ARP Picks Up French Rights to ‘Fools,’ From Berlin Silver Bear Winner Tomasz Wasilewski (EXCLUSIVE)

Adam B.

Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz have spent the last 10 years traveling the country to find antiques like no others. However, that’s all about to change.

Frank Fritz is out. After appearing as cohost of American Pickers for more than 10 years, Fritz, 55, will not return to the show, History Channel confirmed on Wednesday, July 21. Fritz had cohosted with Mike Wolfe since the series’ debut in 2010.

Neon has taken North American rights to Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s One Second, which was just announced as the closing-night film for this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

BERLIN -- One of Germany's most ambitious cultural projects, which will feature collections of African, Asian and other non-European art in a partial replica of a Prussian palace that was demolished by East Germany's communist government after World War II, is opening to the public on Tuesday.The Humboldt Forum — located in the heart of Berlin, next to the neoclassical Museum Island complex — was designed by Italian architect Franco Stella and features three replica facades, one modern one and a

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterContinuing its victory lap around the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, indie studio NEON has acquired the North American distribution rights to “A Chiara.”The Jonas Carpignano film won the top prize in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section. It is a companion film to his 2017 “A Ciambra,” for which he took the same award that year.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentRobert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes Of The Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah,” “Babylon Berlin”) are joining forces on “Rise of the Raven” (working title), a big-budget epic drama series about Janos Hunyadi, a fearless warrior who defeated the vast Ottoman army and defended Europe in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSpecialty U.S. distribution company KimStim is to give a North American release to “Wood and Water,” a German-made feature set against the backdrop of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.The film premiered in the Deutsche Perspektive section of this year’s erlinaleand won the Compass-Perspektive Award special mention during the Berlin festival’s summer edition.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorBrussels-based sales agency Best Friend Forever has closed a deal for France with ambitious distributor Wayna Pitch on Anita Rocha da Silveira’s “Medusa,” which plays in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.The drama, set in contemporary Brazil, centers on 21-year-old Mariana, who belongs to a world where she must do her utmost to keep up the appearance of a perfect woman.

When Netflix lured Larry Tanz from Michael Eisner’s digital studio Vuguru in 2014 to head up its content acquisition in Europe, the streamer’s regional presence was no more than a little townhouse on a canal in Amsterdam. Seven years and one pandemic later, the exec, who is now VP of Original Series for EMEA, is making shows in 20 different countries, with people on the ground in London, Madrid, Berlin, Rome and Paris to name a few.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMadrid-based Avalon is transforming from a prestige producer-distributor into an industrial force.Founded by CEO Stefan Schmitz in 1996, Avalon has carved a reputation most recently for producing and releasing in Spain Carla Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a Berlin 2017 First Feature Award winner.

EXCLUSIVE: Principal photography has started in Tunisia on contemporary drama Contra, set in the aftermath of the powerful anti-government protests that provoked a wave of change in the region, known as the Arab spring.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMadrid-based Latido Films has sold a slew of major territories on its banner titles, including Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “The Employer and the Employee,” Berlin winner “The Fam,” village crime drama “The Replacement” and auteur genre movie “Baby.”Chalking up its first major sale, Uruguayan Manuel Nieto’s “The Employer and the Employee” has closed France with Eurozoom.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentParis-Based Loco Films has boarded “The Business Women’s Club,” the next film from Brazilian writer-director Anna MuylaertMuylaert’s “The Second Mother” won a 2015 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and a Berlin Panorama Audience Award, and it notched up fulsome sales for the Match Factory.“The Business Women’s Club” will be introduced to buyers at this week’s Cannes Film Market by Loco Films’ head Laurent Danielou.Channeling Mulaert’s keen sense of social

Saban Films has acquired the North American and UK rights to “Ida Red” starring Frank Grillo, Melissa Leo and Josh Hartnett, the distributor announced on Thursday. John Swab wrote and directed the action thriller, and the supporting cast includes Sofia Hublitz, William Forsythe, Deborah Ann Woll and George “Slaine” Carroll.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Many people changed their minds at the last minute and decided to come to Cannes,” said Jerome Paillard, executive manager of the Cannes Market, the business wing of the Cannes Film Festival. Those that did will have access to a large volume of new films making their market premieres.Paillard explained that the pre-Cannes online market held two weeks ago was necessary because it filled the gap between Berlin and Cannes.

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are not only a beloved comedy partnership but they are also the very best of friends. So there was no way that Dawn was going to let Jennifer's birthday pass by without a little fanfare.The Vicar of Dibley star shared two tributes – one on Instagram and one on Twitter – in celebration of Jennifer's 63rd birthday on 6 July.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCurzon has acquired the U.K. and Ireland rights to “Between Two Worlds,” which is the opening film of the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar in Cannes.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDocumentary “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,” about the teenage actor in Luchino Visconti’s “Death in Venice,” has been sold to numerous territories by Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique.The Swedish film, directed by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri, premiered in Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorVariety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for “The Story of My Wife,” which screens in competition at Cannes Festival. Oscar-nominated director Ildikó Enyedi’s film stars Palme d’Or winner Léa Seydoux.