Memento International Picks Up Cannes’ Un Certain Regard-Bound ‘Omen’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London- and Paris-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation is launching sales on “Return to Reason,” the newly restored 4K version of an assembly of Man Ray’s four cult classic silent films, paired with an original soundtrack by Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan’s SQÜRL. The film, which is produced by Marieke Tricoire at Womanray and Julie Viez at Cinenovo, will premiere in Cannes’ Official Selection as part of the Cannes Classics sidebar. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Man Ray’s first film in 1923, “Return to Reason” is the first 4K restoration of Man Ray’s four surrealist and dreamlike short films, known as the first surrealist films, now accompanied by an exclusive soundtrack composed and performed by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and musician Carter Logan’s band SQÜRL.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker Munich has signed with producer Ulysses Films to handle international sales for its upcoming family animation project “Pirate Mo & the Legend of the Red Ruby,” which has a planned release of early 2026. Ulysses produced animation box-office hits such as “The Amazing Maurice,” “Niko & the Way to the Stars,” “Rabbit Academy – Mission Eggpossible” and “Tad, the Lost Explorer.” The script for “Pirate Mo,” which is based on Kirsten Boie’s bestselling novel, was written by Richie Conroy, and the director is Florian Westermann, co-director of “The Amazing Maurice.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor DR Sales has sold Canadian distribution rights for Norwegian director Tonje Hessen Schei’s “Praying for Armageddon” to LevelFilm. The deal was revealed follows the film’s North American premiere at Hot Docs Film Festival. The film made its world premiere in CPH:DOX. The film explores the power and influence of powerful U.S. fundamentalist evangelicals as they aim to fulfil the biblical prophecy of Armageddon. With close quarters journalism, the feature documentary embeds with American believers who prepare for the Holy War and exposes how powerful megachurch pastors call for the “final battle” that they believe will trigger the Second Coming of Christ. A deep dive into power and policy, the film unveils how politicians driven by faith embrace Israel as the key to their prophetic vision for the end of days. At any cost.

Marta Balaga Participating in the Goes to Cannes initiative for the very first time, Australia’s Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival has unveiled titles selected for its works-in-progress showcase: Four feature films and one documentary. “It is the first time that Goes to Cannes has a partner from Australia and it’s also the first time when we have a festival dedicated to LGBTQ films and content. It’s also a part of our impACT initiative, which supports diversity, inclusion and sustainability in the film industry,” observes Guillaume Esmiol, executive director at Marché du Film. Fawzia Mirza’s “The Queen of My Dreams” and Poppy Stockell’s dark comedy-drama “Triple Oh!” – “about a mismatched pair of queer ambulance paramedics who get hands-on with life, death, and each other,” teases the director – will be presented, as well as “Sunflower” by Gabriel Carrubba. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Anonymous Content has come on board California surf-themed animated feature adapted from illustrator AJ Dungo’s celebrated graphic memoir, “In Waves.” Produced by Paris-based Silex Films, “In Waves” marks the feature debut of Phuong Mai Nguyen (“Brazen”), and is being penned by Fanny Burdino and Samuel Doux, whose screenwriting credits include “After Love” and “The Origin of Evil.” The feature is produced by Priscilla Bertin and Judith Nora, co-Founders of Silex Films, alongside Charades and Nick Shumaker, Garrett Kemble, and David Levine who will executive produce on behalf of Anonymous Content.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been banned from leaving Iran to serve as a member of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard jury, according to a report. News of the travel ban for the director who was recently released from Tehran’s Evin prison after being arrested last July for criticizing the government on social media, has been reported by the Farsi-language news service of Radio France Internationale (RFI). The report said Rasoulof had been asked to be a member of the Un Certain Regard jury but has been forced to decline. The Cannes Film Festival did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Marco Bellocchio’s “Kidnapped” (Rapito), which has its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film starts in 1858 in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, when the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.

The Cannes Film Festival has added Jean-Bernard Marlin’s Marseille second feature Salem to its Un Certain Regard line-up devoted to new cinematic voices.

Cannes film festival. He will be joined by French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. actor John C. Reilly will serve as president of the jury of the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes Film Festival. “Salem,” directed by Jean-Bernard Marlin, has been added to the lineup. The other members of the jury will be French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actor Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou, and Belgian actor Émilie Dequenne. The Un Certain Regard section showcases art and discovery films by young auteurs. In a statement, Reilly said: “I have had so many life changing moments at the Festival de Cannes (from my miraculous first trip with Paul Thomas Anderson to celebrating my 50th birthday from the Palais stage!) so to be chosen as the president of Un Certain Regard jury is truly such an incredible honor.”

John C. Reilly will preside over the Un Certain Regard Jury at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, running May 16-27.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given access to the teaser (below) for “Murals,” an immersive 3D documentary that has its world premiere on May 18 at Cannes Next, a sidebar to the Marché du Film in Cannes. The experience, which is created in Unreal Engine and displayed on LED screens, centers on murals by Banksy, created following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The project was initiated by Artem Ivanenko, a 3D artist from Irpin, Ukraine, which was one of the first towns to be hit during the Russian invasion. Later, when the Russians withdrew, Ivanenko returned to Irpin to record the devastating destruction using 3D scanning.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Laetitia Casta will soon appear on the big screen as the former wife of an abusive southern Italian man whom she is accused of murdering in the thriller “A Dark Story,” directed by Italy’s Leonardo D’Agostini. In “Dark Story” the French star, whose recent credits include “The Crusade” directed by her husband Louis Garrel, plays Carla (first look image above), the ex-wife of Vito Semeraro, a banker who beat her when they were together and is the father of her three children. She is accused of murdering him a few years after they split up.  Italian sales company True Colours is launching sales in Cannes on this psychological noir that marks the sophomore feature by D’Agostini whose 2019 debut drama “The Champion” – a soccer dramedy about a young male soccer star and a shy academic who becomes his tutor – sold widely via the same outfit. Andrea Carpenzano (“The Champion,” “Boys Cry,” “Chiara”) stars in “Dark Story” alongside Casta.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has come on board to handle the international sales of black comedy “Shooting Blanks,” written and directed by Žiga Virc (“Houston, We Have a Problem!”). The Slovenian film looks at what happens when a family goes to war with itself. The film is in post-production. PTI will present a first private market screening at the Marché du Film in Cannes. Vida’s father France worships his father, a hero of the partisan resistance. When a German supermarket chain decides to build a new store in his hometown, demolishing a statue of his father in the process, France declares war on this new “enemy.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Munich-based sales agency Global Screen has acquired romantic drama “Falling Into Place” for worldwide theatrical distribution. The English-language film is written and directed by Aylin Tezel, one of Germany’s leading young actors, and stars Tezel (“7500”) and Chris Fulton (“Bridgerton”). The directorial debut is set in Scotland on the Isle of Skye and in London. It is an honest and poetic portrait of today’s 30-somethings caught between the fear of commitment and the desire for self-improvement. Like all great love stories, it is not just about the love between two individuals, but also about the dreams and anxieties of a whole generation.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety is releasing the poster and teaser (below) for “La Mer et ses vagues,” which will world premiere in the ACID sidebar in Cannes later this month. The Lebanese film, directed by Liana and Renaud, follows the young Najwa and the musician Mansour as they cross the Lebanese border and reach Beirut on a full moon night. They follow the trail of smugglers hoping to join a women, Haifa, on the other side of the sea. A few streets away, Selim, the old lighthouse keeper, tries to repair the electricity in his neighborhood. The cast is led by Mays Mustafa, Roger Assaf, Mohammed Al Ammari and Hanane Hajj-Ali. The producer is Mathieu Mullier-Griffiths for Kafard Films. The co-producer is Monkey Business Virals.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Australian filmmaker Sari Braithwaite’s documentary feature film “Because We Have Each Other,” which has its North American premiere at Hot Docs on Sunday, has been picked up for international sales by Alief. An intimate documentary five years in the making, “Because We Have Each Other” chronicles the life of Janet and Buddha and their five adult children. They’re a neurodiverse family on the working-class fringe. With too many pets and a whole lot of bills to pay, they’re dreaming of bigger futures in a society that refuses to see them. Life has been hard, and blended families can be messy. But amidst the chaos, their love is as real as it is unconventional.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Munich-based sales agency Global Screen has acquired “You’re Not Me,” the debut feature of the directors Moisés Romera and Marisa Crespo, for worldwide theatrical distribution. It is a dark elevated genre thriller with elements of satire, focusing on two of the filmmakers’ obsessions: family relationships and social differences. In the film, Aitana returns home for Christmas, for the first time in three years, to find that her parents have replaced her with an unknown woman. She is her own age, sleeping in her bed, wearing her clothes, living in her house, and treated by her parents as if she were their daughter. From that moment on, torn by jealousy, suspicion, and misunderstanding, Aitana tries to find out what is happening and who the intruder is that has taken her place in the family – until she discovers an unexpected and disturbing truth that is darker and way bloodier than she would ever have thought possible.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pulsar Content has acquired “Niki,” a film about the famous French-American artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, for international sales. The Paris-based banner will introduce the period project to buyers at the Cannes market with exclusive first stills. “Niki” marks the feature debut of popular French actor Céline Sallette and stars Charlotte Le Bon (“The Walk” “Saint-Laurent”) as de Saint-Phalle. Le Bon recently made her feature debut with “Falcon Lake” — which bowed at Cannes last year — and previously starred in Robert Zemeckis’s “The Walk,” as well as Terry George’s “The Promise” and Jalil Lespert’s “Saint-Laurent.” Le Bon stars in “Niki” opposite Damien Bonnard (“Les Misérables“).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Frédéric Corvez’s Paris-based Urban Sales has boarded “Pictures of Ghosts”, the latest film of renowned Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (“Aquarius”, “Bacurau”). The movie, which marks Mendonça Filho’s fifth feature film, will world premiere at Cannes in the Special Screenings section. “Pictures of Ghosts” will mark the director’s third film to bow at Cannes, following two competition entries, “Bacurau” (co-directed by Juliano Dornelles) which won the Jury Prize n 2019, and “Aquarius” in 2016. “Pictures of Ghosts” combines archive documentary, mystery, film clips and personal memories. The film is produced by Emilie Lesclaux at CinemaScópio Produções and co-produced by Silvia Cruz and Felipe Lopes’ Vitrine Filmes.