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France’s #MeToo movement is back in the spotlight today (March 24) as actor Gerard Depardieu is expected at a Paris criminal court to face charges of sexual assault on a film set.

The now 76-year-old French actor is being tried for the sexual assault of two women – an assistant director and a set designer – during the 2021 film shoot for Jean Becker’s The Green Shutters (Les Volets Verts) released in 2022 that co-stars Anouk Grinberg and Fanny Ardant.

If he is found guilty, he could face five years in prison and a €75,000 fine. He is also facing other charges in separate cases.

“They were always trying to minimize the work of writing and how important it was,” Fanny Herrero said this morning during a keynote at the Goteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision sidebar.

The perpetrators she had been describing — whom she spent much of this morning’s session politely criticizing — were the producers of the hit French comedy Call My Agent!. Herrero was a writer and showrunner on the comedy before leaving after season 3, for what she described as the constant tussle between her position as lead writer and the show’s producers who she said favored the authority of series directors during production.

“Having to fight all the time to be recognized and have the money that goes with it. In the end, the conflict was too fierce, so I said bye,” Herrero said.

“I wanted them to realize how much work I did and how important it was.

The Unifrance Rendez-Vous is a moment to sample the best of what’s to come from the French TV sector as 60 distributors launch the shows they hope will become the next international Gallic hit. This year, 200 international buyers from 40 countries are expected in Le Havre. With 700 programs available to screen, even the most diligent buyer can’t see everything, so Deadline selected five projects that will be in the spotlight in Le Havre.

The roster spans a new outing for a much-loved masked crime-fighter, an animated art series, offbeat procedurals and a slice of Parisien high life.

From The Producers Of Call My Agent, Ça c’est Paris Takes The Stage

Federation arrives in Le Havre with Ça c’est Paris, a show it has coproduced with Michel Feller and Dominique Besnehard’s Mon Voisin, which made the original Call My Agent.

The series follows Tout-Paris, a fictional cabaret renowned for...

It’s little wonder why French president Emmanuel Macron was visibly moved as he inducted Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton into France’s Legion of Honor last October, calling the exec “the ultimate French success story.”

In a country rarely known to promote social mobility, Capton-esque career trajectories are scarce. A self-made entrepreneur born into a middle-class Normandy family, Capton began his professional life as a teen with an entry-level internship, eschewing elite universities, making the exec a rare bird among France’s top media execs. For all that, Capton remains more humble than flamboyant, letting his track record speak for itself.

In 2015, he co-founded Mediawan with investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and telecom billionaire Xavier Niel, and since then the group has traversed a tumultuous period marked by a pandemic, strikes and economic recessions by growing stronger.

France’s president Emmanuel Macron and Pierre-Antoine Capton.

Following its recent acquisition of German...

Pierre-Antoine Capton, the co-founder and CEO of Mediawan, was named Knight of the Legion of Honor by French President Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony held at the Elysée Palace in Paris.

Capton was honored alongside other French figures who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s cultural landscape, including the filmmaker Costa Gavras, actor and novelist Marlène Jobert, contemporary artist Jean-Michel Othoniel, historian Pierre Nora, choreographer Claude Bessy, journalist Jean-Claude Narcy and conductor Jean-Claude Casadesus.

A former indie TV producer who rose through the ranks, Capton co-founded Mediawan with telco billionaire Xavier Niel and financier Matthieu Pigasse in 2015 and has turned it into an international powerhouse with a raft of strategic acquisitions, including France’s Ab Productions, the U.K.’s Drama Republic, Italy’s Palomar and Brad Pitt’s Plan B. The company, which is backed by Kkr and recently signed a €100m TV development deal with Entourage Ventures,...

Cannes may get all the attention, but France’s summer film festivals are essential launchpads for local features ready to hit the international market. Here are the ones to look out for.

In August of 2011, a little French film about the bond between a wealthy quadriplegic and his fun-loving caretaker premiered at a festival in a small Southwestern town in France.

Now in its 16th edition, The Angouleme Francophone Film Festival was the first stop for global sensation The Intouchables, which went on to gross more than $445m at the box office worldwide and even get its own US remake...

Series is a spin-off from auteur’s film trilogy of ’Pot Luck’, ’Russian Dolls’ and ’Chinese Puzzle’.

“It would have been impossible to imagine 20 years ago,” says acclaimed French writer-director Cedric Klapisch of showrunning a TV series based on his feature trilogy that began with Pot Luck in 2002, and was followed by Russian Dolls in 2005 and Chinese Puzzle in 2013.

“When I made Pot Luck I never thought I’d make a sequel,” he says. “I never imagined it would become the work of a lifetime.”

Greek Salad is an eight-episode spin-off produced by Klapisch and Bruno Levy’s Ce Qui Me Meut for Amazon France.

Series is a spin-off from auteur’s film trilogy of ’Pot Luck’, ’Russian Dolls’ and ’Chinese Puzzle.’

”It would have been impossible to imagine 20 years ago,” says acclaimed French writer-director Cedric Klapisch of showrunning a TV series based on his feature trilogy that began with Pot Luck in 2002, and was followed by Russian Dolls in 2005 and Chinese Puzzle in 2013.

“When I made Pot Luck I never thought I’d make a sequel,” he says. “I never imagined it would become the work of a lifetime.”

Greek Salad is an eight-episode spin-off produced by Klapisch and Bruno Levy’s Ce Qui Me Meut for Amazon France.

The sun is shining, the stars have made their way down the red carpet and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ (BAFTA) Television Awards is underway at the Royal Festival Hall in London, U.K.

The event – the first time it has taken place in person in three years due to the Covid pandemic – is being hosted by comedian and director Richard Ayoade (“The It Crowd”).

Among those nominated for a gong tonight are songstress “An Audience With Adele,” for best entertainment program, Rose Matafeo is nominated for best female performance in a comedy for “Starstruck” while Olly Alexander is nominated for leading actor for “It’s A Sin.”

Meanwhile the contenders for best international series will be one of the most fraught with some of the past year’s most talked-about series – including “Call My Agent,” “Mare of Easttown,” “Squid Games” and “Succession – up for an award.

Ncuti Gatwa...

‘Landscapers’ earned seven nominations, whilst Help and ’Time’ received six.

Russel T Davies’ It’s A Sin leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards.

The drama, produced by Red Production Company for UK broadcaster Channel 4, earned 11 nominations, including mini-series, leading actor for Olly Alexander, actress for Lydia West, director: fiction for Peter Hoar, writer: drama for Davies and three supporting actor nods for Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas.

Drama Landscapers, produced by Sister for Sky Atlantic, earned seven nominations including mini-series and leading actor for David Thewlis.

Jack Thorne’s...

‘Landscapers’ earned seven nominations, whilst Help and ’Time’ received six.

Russel T Davies’ It’s A Sin leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards.

The drama, produced by Red Production Company for UK broadcaster Channel 4, earned 11 nominations, including mini-series, leading actor for Olly Alexander, actress for Lydia West, director: fiction for Peter Hoar, writer: drama for Davies and three supporting actor nods for Callum Scott Howells, David Carlyle and Omari Douglas.

Drama Landscapers, produced by Sister for Sky Atlantic, earned seven nominations including mini-series and leading actor for David Thewlis.

Jack Thorne’s...

Fanny Herrero, the showrunner of hit French comedy-drama Call My Agent!, discussed the genesis of the show’s success during a panel at the Series Mania festival today.

Herrero detailed how the series, which is returning for a fifth season and a movie as well as spawning several remakes in other languages, started life in development hell.

Agent-turned producer Dominique Besnehard first began mounting the series at Canal Plus, but it didn’t progress after a few years because “it was too complicated,” according to Herrero.

“It was almost dead,” she added.

Herrero was enlisted when the show was re-developed for a public TV channel, and eventually took over as the main writer after the original team ran into further challenges. “The main difficulty was to find a way to get this small-world subject [being an agent] to be universal and not too cynical… they were worried it would not be broad enough to interest people,...

With a number of remakes and a movie in the pipeline, “Call My Agent!,” the International Emmy Award-winning series set at a Parisian talent agency, has become one of the most powerful television shows to emerge from France.

The series’ producers, Mediawan-owned Mon Voisin Productions and Mother Production, are co-producing the highly anticipated U.K. remake with Headline Pictures and Bron Studios (“Joker”) for Amazon Prime Video and Sundance Now.

The producers are also in the process of developing a 90-minute film with Nicolas Mercier, one of the two showrunners behind “Call My Agent!” (Mercier took over as showrunner from Fanny Herrero.)

“It will open with Andrea [Camille Cottin] in New York and will then move to France — we will give an American point of view on filming in France and it promises to be quite colorful,” says Michel Feller at Mon Voisin Productions.

The TV movie is being co-developed by France Televisions.

“Call My Agent!,” the hit French show set at a Parisian talent agency, is set for a number of international adaptations with remakes in the works at top streamers and broadcasters in South Korea, Indonesia, the Middle East, Philippines, Malaysia and Poland.

Co-represented by France Televisions Distribution and Newen Connect’s TF1 Studio, the show was previously adapted in India, Canada and Turkey. A U.K. remake with BAFTA award winner John Morton as head writer and director of the first two episodes will soon launch on Amazon U.K. and Sundance Now in the U.S. In Italy, the remake is being produced by Mediawan-owned Palomar for Sky with German filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel on board.

In The Philippines, the show is being adapted by Erik Matti, the critically acclaimed director of “On The Job,” who will serve as director and showrunner. Dondon Monteverde is executive producer. The writing...

The French comedy Call My Agent and Israeli drama Tehran took the top prizes at the 49th annual International Emmys, which here handed out Monday night during an in-person ceremony in New York. See the full list of winners below.

The UK boasts both top acting honors David Tennant for crime thriller Des and Hayley Squires for porn drama Adult Material — as well as winning the Non-Scripted Entertainment prize for The Masked Singer.

Norway’s Atlantic Crossing went home with the Emmy for TV Movie/Miniseries, and Thailand’s Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice won for Documentary. It was the country’s first International Emmy.

“We are delighted to be able to gather the global television community, in-person again, in New York to celebrate the world’s best television.” said International Academy President & CEO Bruce Paisner. “The diversity and geographic spread of tonight’s winners demonstrate once again...

AMC Networks’ Sundance Now has garnered U.S. premiere rights to the British remake of original French comedy series “Call My Agent!”

BAFTA award winner John Morton is head writer, and directs the first two episodes of the series. Series regulars include recently added Chelsey Crisp, as well as stars Prasanna Puwanarajah, Maggie Steed, Jack Davenport, Lydia Leonard and Jim Broadbent. “Call My Agent!” will premiere on Sundance Now in the U.S. in 2022 after its U.K. world premiere on Amazon.

As in the French version of the show, well-known actors will play themselves. In the British remake of “Call My Agent!,” Dominic West, Phoebe Dynevor, Jessica Oyelowo and David Oyelowo will appear, with previously announced appearances by Kelly Macdonald, Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams.

The original “Call My Agent!” follows the staff of a Parisian talent agency trying to keep their clients calm after the sudden death...

The UK remake of buzzy French comedy Call My Agent! will air on Sundance Now after the AMC Networks streaming service acquired the U.S. rights.

This comes after Amazon picked up the UK rights to the series, which comes from W1A’s John Morton, Bron Studios and Headline Pictures.

Joining the cast as a series regular is Fresh Off The Boat’s Chelsey Crisp. Crisp, who plays Honey in the ABC comedy, joins Jack Davenport, Lydia Leonard, Maggie Steed, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Hiftu Quasem, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Rebecca Humphries, Harry Trevaldwyn, Tim McInnerny, Natasha Little, Edward Bluemel, Eleonore Arnaud and Jim Broadbent in the series.

Dominic West, Phoebe Dynevor, Jessica Oyelowo and David Oyelowo will also be appearing in cameo roles alongside Kelly Macdonald, Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams.

It will premiere on Sundance Now in the U.S. in 2022, shortly after its UK premiere.

The adaptation will retain...

Although she broke out playing the tough-skinned Andréa in the French show “Call My Agent!,” Camille Cottin comes off as gentle, bubbly and down to earth in real life. The hard-working Cottin didn’t shoot to fame; she became one of France’s hottest actors in her late 30s, after appearing in numerous stage plays, shorts and TV series over more than 15 years. Now, she is navigating between big American movies and French cinema with Tom McCarthy’s “Stillwater,” which bows at Cannes, and Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” lined up for later this year, as well as Rachel Lang’s war drama “Our Men,” the closing film of Directors’ Fortnight.

What was your reaction when you read the script of “Stillwater” and what did you think of the character you played?

I read it in one go, and it was a very nice feeling because I got completely pulled in.

Slate also includes new films from Michel Hazanavicius and Pierre Salvadori.

Wild Bunch International (Wbi) has unveiled one of its biggest Cannes slates to date as it gears up for its first trip to the Croisette in two years.

As well as 10 Cannes selections (as of June 15), it also features upcoming projects from Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and fellow Cannes laureate Arnaud Desplechin, and the portmanteau work Shining Sex, combining the talents of Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Sion Sono, directorial duo Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani, Bertrand Mandico and Kleber Mendonça Filho.

Now in pre-production, the Dardenne’sTori...

Slate also includes new films from Michel Hazanavicius and Pierre Salvadori.

Wild Bunch International (Wbi) has unveiled one of its biggest Cannes slates to date as it gears up for its first trip to the Croisette in two years.

As well as 10 Cannes selections (as of June 15), it also features upcoming projects from Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and fellow Cannes laureate Arnaud Desplechin, and the portmanteau work Shining Sex, combining the talents of Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Sion Sono, directorial duo Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani, Bertrand Mandico and Kleber Mendonça Filho.

Now in pre-production, the Dardenne’sTori...

Amazon Prime Video has locked UK and Ireland rights to the forthcoming British remake of hit French series Call My Agent!

As Deadline revealed John Morton (W1A) is writing and directing the first two episodes and executive producing the series, which will star Jack Davenport, Lydia Leonard, Maggie Steed Prasanna Puwanarajah, Jim Broadbent, and more.

Today, Kelly Macdonald, Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams have been confirmed as joining the cast for cameo appearances. Filming is now underway in London.

The original series, which was broadcast on French network France 2 and found global success on Netflix, chronicled how a Parisian talent agency’s employees must scramble to keep their star clients happy and their business afloat after the sudden death of their founder. The remake’s Anglicisations will include a greater focus on Transatlantic industry relationships, and include nods to Brit obsessions such as the class system.

“It’s...

Exclusive: In recent weeks, intrigue has been building in the UK industry about the local remake of French hit Call My Agent! (Dix Pour Cent in France), but cast and plot details have been a tightly guarded secret.

Today, four days before the series gets underway in central London, we can reveal key intel about the Bron Studios and Headline Pictures adaptation, which heralds from BAFTA-winner John Morton (W1A).

Starring will be Tony-nominated actress Lydia Leonard (Absentia) as Rebecca, in a role loosely based on Camille Cottin’s character Andréa Martel; Jack Davenport (Pirates Of The Caribbean) will play Jonathan, in a role loosely based on character Mathias Barneville; Maggie Steed (Chewing Gum) will be Stella; Prasanna Puwanarajah (Patrick Melrose) plays Dan; and newcomers Harry Trevaldwyn (The King) will be Ollie and Hiftu Quasem (Killing Eve) will play Misha.

Also starring will be Fola Evans-Akingbola (Siren), Rebecca Humphries (Trigonometry...

"I'm bored with people my age." KimStim Films has debuted an official US trailer for this French coming-of-age romance titled Spring Blossom, aka Seize Printemps in French, which was originally supposed to premiere at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Instead it premiered at the TIFF, San Sebastián, Athens, and Moscow Film Festivals. We posted a trailer last summer, but it was removed by the distributors. Suzanne Lindon directs and stars in this film as a 16-year-old girl who is bored with her own age group, unable to connect with those around her. She becomes obsessed and sexually involved with an older man, an actor, at a theater she passes by. This also stars Arnaud Valois as Raphaël, plus Frédéric Pierrot, Dominique Besnehard, Rebecca Marder, Philippe Uchan, and Françoise Widhoff. I'm sure the age-gap young romance in this will cause an uproar, but it also just seems like an intimately honest...

A movie spinoff and a fifth season of “Call My Agent!,” the popular star-studded show set at a Parisian talent agency, are currently being developed by its French producers and public broadcaster France Televisions.

Both the film and new season are reteaming producers Aurélien Larger and Harold Valentin of Mother Production, a Mediawan company, with Dominique Besnehard’s Mon Voisin Productions and France Télévisions.

“Call My Agent!” revolves around the personal and professional lives of a tight-knit but sometimes dysfunctional team of charismatic Parisian talent agents. Called “Dix Pour Cent” (10 percent) in France, the show debuted in 2015 on France 2, a France Televisions channel, and became a global sensation when it was picked up by Netflix.

Netflix, which streamed all four seasons of the show, is in very early talks to board the film and/or season 5. Harold Valentin at Mother Production said plans are for the film to land on...

Don’t ask, don’t get is the rule here. For three seasons, hit French series Call My Agent (original title Dix Pour Cent) has welcomed huge names in French and European cinema. Juliette Binoche, Monica Bellucci, Beatrice Dalle, Isabelle Huppert and Jean Dujardin have all appeared in the comedy as exaggerated versions of themselves, sending up their public personas and satirising their industry.

Set in a Parisian talent agency, Call My Agent goes behind the scenes on the French film world, piercing its serious reputation with sharp humour and characters ranging from the adorable to the monstrous to the adorably monstrous. It’s a terrific series created by Fanny Herrero with actor and former talent agent Dominique Besnehard, and well worth a spot on your to-watch list.

It’s a joke everybody wants to be in on, hence the major star turns dotted through seasons one to three. The...

Cannes 2020 label film recently played at Toronto and San Sebastian.

Suzanne Lindon, at just 20 years old, was the youngest filmmaker to make it into Cannes’s special 2020 Official Selection this year with her debut feature Spring Blossom.

She both directed and stars in the gentle coming-of-age tale about a Parisian teenager who enters into a platonic love affair with an actor in his 30s.

In the absence of a physical Cannes, the film premiered in Toronto’s Discovery section in early September, before heading to San Sebastian’s New Directors line-up. It is now touring festivals worldwide, stopping off this...

An armload of new works - notably several films bearing the Cannes 73 Label - will be unveiled at the 13th Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, unspooling 28 August – 2 September. Pushed back by a week as a result of the health crisis, today saw the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival (Ffa) unveil the bulk of its programme for its 13th edition (running 28 August – 2 September this year). A highly valued event for French distributors who like to test their films here, in front of large audiences, and to use the occasion as a springboard in France before releasing their works in the autumn, the festival steered by Dominique Besnehard and Marie-France Brière will chiefly be offering a competition, as per usual, whose jury will this time be presided over by the duo Gustave Kervern - Benoît Delépine (whose new opus Delete History - honoured with a Special Prize...

"Boys your age can be dumb." But they're always dumb! Luxbox has unveiled the first promo trailer for a French coming-of-age sexual awakening romance titled Spring Blossom, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Suzanne Lindon. She is the daughter of French actor Vincent Lindon, and this is her first film and first directing gig. She also stars in Spring Blossom (aka Seize Printemps) as a 16-year-old girl who is bored with her own age group, unable to connect with those around her. She becomes obsessed and sexually involved with an older man, an actor, at a theater she passes by. This also stars Arnaud Valois as Raphaël, plus Frédéric Pierrot, Dominique Besnehard, Rebecca Marder, Philippe Uchan, and Françoise Widhoff. This is so very French: the entire concept of young & old love, figuring out what love and sex means, building your life around romance. Originally supposed to premiere at Cannes this summer.

It is the debut feature of Suzanne Lindon, daughter of actors Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain

Paris-based Luxbox has boarded sales on French director and actress Suzanne Lindon’s debut film Spring Blossom (Seize Printemps), which was announced as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s special 2020 Official Selection on Wednesday.

Lindon, who is the daughter of Cannes Palme d’Or winning actor Vincent Lindon and actress Sandrine Kiberlain, directs and stars in the film.

She plays a precocious teenager, bored by people of her own age, who finds a fleeting soulmate in an older actor, who is also disenchanted with his milieu,...

Bron Studios has boarded a remake of French comedy Call My Agent! and W1A creator John Morton will write, direct and exec produce.

The Tully studio will produce the series with Man In The High Castle producer Headline Pictures, which acquired the English-language rights back in 2017. At the time Veep writer Georgia Pritchett was attached to write.

The series, which was created by Fanny Herrero, takes place at a Parisian talent agency where agents scramble to keep their star clients happy and their business afloat after the sudden death of their founder. It aired on France 2 with Netflix showing it globally.

The Office casting director Rachel Freck is also on board. John Morton will set the adaptation at a London talent agency and it will start production in June 2020.

Executive Producers are Aaron L. Gilbert, David Davoli and Steven Thibault for Bron and Christian Baute for Headline Pictures, Call...

Series to feature A-list British and American cameos.

On the eve of Mipcom, Bron Studios and the UK’s Headline Pictures have secured English-language remake rights to hit French TV comedy Call My Agent! and set Bafta-winning John Morton to write, direct and serve as executive producer.

Morton, who created the BBC mockumentaries Twenty Twelve, W1A and People Like Us, will relocate the story to a London talent agency. Production is scheduled to start in and around London in June 2020 and the series will feature A-list British and American cameos.

Bron Studios, riding high following the record-setting global launch of Joker,...

Series to feature A-list British and American cameos.

On the eve of Mipcom, Bron Studios and the UK’s Headline Pictures have secured English-language remake rights to hit French TV comedy Call My Agent! and set Bafta-winning John Morton to write, direct and serve as executive producer.

Morton, who created the BBC mockumentaries Twenty Twelve, W1A and People Like Us, will relocate the story to a London talent agency. Production is scheduled to start in and around London in June 2020 and the series will feature A-list British and American cameos.

Bron Studios, riding high following the record-setting global launch of Joker,...

Mediawan says it also plans to acquire 60% stake in Mon Voison Productions.

Luc Besson

Burgeoning audiovisual content platform Mediawan has acquired three French production companies including Storia Television, the new outfit created to take over the activities of EuropaCorp TV excluding its Us series.

The Paris-based company – founded by French producer Pierre-Antoine Capton, telecom tycoon Xavier Nils and investment banker and venture capitalist Mathieu Pigasse in 2015 – announced the deal on Monday afternoon (January 15).

The platform also revealed it was in exclusive negotiations to buy a majority stake in Makever, an umbrella group comprising six independent production studios.

Their shows include Kaboul Kitchen; the International Emmy Award-winning telefilm Don’t Leave Me, about a mother’s struggle to de-radicalise her jihadi bride daughter; and Captain Sharif.

Mediawan said it was also planning to acquire a 60% stake in Mon Voison Productions (Mvp). The production house set up by former talent agent-turned-producer and actor Dominique Besnehard and producer Michel Feller is best known...

Strand will focus on the history of Cannes for the festival’s 70th anniversary.

Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28) has unveiled the line-up for this year’s Classic programme, with 24 screenings set to take place alongside five documentaries and one short film.

Documentaries about cinema including Filmworker - which focuses of Stanley Kubrick’s right hand man Leon Vitali, who played a crucial role behind the scenes of the director’s films - as well as Cary Grant doc Becoming Cary Grant, are set to feature.

This year’s selection is also set to focus on the history of the festival itself, with prize-winning films such as Michelangelo Antonioni Grand 1966 Prix winning film Blow-Up and Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Le Salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear) from 1952 screening.

Nagisa Oshima’s 1976 film Ai No Korîda (In The Realm Of The Senses/L’Empire Des Sens), Luis Buñuel’s 1967 classic Belle De Jour (Beauty Of The Day...

While Cannes Film Festival premieres some of the best new films of the year, they also have a rich history of highlighting cinema history with their Cannes Classics line-up, many of which are new restorations of films that previously premiered at the festival. This year they are taking that idea further, featuring 16 films that made history at the festival, along with a handful of others, and five new documentaries. So, if you can’t make it to Cannes, to get a sense of restorations that may come to your city (or on Blu-ray) in the coming months/years, check out the line-up below.

From 1946 to 1992, from René Clément to Victor Erice, sixteen history-making films of the Festival de Cannes

1946: La Bataille du Rail (Battle of the Rails) by René Clément (1h25, France): Grand Prix International de la mise en scène and Prix du Jury International.

Presented by Ina.

The Franco-American Cultural Fund, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has announced the program for the 20th Colcoa French Film Festival that will run April 18-26 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. The festival will showcase a record 70 films and television series - among them 64 in competition for Colcoa Awards - including four World Premieres, seven International Premieres, 19 North American or U.S. Premieres, 17 West Coast Premieres - and 21 new shorts. Colcoa, is now the world's largest event dedicated to French films and television.

"This 20th anniversary deserves a spectacular, strong program that reflects the diversity of French production, as well as the creativity and dynamism of French filmmakers and producers," stated François Truffart, Colcoa Executive Producer and Artistic Director. "More than ever, we are about to involve audiences in a journey that will stir them, make them laugh, cry, tickle their curiosity, and help them remain optimistic, while recognizing the urgent world zeitgeist."

 "20 years is an achievement for any film festival in Hollywood. This would not have been possible without the commitment of the Franco-American Cultural Fund - a unique partnership of the DGA, the Mpa, la Sacem and the WGA West - creator of the festival in 1996 and supporter of its subsequent development. We also salute French sales companies, official supporters, sponsors, and U.S. distributors, whose loyalty and trust have given the festival its continuing excellence," he added.

Colcoa will open Monday, April 18th with the North American Premiere of "Monsieur Chocolat," a biopic about the first French black clown, co-written by Cyril Gely, Olivier Gorce, Gérard Noiriel, Roschdy Zem, directed by Roschdy Zem, and starring Omar Sy and James Thiérrée. The film will be presented in association with Gaumont, which celebrates its 120th anniversary.

The festival will close its competition on Monday, April 25th with the World Premiere of "Up For Love," the new romantic comedy written and directed by Laurent Tirard, starring Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin and Virginie Efira. "Call My Agent" (Season 1), the most popular French TV series of the year, about a talent agency with actors playing their own roles, will close the Colcoa TV Competition.

Two other TV series, shown for the first time in North America, will be part of the program, presented in association with TV France International and Titrafilm: "The Disappearance," a drama co-written by Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet and directed by Charlotte Brändström; and "The Secret of Elise," a supernatural drama written by lsa Marpeau, Marie Vinoy, Marie Deshaires, and Catherine Touzet and directed by Alexandre Laurent, Samir Boitard, Mathieu Simonet, and Mehdi Meskar. The first two episodes of each series will be shown to the Colcoa audience.

To complete the competition, five TV movies will premiere at Colcoa: the North American Premiere of "Borderline," a thriller co-written and directed by Olivier Marchal, the International Premiere of "Carpets and Chaos," a comedy co-written and directed by Nader Takmil Homayoun, the International Premiere of "Stolen Babies," a drama written by Julie Jézéquel and directed by Golden Globe winner Alain Berliner; the International Premiere of "The Wall-Crosser," a fantasy written and directed by Dante Desarthes, based on Marcel Aymé's book; and the North American Premiere of "Woman Under the Influence," a drama written and directed by Claude-Michel Rome. 

The feature film selection (40 features and documentaries and 21 shorts), will feature exclusive presentations. "Fanny's Journey," an epic drama written and directed by Lola Doillon, starring Cecile de France, is also a World Premiere. The U.S. Premiere of the thriller "Made in France," written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, is a film which did not have theatrical release in France because of sensitivity following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.  Colcoa also will present the U.S. Premiere of Robert Guédiguian's provocative film about the Armenian genocide, "Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad." The U.S. Premiere of Oscar ® winner Claude Lelouch's new film "Un plus Une," starring Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein, will screen, in addition to another U.S. Premiere of "All Gone South," the comedy sequel co-written and co-directed by Nicolas Benamou and Philippe Lacheau, two years after the success of Babysitting at Colcoa in 2014.

Several established writers/directors return and other known artists have been selected: Academy Award nominee Christian Carion ("Come What May"- with Cohen Media Group), Anne Fontaine ("The Innocents" - with Music Box Films), Vincent Garencq ("Kalinka"), Academy Award nominee Jean-Paul Rappeneau ("Families"), Christian Vincent ("Courted"), Maïwenn ("My King" - with Film Movement)

Every year, the Colcoa program is dedicated to a new generation of talent, many of whose films are included in Colcoa's French NeWave 2.0 Series: Samuel Collardey ("Land Legs"), Clément Cogitor ("Neither Heaven Nor Earth" - with Film Movement), Philippe Faucon - the writer/director of the 2016 César Best film winner ("Fatima" - with Kino Lorber), Emmanuel Finkiel ("A Decent Man"), Eva Husson ("Bang Gang" - with Samuel Goldwyn), Laurent Larivière ("I am a Soldier"), and Orelsan and Christophe Offenstein ("Uncompleted Song").

The After 10 Series at Colcoa invites audiences to explore new frontiers with an exclusive program, including the French-Belgian co-production from writer/director Bouli Lanners ("The First, the Last"), the new dark comedy from Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, starring Gérard Depardieu ("Saint Amour"), and Frédéric Schoendoerffer ("Past Convoy").

Two anticipated films about women in Muslim countries will be part of theWord Cinema Produced by France Series: the Franco-Moroccan co-production, "Much Loved," written and directed by Nabil Ayouch, premiered at the Director's Fortnight in 2015, and remains banned in Morocco; and, "As I Open My Eyes," a Franco-Tunisian film from female writer/director Leyla Bouzid (with Kino Lorber). The Argentine film, "Eva Doesn't Sleep," written and directed by Pablo Agüero will complete the series.

Two documentaries focusing on significant environmental issues will premiere at Colcoa: the closing film of the last Cannes Film Festival, "Ice and the Sky" (with Music Box Films) from Academy Award winner Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins), and a special presentation following the United Nations screening of the 2016 Cesar winner for Best Documentary, "Tomorrow," written and directed by Cédric Dion and Mélanie Laurent. "The Frankenstein Complex," a tribute to the creators of big screen creatures, written and directed by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, will complete this high profile documentary series.

All other Colcoa series are back in 2016: the Colcoa Classics Series with an exclusive program of digitally restored premieres (see February 19th press release); the Happy Hour Talks PanelSeriesin association withVariety (April 19-25); the Short Film Competition (Sunday, April 24 -  March press release); the Focus on a Filmmaker, this year with writer/director Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Thursday, April 21); and the Focus on a Producer will be with Dominique Besnehard (Saturday, April 23).

Animation, an important part of the French film industry, will be shown at Colcoa with the premiere of Rémi Chayé's new film: "Long Way North" (with Shout Factory).

 As is Colcoa tradition, comedieswill join the program almost every day, including the romantic comedy "Love at First Child," co-written and directed by Anne Giaffieri, starring Patrick Bruel and Isabelle Carré, Benoît's Graffin's "Hopefully," with Sandrine Kiberlain and Edouard Baer, Jean-Francois Richet's "One Wild Moment," starring Francois Cluzet and Vincent Cassel, and the new French hit "One Man and His Cow," written and directed by Mohamed Hamidi.

This last film will also be shown to the 3,000 students and teachers who will attend the now five High School Screenings (April 19-25) as part of the Colcoa Educational Program presented in association with Elma (European Languages and Movies in America). Two master classes for college and university students will complete the program.

For the ninth year, Lafca will partner with Colcoa Cinema for the Critics' Awards. The complete recipients list of the 2015 Awards - including the U.S. distributor winner of the Colcoa Coming Soon Award, presented in association with Kpcc, will be announced on Wednesday, April 27. Colcoa Awards are presented in association with Titrafilm, TV5 Monde USA, and Air Tahiti Nui.

Never one to do much press, Roman Polanski offers Variety a rare interview in which he talks about his new film "Venus in Fur," working with his actress-wife Emmanuelle Seigner and his storied -- and stormy -- cinematic career. Adapted from a 2010 play by David Ives and starring Seigner and Mathieu Amalric, "Venus in Fur" is a two-hander about an actress attempting to convince a director why she's perfect for a role in his upcoming production. "I just thought it was a terrific text. First, the humor of it. But then the sort of anti-macho spirit of it, and the richness of the allusions," Polanski tells Variety scribe Scott Foundas. The film played in the Main Competition section of last year's Cannes Film Festival. Polanski and Seigner met in 1985 during the troubled pre-production days of "Pirates," starring Walter Matthau. Polanski and casting director Dominique Besnehard were scouting in Paris, at a drag cabaret,...

Inspired by the two-decade agenting career of Dominique Besnehard at France’s biggest talent house Artmedia, the six-part comedy 10% will shoot this summer for national broadcaster France 2. Besnehard is a former casting director and prolific actor who went on to be arguably the best-known agent in the local business. At one time or another, he represented such talent as Isabelle Adjani, Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Eva Green, Jacqueline Bisset, Michael Vartan, Alain Chabat, Rupert Everett, Eric Cantona, Jean-Louis Trintignant, François Ozon and Claire Denis. I’m told the series is currently casting for three principal roles and promises a big-name guest star inserted each week to play themselves. While I’m not convinced this is a series that could travel — it’ll depend on the execution and how inside baseball the comedy is — it could be an interesting look at the cultural differences in the French agency business compared to...

Jane Campion.s first TV series Top of the Lake and Australian-French co-production Two Mothers have been selected to screen at the Sundance Film Festival.

Both productions will screen as part of the Premieres program, which showcases a range of highly-anticipated dramatic world premieres.

The Top of the Lake series will be screened as a single six-hour film just once during the festival, marking the first time that Sundance has included a scripted long-form series. Top of the Lake follows a detective investigating the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl who is the daughter of a local drug lord and stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Holly Hunter (The Piano), Peter Mullan (War Horse) and David Wenham (Public Enemies).

In a Screen Australia statement anouncing the selections, executive producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning said: .It.s such a thrill to be showing Top of the Lake, See-Saw Films. first foray into television.

Australian actors Ben Mendelsohn, Sophie Lowe and Gary Sweet.have joined the cast of Australian-French co-production The Grandmothers..

They join the principal cast of Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville in a tale about two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other's teenaged sons. Jessica Tovey (Underbelly, Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo) will also make her feature debut in the film.

The Grandmothers has been adapted for the screen by Academy Award-winning writer Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons, Atonement) from a story written by Nobel Prize for Literature winner Doris Lessing.

The eight-week shoot marks the English-language debut for director Anne Fontaine (Coco avant Chanel) and is due to begin on Monday (February 6) in Sydney.

The film is being produced by Hopscotch Productions' Andrew Mason; Fontaine's long-time collaborator Philippe Carcassonne; as well as French producers' Mon Voisin's Michel Feller and Dominique Besnehard. Hopscotch's Troy Lum...

Don’t worry: You aren’t so old that Jenny from Forrest Gump is now playing a grandmother, nor should you prepare yourself for some bizarre scenario in which Naomi Watts can precede two generations of family. Instead, THR informs us that both Robin Wright and the Australian will lead The Grandmothers, an “erotic tale of misguided love and a celebration of the enduring nature of female friendship” helmed by Anne Fontaine.

A Dangerous Method scribe Christopher Hampton has adapted Doris Lessing‘s original story, which focused on “two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s teenage sons.” More than a little creepy, yes — but it’d be silly to expect otherwise from “misguided love.” The only other casting development looks to be for those respective sons, as Animal Kingdom‘s James Frecheville and Twilight actor Xavier Samuel are also in the cast. (The latter may be 28 years old,...

Screen Australia has announced $17m investment across 14 projects including feature films and both adult and children’s television.

The investment is expected to trigger $97m in production.

The list of productions include: black comedy The Mule by co-writers/co-producers Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson with direction from Tony Mahony about a drug mule caught by authorities and Antony I Ginnane’s remake of Patrick, directed by Not Quite Hollywood’s Mark Hartley.

Also on the list is The Grandmothers, written by Christopher Hampton (A Dangerous Method) and director Anne Fontaine (Coco Avant Chanel) and starring Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville in the adaptation of Doris Lessing’s novel.

For TV, the telemovie Underground by Matchbox Pictures, written and directed by Robert Connolly tells the story of a teenage Julian Assange hacking computer systems; and two TV productions by John Edwards Southern Star, a serialised version of...

Well we all knew this would happen. Back in February, when Criterion announced their epic digital streaming partnership with Hulu, they also quietly revealed that their streaming options on Netflix would be coming to an end over the course of the next year. While I haven’t been paying close attention to the Criterion Collection films that have been expiring since that announcement was made, I thought it would be helpful to all of you loyal Netflix subscribers to know that in about twelve days, 26 titles will be expiring on the 26th of May, 2011.

I’ve gone and linked to all of the titles below, so you can click on the cover art or the text, and be taken to their corresponding Netflix pages. While this isn’t everything that Criterion has to offer on Netflix, it is a nice chunk of really important films. If you don’t currently have a Netflix subscription,...

Queen to Play gets picked up by Zeitgeist Films In a story from Variety, Zeitgeist Films has grabbed the U.S. rights to the Sandrine Bonnaire-Kevin Kline film Queen to Play.

Zeitgeist Films will release Queen to Play early next year.

Caroline Bottaro directed this french language film. It follows a hotel maid (Bonnaire) whose interest in chess is helped by her American employer (Kline). Jennifer Beals and Dominic Gould are also in the cast.

Queen to Play was produced by Dominique Besnehard and Michel Feller.

Queen to Play comes to theaters in 2010 and stars Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline, Valérie Lagrange, Francis Renaud, Alexandra Gentil, Alice Pol, Didier Ferrari, Laurence Colussi. The film is directed by Caroline Bottaro.

Zeitgeist Films has acquired U.S. rights to Caroline Bottaro's "Queen to Play" (Jouese), which it plans to release theatrically early next year.

"Queen," a French-language drama set in Corsica, stars Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline as a working class wife and mother with a passion for chess and her American employer.

Produced by Dominique Besnehard and Michel Feller, the film premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.

Zeitgeist co-president Emily Russo negotiated the deal with Studio Canal's Anna Marsh.

Not only are they capable of lighting up the silver screen, they are also some of today's most talented young actresses, commanding huge fees - in some cases, in the millions. Many have won multiple awards, while others have starred in some of today's biggest box office hits. In short, we're listing down the cream of the crop!

Just like our recent Top 50 hottest young actors, we've narrowed down our list from 88 to 50, and set an age limit. If you miss seeing some of your favorites, so do we - including Maggie Gyllenhaal (31 years old) and Amy Adams (34 years old). Definitely some of the names you'll see on the list are emerging talents - the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.

Here's the updated Top 30 list! The names are getting more...

Not only are they capable of lighting up the silver screen, they are also some of today's most talented young actresses, commanding huge fees - in some cases, in the millions. Many have won multiple awards, while others have starred in some of today's biggest box office hits. In short, we're listing down the cream of the crop!

Just like our recent Top 50 hottest young actors, we've narrowed down our list from 88 to 50, and set an age limit. If you miss seeing some of your favorites, so do we - including Maggie Gyllenhaal (31 years old) and Amy Adams (34 years old). Definitely some of the names you'll see on the list are emerging talents - the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.

Here's the updated Top 30 list! The names are getting more...

Not only are they capable of lighting up the silver screen, they are also some of today's most talented young actresses, commanding huge fees - in some cases, in the millions. Many have won multiple awards, while others have starred in some of today's biggest box office hits. In short, we're listing down the cream of the crop!

Just like our recent Top 50 hottest young actors, we've narrowed down our list from 88 to 50, and set an age limit. If you miss seeing some of your favorites, so do we - including Maggie Gyllenhaal (31 years old) and Amy Adams (34 years old). Definitely some of the names you'll see on the list are emerging talents - the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.

Here's the updated Top 30 list! The names are getting more...

NEW YORK -- In his first French-speaking role, Kevin Kline will star with Sandrine Bonnaire and Jennifer Beals in Caroline Bottaro's drama Joueuse (Queen to Play).

Bonnaire plays a hotel maid captivated by a romantic couple (Beals and Francis Renaud) playing chess while staying at the Mediterranean island hotel where she works. The doctor (Kline) whose house she cleans reluctantly becomes her mentor in the game, leading her to a chess tournament and initiating major transformations in her life.

Kline courted Meg Ryan as a Parisian in French Kiss, but this is his first role in a French production.

"He speaks good French, better than John Malkovich," said Michel Feller, who is producing the film with Dominique Besnehard for Mon Voisin Prods. and Blue Print Film's Amelie Latcha.

Joueuse is a France-Germany co-production with France 2 and Studio Canal, with the participation of Canal +, CNC, Eurimages, Cinecinema, Telemunchen-Concorde and the Collectivite Territoriale de Corse. Jean-Philippe Laroche is the executive producer.