DR Sales Closes Multiple Territories on Sundance Winner, Visions du Réel-Bound ‘A New Kind of Wilderness’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French sales powerhouse Charades has boarded Constance Tsang’s migrant drama “Blue Sun Palace” which is set to world premiere at Cannes’ Critics’ Week. WME Independent is representing domestic rights for the movie in North America.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Cinephil has sold Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó’s feature documentary “Agent of Happiness” to a wide range of key international territories ahead of the film’s Hot Docs debut this weekend. Deals are confirmed in the U.K.

Refresh for latest…: For the fourth weekend in a row, Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was the top studio movie at the global and international box office. While it’s true there have not been a whole lot of wide releases on a worldwide level since the start of the year, it’s heartening to see continued play for the big titles. 

Lise Pedersen In an exclusive interview with Variety after picking up the top industry prize at Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel, Franco-Iranian director Mehran Tamadon outlined the intention of his upcoming feature documentary “The Last Days of the Hospital.” Set against the backdrop of France’s public health crisis and shortage of personnel, the film will show patients from a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Paris taking charge of their own ward. Tamadon has been running film workshops with the patients at the hospital for the past eight years, and decided it was time to make a film to denounce what he describes as “the ultra-liberal policy which plans the death of the public hospital.” “French public hospitals are not doing well, nurses and caregivers are leaving because they are mistreated and poorly paid.

Bild, no amount of Premier League profile was going to get Karius and Leotta a free pass.The newspaper reported that Leotta informed her friends, “I told you that I want to go to Berghain, this very famous nightclub, where there is a very strict admission control”.“Loris made a mistake, among other things, because he first persuaded me to go in first,” she continued. “Usually, girls have more chances.

Annika Pham New York-based director/producer Katy Scoggin has worked with high-profile U.S. documentary filmmaker/journalist Laura Poitras on two shorts and three features, notably as co-producer and DP on Poitras’ Oscar-winner “Citizenfour” and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight’s “Risk.” Poitras now serves as executive producer on Scoggin’s feature debut “Flood,” one of six creative documentaries to be pitched as works in progress April 16, at the Visions du Réel festival in Nyon, Switzerland. “Flood” centers on Scoggin’s journey to repair her relationship with her former missionary father, with whom she has become estranged.

Lise Pedersen Berlinale Forum entry “Shahid,” the debut feature of Iranian-German filmmaker Narges Kalhor, has been picked up by Prague-based doc specialist Filmotor ahead of its premiere at Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel, where it is competing in the more experimental Burning Lights section. Described by Kalhor as a collective work between herself and other artists, including a costume artist and a painter from Iran, a German music composer and a choreographer from Berlin, “Shahid” shifts playfully between genres, challenging conventional filmmaking rules.

“Franklin,” an eight-part series premiering April 12 on Apple TV+.“Franklin” tells the story of 70-year-old Ben Franklin’s secret diplomatic mission to France in 1776 to gain French support (money, arms) for America’s fight against the British in the Revolutionary War. There are a lot of moving parts here, so viewers would be apprised to pay attention as Franklin navigates French high society — and politics — in an effort to achieve his goal.The series is based on the book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America” by Pulitzer Prize-winner Stacy Schiff.As the series opens, Franklin — commissioned by Congress to undertake his clandestine journey across the Atlantic — has no diplomatic experience.

Pearl Jam have announced a special ‘Dark Matter-verse’ event to take place in London on the same day as the release of their new album.‘Dark Matter’, the band’s 12th studio album, is set for release on April 19 via Monkeywrench Records, and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. The band have already shared the title track and its follow-up single ‘Running’.And now, they have revealed details of the ‘Dark Matter-verse’, which will take place at Outernet in London on April 19, from 2pm to 7pm.

Greek weird wave filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, known for Academy Award-nominated favorites like “Poor Things” and “The Favourite,” is heading back to the Cannes Film Festival once again this year with his new film, “Kind Of Kindness.” And Searchlight Picture is wasting no time celebrating by releasing a new trailer for the film. READ MORE: Cannes 2024: New Films From Yorgos Lanthimos, Frances Ford Coppola, Sean Baker & Andrea Arnold “Kind of Kindness” is an anthology film drama that follows three different stories.

EXCLUSIVE: French sales and production company Totem Films has boarded international sales on Somalia-set drama The Village Next To Paradise by Mo Harawe.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Leading European distributor Global Screen, part of Telepool, has secured further international sales of high-end drama “Davos 1917” at MipTV. New acquisitions of the six-part thriller include SBS Australia, TVP in Poland and Big Tree Entertainment in India and the subcontinent. “Davos 1917,” which launched at the end of last year on SRF in Switzerland and ARD in Germany, has already been bought by a strong lineup of premium international broadcasters and streamers across North America, Europe and Asia.

during a recent public outing with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 62, on March 28.The actor has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, since the ‘80s. He married Arakawa, a pianist, in 1992, but is rarely seen in public with her. She’s his second wife, after Faye Maltese, who he divorced in 1986 and had three children with.

Thania Garcia Ahead of the release of her new “Funk Generation” album, slated for April 26, Anitta has announced she is going on tour. Starting May 18 in Mexico City, Mexico, the “Funk Generation Tour” will take the Brazillian singer to over 20 cities, including her first tour dates in North America. She’ll then hit South America and Europe in major cities like Paris, London, Bogota, Buenos Aires, biza and more.

Callum McLennan U.K. distribution powerhouse DCD Rights is announcing strong pre-sales for its musical legend laden slate at MipTV. The remastered release of “David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders from Mars” in stunning 4K leads the pack with a pre-sale to NHK Japan already in place.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Pure Fiction Television, the independent production company helmed by Tom Winchester (“Shogun,” “Clickbait,” “The Capture”), has secured the rights to bestselling author Dolores Redondo’s Baztan Trilogy and the prequel, “La Cara Norte Del Corazón” (The North Face of the Heart), and is developing them into a returning, premium international TV series. The trilogy and prequel novel, which feature homicide detective Amaia Salazar, are gripping psychological thrillers infused with mystery, mythology and superstition, set in the beautiful Basque region of Northern Spain, as well as in New Orleans.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France tv distribution has boarded international sales for “Deep Blue Horizons – Exploring the Seas,” a documentary series hosted by journalist and explorer Diego Buñuel. A reboot of France Televisions‘ iconic wildlife format “Thalassa,” the factual title is being unveiled to buyers at Mipdoc in Cannes.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Talpa Studios, the company founded by “The Voice” and “Big Brother” creator John de Mol, has closed further territory sales for quiz-show format “The Floor.” Variety can also reveal that the show has been named by research organization K7 Media as the “Format to Watch” in its “Tracking the Giants” format sales report, which was released Saturday at MipFormats. The recognition is based on the show’s territory sales. K7 said: “’The Floor’ is the best-selling format in 2023 and early 2024 among all the unscripted formats that were newly created in 2023.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mediawan Rights has boarded “Kabul,” a highly anticipated thriller series produced by France’s 24 25 Films and Cinétévé. Shervin Alenabi (“Tehran”) and “Euphoria’s” Eric Dane (in a small role) have joined the international cast of the show, which already comprises Jonathan Zaccaï (“Le bureau des legendes”), Thibault Evrard (“The Night of the 12th”), Vassilis Kukalawi (“Kandahar”), Jeanne Goursaud (“Pax Massilia”), Gianmarco Saurino (“L’estate piu Calda”) and Valentina Cervi (“Medici: Masters of Florence”). The series, set against the backdrop of U.S.

Twofour Hires ‘007: Road To A Million’ Producer & ‘Circle’ Exec