‘Eternal Playground’ Review: A French Fable About Grief That Feels Untethered From Reality

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Aiming to expand its footprint within the scripted space, Banijay Entertainment’s French label Screenline Productions has formed a creative partnership with the writers duo Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka. Screenline just collaborated with Rumani and Slomka on the series “Trash,” an upcoming Prime Videomini-series inspired by the real-life events of “Loft Story,” the French adaptation of “Big Brother” which marked the country’s first reality show of this kind in 2001.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The Palm Springs International ShortFest has announced the juried and audience award winners for its 2024 edition, which took place June 18-24. Over $25,000 in cash prizes and five Academy Award-qualifying honors were presented to the winning films, which included Esteban Pedraza’s “Bogotá Story” and Jadwiga Kowalska’s animated film “The Car That Came Back from the Sea.” See a full list of winners below.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The historic gains of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (National Rally, or RN) during the European elections on June 9 and French President Emmanuel Macron‘s shock decision to dissolve the National Assembly have not only propelled the country’s film and TV industry into a state of panic but are causing ripples across the economy. Boasting the second-biggest economy in Europe, France saw its stock exchange take a hit this week amid talks that Marine Le Pen‘s far-right party had a solid chance of performing strongly in the parliamentary elections set for June 30 and July 7.

We still don’t know what caused Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose‘s marriage to fall apart — we’re still waiting for the dust to clear after that explosive filing!

The French Connection and Law And Order star star Tony Lo Bianco has died aged 87.The actor passed away on Tuesday night (June 12) at his horse farm in Poolesville, Maryland, following a long battle with prostate cancer, his representatives confirmed (via The Hollywood Reporter).“Tony passed peacefully at 9pm last night with his wife Alyse by his side,” they said in a statement.Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1936 Lo Bianco was best known for his performance in The French Connection, which won five Academy awards 1971: Best Picture, Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Best Director (William Friedkin), Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay.He also starred alongside Richard Gere in Bloodbrothers (1978) and appeared alongside Clint Eastwood in City Heat (1984).Lo Bianco kickstarted his film career with the cult classic The Honeymoon Killers (1970), with plenty of big screen work soon following.Outside of film, he was a successful stage actor, director and producer, starring in many Broadway productions including Moliere’s Tartuffe. He also directed eight productions and produced 25 more.In 1975, Lo Bianco won an Obie Award for his role in an Off-Broadway production of Yanks-3, Detroit-0, Top of the Seventh.He was also nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge.Elsewhere, Lo Bianco starred as heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano in Marciano (1979) and later appeared in many tough guy roles in films including City of Hope (1991), Boiling Point (1993) and The Juror (1996).Later in life, Lo Bianco appeared in a number of popular TV series, including Murder, She Wrote and Law And Order.Away from acting, Lo Bianco was also a Golden Gloves boxer.

Tony Lo Bianco, who played the key role of Sal Boca in Best Picture Oscar winner The French Connection and appeared in more than 100 films and TV shows during a 60-year screen career, died Tuesday of prostate cancer at his home in Maryland. He was 87.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ankama, the French company behind the cult favorite adult animated feature “Mutafukaz” and video game franchises such as “Dofus” and “Wakfu,” has acquired a minority stake in Inthebox, a thriving Annecy-based animation studio. The alliance will allow Ankama to “fast-track its production pipeline and benefit from Inthebox’s expertise with different techniques, such as 3D animation,” Ankama’s co-founder Anthony Roux told Variety in a conversation with Inthebox’s co-founders Mathieu Marin and Madjid Chamekh (pictured).

“The French Connection,” has died. He was 87.His representative confirmed on Wednesday that he died of prostate cancer.“Tony Lo Bianco passed away last night at his horse farm in Maryland after a battle with prostate cancer,” the rep’s statement to Fox News read.

Naman Ramachandran India‘s Handmade Films has boarded two Indian shorts pitching at Annecy, “Hide & Seek” and “Rising Tides,” as producer. In addition, France’s NoJo Studio Animation will also serve as a producer on “Hide & Seek.” Both films are at the Annecy Animation Festival‘s MIFA Pitch and the Namaste MIFA initiative that focuses on India. “Rising Tides” is directed by Pari Satarkar and produced by India’s Studio Mikudi and Satarkar.

A post shared by Thomas Dutronc (@thomas.dutronc)While a cause of death has yet to be confirmed, Hardy revealed in June 2021 that she had been diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2018, following a lymphoma diagnosis in 2004, and said she felt “close to the end” of her life.As a musician, François Hardy broke out with the 1962 hit ‘Tous les garçons et les filles’, which topped the singles charts in her homeland of Paris and several other countries. The following year, she clinched her second hit ‘C’est à l’amour auquel je pense’.Besides French, Hardy also performed in English, German and Italian.

Françoise Hardy, a popular French singer and actor who had numerous Top 10 albums and singles in Europe and appeared in films including Grand Prix, has died June 11 at 80. Her son, Thomas DuTronc, revealed the news on social media but did not provide details, writing only, “Maman est partie” (mom is gone).

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Françoise Hardy, a French singer, actor and model whose classical beauty and often melancholy music combined to transfix fans internationally in the 1960s and beyond, has died at age 80. Her son, Thomas Dutronc, also a musician, reported the death on his Instagram account, posting a baby photo of himself with his mother and writing: “Maman est partie.” Or, mom is gone.

Ben Croll After closing out last month’s Cannes competition, Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Most Precious of Cargoes” opened this year’s Annecy Animation Festival on an auspicious note. With French productions accounting for one half of Annecy’s 12 competition slots, the Alpine showcase doubles a show of force for Gallic filmmakers writ large – a fact made all the more impressive given their sector’s relative youth.

It’s official — Baby Reindeer is one of Netflix‘s most popular series of all time.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery is suddenly seeing red — clay, that is — in its bid to build out its sports portfolio. A new ten-year pact for the U.S.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Eurozoom, a leading French distributor for Japanese animation, has forged a strategic partnership with major French animation producer Special Touch Studios, led by founder and CEO Sebastien Onomo. “We both share the same passion for animation and want to tell bold stories with a particular attention to professional diversity,” said Eurozoom’s CEO-Founder Amel Lacombe, who added that they were jointly working on a six-animation feature lineup. Leading the pack is “Melvile,” directed by Romain Renard and Fursy Teyssier.

Dick and Angel Strawbridge, the stars of Escape to the Chateau, confessed that they had "200 plus pages of reasons not to buy" their French abode.

Jamie Lang France’s Annecy Animation Festival opened on Sunday, and among the event’s first activities was a screening of titles from the Commission Films in Competition Lineup. During the projection, the French music video for Chien Méchant’s “Étoile filante,” produced using generative artificial intelligence software, earned the extraordinary distinction of being booed by the Annecy audience.

The stars of Despicable Me 4 stepped out for the New York City premiere a full month before the movie hits theaters!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The French far-right party Rassemblement National (National Rally, or RN) made historical gains on June 9, dominating the European elections by a landslide with 31.5% of votes. Fronted by the Rassemblement National’s 28 year-old lead candidate Jordan Bardella, the victory prompted French President Emmanuel Macron — whose party Renaissance came in second with 14.5% of votes — to dissolve the National Assembly and call early Parliamentary elections.