Cannes Market: Kirill Serebrennikov Prepping Series About Soviet Filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Boutique international streamer Walter Presents has inked a two-year deal with Russian premium SVOD service Start, and will be available in the territory from early July.Walter Presents, which specializes in non-English language programming, will launch on the service with a 100-hour collection encompassing 11 first-run series. This will grow to 400 hours.

Elle Fanning's portrayal of Catherine II, the longest-reigning Empress of Russia, on .The actress steps strikingly into the Golden Era of the empire's 18th century Enlightenment on the lauded Hulu series, though it takes her character a moment to see past the glitz and glamour.

Three years ago, Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia's most celebrated theater director and the helmer of several films — the most recent being the 2018 rock musical Leto, in competition for the Palme d'Or at Cannes — woke up to find himself in a nightmare straight out of a Franz Kafka novel. His apartment and the offices of his Gogol Center, a state-funded theater, were raided by investigators who claimed he'd embezzled several million dollars in public funds.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentÉric Rochant, super-producer and creator behind the hit French spy drama “The Bureau,” is set to team with Tomorrow Studios (“Snowpiercer,” “Cowboy Bebop”) on his U.S. television debut.Rochant will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the untitled espionnage series, which will center on the lives of intelligence officers from different countries (U.S., China, Russia, U.K.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentFilm and theater director Kirill Serebrennikov, whose film “Leto” played in competition in Cannes in 2018, was found guilty of embezzlement by a Russian court on Friday, according to news agency TASS.Serebrennikov, a vocal critic of the Kremlin, was accused of being the leader of a group that embezzled 129 million roubles ($1.87 million) in state funds, a charge he denied.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterKirill Serebrennikov, the prominent Russian filmmaker behind The Student and Leto, has been found guilty of criminal fraud by a Moscow court after a controversial trial.Supporters of Serebrennikov claim the decision is politically motivated.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorAGC has closed a raft of Cannes virtual market deals on Nick Jonas-Laurence Fishburne action-thriller The Blacksmith.Sizeable pre-sales have closed in Germany & Switzerland (Constantin), France (Metropolitan), UK (Entertainment Film), Latin America (CDC & CVT), Russia (Paradise/MGN) and South Korea & Vietnam (Joy’N’Content).Pacts have also been sealed with Benelux (The Searchers), Greece (Odeon), Middle East (Salim Raima), Eastern Europe (Prorom), Asian Pay TV

Christopher Vourlias Producer Ilya Stewart was in the early days of financing “Petrov’s Flu,” the latest feature from Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto”), when he chose to bypass state funding bodies.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian movies are taking a sharper turn towards genre storytelling, though classic auteur titles remain a strong component of the country’s cinematic output. Below is a compendium of standout cinema Italiano projects in various stages.“Non Mi Uccidere” (“Don’t Kill Me”) Young director Andrea De Sica, who helmed the bulk of teen series “Baby” for Netflix, is set to shoot a horror film geared towards the same youth demographic as the show.

Andreas Wiseman, Tom Grater A doc from Oscar-winner Steve McQueen and a VR experience about Banksy are two of the projects selected for this year’s Venice Film Festival Gap-Financing Market. The three-day event (September 4-6) is planning to take place in a physical form, as per the rest of the festival, despite the ongoing disruption from the coronavirus.

Christopher Vourlias Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for “Chernobyl,” a big-budget action film about the aftermath of the nuclear power plant meltdown, directed by heartthrob actor and debut helmer Danila Kozlovsky (“Vikings”).Following on the heels of HBO’s Emmy-winning series, “Chernobyl” is the first major Russian feature film to depict the fallout of the explosion that rocked the nation and raised alarms across Europe.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentTrustNordisk has closed key international deals on “The Crossing,” its WWII-set Norwegian family drama. The company will be hosting a market screening at Cannes’ virtual Marché du Film on June 24.After selling the film to the U.S.

Following their relative critical success with “Damsel,” the screenwriting-directing duo of brothers David and Nathan Zellner have set their sights on a new project with a cast full of familiar names. The Zellners will be directing and producing “Alpha Gang” after David Zellner wrote the script for the upcoming sci-fi comedy, slated to begin filming in 2021.

Christopher Vourlias The Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, a virtual platform for Russian content hosted by film promotion body Roskino, wrapped this week with a slew of sales and an affirmation that global players are increasingly looking to tap into the Russian market.The online market welcomed some 600 international participants from 70 countries, with the largest number of buyers coming from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Japan and China.

Also Read: Gal Gadot-Led Hedy Lamarr Series Moves From Showtime to AppleHere is the logline for the series from Showtime:THE COMEY RULE takes us on an insider’s journey down the corridors of power, where decision-makers struggle to apply old norms to a dramatic new paradigm in the face of Russia’s deep and unprecedented penetration into American politics, with our nation’s rule of law hanging in the balance.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentVariety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for “The Squad #Notheretodance,” which will have its world premiere at the Cannes virtual film market. Be For Films, headed by Pamela Leu, is handling international sales.The documentary feature centers on the Olympique Lyonnais women’s soccer team, which is one of the best women’s soccer teams in the world.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentRussian actor Chulpan Khamatova is known internationally for key roles in “Good Bye, Lenin!,” and more recently Aleksei Alekseivich German’s drama “Under Electric Clouds,” and Ralph Fiennes-directed Rudolf Nureyev biopic “The White Crow.” Last month, as Russia was deep in lockdown, Khamatova found herself embroiled in controversy sparked by TV series “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” in which she plays a young woman deported to Siberia during the Stalin-era