Irish Rap Band Kneecap to be Portrayed in Rich Peppiatt’s Raucous Comedy Slated for GREAT 8 Showcase, Boarded by Charades, Curzon (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Wscripted, the talent platform sourcing women and non-binary writers, has unveiled the nominees for its third Cannes Screenplay List, an initiative launched in partnership with MUBI. The final selection was curated by an inaugural jury of international female filmmakers, including Mounia Meddour (“Papicha”, “Houria”), Funa Maduka (“Waiting for Hassana”), and Camille Griffin (“Silent Night”). The list features 10 English-language and two French-language film projects by women and non-binary screenwriters and celebrates original projects from development to early financing stages.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leading lights of contemporary Iranian cinema, including ‘Holy Spider’ actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi, ‘The Siren’ director Sepideh Farsi, ‘The Opponent’ helmer Milad Alami and producer Kaveh Farnham, turned up at the Cannes Film Festival to raise the alarm on the repression faced by Iranian cinema during a session hosted by Amazon Prime Video’s Sahar Baghery. Iran has been the centerstage of widespread protests driven by women against the Islamic Regime since Mahsa Amini died in police custody for for wearing her hijab too loosely in September 2022. Although the rebellion has garnered vocal support outside of Iran, it hasn’t succeeded in dethroning the Iranian Regime. A number of dissident Iranian filmmakers and talent have been jailed over the last six months, notably Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof who was recently released from prison. Rasoulof was nevertheless banned from leaving Iran to serve on the jury of Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari‘s “Terrestrial Verses,” the sole Iranian film premiering in Cannes’ Official Selection, has been acquired for distribution in key European territories. Represented by Films Boutique, “Terrestrial Verses” has been acquired for France (ARP Selection), Benelux (September Films) and Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen). All three banners are leading distributors in their respective territories. Those deals were closed following the film’s well-received world premiere. “Terrestrial Verses” marks the first collaboration between Khatami and Asgari, who are both acclaimed directors.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France tv distribution has boarded “Christmas Carole” (“Noël au balcon”), a comedy starring Didier Bourdon (“Alibi.com 2”) and Noemie Lvovsky (“Camille Rewinds”). The company has launched sales on the project at the Cannes market. “Christmas Carole” is directed by Jeanne Gottesdiener, and produced by Belga Studios (“Waiting for Banjangles,” “Benedetta”) and Polaris Film Production (“Cease Fire,” “2 Days in New York”), in co-production with M6 Films. Set around Christmas, the movie revolves around a small-town mayoress, Carole, who is helping the inhabitants of her municipality with the festivities while her devoted husband Alain organizes the Christmas Eve celebrations at home. The kids are arriving, soon all hopes of a peaceful Christmas melt away as the family traditions are called into question.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Claude Lelouch, the Oscar-winning director of “A Man and a Woman,” is getting ready to direct “Finalement…,” his next film which he says will be a sort of sequel to his BAFTA-nominated film “Happy New Year” and “L’aventure, l’aventure.” The lighthearted movie will reteam Lelouch with Metropolitan FilmExport which is co-producing with Lelouch’s banner Les Films 13, and will distribute in France. Scored by popular French singer Ibrahim Maalouf, “Finalement…” will boast a large ensemble cast of French stars, including Kad Merad (“Baron Noir”), Elsa Zylberstein (“Simone”), Sandrine Bonnaire, Raphael Mezrahi, Michel Boujenah and Barbara Pravi.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leading French producer Michael Gentile’s Paris-based outfit The Film is about to start shooting Julie Delpy’s next directorial outing, “The Barbarians,” and Laurence Arné’s “Les Hennedricks” starring Dany Boon. Delpy’s comeback to French filmmaking since “Lolo,” “The Barbarians” is a satirical comedy unfolding in a small town in Brittany which is preparing to welcome Ukrainian refugees after voting unanimously to greet them in exchange for subsidies from the government. But instead of seeing Ukrainians come into town, they see Syrian refugees, causing some tensions among locals and testing their liberal beliefs. Delpy will star in the film opposite Sandrine Kiberlain (“Mademoiselle Chambon”), Laurent Lafitte (“Elle”) and Ziad Bakri (“The Weekend Away”), India Hair (“Angry Annie”), Mathieu Demy (“The Bureau”) and Delpy’s father Albert Delpy.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor Marine Delterme has signed with WME and has joined the cast of Park Chan-Wook’s HBO spy series “The Sympathizer” alongside Robert Downey Jr. Delterme, who currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Florian Zeller, the Oscar-winning director of “The Father,” is best known in France for her role in the long-running procedural series “Alice Nevers.” Delterme has also acted in Roland Joffe’s “Vatel,” Mike Figgis’ “Women and Men 2,” and Christian Duguay’s “Coco Chanel.” She also collaborated with directors such as Jean Luc Godard, Manuel Poirier, Benoît Delepine, Philippe Leguay, Raoul Ruiz,  Philippe Harrel, Cyril Collard, Cedrick Klapish, Caroline Champetier, Gerard Oury and Claude Berri.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Kinology has come on board the highly anticipated next film of Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov, “The Disappearance of Josef Mengele,” based on Olivier Guez’s bestselling novel. Kinology is at Cannes to present the project to buyers. Set to start shooting in a few weeks, the film is being produced by Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema (“Annette”) and Ilya Stewart at Hype Studios (“Tchaikovsky’s Wife”). It stars August Diehl as Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who found refuge in South America at the end of WWII and was never captured. Mengele died in Brazil in 1979 without having been judged for his crimes. The daring movie will focus on Mengele’s fugitive years, spanning from Paraguay to the Brazilian jungle, and will be told from the man’s point of view.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Music Box Films has bought U.S. rights to “The Crime Is Mine” (“Mon Crime”), a period comedy by French helmer François Ozon (“Swimming Pool,” “8 Women”). “The Crime Is Mine” stars Rebecca Marder and Nadia Tereszkiewicz, who just won the Cesar Award for female newcomer, alongside Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon and André Dussolier. Music Box Films plans a theatrical release for later this year, followed by a home entertainment rollout. Adapted from a 1934 play by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil, “The Crime Is Mine” follows struggling actress Madeleine (Tereszkiewicz), and her best friend and roommate Pauline (Marder), an unemployed lawyer in 1930s Paris. Madeleine ascends to fame after standing trial for the murder of a movie producer, with Pauline serving as defense counsel and media circus ringmaster. Upon Madeleine’s acquittal, a new life of fame, wealth and tabloid celebrity awaits — until the truth comes out.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mikael Marcimain, the popular Swedish director of “Call Girl” and “Gentlemen,” is on track to direct “Devastation,” an epic and horrific tale of survival set in 1867. “Devastation” is one of the first projects developed by Mylla films, the new banner set up by Jakob Abrahamsson and Patrik Andersson (“Midsommar”). Mylla films has enlisted Nordic distributor and co-producer Scanbox and French boutique genre specialist Alexis Perrin of Rumble Fish as co-producers. A period piece set in Northern Sweden, “Devastation” is penned by Melina Maraki (“The Liberation of Harold Kvist”). Unfolding during the ever-ending winter and famine of 1867, the film revolves around two brothers, one the local industrialist and the other the local preacher, who keep a sawmill society in a tyrannical stronghold. An uprising begins from the most unexpected place.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Playtime has boarded “Monsieur Aznavour,” the prestige biopic of legendary French-Armenian Charles Aznavour starring Tahar Rahim (“A Prophet,” “Napoleon”). Budgeted at €26 million, the film will start principal photography on May 30. Pathé has scooped French rights and will give it a wide release in theaters. Surely one of the hottest packages to hit this year’s Cannes market, the film will chart Aznavour’s sprawling life journey, from his poor childhood to his rise to fame, from his triumphs to his failures, from Paris to New York. Aznavour was devoted to his art until the very end, singing his songs in ten languages, on every stage, in every city, desperately searching for perfection. He sold more than 180 million records around the world.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The 2023 Cannes Film Festival is jam-packed with buzzy world premieres, from Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” to Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City.” Todd Haynes is also back to unveil “May December,” featuring the A-list pairing of Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, while Disney is bringing Harrison Ford to the Croisette for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” New films from Pedro Almodovar, Jessica Hautner, Jonathan Glazer, Catherine Corsini, Hirokazu Kore-eda and more are also set to make their debuts at Cannes this year. Cannes is often seen as a launching pad for Oscar season. Warner Bros. in 2022 kicked off its lengthy awards run for Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” on the French Riviera, with the film going on to land eight Academy Award nominations, including best picture. Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness” also picked up Oscar nods for best picture, director and original screenplay. Two international film nominees, “Close” and “EO,” launched at last year’s festival, while “Aftersun” best actor nominee Paul Mescal got his awards start in the Directors Fortnight sidebar. All of this is to say the industry will be closely watching the buzz on all of this year’s world premieres.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes Film Festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux asked journalists Monday if they really believed Cannes was celebrating rapists, as recently suggested by “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actor Adele Haenel in an open letter published last week in Telerama. Haenel, who quit acting in films after Roman Polanski won best director at the Cesar Awards in 2020, said she retired from the film industry for political reasons, and said Cannes was “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs,” citing Polanski, Gerard Depardieu and Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board (CNC). Fremaux told journalists at a press conference ahead of the 2023 festival’s opening night that Haenel, who was at Cannes to present “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” in competition in 2019, was making “radical” comments that were “false.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sales banner Best Friend Forever has unveiled the teaser for Ramata Toulaye-Sy’s buzzed-about Senegalese drama “Banel & Adama,” which is the sole feature debut slated for the competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The lushly lensed female emancipation drama, set to bow on May 20, takes place in a remote village of Northern Senegal where Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. Longing for a home of their own, they have decided to live apart from their families. When Adama refuses his blood duty as future chief and informs the village council of his intentions, the whole community is disrupted and chaos ensues. The film was shot in Pulaar language with a cast of local non-professional actors, including Khady Mane, Mamadou Diallo, Binta Racine Sy and Moussa Sow.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off a successful collaboration on “Charlatan,” Films Boutique has boarded Agnieszka Holland’s next film “The Green Border,” which just completed principal photography in Poland. Now in post production, “The Green Border” tells the fateful story of a family of Syrian refugees, a solitary English teacher from Afghanistan and a young border guard, all of whom meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis triggered by President Lukaschenko opening doors to migrants in Belarus as a back door to enter the EU.  The screenplay, penned by Holland, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko and Maciej Pisuk, is inspired by real events. Research for the film included hundreds of hours of document analysis, interviews with refugees, border guards, borderland residents, activists and experts.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Flo,” a biopic of popular French sailor Florence Arthaud slated to world premiere at Cannes’ Cinema de la Plage, has been boarded by Other Angle. The French sales company will introduce the film to buyers at Cannes. Set to unspool on May 19, “Flo” charts Arthaud’s unique achievement in the male-dominated world of sailing, notably her victory of the Route du Rhum, a transatlantic sailing race, in 1990. The movie also portrays Arthaud as a fiercely independent woman who chose to live her dreams to the fullest rather than follow her pre-determined path. The film is directed by Geraldine Danon and is produced by Manuel Munz, in association with Metropolitan which will release the film in French theaters on Nov. 25.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Noémie Merlant, the French actor of “Tár,” is reteaming with Celine Sciamma, who directed her in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” for her sophomore outing, “The Balconettes.” The fantastical comedy horror movie is being written by Merlant with the collaboration of Céline Sciamma. MK2 Films will launch sales at the Cannes Film Market. Filming is slated to begin this summer. Set in a boiling Marseille neighborhood plagued by a heat wave, the movie revolves around three roommates who gleefully meddle in the lives of their neighbors from their balcony. Until a late-night drink turns into a bloody affair. Merlant stars in the film alongside Souheila Yacoub (“Dune”) and Sanda Codreanu (“Mi Iubita Mon Amour”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired Teddy Lussi-Modeste’s topical third feature, “The Good Teacher,” co-written by “Happening” filmmaker Audrey Diwan. François Civil, the French star of “The Three Musketeers” and “The Wolf’s Call,” stars as a young teacher wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct by a teenage girl from his class. As he faces mounting pressures from the girl’s older brother and her classmates, the situation spirals out of control: Allegations spread, the entire school is thrown into turmoil, and the teacher has to fight to clear his name. “The Good Teacher” marks the second collaboration between Indie Sales and Lussi-Modeste following “The Price of Success” which screened at Toronto and San Sebastián New Directors’ competition. “The Price of Success was picked up by Netflix for a multi-territory deal including the US.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Adèle Haenel, the French star of Cannes prize-winning film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” vanished from the film world in the aftermath of the 2020 Cesar Awards ceremony. That year, Roman Polanski won best director and Haenel, who was on the ground for her nomination with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” walked out of the ceremony in a burst of anger upon hearing Polanski’s name, shouting “Bravo pedophilia!” Several months prior, Haenel had accused French director Christophe Ruggia of having sexually harassed her for years starting when she was just 12 years old, prompting the birth of France’s #MeToo movement. Since then, Haenel exited the movie biz to dedicate herself to political activism, as well as theater and dance with the artist Gisèle Vienne. She recently appeared on French TV to support the strike and protest against the country’s unpopular pension reform.

K.J. Yossman Paul Mescal and Sharon Horgan were among the winners at the Irish Film and Television Awards. Despite Colin Farrell losing out the best actor award to Mescal, “The Banshees of Inisherin” beat out competitors to win best film. In the international category “All Quiet on the Western Front” took home the top award on Sunday night. Read on for the full list of winners. FILM CATEGORIES Best Film“Aisha”“The Banshees of Inisherin” – WINNER“God’s Creatures”“Lakelands”“Róise & Frank”“The Wonder”