Federation’s New Film Sales Arm Ginger & Fed Unveils Slate at Unifrance RDV, Including Niels Tavernier’s WWII Drama ‘The Future Awaits’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After keeping a fairly low profile as president of France’s leading commercial network TF1 Group for seven years, Gilles Pelisson, the discreet Harvard-educated executive, is ready for showtime. He has been propelled into the spotlight to promote French film and TV in his new role as president of Unifrance, succeeding Serge Toubiana last summer.

Ben Croll French film promotional organization Unifrance put talent in the spotlight at this year’s Rendez-Vous in Paris, where the 10 actors and filmmakers selected as 2024’s Talents to Watch were fêted with flutes of champagne at France’s Ministry of Culture before being introduced to the international press at a dedicated event. For more than a decade, the 10 to Watch program has pinpointed the creative talents breathing modernity and vitality into contemporary French cinema.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justine Triet‘s Palme d’Or winning “Anatomy of a Fall” picked up top accolades at the 29th Lumiere Awards, France’s equivalent to the Golden Globes, at a ceremony held Monday at the Forum des Images in Paris. While Triet lost the best director nod to Thomas Cailley for his supernatural family drama “The Animal Kingdom,” “Anatomy of a Fall” won best film, actress for Sandra Huller, and screenplay for Triet and Arthur Harari.

EXCLUSIVE: Gilmore Girls fans will be doing internal — and external — cartwheels over this news: Yanic Truesdale, who played the scene-stealing sarcastic concierge Michel Gerard on the beloved WB/CW series, has joined Gilmore Girls executive producers’ next series, Étoile.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been seeing reports of several films making their debuts at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. However, we haven’t really gotten a full picture of the festival just yet.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Dahomey,” a documentary directed by Cannes prizewinner Mati Diop (“Atlantique”) and slated for the Berlinale competition, will be represented internationally by Paris-based Les Films du Losange. The feature marks the directorial comeback of the French-Senegalese talent after winning the Grand Prize at Cannes with “Atlantique” in 2019.

Qatar‘s Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced the recipient projects for its fall 2023 grants cycle, featuring 44 films by first and second-time directors hailing from 32 countries. (scroll down for full list)

Callum McLennan Tenerife’s Bendita Film Sales has picked up worldwide sales for “Memories of a Burning Body,” a hybrid-doc just selected for the Berlinale Panorama. Directed by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, the Costa Rican writer-director-producer, this is her second film following the critically acclaimed “The Awakening of the Ants.” Her debut film, which premiered at Berlinale 2019, was the Costa Rican entry for the Academy Awards and received global recognition, including a Goya Award nomination, and Costa Rica’s first Platino Award.

Naman Ramachandran Los Angeles-based independent film studio XYZ Films has hired Celine Lin as senior VP of international sales and distribution. Lin will spearhead the company’s distribution and licensing strategy across the Asia Pacific region and in select European markets. She will report to XYZ president of international sales and distribution, Tatyana Joffe.

The Berlinale has announced the full line-ups of its Panorama, Forum and Generation sidebars for the 74th edition running from February 15 to 24. (scroll down for full list)

The British Film Institute has revealed the list of TV, film, and animation companies that have won funding from its latest £3.3M ($4.2M) Global Screen Fund payout.

Ben Croll Capping a growth year that saw Gallic productions draw 37. 4 million global theatrical admissions for a total of $254 million in international receipts, producers and sales agents indicated that geopolitical tensions and eco-responsible transformation would be two of the major stressors on France’s film export business in the months to come.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Debbie Harry, lead singer of Blondie, will be among those taking part in on-stage talks at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which runs Jan. 25 to Feb.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Treasure,” a father-daughter road trip drama starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, has sold worldwide rights to Bleecker Street and FilmNation Entertainment. The movie, formerly titled “Iron Box,” will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Bleecker Street and FilmNation Entertainment, which recently teamed on “Waitress: The Musical,” will co-distribute the movie theatrically later this year in the U.S.

Annika Pham Paris-based The Party Film Sales has boarded renowned Icelandic auteur Rúnar Rúnarsson’s fourth pic, “When the Light Breaks,” which is selected for Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market’s works in progress session.Rúnarsson serves as producer together with Heather Millard of Iceland’s Compass Films, in co-production with local banner Halibut, Holland’s Revolver, France’s Eaux Vives/Jour2Fête and Croatia’s MP Film. Lauded for his coming-of age tales set against Iceland’s majestic scenery, Rúnarsson saw his international breakthrough in 2008 with his Oscar-nominated short “Two Birds.” Since then, he has delivered equally poetic fare in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2011 entry “Volcano,” San Sebastian 2015 winner “Sparrows “ and 2019 Valladolid and Lübeck fest winner “Echo.” As in his earlier works, Rúnarsson was inspired by a personal event for “When the Light Breaks”.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Newen Connect has closed a raft of sales on “Kina & Yuk,” a live action family adventure from the team behind “Ailo’s Journey,” ahead of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase. Directed by Guillaume Maidatchevsky (“Ailo’s Journey”), the feature is a wild arctic tale following two foxes who are separated by the melting polar ice and must overcome a number of dangers in the hope of being reunited and raise a family together. The movie was released in French theaters by UGC on Dec.

Martin Dale Contributor Founded in 2012, Paris-based WTFilms, run by Gregory Chambet and Dimitri Stephanides, has built a strong reputation as a sales agent for break-out genre pics and has recently diversified into production, to access hit projects. As competition ramps up for more ambitious projects with strong theatrical potential, Chambet decided to move to Los Angeles in mid-2023, while Stephanides remains based in Paris. “At WTFilms, we aim to continue to work on both sides of the Atlantic,” explains Chambet.

Ben Croll This week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris will kick off with the Tuesday night world premiere of Pascal Bonitzer’s “Auction” – a ripped-from-the-headlines ensemble drama set in the crosshairs of high art and high finance. Produced by SBS Productions (“Last Summer,” “Elle”) and sold by Pyramide International, the art-world saga follows – among others – a hotshot auctioneer (Alex Lutz, “Vortex”), his less-than-reliable assistant (Louise Chevillotte, “Benedetta”), and the working class bloke (Arcadi Radeff, “Passages”) who sets the narrative in motion upon realizing that his erstwhile innocuous wall art bears the signature of Egon Schiele.

EXCLUSIVE: Grasshopper Film and streaming platform DOCUMENTARY+ have acquired North American rights to the Oscar-shortlisted feature Apolonia, Apolonia, a deal announced as the nomination voting window opens for the 96th Academy Awards.

EXCLUSIVE: Even as they continue to develop the final chapter in its main Star Trek series, Paramount is looking to expand on the IPs universe as it has tapped Toby Haynes to direct a new film that expands on the Star Trek universe with Seth Grahame-Smith penning the script. J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot is producing and sources tell Deadline that while plot details are being kept under wraps this project is an origin story that takes place decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film. Insiders go on to add the final chapter in the main series, Star Trek 4 remains in active development.