Cannes Film Fest Sidebars Directors’ Fortnight, Critics’ Week & ACID Will Not Boycott Russian Filmmakers

Sean Penn is showing his support for Ukraine.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAfter several hours of heated debates, Iris Knobloch, the former boss of WarnerMedia France and Germany, has been chosen by the board of the Cannes Film Festival to become its first female president, as Variety has learned . She will succeed Pierre Lescure who was re-elected for a third term in June 2020 and is planning to step down after the upcoming edition.The German-born, Paris-based executive was elected by the board of directors of the Association Française du Festival International du Film, which brings together public authorities and film industry professionals, amid much controversy in France.

Fresh drone footage has revealed the moment Russia launched a hypersonic missile strike on Ukraine yesterday.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Mathieu Amalric’s “Hold Me Tight,” an engrossing family drama starring “Phantom Thread” actor Vicky Krieps. Co-produced and sold by Gaumont, the movie world premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.Adapted from Claudine Galea’s stage play, “Hold Me Tight” follows Clarisse (Krieps), a mother who has abandoned her family for mysterious reasons and is coping with great emotional upheaval.

The Berlin International Film Festival has joined fellow events including Cannes and Venice in saying it will not ban Russian movies at the next edition of its fest, but will block official Russian delegates.

Editors note: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had tragic consequences for the Ukrainian people, and the wider ramifications of the conflict are only beginning to be understood. As the West imposes economic sanctions on Russia, the country is facing a period of isolation unseen since the Cold War. Deadline invited one high-profile Russian producer to pen a column discussing their perspective on the situation. At their request they are being kept anonymous for fear of reprisal from Putin’s government as it cracks down on free speech.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann’s drama of the rock-and-roll legend starring Austin Butler (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and Tom Hanks, will world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Variety has confirmed.The movie currently has June 24 release date, which means it couldn’t open the festival unless Warner Bros. Pictures decides to have it bow on May 17 to kick off the milestone 75th edition.

Angelique Jackson Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” has been cleared for takeoff with a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.As Variety predicted earlier this month, the “Top Gun” sequel will screen during the French fest, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.Described by Variety’s Elsa Keslassy as the “planetary blockbuster Thierry Fremaux has been dreaming of since 2020,” the Cannes director first aimed to get the movie secured for an out-of-competition slot before COVID-19 delays upended the film release calendar.Cruise’s long-awaited return to the cockpit had been further delayed by the pandemic, which pushed the movie’s planned release date several times. The film is now set to hit theaters on May 27, while the Cannes Film Festival runs from May 17 to May 28.

Brent Renaud has sadly died.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Documentaries about the conflict in Ukraine, the Cuban migrant situation and the Palestinian refugee crisis were among top winners at MiradasDoc, Spain’s foremost documentary film festival which wrapped its 15th edition on March 12. Based in Tenerife, Canary Islands, the festival was an in-person event running March 4-12, while its market (March 8-11) remained virtual for the second consecutive year.The best international documentary prize went to “Option Zero” (“La Opcion Cero”) by Cuban filmmaker Marcel Beltran while the best debut feature award was extended to “Trenches” by French journalist Loup Bureau who has covered the Arab Spring in Egypt, the Syrian War and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the Donbas region. “Trenches” follows the intrepid young men and women who are fighting Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

J. Kim Murphy The Kyiv-based Molodist International Film Festival has penned an open letter to the film community calling on other festivals to join in a boycott of Russian films as a response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces.The festival’s statement cites an ongoing effort by modern Russia to “separate culture from politics” and to “[use] that same culture to distract the West from Russia’s wars, human rights violations, censorship and persecution of political dissidents.”“There are Russian filmmakers and intellectuals who have been truly vocal in their dissent and criticism of Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine throughout these years, and we know some of them personally,” the statement reads.

The Sarajevo Film Festival is the latest international film organization to show its support for Ukraine as the festival has announced it will include Ukrainian films and filmmakers in its regional programs. The beloved European festival originally started off as regional event for Balkan films and has since evolved to incorporate Southeast Europe and the Causcasus region.

Seven Ukrainian filmmakers, who are remaining in the country as Russia continues its invasion, have spoken out about their experiences on the front line of the war in their country. Directors Valentyn Vasyanovych, Roman Bondarchuk, Nariman Aliev, Maryna Er Gorbach , Antonio Lukich, Alina Gorlova and producer Darya Bassel have all called upon the international film and television community to issue cultural sanctions against Russia.

Christopher Vourlias Denis Ivanov, the Ukrainian producer of critically acclaimed films including Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s “The Tribe,” Sergey Loznitsa’s “Donbass” and Oleh Sentsov’s “Rhino,” has penned an impassioned letter against Russia’s war in Ukraine, describing it as a “genocide against Ukrainians” and accusing the Russian military of war crimes.In the letter, Ivanov gave his full-throated support to a boycott on Russian films, demanding “no more ‘business as usual’ with Putin’s Russia.”“I think some festival selectors, film professionals and cultural managers just do not get what is happening in Ukraine,” he wrote, in light of an ongoing campaign by the Russian military that has escalated in recent days. “This war of aggression by the Russians has turned into a war on independence and a war for values and rights.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSet to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, the Cannes Film Festival will likely be presided over by a female executive for the first time ever. Variety has confirmed that Iris Knobloch, the former boss of WarnerMedia France, Germany, Benelux, Austria and Switzerland, is well-positioned to succeed Pierre Lescure who was re-elected for a third term in June 2020 and is planning to step down after the upcoming edition.Knobloch has yet to be elected by the board of directors of the Association Française du Festival International du Film, which brings together public authorities and film industry professionals, but the German-born, Paris-based executive is being pushed forward by high-profile figures within the French government.

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Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Venice Biennale, which is the multidisciplinary arts organization behind the Venice Film Festival, has announced that in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fest plans to bar Russian delegations but not independent Russian filmmakers and their works.The Biennale “intends to express its full support to all the Ukrainian people and their artists,” the org said in a statement on Wednesday, announcing that it’s making every effort to ensure that, despite the war, Ukraine will be able to participate at the upcoming Biennale Art exhibition which kicks off in April with a national pavilion. As previously announced, Russia proactively pulled out of the art Biennale.

The Cannes Film Festival has taken a position on the war in Ukraine, and will bar Russian delegations at its 75th edition this May. "As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory," reads a statement released on Tuesday.