Body-Positive Annecy Player ‘Living Large’ Debuts Trailer: ‘You Must Accept Yourself First’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Peruvian director Paolo Tizón‘s documentary “Night Has Come,” which has its world premiere Sunday in the Proxima competition section at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, has debuted its trailer (below). The film centers on a group of young men, many of them teenagers, who sign up for one of the most challenging military training courses in Latin America. The objective is to turn them into fearsome fighters operating in the dangerous VRAEM region, an area plagued by various armed groups, guarding their coca plants and engaged in narcotics trafficking.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Noaz Deshe‘s “Xoftex,” which has its world premiere July 1 in the Crystal Globe Competition of Karlovy Vary Film Festival, has debuted its trailer (below). MAD Solutions is attached as the film’s sales agent. “Xoftex” is Deshe’s second feature film.

When Comcast-owned Sky Deutschland cancelled its usual drama event at the Munich Film Festival at short notice last summer, it came as a surprise. That surprise quickly turned to shock and bitter disappointment when the pay-TV giant revealed it wasn’t simply nixing a networking bash, it was exiting the original drama business full stop. 

The summer transfer window for Premier League clubs has been open for a week.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Flow,” a director-driven animated feature which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and just swept three awards at Annecy Film Festival, has been embraced by a raft of major distributors in key territories, including the U.K., Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy. The movie is represented internationally by Charades.

At the top of an executive roundtable kicking off CineEurope in Barcelona on Monday, Paramount’s President of International Theatrical Distribution Mark Viane gave a shout-out to the massive opening of Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2. “If anyone is here from Disney,” he said to the audience, “congratulations, you really helped kick-start the summer.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief All Rights Entertainment, the Paris, Hong Kong and Los Angeles-based international film agency has picked up international sales duties on animated children and family feature “Out of the Nest.” The film had its world premiere this week at the Annecy International Animation Festival. In the Kingdom of Castilia, days from the coronation of the new Emperor and Empress, their seven royal fledglings are taken and it’s up to one hero to return them safely; a teenage delivery boy, Arthur the Goat. His dreams of becoming a world-class barber are put on hold when he becomes the unwitting guardian of the royal heirs.

Carolyn Giardina Two-time Oscar-nominated animation producer Bonnie Arnold was recognized with the Annecy Animation Festival‘s Golden Ticket on Thursday during a festival reception for members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Arnold first attended the international animation festival in 2013, as producer of “How To Train Your Dragon 2,” then as a jury member.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a big one in the European M&A world. Beta Film has taken a stake in Number 9 TV, a new small screen subsidiary of Carol and Living producer Number 9 Films.

Crunchyroll Senior Vice President of Global Commerce Mitchel Berger was in ebullient mood as he gave a talk on the growing global reach of anime at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week.

It has been a high-profile 12 months for Mediawan Kids & Family thanks to subsidiary Method Animation’s involvement in the Ladybug & Cat Noir franchise, which has been enjoying box office success worldwide with a first feature film adaptation.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mediawan Kids & Family is unveiling a raft of prestige animated feature projects at the Annecy Film Festival, including “Meow-woof” by Louis Clichy (“Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion”) and “Twisted” by Lino DiSalvo (“Playmobil”). Emmanuel Jacomet, who worked for over a decade alongside Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam on high profile IP’s such as “The Little Prince,” “Miraculous Ladybug” and “Playmobil,” took over the film division of Mediawan Kids & Family under a year ago with the ambition to develop a mix of mainstream franchise-based projects and auteur-driven 2D titles.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Eurozoom, a leading French distributor for Japanese animation, has forged a strategic partnership with major French animation producer Special Touch Studios, led by founder and CEO Sebastien Onomo. “We both share the same passion for animation and want to tell bold stories with a particular attention to professional diversity,” said Eurozoom’s CEO-Founder Amel Lacombe, who added that they were jointly working on a six-animation feature lineup. Leading the pack is “Melvile,” directed by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has boarded international rights to “Death Does Not Exist” (“La mort n’existe pas”) which is being showcased in the work-in-progress section at the Annecy Film Festival. Currently in production, “Death Does Not Exist” is directed by Félix Dufour-Laperrière who previously helmed “Archipel” which won the Annecy Contrechamps Jury Award in 2021, and ‘Ville Neuve’ which had its premiere at Venice Days 2018.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Netflix EMEA Head of Animated Series Alexi Wheeler is launching UK-based production company Wheel In Motion under the auspices of burgeoning French content conglomerate Superprod Group.

Jamie Lang For good reason, Portugal is this year’s Country of Honor at the Annecy Animation Festival. A decade ago, new government financing structures were put in place that have helped create a young and vibrant industry that has earned critical and awards praise around the world, including the country’s first-ever Oscar nomination.

Naman Ramachandran Indian animation will be in the spotlight across the 2024 Annecy Animation Festival. For the first time, Indian animation will feature at Namaste MIFA, a pitch event at MIFA (Marché International du Film d’Animation) in Annecy. The event, organized by Annecy-backed Indian animation festival AniMela and co-hosted by Assemblage Entertainment and Zebu Animation Studios, will present four work-in-progress projects reflecting diverse themes such as sports, food, gender and tradition.

William Earl Variety is expanding its presence at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market with three programmed conversations moderated by Variety journalists, taking place over the festival from June 10 to June 13. On June 10, Variety’s international editor Elsa Keslassy will host behind-the-scenes interviews at the “Transformers One” screening, with Josh Cooley, director of “Transformers One”; Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation; Lorenzo di Bonaventura, founder of Di Bonaventura Pictures and producer “Transformers” film series; and Marcel Jean, artistic director of the Annecy Animation Film Festival.

Emiliano De Pablos Barcelona-based Grup Mediapro has promoted Marta Ezpeleta as the next head of international content factory The Mediapro Studio, where she currently serves as its international director. Ezpeleta will replace Laura Fernández Espeso, Variety‘s International Media Woman of the Year, upped to No. 2 at Grup Mediapro from January.

Alex Ritman A new faith-based film fund has been set up by former IM Global executive Alexandros Potter and filmmaker Yelena Popovic, behind the hugely successful 2021 drama “Man of God,” about the Greek saint Nectarios of Aegina. Simeon Faith, one of a number of new announcements in the faith-based film world in recent months, is a dedicated equity film fund focused on financing and producing what it describes as “talent-driven, high-end artistic and commercial fare with strong elements of faith for a global audience.” The new fund aims to finance one to two films per year over the next four years.