Doc-in-Progress ‘Islands of the Winds’ About Fight for Democracy in Taiwan Wins Top Award at Cannes Industry Event (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Forest,” an Italian eco-themed animation film about deforestation, has scored some strong pre-sales for Rome-based True Colours at the Cannes Marché du film. The still-in-production 3-D animation feature – the protagonist of which is a young mushroom named Fey – has been picked up for roughly 20 territories by Top Film Distribution which will distribute “Forest” in Ukraine, CIS, the Baltics, and Eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, and Hungary.  Helmed by Luca Della Grotta and Francesco Dafano, the film is produced by Italy’s AI One, the same team that previously spawned 2020 similarly themed animation feature “Trash” that sold in more than 30 countries. 

A British toddler is fighting for her life after a knifeman stormed a playground in France. The three-year-old was on holiday with her family and had visited the park near Lake Annecy, in the Alps, on Thursday morning (June 8).

Several young children and at least one adult were stabbed by an attacker with a knife in France, the country’s interior minister has said. The attack, which happened on Thursday (June 8) morning in a square in the lakeside Alpine town of Annecy, has left some fighting for their lives.

Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s latest pic La Chimera has inked a series of international deals for The Match Factory following its well-received debut at last month’s Cannes Film Festival.

Orlando Bloom was soaking up the sun!

UK director Molly Manning Walker’s first film How To Have Sex won the top prize in Cannes Un Certain Regard on Friday evening.

Uk director Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex won the top prize in Cannes Un Certain Regard on Friday evening.

Someone paid a LOT of money for a painting of Leonardo DiCaprio during a live auction at a Cannes Film Festival charity event!

Still breaking boundaries at the age of 74, French filmmaker Catherine Breillat returns to the Cannes competition with a film that squarely confronts the one taboo that is still ring-fenced from liberal tolerance: sex between adults and children. In the past, she has worked with porn stars, was one of the first to show an erection in an arthouse film and earned herself the moniker “porno auteuriste.” 

Marta Balaga Projeto Paradiso has announced in Cannes that Daniel Bandeira has won the Pop Up Film Residency Paradiso. The program is created exclusively for Brazilian professionals. Bandeira, currently developing “Red Express,” is also behind “Property”, which premiered at the Berlinale’s Panorama back in February. Born in Pernambuco, he has been a filmmaker since 2001, making his feature debut with “Peer Pressure.”  The three-week Pop Up Film Residency – carried out in partnership with Matthieu Darras of Tatino Films – will take place in the Faroe Islands in Denmark, with Jón Hammer of Kyk Pictures joining as local partner.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leading lights of contemporary Iranian cinema, including ‘Holy Spider’ actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi, ‘The Siren’ director Sepideh Farsi, ‘The Opponent’ helmer Milad Alami and producer Kaveh Farnham, turned up at the Cannes Film Festival to raise the alarm on the repression faced by Iranian cinema during a session hosted by Amazon Prime Video’s Sahar Baghery. Iran has been the centerstage of widespread protests driven by women against the Islamic Regime since Mahsa Amini died in police custody for for wearing her hijab too loosely in September 2022. Although the rebellion has garnered vocal support outside of Iran, it hasn’t succeeded in dethroning the Iranian Regime. A number of dissident Iranian filmmakers and talent have been jailed over the last six months, notably Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof who was recently released from prison. Rasoulof was nevertheless banned from leaving Iran to serve on the jury of Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

So many stars stepped out to celebrate Warner Bros. Studios’ 100th Anniversary during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival!

for minutes of applause. So entrenched is this French farce that trade publications routinely time the euphoria and judge the response to the new films based on the length of the cheering at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Cannes’ longest-ever roar? Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which premiered there in 2006, at 22 minutes. This year’s fest is in full swing, and so is the ceaseless hand-slapping.Here are Cannes’ standing ovations so far, from triumphant to tepid.The most ecstatic response to a film so far at this year’s festival, which runs until May 27, was for Martin Scorsese’s latest drama. The historical movie from Apple and Paramount brings together two popular Scorsese stalwarts, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, plus last year’s Best Actor Oscar winner Brendan Fraser and Jesse Plemons.

EXCLUSIVE: AMC Networks’ Acorn TV and Channel 5 are serving up a third season of The Madame Blanc Mysteries.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok says Montana’s newly enacted law that would criminalize usage of the short-form video app is unconstitutional — and the app company has taken legal action to fight the state’s ban. TikTok filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana seeking to have the law reversed. It was signed into law last week by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who said it would “protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.” TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a China-based internet conglomerate. “We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,” the app maker said in a statement. “We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”

Jason Statham suits up sharp with longtime partner, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, as they attend the 2023 Kering Women in Motion Awards during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival over the weekend in France.

Directors’ Fortnight, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, is planning to screen a programme of films from its selection at an event in Tokyo, Japan this December. 

Foo Fighters debuted their new track ‘Nothing At All’ in a livestream yesterday (May 21).The livestream, titled Foo Fighters: Preparing Music For Concerts, was recorded at the band’s 606 studios in Northridge, California. It featured debut performances of songs from their forthcoming album, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of the recording.The band played an eight-song set during their rehearsal, which was shot in black and white.

Michelle Yeoh has taken over the 2023 Cannes Film Festival this weekend!

 got a boisterous 9-minute standing ovation after the three-hour epic premiered Saturday at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival.Leonardo DiCaprio, director Martin Scorsese and the rest of the cast soaked up every second of the ovation displayed at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.  posted a snippet of the thunderous applause, and outlet's co-editor-in-chief, Ramin Setoodeh, reports that the nine-minute standing ovation is «the biggest and loudest» of the film festival so far.According to, Scorsese took the mic after the ovation and addressed the excited crowd.«Thank you to the Osages,» he said. «Everyone connected with the picture.