Dermot Mulroney is looking back at how one of his biggest movies hurt his career.
16.04.2024 - 12:59 / deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever (BFF) has acquired international sales rights for Canadian director Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language.
The intriguing Persian and French-language drama is among 21 feature films announced as being selected for the 2024 edition of Cannes parallel section Directors’ Fortnight on Tuesday.
In a first key distribution deal for the movie, Oscilloscope Laboratories have taken U.S. rights. Quebecois distributor Maison4Tiers will release in Canada.
Universal Language is Rankin’s second feature after The Twentieth Century, on which BFF also handled international sales. The surrealist dark comedy won the Berlinale Fipresci Award in 2020 and Best Canadian debut award in TIFF Midnight Madness 2019.
Rankin has also made multiple short films including The Tesla World Light, which premiered in Cannes Critic’s Week 2017.
Going under the Persian title of Avaz boughalamoune (Lovesong for a Turkey), Rankin’s new film Universal Language is described as taking place “somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg”.
Per the official synopsis: “The lives of multiple characters interweave with each other in surprising and mysterious ways. Gradeschoolers Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to claim it. Meanwhile, Massoud leads a group of increasingly-befuddled tourists through the monuments and historic sites of Winnipeg. Matthew quits his meaningless job in a Québecois government office and sets out upon an enigmatic journey to visit his mother. Space, time and personal identities crossfade, interweave and echo into a surreal comedy of misdirection.
The movie stars newcomers Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Sobhan Javadi, Pirouz Nemati, Matthew Rankin, Mani
Dermot Mulroney is looking back at how one of his biggest movies hurt his career.
Ryanair has warned passengers flying to three major holiday destinations that they must print off their boarding passes. The budget airline said that airports in Turkey and Morocco do not allow digital boarding passes downloaded onto mobile phones.
Dermot Mulroney blames the cake.
Naman Ramachandran U.K.-based sales and distribution outfit Blue Finch Films has boarded worldwide rights, excluding Canada, to 1980s-set wrestling action-horror “Dark Match.” The film is headlined by professional wrestler and rock musician Chris Jericho and written and directed by Lowell Dean (“Wolfcop”). The film will launch later this year with its festival premiere to be announced imminently. Blue Finch will begin sales at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has boarded international sales for Constantin Film’s comedy fantasy blockbuster “Chantal and the Magic Kingdom,” which will receive its market premiere in Cannes. The film has been No.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi director and producer Osama Alkhurayji’s debut feature film “Siwar” recently wrapped principal photography in AlUla, the swathe of northwest Saudi Arabia comprising ancient artifacts, a lush oasis and sandstone canyons that’s becoming a burgeoning local film production hub. “Siwar” involves two families – one Turkish, the other Saudi – whose fates become entangled due to a revelation about their newborns.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “East Bay,” a dark comedy film starring “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Crazy Rich Asians” star Constance Wu, has been picked up for North American distribution and world sales by Level 33 Entertainment. The film won the audience award last year at the Cinequest Film and Creativity festival in San Jose. Level 33 plans to release it next month in North American theaters, ahead of a later digital outing. Wu portrays a close friend of a man who feels let down by his immigrant parents and, after a string of personal and professional humiliations, is forced to accept that he is a failure.
Jamie Lang Leading French production-distribution outfit Le Pacte has boarded the upcoming 2D animated feature project “Conference of the Birds,” which will be spotlighted at the Marché du Film’s Animation Day during this year’s Cannes Festival. In addition to co-producing, Le Pacte will handle French distribution and serve as international sales agent on the film, part of the five-title Annecy Showcase at the Animation Day.
The Cannes Film Festival has added 13 new titles to the selection for its 77th edition, including new films by Oliver Stone, Lou Ye and Arnaud Desplechin as Special Screenings.
Zara and Mike Tindall have a "seamless connection" proving they are "genuinely best friends and soulmates" according to a body language expert.The power couple, have been married for almost 13 years, attended second day of the Cheltenham Racecourse April Meeting on Thursday.The pair looked cheerful and blissfully happy as they arrived in Cheltenham for the event, and spent the day enjoying each other's company while also speaking to others at the racecourse. Speaking on behalf of Betfair Slingo, body language expert Darren Stanton shared his thoughts on Mike and Zara Tindall's 'seamless connection' during their recent outing.
An 'amazing' mum tragically collapsed and died after she was seen taking half an ecstasy tablet before going to a music festival.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales and production house Film Constellation is launching world sales rights on U.S. comedy drama “Eephus,” directed by Carson Lund, set to world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight section in Cannes in May.
The 55th edition of the Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, the parallel section of the main Cannes Film Festival, has announced its 2024 line-up. Running from May 15 to 23, the Fortnight, or the Quinzaine Des Cinéastes, in French, will debut 21 feature films and ten short films.
Naman Ramachandran Circle Women Doc Accelerator, an international training program dedicated to women and non-binary filmmakers, has unveiled the four projects that will take part in its showcase as part of the Cannes Docs program of the upcoming Cannes Film Market. For the fifth consecutive year, four alumnae of the program will present their works-in-progress during the market. “Dreamers” by Imam Hasanov, produced by Maria Ibrahimova for Cinex production (Azerbaijan), is set in rural Azerbaijan, where former football player Mamed coaches an all-girls football team.
Lise Pedersen Berlinale Forum entry “Shahid,” the debut feature of Iranian-German filmmaker Narges Kalhor, has been picked up by Prague-based doc specialist Filmotor ahead of its premiere at Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel, where it is competing in the more experimental Burning Lights section. Described by Kalhor as a collective work between herself and other artists, including a costume artist and a painter from Iran, a German music composer and a choreographer from Berlin, “Shahid” shifts playfully between genres, challenging conventional filmmaking rules.
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