Catherine Corsini Publishes Open Letter Denying Wrongdoing On Set Of Film ‘Le Retour’ As Cannes Inclusion Divides French Industry

EXCLUSIVE: Tye Sheridan is launching his new production company, Dogwood Pictures with its debut film, Black Flies, is set to play in competition at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, the pic reunites Sheridan with Sean Penn after over a decade since Malick’s The Tree of Life. Sheridan first became involved with the film in 2018 and continued on throughout the film’s execution and release.

William Earl Variety will host a “New Gen Voices in Filmmaking” panel, presented by Adobe, at the American Pavilion during Cannes Film Festival on May 20 at 3 p.m. Panelists include Amy White, global head of corporate social responsibility at Adobe and the executive director of the Adobe Foundation, and Dr. Stacy Smith, founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. They will be joined by filmmakers Yupeng He (“A Bright Sunny Day”), Katie Blair (“Imogene”), Shafagh Abosaba (“Daroone Poust”) and Maryam Mahdye (“Daroone Poust”). The conversation will be moderated by Variety’s senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The panel will explore how young, diverse filmmakers are putting a new creative stamp on the Cannes Film Festival. Speakers will discuss how their heritage has informed their projects, the latest technologies crucial to cutting-edge film production, obstacles they have overcome as artists from underrepresented communities and how people from disadvantaged communities can break into the filmmaking world.

This year, the Cannes Film Festival actually broke its own record for the number of female filmmakers in the official competition. That’s great news for an event that has come under fire in recent years for having less diversity and inclusivity than other prestigious festivals.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Movie Film), two-times Cesar Award nominee Jean Reno (Leon), Ty Simpkins (Jurassic World) and Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) are attached to star in action movie Birdseye, which The Exchange will be launching for international sales ahead of the Cannes market.

I know that a lot of famous people — writers, directors, agents, lawyers, and powerbrokers — read Deadline every day.

EXCLUSIVE: The Gotham Film & Media Institute has today named the fellows set for the 2023 edition of its Festival De Cannes Producers Network Program, scheduled to take place in person at Cannes from May 17-22. The list includes independent filmmakers Maria Altamirano, Liz Cardenas, Leah Chen Baker, Yoni Golijov, Emma Hannaway Nikkia Moulterie and Carlos Zozaya.

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Hiddleston (Thor franchise) and Mark Hamill (Star Wars) are set to star in new Stephen King adaptation The Life Of Chuck, which will be a hot package at the upcoming Cannes market.

Nicolas Cage (Renfield) and writer-director Andrew Niccol (Anon) will reteam with Vendôme Pictures, the Academy Award winning studio behind CODA, on Lords of War — a sequel to the 2005 crime thriller Lord of War, which starred Cage as Yuri Orlov, a composite character based on numerous arms dealers.

Marta Balaga Participating in the Goes to Cannes initiative for the very first time, Australia’s Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival has unveiled titles selected for its works-in-progress showcase: Four feature films and one documentary. “It is the first time that Goes to Cannes has a partner from Australia and it’s also the first time when we have a festival dedicated to LGBTQ films and content. It’s also a part of our impACT initiative, which supports diversity, inclusion and sustainability in the film industry,” observes Guillaume Esmiol, executive director at Marché du Film. Fawzia Mirza’s “The Queen of My Dreams” and Poppy Stockell’s dark comedy-drama “Triple Oh!” – “about a mismatched pair of queer ambulance paramedics who get hands-on with life, death, and each other,” teases the director – will be presented, as well as “Sunflower” by Gabriel Carrubba. 

The 76th Festival de Cannes already had a jury president in two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Ostlünd. It now has eight more members to fill out its jury.

Naman Ramachandran Arclight Films is handling worldwide rights to comedy feature “Arthur’s Whisky” and will launch sales at the upcoming Cannes film market. As revealed by Variety, Diane Keaton (“Something’s Gotta Give”) stars in the film. The cast also includes Patricia Hodge (“All Creatures Great and Small”), singer-actor Lulu (“Absolutely Fabulous”), David Harewood (“Homeland) and music superstar Boy George. Rounding out the cast are Hayley Mills (“The Parent Trap”), Bill Paterson (“House of the Dragon”), Adil Ray (“Citizen Khan”) and Lawrence Chaney (“RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” winner). Directed by British filmmaker Stephen Cookson (“Stanley a Man Of Variety”), the film is written by Alexis Zegerman (“Ronnie Gecko”).

Playtime has unveiled a strong Cannes film market sales slate, which includes competition titles “About Dry Grasses” and “Homecoming.” “About Dry Grasses” is by Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who won the Palme d’Or in 2014 for “Winter Sleep.” The film follows Samet, a young art teacher, who is finishing his fourth year of compulsory service in a remote village in Anatolia. After a turn of events he can hardly make sense of, he loses his hopes of escaping the grim life he seems to be stuck in, and hopes that his encounter with fellow teacher Nuray will help him overcome his angst. Deniz Celiloğlu, Merve Dizdar and Musab Ekici are among the cast.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Christina Hendricks will lead the psychological thriller “Reckoner,” which will be sold at the Cannes Film Festival this month. The project is written and directed by Nissar Modi (“Z for Zacharian”), who will be making his big screen directorial debut. In the film, an affluent woman’s carefully constructed life is disrupted by a young man connected to a tightly-held secret from her past. The film is based on a short story by late writer Rachel Ingalls and will be produced by XYZ Films and Two & Two Pictures, with XYZ Films financing. XYZ Films has also added “Reckoner” to its New Visions slate of films, with world sales launching in Cannes.

Sideshow/Janus Films is estimating a $36k gross or $18k per theater average for The Eight Mountains on two NYC screens, the strongest opening weekend to date for the team behind Drive My Car and EO.

Selma Blair is reflecting on her younger years and the amount of change and growth her life has endured.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has set Xavier Gens’ (“Gangs of London”) untitled Paris-set genre movie starring Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist“) and Nassim Lyes (“Overdose”) as its next French film original. Set in the Summer of 2024, the film unfolds in Paris which is hosting the World Triathlon Championships on the Seine for the first time. Sophia, a brilliant scientist, learns from Mika, a young environmental activist, that a large shark is swimming deep in the river. To avoid a bloodbath at the heart of the city, they have no choice but to join forces with Adil, the Seine river police commander. Bejo and Lyes star in the film opposite Léa Léviant. The film is produced by Let Me Be and is slated for a launch on Netflix in 2024.

A collective of Afro-German filmmakers and industry professionals have published an open letter raising concerns about what they have described as the selection of anti-Black films at the recent Berlin Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Catherine Corsini, the French director of “Le Retour,” which was added to the competition lineup for the 76th edition of Cannes on Monday, has addressed the reports in French media of alleged inappropriate incidents during production of the film. Corsini’s competition slot was on hold for nearly 10 days after Cannes’s administration board heard that a scene of a sexual nature involving the 15-year old female protagonist of the film was added to the script and allegedly filmed without the consent of the Commission des Enfants du Spectacle, a government-backed organization. French reports also said Corsini was allegedly being accused of harassment by crew members, while other members of the crew had been allegedly been accused of inappropriate acts against two female actors.

COMPETITION“Black Flies” (Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire)“LE RETOUR“Le Retour” (Catherine Corsini)CANNES PREMIÈRE“Perdidos en la Noche” (Amat Escalante)“L’Amour et les Forets” (Valérie Donzelli)“Eureka” (Lisandro Alonso)OUT OF COMPETITION“L’abbe Pierre – Une Vie de Combats” (Frédéric Tellier)UN CERTAIN REGARD“Only the River Flows” (Wei Shujun)“Une Nuit” (Alex Lutz)The film will be screened Out of Competition – Closing Un Certain RegardSHORT FILM“Filles du Feu” (Pedro Costa)SPECIAL SCREENINGS“Little Girl Blue” (Mona Achache)“Bread and Roses” (Sahra Mani)“Le Theoreme de Marguerite” (Anna Novion)MIDNIGHT SCREENING“Hypnotic” (Robert Rodriguez)“Project Silence” (Kim Tae-gon)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s “Black Flies” starring Sean Penn, and Catherine Corsini’s “Le retour” have been added to the competition lineup of the upcoming 76th Cannes Film Festival. As many as 13 movies have been peppered across several sections, including the competition, special screening, Un Certain Regard and out of competition. Robert Rodriguez’s “Hypnotic” and Kim Tae-gon’s “Project Silence” are joining the Midnight Screening roster, while Amat Escalante’s Mexican drama “Perdidos en la Noche” and Argentinian helmer Lisandro Alonso’s thriller “Eureka” starring Viggo Mortensen and José María Yazpik, will bow at Cannes Premiere, a non-competitive section launched in 2021. Alonso previously won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with his 2014 movie “Jauja.” Also slated for Cannes Premiere is Valerie Donzelli’s drama “L’Amour et les forets.”