world celebrities, and French President Emmanuel Macron’s public defense of the actor on a talkshow before Christmas as a slap in the face for all victims of sexual violence.

“It is the sinister and perfect illustration of the world which refuses to let things change,” read the letter posted on the site of investigative news website Mediapart on Friday.

“It is the reversal of roles where the executioner places himself as a victim, with the help of his friends. As always in cases of gender-based and sexual violence against women, the ‘presumption...

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s strand in which, each fortnight, we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

This week we head to the Venice Film Festival to check out French director Xavier Giannoli’s international crime thriller Of Money and Blood, which world premiered in its official selection on August 31 to a buzzy reception.

Name: Of Money and Blood

Country: France

Network: Canal+

Distributor: Studiocanal

Where can I watch: Canal+ in France from October

For fans of: Michael Mann’s The Insider, Martin Scorsese’s Wall Street, Oliver Stone’s JFK, Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic

French writer-director Xavier...

As a female union rep in the oppressively male-dominated French nuclear industry, Maureen Kearney — the real-life heroine of Jean-Paul Salomé’s “La Syndicaliste” (“The Sitting Duck” in the U.K.) — is accustomed to keeping a cool head in a crisis. That doesn’t stop her male superiors from accusing her of the opposite, with then-President Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly branding her a “hysteric in a skirt”: In this men’s club, a woman’s mere presence is deemed her weakness. Yet when Kearney is raped and mutilated by unknown assailants, seemingly as a professional warning, it’s her lack of hysteria under the circumstances that is declared suspicious by men in power. As she’s first disbelieved, then charged without outright fabrication, Salomé’s film pivots from itchy whistleblower thriller to irate courtroom drama, with institutional misogyny as its binding thread.

A rape survivor criticized for her composure: sounds like an assignment for Isabelle Huppert,...

"Bardot" is the new 6-episode, live-action, France-produced drama TV series, created, directed by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, starring Julia de Nunez, airing in 2023 on France 2:

"...the series follows the career of French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot, from her first casting as a teenager...

"...to the filming of Henri-Georges Clouzot's feature "La Vérité"..."

Cast also includes Victor Belmondo as 'Roger Vadim', Jules Benchetrit as 'Sami Frey'...

...Géraldine Pailhas as 'Anne-Marie Mucel'...

...Hippolyte Girardot as 'Louis Bardot', Yvan Attal as 'Raoul Lévy'...... 

...... Anne Le Ny as 'Olga Horstig', Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as 'Henri-Georges Clouzot'...

...Laurent Stocker as 'Pierre Lazareff'...

...Oscar Lesage as 'Jacques Charrier', Noham Edje as 'Jean-Louis Trintignant'...

...Fabian Wolfrom as 'Sacha Distel' and Mikaël Mittelstadt as 'Gilbert Bécaud'.

Click the images to enlarge...

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Modern Films has shared an exclusive look at the trailer for the political thriller ‘La Syndicaliste.’

Based on the true story of Maureen Kearney, a trade union organiser in the French nuclear industry who became both a victim and suspect in a shocking scandal. Starring Isabelle Huppert in an electrifying performance as Kearney.

Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert) was the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. She became a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. Alone against the world, she fought government ministers and industry leaders tooth and nail to bring the scandal to light and to defend more than 50,000 jobs. Her life was turned upside down when she was

violently assaulted in her own home. The investigation was carried out under pressure: the subject was sensitive. Suddenly, new elements created doubt in the minds of the investigators, and at first a victim, Maureen became a suspect.

"Bardot" is the new 6-episode, live-action, France-produced drama TV series, created, directed by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, starring Julia de Nunez, airing in 2023 on France 2:

"...the series follows the career of French cinema actress Brigitte Bardot, from her first casting as a teenager...

"...to the filming of Henri-Georges Clouzot's feature "La Vérité"..."

Cast also includes Victor Belmondo as 'Roger Vadim', Jules Benchetrit as 'Sami Frey'...

...Géraldine Pailhas as 'Anne-Marie Mucel'...

...Hippolyte Girardot as 'Louis Bardot', Yvan Attal as 'Raoul Lévy'...... 

...... Anne Le Ny as 'Olga Horstig', Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as 'Henri-Georges Clouzot'...

...Laurent Stocker as 'Pierre Lazareff'...

...Oscar Lesage as 'Jacques Charrier', Noham Edje as 'Jean-Louis Trintignant'...

...Fabian Wolfrom as 'Sacha Distel' and Mikaël Mittelstadt as 'Gilbert Bécaud'.

Click the images to enlarge...

While she retired prematurely at the age of 39, Brigitte Bardot has left an indelible mark on France’s popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s. With her wild blonde mane, smoky eyes and pouty lips, Bardot became a symbol of a modern, effortlessly sexy French woman and a style emblem that continues to inspire current trends.

The event series “Bardot,” which is penned and directed by Daniele Thompson (“The Queen Margot”) and Christopher Thompson (“La bûche”), world premiered at Series Mania Festival to unanimous praise and has been pre-sold by Federation nearly worldwide.

“‘Bardot’ is like the French ‘The Crown’ because Bardot embodied France, and through her journey we reminisce about many parts of France’s history and popular culture in the 1950s and 1960s,” Federation’s boss and “Bardot” producer Pascal Breton told Variety. “That era is a historical moment where everything changes, where we go from black and white to color,...

The wedding comedy stars Christian Clavier and Sylvie Testud.

Snd has found distribution matches across the globe for Julien Hervé’s wedding comedy Ooh La La!, signing deals in several territories as the title gets its market premiere at EFM.

The feature film arm of France’s M6 broadcasting group has sold the film to Sphere in Canada, to Weltkino for Germany and Austria, to Kinoswiat in Poland, Vertigo in Hungary, Blitz for the Balkans, All Media for Cis and SKeye for in-flight entertainment. The sales follow Snd’s previous deals to Belga in Benelux, Tri Pictures in Spain, Nos...

Film is about the impact of police misconduct on a Parisian family.

Bac Films and Wild Bunch International are kicking off sales on Mehdi Fikri’s hot market title After the Fire at the European Film Market.

The film is Fikri’s first feature following his short Descente screened in Horizons at Venice in 2021.

The incendiary drama about police violence features a starry cast including French talents Camelia Jordana, who won the Cesar for best newcomer for her role in Yvan Attal’s Le Brio, and Sofiane Zermani, who stars in Netflix’s French-language film No Limit. They star alongside Sofian Khammes,...

Yvan Attal, the popular French actor-turned-director, has directed “Breaking Point,” a seductive thriller in which he will star opposite Guillaume Canet, Marie-Josée Croze, Maïwenn and Alma Jodorowsky.

Snd, the film arm of French commercial network M6 Group, has landed French distribution rights and worldwide sales to the film. The company will introduce the project to buyers at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, which kicks off Jan. 10.

Currently in post-production, “Breaking Point” is produced by Curiosa Films, the well-established banner behind Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon” and Xavier Gianolli’s “Lost Illusions,” with the outfit Films Sous Influence.

The movie revolves around two best friends, Vincent and Mathieu, who lead very different lives. Vincent is constantly having affairs that Mathieu, a convenient alibi, is always there to cover up. Mathieu, a rather loyal husband who leads a tranquil life with his wife, feels obligated to protect Vincent because he saved his life years ago.

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...

Alpine event runs December 10-17.

The in-person 14th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival returns to the French Alps from December 10-17 to celebrate European Cinema and present eight films in Official Competition as well as the industry programme.

Official Competition selections vying for the Crystal Arrow award include David Wagner’s Eismayer from Austria (Loco Films handles sales), Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska’s co-production The Happiest Man In The World (distributed by Pyramide Films), and Fulvio Risuleo’s Ghost Night from Italy (Vision Distribution), and Leonor Serraille’s French title Un Petit Frère (Diaphana Distribution).

Rounding out the...

Charlotte Gainsbourg revealed the lasting impact of working with Danish director Lars von Trier at a Masterclass at the Zurich Film Festival this week, where she also received its honorary Golden Eye career award.

From 2009 to 2013, the British-French actress shot three films with the director – Antichrist, Melancholia and the two-part Nymphomaniac – and at the time was sometimes referred to as his muse.

Gainsbourg said the period she spent working with von Trier, who has recently announced he is taking a break from directing following his diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease, was a milestone in her career.

“For Me, There Is A Before Lars, And An After Lars,” she said. “He taught me so much and different things with each film.”

“You have such freedom with him,” she continued. “You get into a scene, you know your lines and then he just says, ‘Well, that was just crap… What I wrote was crap,...