Jean-Luc Godard, King of France’s New Wave, Dies at 91

A smiling family portrait of the King, his son who is the first in line to the throne and their wives has been released by Buckingham Palace.The image of King Charles III and his Queen Consort, standing alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales, was taken at Buckingham Palace on September 18, just 10 days after Queen Elizabeth II’s death.The senior royals are wearing black as the image was taken while they were in mourning for the Queen – leading the nation in grief, but also carrying out official engagements. Charles, 73, is standing with his left hand held at the top of his pocket, while his right arm is gently tucked around Camilla’s waist.

A smiling family portrait of the King, his son who is the first in line to the throne and their wives has been released by Buckingham Palace. The image of King Charles III and his Queen Consort, standing alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales, was taken at Buckingham Palace on September 18, just 10 days after Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to “Kompromat,” an action thriller film directed by Jerome Salle (“The Largo Winch” ), starring Gilles Lellouche (“The Stronghold”) and Joanna Kulig (“Cold War”). SND, the commercial arm of M6, is representing the film in international markets. Loosely based on a true story, “Kompromat” stars Lellouche as a French diplomat working in Siberia who is arrested overnight by the Russian authorities. Accused of sexually abusing his own daughter and imprisoned, he realizes he is a victim of a Kompromat. Someone is working with the FSB (Federal Security Service) to frame him. His only way out is to escape.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iceland’s leading production company Sagafilm Nordic has teamed with Swiss banner C-FILMS on “Codeword: Rubicon,” an espionage thriller series inspired by the infamous CIA operation involving the firm Crypto AG. Created by Hungarian director-writer Balazs Juszt(“I Love You, Too”), the eight-episode series has been commissioned by broadcaster Swiss Television (SRF). The show chronicles the story of how Crypto AG, a Swiss family-owned company manufacturing code-making machines founded in 1952 by a Swedish mathematician was secretly owned and operated by the CIA in partnership West German Intelligence services. From decades, the Swiss company sold equipment to more than 120 countries, including Iran and nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican, according to the Washington Post. The role of the U.S. and West German intelligence was revealed by the Crypto Leaks.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent IFC Films has bought North American rights to Sebastien Marnier’s thriller “The Origin of Evil” starring “Call My Agent!” star Laure Calamy. The film world premiered at the Venice Film Festival and had its North American premiere at Toronto. The suspense-filled ensemble film also stars Doria Tillier (“La belle époque”), Suzanne Clément (“Mommy”), Dominique Blanc (“Indochine”) and Jacques Weber (“En thérapie”). Marnier’s follow up to “Faultless”and “School’s Out,” “The Origin of Evil” was produced by Caroline Bonmarchand with Kim McCraw and Luc Déry of mirco_scope with Avenue B Productions executive producing. IFC Films will release the film in 2023.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rodolphe Belmer, the former CEO of Canal+ Group, is set to join TF1 and is on track to be appointed managing director of TF1, France’s leading commercial channel. Gilles Pélisson, who is currently the chairman and CEO of TF1 Group, will propose Belmer as CEO at an Oct. 27 board meeting. Belmer would then fully succeed Pélisson as chairman and CEO after the following board meeting on Feb. 13. Pélisson will remain at the company as chairman of the Board of Directors until Feb. 13 and will then join the Bouygues group as senior VP in charge of media and development.

King Charles III is expected to choose France as a surprise destination for his first state visit. Charles, 73, is said to have bonded with France president Emmanuel Macron over environmental issues, leading to plans to visit Paris for his first foreign trip as monarch rather than one of the Commonwealth realms.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After “Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen will return to the French capital for his 50th movie which he’s described as a “poisonous romantic thriller” with a pair of French stars, Valerie Lemercier (“Aline”) and Niels Schneider (“Love Affair(s))”. The untitled film, the plot of which is being kept under wraps, will start filming next month and will be entirely in French with a budget in the $10-million range. Allen has described the film to be similar to “Match Point,” in that it would be “exciting, dramatic and also very sinister.”  Allen sparked headlines earlier this week after Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia ran a story reporting that the New York-based filmmaker had told them he was planning on retiring. Allen’s representative then issued a statement saying that the director had “no intention of retiring.”

the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II—which was organized and approved by herself —two thousand people were invited to Westminster Abbey. Among the guests were 500 heads of state and foreign dignitaries, such as United States President Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Liz Truss, newly appointed British Prime Minister; Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and many more.As reported by our sister magazine ¡Hola! members of 22 royal houses attended the ceremony.

US President Joe Biden has taken a swipe at Liz Truss's economic plan ahead of their meeting in New York at the United Nations tomorrow.

Finally reunited. The late Queen Elizabeth II will be interred alongside her husband, Prince Philip, after her funeral on Monday, September 19, but their respective ceremonies couldn’t have been more different.

An expensive tribute. Queen Elizabeth II‘s funeral was an event unlike anything the United Kingdom has ever seen — and the cost reflected that fact.

King Charles, members of the royal family and hundreds of world leaders, politicians and other public dignitaries joined in the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey this morning. 

The Queen's funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey at 11am today.

The Queen's state funeral is set to be one of the biggest international events the UK has ever seen.

By one estimate, as many as 4 billion people could be watching as the funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II takes place on Monday, September 19 beginning at 11 a.m. BST (3 a.m. PT). As many as 750,000 people are predicted to travel to London for the state funeral and pay their respects as the queen lies in state, per the UK’s Guardian. Among those waiting in line 12-plus hours to pay their respects was David Beckham. The service at Westminster Abbey is likely to be among the biggest single ceremonial events staged in the U.K. since World War II.

President Joe Biden has arrived in London, where he will join other world leaders at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent It was a leap of faith. When Isabelle Huppert started working with Jean-Luc Godard on 1980’s “Every Man for Himself,” there wasn’t a script for her to consult. “There were only fragments of scenes, poems, songs and paintings,” she remembers. “I simply knew my name in the film was Isabelle.  But Godard was a legend at that point, having helped pioneer the French “New Wave” movement with the likes of “Breathless” and “Contempt” and then undertaken an even more daring and experimental phase in films such as “Weekend” and “Masculin Féminin.” Something about their partnership worked. “Every Man for Himself,” was a rare commercial success for the auteur, and marked a milestone in Godard’s career as the the first movie he presented in competition at Cannes and the first which was nominated at the Cesar Awards (France’s highest film honors). Huppert would reunite with Godard for his follow up movie “Passion,” another acclaimed film, presented him with an honorary Cesar Award in 1987. Godard died on Sept. 13 at the age of 91, and Huppert spoke with Variety about her artistic collaborations with the filmmaker and his legacy.