Bangladesh’s Nusrat Imrose Tisha Talks ‘Mujib,’ Future Projects at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Captain America, The Purge and Copshop star Frank Grillo is set to star in action movie MR-9, which is shooting imminently in the U.S. and Bangladesh.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Kamal Haasan is a true multi-hyphenate. Beginning as a child actor in 1960, he is one of the country’s most consummate actors with films like “Pathinaru Vayathinile” (1977) “Moondram Pirai” (1982) “Nayakan” (1987), “Thevar Magan” (1992) and “Vishwaroopam” (2013) behind him.He also produces via his Raajkamal Films International (RKFI), writes, directs, and runs the  Makkal Needhi Maiam political party.The upcoming “Vikram,” directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj (“Master”) and costarring Fahadh Fasil (“Maalik”) Vijay Sethupathi (“Kadaisi Vivasayi”), will be Haasan’s first release since 2018’s “Vishwaroopam 2.” It is produced by RKFI.Haasan was at the Cannes Market to launch NFTs based on “Vikram” from Fantico, a digital licensed platform of Singapore’s Vistas Media Capital.

Naman Ramachandran Indian activist filmmaker Pa. Ranjith has revealed an extensive production slate featuring top stars and socially relevant themes.Ranjith was at the Cannes Film Market, where he revealed “Vettuvam”, a linked film and TV series, a co-production between his and Aditi Anand’s Neelam Studios and Golden Ratio Films, the film production arm of Vistas Media Capital.First up for Ranjith is “Natchathiram Nagargirathu,” starring Dushara Vijayan (“Sarpatta Parambarai”), Kalaiyarasan Harikrishnan (“Kuthiraivaal”) and Kalidas (“Paava Kadhaigal”). The film is set against the backdrop of the Tamil-language theater scene and explores different facets of love that go beyond gender, and includes straight and LGBTQ+ romances, Ranjith says.

Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. The model, 24, looked sensational in the figure hugging shimmering blue, pink and green ensemble which featured thin straps around her neck.  She posed up a storm turning to the side revealing her peachy behind in the backless eye catching number.

Naman Ramachandran Indian actor Jackie Shroff (“Sooryavanshi”) will play the lead in Singapore-France-India co-production “Slow Joe,” it was revealed at the Cannes Film Market.Shroff will play the late Indian musician Joseph Manuel Da Rocha, known as Slow Joe, a former heroin addict and drug dealer who was born in Mumbai, was disowned by his family, heartbroken at 50 and who moved to Goa and cleaned up. On a trip to Goa in 2007, Lyon-based French musician Cédric de la Chapelle met Joe, now a frail 64-year-old who was making ends meet as a hotel room broker. Joe, also a poet and musician, sang for de la Chapelle, who was captivated by his voice and recorded some of his a cappella songs.Back in France, de la Chapelle played Joe’s songs for music producer Olivier Boccon-Gibod of Horizon Musiques, who was also entranced.

Gregg Goldstein Belgian director Lukas Dhont is in rare company. His 2018 Un Certain Regard debut, “Girl,” won the Caméra d’Or and three more Cannes prizes, besting the number of first-time feature wins from the likes of Steven Soderbergh and Steve McQueen. And while his rise has come with some controversy, he earned a place in competition with the May 26 Lumière gala premiere of his sophomore effort, “Close.” The story of two 13-year-old boys whose powerful friendship ends when their relationship comes under scrutiny “started from a very personal place,” says the out director, who penned the script with “Girl” co-writer Angelo Tijssens.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“CODA” producer Philippe Rousselet’s next movie “Maestro” has been sold to major territories by Orange Studio which hosted a market screening at Cannes. “Maestro” is adapted from Joseph Cesar’s Oscar-nominated, Cannes-prizewinning Israeli film “Footnote.” The movie is directed by Bruno Chiche and stars Yvan Attal, Pierre Arditi, Miou-Miou and Pascale Arbillot.

Naman Ramachandran The European Genre Film Foundation (EGFF), aimed at restoring and raising awareness of classic genre films in Europe and globally, launched at Cannes on Tuesday.The non-profit organization, headquartered in Stockholm, will work with film libraries, archives, rights holders, academics, film festivals and other institutions. It is modelled on Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) in the U.S.Among the first projects of the EGFF will be an academic study of historic female genre film makers in Europe and raising funds for a 4K film scanner set-up dedicated to digitizing and restoring genre films and related material that is languishing in archives.

David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” characters can feel no pain. Unfortunately, the same wasn’t true for the dozens of attendees at the Cannes premiere of the drama that walked out midway through the film, unable to stomach just exactly what was happening onscreen.The movie also earned a seven-minute standing ovation, suggesting that it could be the most polarizing title to debut at this year’s Cannes.The film reunites Cronenberg with Viggo Mortensen (“A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises”) and also stars Cannes darlings Kristen Stewart and Lea Seydoux.

Naman Ramachandran Studio Soho International has acquired worldwide rights to “A Bird Flew In” and has launched sales at the Cannes Film Market. “Quant” producer Kirsty Bell, the founder of production company Goldfinch Entertainment, makes her directorial debut with the film, which stars Sadie Frost, Derek Jacobi, Morgana Robinson, Jeff Fahey, Frances Barber, Julie Dray, Sophie Kennedy Clark and Camilla Rutherford. It is produced by Ben Charles Edwards (“Quant”) for Goldfinch with Phil McKenzie (“Twist”) serving as executive producer.Composed of seven interlinked narratives, the film is set in the U.K.’s COVID-19 lockdown.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorErotic love story “99 Moons,” which has its world premiere in Cannes’ ACID sidebar today, has kicked off international sales. Berlin-based M-Appeal is handling the rights to the film, which is directed by Jan Gassmann.Arthouse VOD platform Filmin has taken the rights in Spain, and arthouse distributor StraDa Films has taken the films for Greece. France and Latin America are in negotiation.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Mithila Palkar (Netflix’s “Little Things”) and Jaaved Jaaferi (“Sooryavanshi”) and Bangladesh’s Siam Ahmed (“Shaan”) have joined the cast of “In the Ring (Story of a Burqa Boxer).”Set in the female Muslim boxing community of Khidderpore, Kolkata, India, the film is a psychological thriller about Shama, a 17-year-old boxer who exchanges places with her double to fight in the national championship when she is framed in her aunt’s murder.The cast also includes Razia Shabnam, one of the first Indian women to become an international boxing referee and coach.The Hindi-language film will be directed by U.S.-based filmmaker Alka Raghuram, who previously directed the acclaimed documentary “Burqa Boxers,” about Muslim women boxers in Kolkata. The project is being produced by Sreyashii Sengupta for Singapore-based Darpan Global and Souvikk Dasgupta for Oriizon Global in India, with Los Angles-based Rick Ambros serving as executive producer.Raghuram said: “I started writing this script while I was filming the documentary ‘Burqa Boxers.’ While the immersion into their world allowed me to tell the documentary story in the style of realism, it also made me want to explore the interior [worlds] of the characters via a more stylized narrative and style.

Naman Ramachandran Producer and actor Sadie Frost (“Dracula”), who made her feature directorial debut with a documentary on British fashion designer Mary Quant, is now training her lens on another British cultural icon.“Twiggy” will be a feature-length documentary on Quant’s contemporary Lesley Lawson, better-known by her nickname Twiggy. It will trace her journey from her working-class childhood in northwest London, through to her international stardom as a celebrity model, and her career as an actor, singer, fashion designer, writer and TV presenter.

As the land we now know as Britain was being invaded, the Celts were pushed to the fringe, to places such as Cornwall or Wales. This is evident when you hear the idiosyncratic and distinct Welsh or Cornish languages being spoken.

K.J. Yossman Bobby Cannavale is set to star in comedy drama “Inappropriate Behavior” from “Conviction” director Tony Goldwyn.

K.J. Yossman Andy Armstrong’s directorial feature debut, “Squealer,” is set to launch sales in Cannes.VMI Worldwide are handling international rights on the feature, which was produced by Walk Like A Duck Entertainment’s Jason Armstrong and Rob Goodrich, Shaun Sanghani of SSS Entertainment and Walk Like a Duck’s Cameron Goodrich.Paradigm are repping North American sales.As well as directing “Squealer,” Andy Armstrong co-wrote the screenplay with Danielle Burgio.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMK2 Films, which is presenting six movies at the Cannes Film Festival, will be attending the market with a pair of hot new titles, French director Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and Israeli helmer Maya Dreifuss’s “Highway 65.”“Anatomy of a Fall” stars Sandra Hüller, the critically acclaimed German actor of “Toni Erdmann,” as an enigmatic German novelist who is arrested after the mysterious death of her husband at their chalet in the French Alps. The court case examines every aspect of the relationship she had with her husband, while her visually impaired son is called to testify as a witness.The movie will re-team MK2 Films with Triet, whose latest film “Sybil” competed at Cannes.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorErotic love story “99 Moons,” which will have its world premiere in Cannes’ ACID sidebar, has debuted its trailer (below). Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has acquired the world sales rights to the film, which is directed by Jan Gassmann. The film centers on Bigna, a 28-year-old scientist, and 33-year-old Frank.

Naman Ramachandran Independent Entertainment will launch international sales at the Cannes Film Market on Jerrod Carmichael’s Sundance winner “On the Count of Three.” The film is the directorial debut of comedian, actor and filmmaker Carmichael and he also stars alongside Christopher Abbott (“Possessor”), Tiffany Haddish (“The Card Counter”), JB Smoove (“Spider-Man: No Way Home”) and Henry Winkler (“Barry”). It follows two best friends Val (Carmichael) and Kevin (Abbott), on the last day of their lives.