Boss of France’s Powerful Film Board CNC Gets Three-Year Prison Sentence, Including Two Suspended, for Sexual Assault

Carol McGiffin and her husband Mark Cassidy look relaxed and absolutely besotted with each other during our gorgeous exclusive shoot in the south of France. When we catch up – in a vineyard at the Hotel Saint Vincent in Saint-Tropez, an hour and a half away from their home – they are the first to admit that outspoken Carol and softly spoken Mark are like chalk and cheese.

Coronation Street's Paula Lane, who once played the beloved character Kylie Platt, left fans devastated when her character was tragically killed off in the soap. Initially introduced as a villain, she quickly became a fan favourite. In January 2024, Paula made the switch to Emmeradle where she joined the cast as Ella Forster.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. National Streaming Day is over but Peacock is continuing to churn out deals. The streamer is currently offering a limited-time promo that gets you a full year of Peacock for only $59.99.

Dominique Boutonnat has been given a three-year prison sentence, one of which will be custodial, for sexual assault of his godson and has quit his role as head of France’s CNC.

Sunny Side of the Doc, the world’s biggest documentary-focused marketplace in the world, wrapped its 35th edition Thursday, after gathering 2,100 participants over four days in La Rochelle, France.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent France’s Les Films du Losange is taking international sales outside Italy on “Sicilian Letters” (“Iddu”), the hotly anticipated drama about Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro – who was dubbed “the last godfather” – directed by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza (“Sicilian Ghost Story”). “Sicilian Letters” pairs two top Italian actors — Elio Germano, who plays Messina (see first-look image above) and Toni Servillo (first-look image below) as his antagonist Catello, a shady secret services operative — working in tandem for the first time.

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.

Alexander Rodnyansky expects Russian authorities to sentence him to up to ten years in prison in his absence over his anti-war stance, but the AR Content founder says it’s “too late to be scared” as he focuses on bolstering his slate of film and TV series.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The Palm Springs International ShortFest has announced the juried and audience award winners for its 2024 edition, which took place June 18-24. Over $25,000 in cash prizes and five Academy Award-qualifying honors were presented to the winning films, which included Esteban Pedraza’s “Bogotá Story” and Jadwiga Kowalska’s animated film “The Car That Came Back from the Sea.” See a full list of winners below.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A jury headed by French Vietnamese director Tranh Anh Hung awarded its Golden Goblet (Jin Jue) prizes for the Shanghai International Film Festival’s main competition. The top prize for best feature went to “The Divorce,” directed by Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Salamat. The jury praised the film for its sophisticated story-telling which mixes comedy, farce and tragedy, and “which moves fluidly from public sphere to the intimate relationship of a couple in crisis” and its feeling of innocence.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Extinction,” the Malaysian-produced animation that is playing at the Shanghai International Film Festival, has struck its first international rights sales deals. The film was recently picked up by All Rights Entertainment, the Paris, Hong Kong and Los Angeles-based sales agency. All Rights has subsequently licensed the title to Magic Film for the CIS region, to Dazzler Media for the U.K., to Red Cape Distribution for Israel and to Bir Film for Turkey.

The Munich International Film Festival will screen 152 films from 53 countries during its 41st edition, which runs from June 28 to July 6. 

Nearly three years since James Arthur McDonald Jr. bailed on a meeting with SEC over allegations of defrauding investors for millions, the FBI picked up the former CNBC pundit in Washington state this weekend.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has been omitted from the England squad for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany following a hugely disappointing season.

International documentary filmmakers and industry reps are gathering at Sheffield DocFest in the U.K. at a moment of political tumult in Europe. British voters head to the polls for a general election on July 4; in France, President Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called snap legislative elections after a French ultranationalist party surged in voting for the European Parliament. Germany’s far-right AfD party also scored substantial gains in that European Parliament vote. Overall, the center held — more or less.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Trialed for alleged sexual assault on June 14, Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board, France’s most powerful film institution, is facing a three-year suspended prison sentence. Boutonnat was indicted in February 2021 for the alleged sexual assault of his then 19-year-old godson in August 2020, during a vacation in Greece.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Along with a red-carpet opening ceremony, a press conference with the members of the main competition jury is a staple event of major film festivals and the 26th edition of the Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off in traditional form on Friday. Along with Vietnam-French director Tran Anh Hung, previously revealed as jury president, the other members of the decisive committee this year are: Australian director and screenwriter Rolf de Heer; German director Matthias Glasner; Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka Fai; Argentinian director Santiago Mitre; Chinese director Sonthar Gyal; and, the jury’s only woman, star actor Zhou Xun. A packed audience lobbed familiar questions about the criteria they jurors would employ to decide the Golden Goblet prize winners, and what informs those views.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The historic gains of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (National Rally, or RN) during the European elections on June 9 and French President Emmanuel Macron‘s shock decision to dissolve the National Assembly have not only propelled the country’s film and TV industry into a state of panic but are causing ripples across the economy. Boasting the second-biggest economy in Europe, France saw its stock exchange take a hit this week amid talks that Marine Le Pen‘s far-right party had a solid chance of performing strongly in the parliamentary elections set for June 30 and July 7.

Annika Pham Under the auspices of Comunidad de Madrid and the prestigious ECAM film school, the four day ECAM Forum co-production market got off to a flying start with its inaugural session, closing June 13 with an awards ceremony at Madrid’s historical Matadero cultural space. One of eight features in work in progress, the creative documentary “Gods of Stone” (“Deuses de Pedra”) by the Spanish Iván Castiñeiras Gallego scooped the new Comunidad de Madrid award and its €15,000 ($16,000) cash prize earmarked towards its post-production.