France’s Series Mania Pushed Back To August

For LGBTQ people in Chechnya, life has become a nightmare.

The two most mature and emotionally insightful seven-year-old girls you’ve ever encountered in your life are the subjects of Petite Maman. Magnetically attentive to the serious “things of life,” as the French put it, Céline Sciamma’s 72-minute study of an intense brief friendship between two girls of extraordinary similar looks prioritizes insight and emotional awareness over any artificial plot constructs. The result is a piercingly satisfying chamber drama with a lovely intimate feel.

Neon has scooped up North American rights to Céline Sciamma’s sixth feature directorial Petite Maman, bringing the Oscar-winning film studio back in business with the French filmmaker behind 2019’s award-winning pic Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Already there is great word of mouth brewing from critics on Sciamma’s new title out of its world premiere at the Berlinale.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNeon has acquired North American rights to Céline Sciamma’s latest feature, “Petite Maman,” following its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.The sale reunites Sciamma with Neon, the New York-based independent studio that released her acclaimed drama “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.”Written and directed by Sciamma, “Petite Maman” follows 8-year-old Nelly, who loses her beloved grandmother and goes to help her parents clean out her mother’s childhood home.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic“Give me a child until he is 7, and I will show you the man,” proposed Aristotle, to which fiercely feminist French director Céline Sciamma might add, “Give me a woman, and I will show you the free, unbroken spirit she still was at age 8.”Sciamma, who went from being a queer cult favorite (for such bracingly free indies as “Tomboy” and “Water Lilies”) to an internationally respected auteur with 2019’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” follows up that barrier-breaking

Prepare for a show like nothing you’ve ever heard before.

Netflix has given a series order for a new animated take on classic comic-book franchiseAsterix & Obelix. The streaming giant is teaming with French publisher Hachette’s Les Editions Albert René on a French-language limited series based on the graphic novel series about the two eponymous Gauls who, with the help of a magic potion, fight the Roman occupation of Europe.

Naman Ramachandran Iconic French comic book character Asterix is all set for a new chapter on Netflix along with French director, screenwriter and actor Alain Chabat.The streamer is partnering with leading French publisher Hachette’s Les Editions Albert René to create a 3D animated limited series based on the classic.

Netflix has partnered with Hachette’s Les Editions Albert René and playwright Alain Chabat to create the first-ever animated limited series based on the iconic French comic book character Asterix.

EntertainmentOne, the Hasbro-owned studio behind Peppa Pig, has greenlit a new pre-school series superhero series. Kiya will launch in 2023 across linear and streaming platforms including Disney Jr., Disney + globally, and France Télévisions.

EXCLUSIVE: NBC’s sci-fi drama Debris, starring Jonathan Tucker and Riann Steele, from Almost Human creator J.H. Wyman, has landed its first international sales.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticThough there haven’t been a lot of movies about it, the tentacles of Italy-based organized crime duly reach above Scorsese territory to the even-more-frequently-Frozen North. If not for the French dialogue, however, you wouldn’t necessarily know “Mafia Inc” were taking place in Quebec, or even Canada, so familiar and insular is the brutal syndicate business depicted here.

Movistar Plus will release its big new banner series, Enrique Urbizu’s historical adventure “Libertad,” day-and-date on March 26 on both its pay-SVOD platform and in Spanish theaters.Theatrical distribution in Spain on “Libertad,” which is set in early 19th century Spain just after the French Revolution, will be handled by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films.Beta Film has international distribution rights on the series, produced by Movistar Plus with Gonzalo Sálazar-Simpson’s LaZona, which

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentCanal Plus and Sky Studios have teamed up on Spaghetti Western TV series “Django” with production set to start in May and German actor Matthias Schoenaerts (“Bullhead”) in the title role.Co-produced by Italy’s Cattleya, which is controlled by ITV, and France’s Atlantique Productions, “Django” is being described as a high-concept English-language reimagining of the cult 1966 Sergio Corbucci Western that launched the career of Italian icon Franco Nero,

Sally Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, was one of the major hits of the first lockdown, turning its stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal into household names. Now, excitement is building for the dramatisation of Rooney’s debut work, Conversations With Friends, which is premiering on BBC Three in 2022.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe series based on Sally Rooney’s book “Conversations With Friends” has cast Alison Oliver, Sasha Lane, Joe Alwyn, and Jemima Kirke in four lead roles, Variety has learned.The Hulu-BBC Three series follows Frances (Oliver), a 21 year old college student, as she navigates a series of relationships that force her to confront her own vulnerabilities for the first time. Frances is observant, cerebral and sharp.