Mongolian Director Zoljargal Purevdash Talks Cannes Title ‘If Only I Could Hibernate’; Surviving Extreme Winter & Inspiring Mongolia’s Youth

Naman Ramachandran Sovereign has acquired U.K. and Ireland distribution rights for Lisandro Alonso’s Cannes title “Eureka,” starring Viggo Mortensen. The film recently had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cannes Premiere strand in May. “Eureka” follows the story of Alaina (Alaina Clifford), a police officer in the Pine Ridge Reservation who decides to stop responding to her radio, leaving her niece Sadie waiting in vain for her return. Hurt by Alaina’s absence, Sadie embarks on a journey with the guidance of her grandfather. The journey transcends time and space, taking her to South America and transforming her perception of the world. As Sadie encounters the dreams of the forest dwellers, she learns that birds, if understood, hold truths that humans can’t grasp.

Rob Savage isn’t a household name in horror, yet, but if you look at his most recent work, this is a guy who seems like he is destined for great things in genre filmmaking. And in this episode of The Playlist Podcast, I got the chance to talk to Savage and discuss his newest film, “The Boogeyman,” which is based on a short story by Stephen King.

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired all North American rights for Catherine Breillat’s drama Last Summer (L’été dernier) following its well-received premiere in competition in the final days of the Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27).

Queen‘s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has revealed that the classic song originally had a different name and lyrics.According to one of 15 pages from early drafts for the rock opera, the famous 1975 hit penned by Freddie Mercury was shown to be titled ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ which is crossed out on a piece of paper from the now-defunct airline, British Midland Airways.Mercury’s original drafts are currently on display in a new auction exhibition at Sotheby’s Auction House in London, Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own, which shows some of his private collection and belongings.Did you know ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was originally titled ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’?Written entirely by Freddie Mercury, a never-before-seen early draft reveals untold insights into one of the greatest pop songs of the 20th century.Read more: https://t.co/m8t4hoE39s pic.twitter.com/hlSHvhxCOD— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) May 31, 2023Other edits were made to the song’s nearly six-minute-long famous second verse, which initially initially read, “Mama, there’s a war began, I’ve got to leave tonight.” The final version of the song’s lyrics read, “Mama, just killed a man.”According to the New York Post, the manuscript of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is estimated to be auctioned between $100,000 and $150,000,000. Some of the other items on display include the manuscripts for ‘Somebody To Love’, ‘We Are The Champions’ and ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ which are all autographed by Mercury.Roughly 1,500 items from his London home, which had gone untouched for 30 years, including a pair of his high-top Adidas sneakers, his aviator sunglasses, a personal leather jacket and other iconic Queen items are available to view.

In today’s episode of ⁠Bingeworthy⁠, our TV and streaming podcast, guest host Joe Scott explores the lives of star-crossed lovers as well as love-crossed country music stars in the award-winning Showtime miniseries “George and Tammy.” Created by Abe Sylvia (“Nurse Jackie,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “Hap and Leonard,” and “The Affair“), all six episodes of the miniseries were directed by Australian filmmaker John Hillcoat.

Jane Fonda took a pretty dramatic step to make sure that director Justine Triet didn’t forget her Palm d’Or award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: Sophie Holland has been among the UK’s busier casting directors in recent years. The London-based professional has worked on shows including The Witcher, Wednesday, You and The Continental, as well as upcoming movies such as Heads Of State with Priyanka Chopra and Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice sequel. Set up seven years ago, her company Sophie Holland Casting now has a headcount of five.

Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu, who is in Cannes with Anthony Chen’s Un Certain Regard title The Breaking Ice, has had a fairytale career trajectory. 

Turner's rep confirmed that she died peacefully at her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, at the age of 83.In 1981, at the height of her comeback to music, following a years-long hiatus, and transition to rock n' roll, the «Proud Mary» singer spoke to ET while on the road with Rod Stewart.«I've been doing it too long to be nervous,» she quipped while speaking about possible nerves ahead of taking the stage. "… If my dress wasn't right or my shoes were wrong… everything is fine and I know the words, so I'm going to be fine.«For Turner, nothing beat the experience of live music. And if she had the chance, she would take in her own show — that's how good she was.»You can't replace what's live," she told ET.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer The upper deck at France’s Hotel Du-Cap-Eden-Roc offers a stunning coastal view of nearby city Cannes, the kind that Jay Gatsby would covet to peep Daisy Buchanan. On Tuesday, at one of the hottest parties at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, that view belonged to Graydon Carter. Standing alone with a female companion, the creator of the digital publication Air Mail and iconic former editor of Vanity Fair observed not a long-lost love but a cliffside full of movie stars, auteur directors and Hollywood power players. Carter’s Air Mail co-hosted an evening celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Warner Bros. Pictures, the latter represented by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and his top content lieutenants. Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Lily-Rose Depp, Sam Levinson, Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Rebel Wilson and more turned up to toast cinema and each other.

“Isn’t it weird that I keep making my plots revolve around this?” Nicole Holofcener asks with a laugh. We’re talking about her new film “You Hurt My Feelings” (in theaters Friday), but we’re also talking about her very first feature, the wonderful “Walking and Talking,” in which a key moment of emotional turmoil occurs when a character accidentally overhears what another character really thinks of them.

Mubi has picked The Settlers, the latest pic from Chilean filmmaker Felipe Gálvez for North America, the UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, and India.

French director Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall premiered in Competition at Cannes over the weekend to a buzzy reception with its star Sandra Hüller being tipped as a front-runner for the festival’s coveted best actress prize.

Chinese director Wei Shujun has just premiered his third film, neo-noir thriller Only The River Flows, in Cannes Un Certain Regard to positive reviews. 

EXCLUSIVE: French director Jean-Bernard Marlin made waves in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2018 with Marseille-set feature debut Shéhérazade about the relationship between a young prostitute and an underage ex-convict who becomes her pimp.

Lise Pedersen Award-winning US producer and distributor Karin Chien (“Robot Stories,” “Circumstance”), whose latest co-production, “Man in Black,” is one of two films by Chinese director Wang Bing running in Cannes’ official selection, shared her experience with the crowd during a masterclass at Cannes Docs, the Film Market section dedicated to documentary films. “Man in Black” premiered at a special screening in Cannes on May 22. Wang’s other film selected in this year’s edition is main competition title “Youth.” In the talk, moderated by Documentary Association of Europe co-founder Brigid O’Shea, Chien put on her distributor’s hat to talk about a job she said was “not pitched enough but [represented] some of the most meaningful work she [had] ever done.”

Marta Balaga  Zoljargal Purevdash’s “If Only I Could Hibernate,” the first Mongolian film to be shown in Cannes’ official selection, marks another important step for the industry that’s ready to make some moves.  “Things are looking up,” observes the director, mentioning the newly established Mongolian National Film Council and Mongolian Film Fund. “Mongolia just introduced its new film law [which came into force in January 2022] so it’s really starting right now. I hope we will be able to make more films in the future.”  Her debut feature, presented at Un Certain Regard, was produced by Amygdala Films and France’s Urban Factory, with Urban Sales also on board. 

Holly Jones Spain’s Festival de Málaga, through its industry arm Mafiz (Málaga Festival Industry Zone), heads to the Cannes Marché du Film with five works-in-progress from burgeoning Andalusian talent. “The Malaga Festival wants to support the completion of these works and make their international distribution viable,” commented Malaga head of industry, Annabelle Aramburu. This year, as Cannes more broadly celebrates Spain, the event curates two titles that tackle its tumultuous history and one which takes audiences on an unconventional road trip questioning the biological clock alongside narratives that dissect the minutiae of new forms of co-existing and the baffling concept of destiny.

EXCLUSIVE: Egyptian-U.S. company Ambient Light has acquired North American sales rights for Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s Cannes Un Certain Regard title Goodbye Julia.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired the international rights of Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s debut feature “City of Wind.” The film is in post-production and will be ready for a world premiere in fall 2023. Purev-Ochir is known for several high-profile short films, including “Mountain Cat,” which was in Cannes Competition in 2020, and won best short in Busan in 2020, and “Snow in September,” which was awarded the Golden Lion for best short in Venice, and best short in Toronto last year. Ze is a timid 17-year-old shaman. He studies hard at school to succeed in the cold, callous society of modern Mongolia, while communing with his ancestral spirit to help those in his community. But when Ze encounters Maralaa, his senses are awakened and another reality seems possible.