Films Boutique Unveils Cannes Roster, Including Un Certain Regard Titles ‘Terrestrial Verses,’ ‘Buriti Flower,’ Critics Week-Bound ‘Tiger Stripes’ (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Actor Esai Morales is in negotiations to star in the action thriller Shadow, which XYZ Films has boarded and will introduce to buyers this week in Cannes.

Naman Ramachandran German writer-director Anna Roller’s feature debut “Dead Girls Dancing” is set to launch at the Cannes film market. Totem Films is handling international sales while WME Independent is looking after U.S. sales. The film will have a premiere co-hosted by the Tribeca Film Festival and the Munich International Film Festival in June. The film follows recent high school graduates Ira, Malin and Ka on a road trip across Italy who pick up the intriguing backpacker Zoe. As the four girls stumble across an abandoned village, they start to experiment with the limits of their newly found freedom, away from the expectations of their parents and teachers.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off a successful collaboration on “Charlatan,” Films Boutique has boarded Agnieszka Holland’s next film “The Green Border,” which just completed principal photography in Poland. Now in post production, “The Green Border” tells the fateful story of a family of Syrian refugees, a solitary English teacher from Afghanistan and a young border guard, all of whom meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis triggered by President Lukaschenko opening doors to migrants in Belarus as a back door to enter the EU.  The screenplay, penned by Holland, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko and Maciej Pisuk, is inspired by real events. Research for the film included hundreds of hours of document analysis, interviews with refugees, border guards, borderland residents, activists and experts.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International “Emily” star Emma Mackey has joined the cast of “Hot Milk,” the adaptation of the bestselling novel by Deborah Levy. The BAFTA nominee will lead the cast alongside Fiona Shaw (“Killing Eve”), Vicky Krieps (“Corsage”), Vincent Perez (“Shantaram”) and Patsy Ferran (“Living”). HanWay Films has worldwide sales rights and will shop the pic to buyers in Cannes next week. “Hot Milk” marks the directorial debut of award-winning writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz (“She Said,” “Ida,” “Colette”). It will start shooting in July in Greece in co-production with Heretic Films.

Naman Ramachandran The BFI and British Council have unveiled the eight new British films that will be presented to international distributors and festival programmers at the Cannes film market as part of the annual Great8 showcase. Unseen footage from the films, from first and second time U.K. filmmakers, will be introduced by their filmmakers and screened on May 11. Now in its sixth year, the initiative is in partnership with BBC Film and Film4. Films previously highlighted by Great8 include Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun,” Rungano Nyoni’s “I Am Not A Witch,” Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” and Rose Glass’ “Saint Maud.” Agnieszka Moody, BFI head of international and industry policy, said: “The lineup of films and filmmakers featuring in this year’s Great8 continues to shine a light on the exciting diversity of filmmaker voices and stories continuing to come out of the U.K. We are proud alongside our partners at the British Council, BBC Film and Film4 that our previous selections have been successful for international programmers and distributors, and with audiences worldwide.”

EXCLUSIVE: Seann William Scott (The Wrath Of Becky, American Pie franchise) has signed on to star in The Last Bachelor, a romantic comedy from director Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door, Something Borrowed).

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 Cannes Film Festival has added Jean-Bernard Marlin’s Marseille second feature Salem to its Un Certain Regard line-up devoted to new cinematic voices.

Cannes film festival. He will be joined by French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. actor John C. Reilly will serve as president of the jury of the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes Film Festival. “Salem,” directed by Jean-Bernard Marlin, has been added to the lineup. The other members of the jury will be French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actor Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou, and Belgian actor Émilie Dequenne. The Un Certain Regard section showcases art and discovery films by young auteurs. In a statement, Reilly said: “I have had so many life changing moments at the Festival de Cannes (from my miraculous first trip with Paul Thomas Anderson to celebrating my 50th birthday from the Palais stage!) so to be chosen as the president of Un Certain Regard jury is truly such an incredible honor.”

John C. Reilly will preside over the Un Certain Regard Jury at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, running May 16-27.

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.

Christina Hendricks (Mad Men, The Neon Demon) has signed on to lead the psychological thriller Reckoner, written and directed by Nissar Modi (Z for Zachariah) in his feature directorial debut.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Frédéric Corvez’s Paris-based Urban Sales has boarded “Pictures of Ghosts”, the latest film of renowned Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (“Aquarius”, “Bacurau”). The movie, which marks Mendonça Filho’s fifth feature film, will world premiere at Cannes in the Special Screenings section. “Pictures of Ghosts” will mark the director’s third film to bow at Cannes, following two competition entries, “Bacurau” (co-directed by Juliano Dornelles) which won the Jury Prize n 2019, and “Aquarius” in 2016. “Pictures of Ghosts” combines archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories. The film is produced by Emilie Lesclaux at CinemaScópio Produções and co-produced by Silvia Cruz and Felipe Lopes’ Vitrine Filmes.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agent M-Appeal has come on board to sell “Power Alley,” the debut film by Brazilian filmmaker Lillah Halla, which will world premiere in Cannes’ Critics’ Week, it was announced Tuesday. Set in Brazil, where abortion is illegal, “Power Alley” is a suspense-filled drama tackling one of society’s most divisive issues. The story follows star volleyball player Sofia who is faced with an impossible scenario on the eve of her championship game. Pregnant and panicked, Sofia seeks an illegal abortion but unwittingly becomes a target instead. As the town’s herd-mentality turns violent, Sofia risks being consumed by the fervor – but neither Sofia nor those who love her are willing to surrender.

The Cannes Film Festival has announced a raft of new additions to the Official Selection of its 76th edition running May 16 to 27.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Magnolia Pictures International has acquired worldwide sales rights — including U.S. sales rights — to heist comedy-drama “The Delinquents” from Argentinian writer-director Rodrigo Moreno (“The Custodian”). The film will world premiere as part of the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. In “The Delinquents,” the routine lives of two bank employees, Morán and Román, break down when Morán steals a small fortune from the bank’s vault. On the run, he glimpses a possible alternative to the gray life he’s been living and, in addition, falls in love. But he is forced to choose between this radical alternative and following through on his heist plans, so he resigns himself to a short prison stint. His colleague Román, unwillingly in possession of the stolen money, feels trapped by the secret he’s keeping; his paranoia increases until he too finds a way out, and also discovers a new love. But, bound by their common destiny (highlighted by the similarity of their names), the two protagonists are inevitably drawn together again.

elskes editor Memento International is set to represent global rights to “Omen,” the feature debut of Belgian-Congolese artist-turned filmmaker Baloji Tshiani which is slated to world premiere at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. Tshiani previously directed several short films including “Zombies” which played at the BFI London film festival. Blurring the lines between reality and the realm of dreams, “Omen” follows Kofi, who return to his birthplace after being ostracized by his family. The movie explores the weight of beliefs on one’s destiny through four characters accused of being witches and sorcerers, all of them intertwined and guiding each other into the phantasmagoria of Africa.

France tv distribution has acquired international sales rights on French drama “All To Play For” ahead of its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section in May.

Hungarian director and screenwriter Ildikó Enyedi has been announced as president of the Cannes Film Festival jury deciding the Short Film Palme d’Or and the 3 La Cinef prizes for student films in the Official Selection.