French Cinema Represented By Almost 30 Productions at Venice Film Festival

Rebecca Davis editorDirector Chloe Zhao’s 2017 film “The Rider” has been approved to screen in China via a limited theatrical release through the country’s National Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas, the org said on Tuesday. A specific release date has not yet been set.Zhao is fresh off her win of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, where her road movie “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, garnered her sweeping acclaim and the top prize.

VENICE, Italy -- Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” a recession-era road trip drama starring Frances McDormand, won the Golden Lion for best film Saturday at a slimmed-down Venice Film Festival, which was held against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.Zhao and McDormand appeared by video from the United States to accept the award, given virus-related travel restrictions made reaching the Lido in the Italian lagoon city difficult if not impossible for many Hollywood filmmakers and actors.“Thank you

Vanessa Paradis makes her way down the red carpet while arriving at the closing ceremony of the 2020 Deauville American Film Festival on Saturday (September 12) in Deauville, France.

Nomadland, Chloé Zhao's look at America's van-dwelling community, starring Frances McDormand, has won the Golden Lion for best film at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. McDormand plays a widow from a collapsed Nevada mining town who finds new life on the road in Zhao's film, based on Jessica Bruder's 2017 nonfiction book, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century.

By Hanna RantalaVENICE (Reuters) - "Nomadland", a U.S.

Frances McDormand and Chloe Zhao are two names you’ll probably be hearing throughout the upcoming awards season!

Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland”, a recession-era road trip drama starring Frances McDormand, won the Golden Lion for best film Saturday at the Venice Film Festival, held against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

Guy Lodge Film CriticOne day after premiering and receiving the most rapturous reviews of any film in competition, U.S.-based Chinese director Chloé Zhao has won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival for her film “Nomadland,” a documentary-influenced road movie starring Frances McDormand as an itinerant widow traveling across America.

Guy Lodge Film CriticOn the final night of the Venice Film Festival, the awards ceremony of the official selection is currently in progress.Prizes will be handed out in the virtual reality and debut feature contests, before winners in the Horizons section, under the jury presidency of French filmmaker Claire Denis, are announced.

Lise Pedersen “Harvest” (“Jana”) by Lebanese artist and filmmaker Ely Dagher is one of six films from Africa and the Middle East selected for the Final Cut section in Venice Film Festival industry event, Venice Production Bridge.The film’s producers at France’s indie outfit Andolfi are hoping to pick up prizes in Venice, in kind or in cash, that will allow them to fill their funding gap and wrap up post-production by the end of the year, with the goal of returning to Cannes in 2021.Dagher won

Covid-19 pandemic and the strict safety measures put in place by festival organisers was not enough to put them off."I know they disinfect the seats inside the cinemas," one festivalgoer told FRANCE 24 as he waited for the stars to arrive.

Vanessa Paradis wears a black mask just before stepping on the red carpet for the opening ceremony at the 2020 Deauville American Film Festival on Friday (September 4) in Deauville, France.

Ben Croll When he came onboard as artistic director at the Deauville American Film Festival in 1995, Bruno Barde went about retooling the event.He started by introducing the official competition — to showcase new voices in American independent cinema before a predominantly French jury — and thought to make his vision for the festival clear with an unmistakable visual.“I saw us as a French perspective on American cinema,” Barde says.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentDaniele Luchetti’s “The Ties” (“Lacci”), the first Italian film to open the Venice Film Festival in 11 years, garnered warm reviews on its world premiere on Wednesday evening, and has been sold by MK2 Films in a raft of territories around the world.MK2 Films has been able to lure major distributors in key markets, notably France (Pyramide), Spain (Caramel), Latin America (Synapse), China (Huanxi), Portugal (Midas), Greece (Weirdwave), Austria (Thim),

A spot in competition at the Venice Film Festival can launch careers and Oscar winners, but in recent years, films directed by women have been mostly excluded from vying for the coveted Golden Lion.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe 77th Venice Film Festival kicks off tomorrow, with Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Matt Dillon, and France’s Ludivine Sagnier among international stars expected on the social-distanced red carpet that will open the first major post coronavirus physical film event packed with plenty of symbolic significance.Just as the release of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster spy thriller “Tenet” is now considered a post-pandemic turning point for exhibitors, Venice

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentRussian World War II drama “Saving Leningrad” has sold to several major territories, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and China.The film was sold to Capelight for Germany and the U.S., Signature Entertainment for the U.K., Kinovista in France, New Select in Japan, iQIYI in China, Super Vision Trading in Taiwan, W&W Investments Holding in Poland, Eagle Pictures in Italy, Studio Show Entertainment in Sweden, and

Naman Ramachandran This week, French actor Juliette Binoche wins Zurich’s Icon Award, Grasshopper takes “The American Sector” for North America, “Killing Eve” writer Rob Williams creates “Screw” for the U.K.’s Channel 4, and the World Economic Forum at Davos is postponed.The 16th annual Zurich Film Festival, running from Sept. 24 to Oct.

Ben Croll When Quentin Dupieux’s “Mandibles,” a buddy comedy about two bumbling dolts and a giant CGI bug, premieres out of competition at the  Venice Film Festival on Sept.