France Televisions’ Manuel Alduy Unveils Pubcaster’s Prestige International Shows, Greater Gender Parity (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAudrey Diwan’s Venice’s Golden Lion prize-winning “Happening,” has won France’s Alice Guy Award for the best female-directed French film of the year.The Alice Guy Prize, which was named in honor of the first female helmer, was created by veteran film journalist Veronique Le Bris in 2018 to highlight the work of women directors. The other four movies which were vying for the prize were Aissa Maiga’s lushly-lensed documentary feature “Marcher sur l’eau” and Catherine Corsini’s timely social drama “La fracture” which world premiered at last year’s Cannes in the official selection; as well as Aurélie Saada’s uplifting dramedy “Rose” and Charlène Favier’s “Slalom,” a coming-of-age film set in the world of competitive skiing.

Loved-up Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz tied the knot yesterday in a stunning ceremony which cost an estimated £3million.The pair wed at Nicola's family estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in a traditional Jewish ceremony with 300 star-studded guests.Today the couple will likely be celebrating their first full day as man and wife, but details of their upcoming honeymoon are still under wraps. During a game of 'Mr & Mrs' with British Vogue, the couple revealed some intimate and fun details about themselves and their relationship. Brooklyn revealed his favourite meal would be a pint of prawns, followed by pie and mash and spotted dick.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGaumont, the powerhouse behind “Narcos,” “Lupin” and “Barbarians,” has boarded “Le Prince,” a period mystery thriller series written by Charles den Tex and Paul de Vrijer (“Hunter Street”). Currently in development, “Le Prince” will be produced by Gaumont, as well as Stories, a label launched by France TV Distribution, and Dutch producers Paradise Media.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorFeature documentary “The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft,” directed by German filmmaker Werner Herzog and distributed by Abacus Media Rights, has been acquired by Arte for France and Germany.In addition, ahead of its official launch at MipTV in Cannes, AMR has pre-sold the feature, about French volcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft, to BBC Storyville for the U.K., DR in Denmark, SVT in Sweden and NRK in Norway.Written, directed and narrated by Herzog, “The Fire Within” pays homage to the Kraffts, who left an archive of more than 200 hours of footage.Herzog has produced, written and directed more than 60 narrative and documentary feature films, including “Grizzly Man,” “Invincible,” “Encounters at the End of the World” and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams.” He was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2009. The film is produced by Brian Leith Productions, Bonne Pioche and Titan Films.

Emiliano De Pablos Emmy Award-winning French toon production-distribution label Dandelooo has clinched a deal with pubcaster France Télévisions for Spanish award-winning 2D animated series “Jasmine & Jambo.”Targeting both upper preschoolers and parents, and bursting with musical notes and humor, “Jasmine & Jambo” is a 27-part series, produced by Barcelona-based company Teidees and Catalan broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya.Directed by Teidees co-founder Silvia Cortés, the show won best international series at the Festival Ecran Jeunesse and was nominated for the Quality in Children’s TV Worldwide award at Prix Jeunesse International.Ensuring a premier broadcast platform, “Jasmine & Jambo” will join the France Télévisions kids and family lineup, available first on streamer Okko from the Fete de la Musique – Music Day – in France on June 21. Also, onboard to bring the music series to Canadian kids are educational networks TFO and Knowledge.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“Theodosia,” the Egyptology-themed adventure series which just premiered on HBO Max in the U.S., has been acquired by BBC, along with a bevy of other partners.Produced by Cottonwood Media, “Theodosia” is represented in international markets by ZDF Studios and Federation Kids & Family, a subsidiary of Federation Entertainment.“Theodosia” follows a smart and bold 14-year-old named Theodosia Throckmorton (aka Theo) who is the daughter of two intrepid Egyptologists excavating in the Valley of the Kings. When Theo and her younger brother Henry stumble upon a hidden tomb and a mysterious artefact, the ‘Eye of Horus’, Theo unlocks the power to see and perform true magic, thus discovering a whole new world of mystery as well as danger.

Ben Croll Up until a few short years ago, French scripted dramas offered terrestrial viewers and international buyers the same steady promise: Be they criminal investigators or 17th-century dukes, rarely would a series’ cast skew too young.“Traditional French broadcasters served a somewhat old­er set of viewers,” says Series Mania artistic director Frederic Lavigne. “And they oriented their programming toward that public.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has the first exclusive track from Jeff Danna’s score for Julia, which is set for release tomorrow via Watertower Music.

Netflix is partnering with sporting events organizer A.S.O. on a documentary series about the 2022 Tour de France cycling race. With the participation of France Télévisions and produced by Quadbox, the series will follow the journey of eight teams taking part in the most world’s most challenging bike race.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGaining ground on the field of live sports, Netflix is teaming up with with A.S.O. to create a documentary series on the Tour de France 2022, with the participation of France Télévisions.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentRussian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov — the director of Cannes competition titles “Leto” and “Petrov’s Flu” — has left the country following the end of a three-year travel ban, and has arrived in Paris.A picture of the iconoclastic Russian helmer popped up on social media on Wednesday. In the pic, Serebrennikov wears a T-shirt that reads “I turn the TV off,” which alludes to the propaganda flooding Russian TV since the invasion of Ukraine on Feb.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFrench-American podcast network Paradiso Media has unveiled a trio of prestige podcast shows, “Wild Whispers,” “STYX” and “Conference Call” with high-profile talent, including Jeff Ward (“Hacks”), Gregory Stees (“Funny or Die”) and Elizabeth Henstridge (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).”All three shows were presented at Series Mania’s”IP Pitch: Podcast to Screen” session where Paradiso Media was out in force. “Conference Call” is a new scripted startup parody podcast adapted from Paradiso’s own hit French podcast “Conf Call” which was released in Europe on Deezer.

Wilson Chapman editorGolden Lion winner “Happening” will open the 2022 New Directors/New Films Festival, Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art announced Tuesday.Now in its 51st year, the New Directors/New Films Festival screens the best films made by young filmmakers, many of which tend to be their debut features. The festival has served as an early showcase for many notable directors, including Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kelly Reichardt, Pedro Almodóvar, Spike Lee, Lynne Ramsay, Michael Haneke, Wong Kar Wai, Guillermo del Toro and Luca Guadagnino.

The head of France Télévisions Delphine Ernotte Cunci has said she “wouldn’t personally have applied censorship” to Russian news networks.

Guy Lodge Film CriticA decade ago, when his documentary “How to Survive a Plague” rode a wave of festival acclaim to an Oscar nomination, journalist-turned-filmmaker David France probably didn’t imagine that a similarly titled quasi-sequel was in the cards. A superb overview of the early years of HIV-AIDS activism in the face of political indifference and ineptitude — ultimately leading to game-changing medication and pharmaceutical policy change — that film has given France a solid grounding for another feature-length study of very different if somewhat comparable global health crisis, centered on the COVID-19 pandemic and the extraordinarily accelerated scientific race for a solution.Researched and assembled with his characteristic intelligence and thoroughness, “How to Survive a Pandemic” serves as both a valuable potted history of the last two years of medical tumult and relief, and a critical progress report marking work yet to be done. Hardly the first high-profile documentary on the pandemic, but the most substantial yet to focus specifically on the trajectory of the vaccine, France’s film is assured a receptive audience when it bows on HBO next week, following docfest premiere slots in Thessaloniki and Copenhagen.