Ahead of Historic Cannes Debut, Desperate Sudanese Filmmakers Try to ‘Hold On and Not Lose Hope’ as Country Edges Toward Civil War

Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor are enjoying a romantic day out.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “In Our Day,” the film by South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo which closes the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival, has seen distributors in multiple territories move early to strike rights deals. French rights were picked up by Capricci), Spanish rights by L’Atalante Cinema and Greek rights by Ama Films. The film has its official premiere on May 25. Seoul-based Finecut has long been the sales agent for Hong’s plentiful output. In addition to the deals on “In Our Day,” Finecut signed agreements with L’Atalante, with France’s Ariona Films and Taiwan’s Cola Films for “In Water,” Hong’s first film of 2023 which premiered in the Encounters section in Berlin in February. The film was previously sold to Cinema Guild for North America.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent CAA Media Finance has come on board to handle sales in North America on Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia,” the first film from Sudan to launch from the Cannes Film Festival. CAA will be working in tandem with Egypt-based producer Ali El Arabi’s Ambient Light Films, which holds North American rights for the timely drama that premiered on May 21 in Un Certain Regard. “Goodbye Julia” takes place just before the 2011 secession of South Sudan. It revolves around two women, one from the north, the other from the south, that are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities.

EXCLUSIVE: Egyptian-U.S. company Ambient Light has acquired North American sales rights for Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s Cannes Un Certain Regard title Goodbye Julia.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi’s upcoming drama “The Teacher,” which is shot and set in Palestine’s Left Bank, has been acquired by top Italian indie distributor Eagle Pictures just as Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas launches sales on the timely title in Cannes. Goodfellas, formerly known as Wild Bunch, on Thursday will be presenting to buyers the almost completed film that takes its cue from a real prisoners swap that took place in 2011 when Israel freed more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one soldier who had been kidnapped by Palestinian militants. In “The Teacher” a Palestinian school teacher played by Saleh Bakri (“Costa Brava, Lebanon”) struggles to reconcile his commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students. There is also a subplot involving his romantic relationship with a British volunteer worker, played by Imogen Poots (“The Father”).

Neon has acquired North American rights to Robot Dreams, the first animated feature from Spanish filmmaker Pablo Berger (Blancanieves), which is poised to premiere in the Special Screenings section of the Cannes Film Festival this Saturday, May 20th.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Shellac has boarded “La Mer et ses vagues” as both the international sales agency and the French distributor, ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the ACID sidebar in Cannes. The Lebanese film, directed by Liana and Renaud, follows the young Najwa and the musician Mansour as they cross the Lebanese border and reach Beirut on a full moon night. They follow the trail of smugglers hoping to join a woman, Haifa, on the other side of the sea. A few streets away, Selim, the old lighthouse keeper, tries to repair the electricity in his neighborhood. The cast is led by Mays Mustafa, Roger Assaf, Mohammed Al Ammari and Hanane Hajj-Ali. The producer is Mathieu Mullier-Griffiths for Kafard Films. The co-producer is Monkey Business Virals.

Tim Gray Senior Vice President The Intl. Emerging Film Talent Assn. returns to Cannes for the 13th year with a series of events to showcase new faces from underrepresented regions. The lineup will include screenings of films centering on refugees, a cash award for a documentary and spotlights on Arab and Sudanese cinema. For the sixth year, IEFTA is collaborating with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) at the Marche du Film. The program presents filmmakers — a number of them refugees themselves — who are documenting the experiences of those forced to flee from violence, famine or political oppression. The UN agency and IEFTA provide filmmaking tools and training to those affected. Refugees speak out about loss and desperation, but also resilience and hope.

DEALSPendulum have signed a new worldwide record deal with Mushroom Group and Universal Music’s label services division Virgin Music – the first joint venture signing between the two businesses. “We are pleased to be joining forces with Mushroom [and] Virgin and reuniting with [Mushroom boss] Korda Marshall, a visionary who played a pivotal role in our journey back in 2006”, says Pendulum’s Rob Swire.BDi Music has signed multi-instrumentalist, music director, composer, producer and songwriter Ben Lythe to an exclusive worldwide publishing deal.

The Blue Caftan by Moroccan director and Cannes 2023 Jury member Maryam Touzani has topped the nominations in the seventh edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films.

A Scots mum and her kids can start rebuild their lives after being evacuated from war-torn Sudan after a fundraising appeal raised thousands.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Paris-based distributor ARP Sélection has snapped up the timely Sudanese drama “Goodbye Julia” for French distribution ahead of its Cannes Un Certain Regard premiere next week. The film, which is Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s feature debut, marks the first feature from Sudan to bow from the Croisette and takes place just before the 2011 secession of South Sudan. In “Goodbye Julia,” two women — one from the North, the other from the South — are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities. in an interview with Variety, Kordofani expressed the hope that his film “Can be the start of a movement for reconciliation between all the Sudanese people” in the war-ravaged country.

Khartoum-set drama Goodbye Julia will make history in Cannes this year as the first Sudanese film to play in the festival across its 76 editions.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency The Match Factory is launching the trailer (below) of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in Competition. This gentle tragicomedy is the fourth part of Kaurismäki’s working-class quartet, following “Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel” and “The Match Factory Girl,” which The Match Factory, the company, is named after. The film tells the story of two lonely people (played by Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen) who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night. They then try to re-find each other: the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives. Their path toward this goal is clouded by the man’s alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other’s names or addresses, and life’s tendency to place obstacles in the way of those seeking their happiness.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based sales company Charades has finalized a raft of deals with international buyers for its upcoming comedy Northern Comfort, which debuted at SXSW in March.

King Charles III's coronation, and one family member was noticeably missing.In the new portrait, shared to the royal family's official Twitter account Monday, Prince Andrew was noticeably left out of the shot. The photo did, meanwhile, see Charles' other siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Edward in their royal regalia alongside the newly crowned king and Queen Camilla.Also included in the group photo were the rest of the senior royal members -- Prince William and Kate Middleton, Princess Anne's husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Prince Edward's wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess Alexandra.Andrew's absence does not come as a major surprise, after he stepped back from his royal duties in November 2019 amid his controversial connection to disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in August 2019.In addition to keeping him out of the photo, the embattled fourth sibling was also kept in the background throughout the weekend's coronation proceedings.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani will soon be in Cannes with “Goodbye Julia,” a drama that he says reflects the “systematic racism” that led to the secession of South Sudan in 2011 and is, albeit indirectly, closely connected with the conflict that erupted in the country in April.  The powerful film, which is premiering in Un Certain Regard, marks the first Sudanese feature to bow from the Croisette. But there is an even greater historic significance to “Goodbye Julia,” in which two women – one from the North, the other from the South – are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities. It’s the hope that “it can be the start of a movement for reconciliation between all the Sudanese people,” Kordofani says.

What started at Coachella doesn’t end at Coachella. Ariana Madix and Daniel Wai’s rumored romance continues to grow, as the Vanderpump Rules star celebrated his birthday alongside him in New York City.

Asia Abdelmajid, one of Sudan’s most famous actors, was killed by a stray bullet during crossfire on Wednesday as the violence between Sudan’s army and its paramilitary force continues in the capital city Khartoum.

Lovebirds in London! John Cena and wife Shay Shariatzadeh were spotted enjoying a stroll in the U.K. capital.