‘Gagarine’: Cannes Film Review

For a debut feature, writer-director Charlène Favier’s powerful coming-of-age sports drama Slalom couldn't come at a more timely moment.

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticEye-popping action steals the show in “Lupin III: The First,” the first computer-animated feature entry in the classic franchise about the French gentleman thief and master of disguise.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorEXCLUSIVE: Pablo Larrain’s Princess Diana movie Spencer, which is set to star Kristen Stewart as the former royal, was a hot seller for FilmNation out of the Cannes virtual market.The New York-based firm all but sold out on the project, closing deals for the UK, France, Italy and Benelux (STX Entertainment), Germany and Switzerland (DCM), Australia/NZ (Roadshow), Latin America, Spain and Portugal (Sun), South Korea (Green Narae) and Japan (Tohokushina).Buyers

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentCannes’s virtual Marché du Film, which wrapped on June 26, attracted more than 10,002 participants over the course of five days. The U.S.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterThe Cannes Marche du Film Online, which hosted its first ever digital edition last week, has revealed that it had 10,002 participants take part in its virtual marketplace.The largest delegation came from the U.S., which saw 1,500 participants log on, followed by France (1,400) and the UK (950). The majority of the overall pool were European (5,900).

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentCharades has closed a raft of sales on the French comedy “The Speech” which is part of Cannes 2020’s Official Selection and is screening at Cannes’ virtual Marché du Film.“The Speech” is adapted from Fabcaro’s novel “Le discours,” and is directed by Laurent Tirard, the popular French helmer of “Little Nicholas” and “Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia.” The movie is one of five comedies which are part of Cannes’ official selection.“The Speech” tells

Andreas Wiseman International EditorAGC has closed a raft of Cannes virtual market deals on Nick Jonas-Laurence Fishburne action-thriller The Blacksmith.Sizeable pre-sales have closed in Germany & Switzerland (Constantin), France (Metropolitan), UK (Entertainment Film), Latin America (CDC & CVT), Russia (Paradise/MGN) and South Korea & Vietnam (Joy’N’Content).Pacts have also been sealed with Benelux (The Searchers), Greece (Odeon), Middle East (Salim Raima), Eastern Europe (Prorom), Asian Pay TV

After launching in France in 2014 with rather disappointing numbers, Netflix has since become a major contender, with nearly 7 million subscribers at the start of the year and probably many more after a lengthy COVID lockdown this past spring.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Paris-based sales co Reel Suspects has added a late title to its slate for this week’s Cannes virtual Marche.Une Dernière Fois (One Last Time) is the debut feature of Olympe de G, a successful director of commercials and music videos in France, including for band Christine And The Queens.The pic follows a 69-year-old woman who refuses to age in a society that doesn’t take care of elderly people.

Ed Meza @edmezavarLa Fabrique Cinéma, the French support program aimed at young filmmakers from emerging countries, presented a wide-ranging showcase of works from around the world at the Cannes online market on Tuesday, among them new works by Iranian filmmaker Keywann Karimi (“Drum”) and Thai helmer Sompot Chidgasornpongse (“Railway Sleepers”).They are among 10 filmmakers taking part in the Institut Français’ La Fabrique Cinéma program, presenting projects in various stages of development

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentBeta Cinema has closed numerous deals on its Cannes virtual market slate, spearheaded by all-rights deals on Berlin competition entries “Berlin Alexanderplatz” to Le Pacte for France and “My Little Sister” to Weltkino for Germany, as well as “The Auschwitz Report” to Signature Entertainment in the U.K./Ireland.As well as the French deal, Burhan Qurbani’s new adaptation of Alfred Döblin’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz” was picked up by distributors in

Andreas Wiseman International EditorEXCLUSIVE: CAA has signed Greek director Christos Nikou, whose debut feature Apples is on sales this week in the Cannes virtual market.French sales outfit Alpha Violet is handling international sales on the Euro co-pro, which is produced by Hercules Mavroeidis, who produced acclaimed Greek movie Attenberg and was an executive producer on Yorgos Lanthimos’s Dogtooth.

Emilio Mayorga Pablo Stoll’s “Summer Hit,”  Matías Lucchessi’s “Las rojas,”  Joaquín Peñagaricano and Pablo Abdala’s “Mateína” are some of the Uruguayan projects at different stages participating in a spotlight at Cannes’ Producers Network on the Marché du Film’s digital platform on Tuesday 23.Five Uruguayan companies, Tarkiofilm, Cimarrón, Montelona, Nadador and Salado, have been selected by the country’s national film body ICAU to pitch their production slates at the new format French

Of all the reigning dynasties in international football — or soccer, as America still likes to call it — perhaps one of the least known is that of Olympique Lyonnais (OL), a team based out of France’s third largest city, Lyon. Since 2011, OL has won a collective 26 national and European titles: thirteen French Championships, seven French Cups and six Champions League titles, including a record four in a row from 2016 to 2019.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentParis-based sales company Totem Films has unveiled a teaser for “Gagarine,” a feature debut by Fanny Liatard and Jeremy Trouilh which is part of Cannes’ Official Selection. Totem Films will be hosting two virtual market screening at Cannes’ online Marché du Film that kicks off on Monday.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Star Wars star Daisy Ridley and Brit national treasure Stephen Fry have boarded the voice cast of The Inventor, a feature stop-motion animation about Leonardo da Vinci written and directed by Jim Capobianco, the Oscar-nominated scribe of Ratatouille.Fry will voice da Vinci and Ridley will be the French Princess Marguerite.

Earlier this year, it was expected that Naomi Kawase was going to make her return to Cannes, where she has screened a number of her films over the years, to premiere her highly-anticipated drama, “True Mothers.” Unfortunately, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, “True Mothers” won’t get to premiere in France, but it was recently added to the list of Cannes 2020 Official Selections.

By Andreas Wiseman

Pixar’s “Soul,” Wes Anderson’s star-packed “The French Dispatch” and Steve McQueen’s “Mangrove” and Lover’s Rock” are among the 56 movies which will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of the festival’s eclectic Official Selection.

The selections for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival have been announced despite this year’s live event being cancelled.