Goodfellas Launches Sports Sales Label OUI MICHEL With Cannes Doc ‘Nasty’

Christopher Vourlias There’s a scene early in the documentary “Nasty,” a rollicking portrait of the ’70s Romanian tennis bad boy Ilie Năstase, where the Grand Slam champion’s mentor and longtime doubles partner Ion Țiriac recalls teaching Năstase how to ski. The young prodigy was a fast study — perhaps too fast. “He skied down perfectly,” says Țiriac, “except he ran into the fence because I hadn’t taught him to stop.” You’d be hard-pressed to find a better metaphor for the free-wheeling, fast-living Năstase, a “wild child,” “rock star” and “insolent, elegant, angry, whimsical bon vivant” who makes a fitting subject for the documentary, which was directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D.

Annika Pham According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, Switzerland is ranked third in Europe for its yearly output of documentaries, with more than 70 titles in 2023. On May 19, it will unveil four of its most promising features at the Swiss Cannes Docs Showcase. The event is jointly organized by the national promotional agency Swiss Films, Visions du Réel —the country’s sole non-fiction film festival—and Cannes Docs.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Paolo Sorrentino is back in Cannes for the seventh time with “Parthenope,” a love letter to his native Naples but also, as he puts it, a film about his “missed youth” that comes as a natural follow-up to his autobiographical “The Hand of God.” Perhaps more significantly, “Parthenope” – an epic spanning several decades – is Sorrentino’s first female-centric film. Why? “In thinking of a modern hero, it came naturally to me that it would be a heroine, not a man,” he tells Variety. Let’s start with the film’s titular protagonist, Parthenope. Of course, Neapolitans in Italy are also known as “Parthenopeans.” My impression is that, after returning from Rome to Naples to make “The Hand of God,’ your native city drew you further back into its fold. It’s a bit more complex, actually, not necessarily just linked to Naples.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Oliver Stone is talking about “Lula,” his new documentary about Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, when the conversation turns to American politics. The conspiracy-minded director, who’s never seen a grassy knoll without glimpsing a second gunman on it, is drawing an analogy between Lula’s political travails, involving a corruption investigation that led to a 580-day prison stint, and those of Donald Trump. That’s when the film’s publicist interjects and politely tries to steer the topic back to the documentary.

Anna Marie de la Fuente With Maite Alberdi, twice Oscar nominated for her last two docus, “The Eternal Memory” and “The Mole Agent,” and Tana Gilbert whose feature debut “Malqueridas” won the Grand Prize at Venice’s Critics’ Week, Chilean documentaries are having a banner year. Five documentaries participate in the May 20 Chilean Docs-in-Progress Showcase at the Marché du Film’s docu section, Cannes Docs.

UPDATE, with Scheffler statement: Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 golfer, arrived at Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club following his arrest and detainment this morning, reportedly making his tee walk to chants from onlookers of “Scottie! Scottie! Scottie!” and “Free Scottie!”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Female stunt performer Wiriya Caesar will step up into the lead performer role in upcoming Thai action film “The 24.” The film project is being launched this week in the Cannes Market by new international sales firm Boz Pictures. Wiriya (aka Porntip Wiriya, aka “Fan”) has previously been a stunt double for Mary-Elizabeth Winstead in “Kate” and Golshifteh Farahani in “Extraction,” and has other credits on “Thirteen Lives” and “Hidden Strike.” In “The 24” she will star as an assassin who wakes up with a time bomb strapped to her body. She has clear instructions to kill a hit list of 24 members of the Bangkok underground, with each successful hit buying her more time alive. Caesar is joined in the cast by Japan’s Sakaguchi Tak (“Re:Born,” “One Percenter,” “Versus”), Dan Chupong (“Ong Bak 1 &2,” “Born to Fight”), Sunny Pang (“The Night Comes for Us,” “Headshot” and Gareth Evans’ upcoming “Havoc”) and Simon Kook (“Ip Man 3,” “Mayhem”). The film, which will shoot in the fourth quarter of this year, is written and directed by Lee Thongkham (“The Maid,” “The Lake,” “Kitty the Killer”).

EXCLUSIVE: Natalie Portman has joined the voice cast for French director Ugo Bienvenu’s upcoming animated feature Arco about a boy who uses rainbows to travel through time and his adventures as he gets stuck in the wrong era.

Sam Claflin and Rupert Friend will star in Thunder Road Pictures’ World War II action-thriller Perdition. Written and directed by Henry Dunham, principal photography is set for the fall.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Pan-Arab distributor Mad Solutions is expanding operations by setting up Mad World, a Dubai-based company dedicated to selling Arab movies internationally that will officially launch in Cannes. Touted as Arab cinema‘s first global sales outfit, Mad World segues from Mad Solution’s first foray in the international distribution arena last year with Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia” which they sold widely after it’s splashy launch from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section.

EXCLUSIVE: After clinching the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2019 with her debut fiction feature Atlantics, French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop had one burning desire. 

EXCLUSIVE: A new series-focused festival is set to hit the calendar this fall. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has signed with Neopol Film to handle international sales for their upcoming creature horror thriller, “Paws.” Featuring polar bear creature animatronics from the renowned studio behind “Star Wars” and “Jurassic World,” the film tells the story of a climate researcher stranded in the Arctic who must forge an unlikely alliance with a polar bear in order to survive. The project will feature a stellar international cast, yet to be announced.

Following 118 days on strike, SAG-AFTRA secured a deal with the studios that was worth over $1B that it said had ““unprecedented provisions”.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Films Boutique has taken world sales rights to documentary “Elementary,” directed by Claire Simon, ahead of the film’s world premiere in the Special Screenings section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film was shot at the Makarenko public elementary school on the outskirts of Paris.

Jay Electronica has shared numerous cryptic tweets, suggesting that he supports Drake in his current feud against Kendrick Lamar.Over the past month, Lamar and Drake have been trading blows over a constant back-and-forth of diss tracks. The latest escalation came over the weekend with ‘Meet the Grahams’, when Lamar alleged that Drake is a sexual predator with a secret daughter.Then, Drake dropped his new diss track ‘The Heart Part 6’, on which the Canadian rapper suggested that Lamar’s disses are based on false information fed to him by Drake’s team.Weeks ago, Louisiana rapper Jay Electronica shared two tweets which fans think is his way of saying he supports Drake in the feud.

EXCLUSIVE: Goodfellas has acquired international rights for French director Gaël Morel’s drama To Live, To Die, To Live Again (Vivre, Mourir, Renaître) set against the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s, ahead of its world premiere in Cannes.

Slipknot have announced their ‘Here Comes The Pain’ 25th anniversary US tour with Knocked Loose and more.The legendary heavy metal band are set to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1999 self-titled debut album. The North American leg of their ‘Here Comes The Pain’ tour will see the masked members make stops in major cities such as Baltimore, New York City, Toronto, Ridgefield, Inglewood, Austin, Dallas and more before wrapping up in their hometown of Des Moines, Iowa for Knotfest.Knocked Loose, Orbit Culture and Vended will all serve as opening support on select dates.

Nuremberg,” a historical thriller set in post-war Germany, will launch its sales through WME Independent at the Cannes Film Festival next month. The film stars Russell Crowe, Rami Malek and Michael Shannon. Richard E.

Britney Spears has claimed that there is “no justice” after being left to foot the bill of $2million in legal fees following her conservatorship battle.A judge ruled that Spears should be made to pay the legal fees of her estranged father, Jamie, following the battle around her conservatorship – with the costs amounting to the equivalent of £1.6million.The period ranges between 2008 and 2021, when the pop star was under her father’s strict conservatorship, and the judge’s ruling brings an end to the long-running dispute.