Omar Sy-Starring ‘Father & Soldier’ to Open Un Certain Regard at Cannes

EXCLUSIVE: On the eve of the Cannes Film Festival, Competition title Close has sold to Lucky Red for Italy, Vertigo Films for Spain and Lev Cinemas for Israel.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorLeading arthouse sales company The Match Factory has acquired distribution rights to murdered Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius’ documentary “Mariupolis 2,” ahead of the film’s premiere next week at the Cannes Film Festival as a Special Screening.Kvedaravičius was captured and murdered by the Russian army in Mariupol, Ukraine in early April. The film was co-directed by Kvedaravičius’ fiancée Hanna Bilobrova, who was with him at the time of his death, and was able to bring back the footage filmed there, and edited it with his editor Dounia Sichov.The Match Factory worked with Kvedaravičius on his debut feature “Barzakh,” which played in the Berlinale in 2011.

Manori Ravindran International EditorU.S. director Lotfy Nathan, best known for his acclaimed debut documentary “12 O’Clock Boys,” is making his feature directorial debut with “Harka.”Screening as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section, the film is set in Tunisia, in North Africa, and follows Ali (Adam Bessa), a young man in his twenties who makes a precarious living selling contraband gas on the streets.Ali dreams of a better life for himself, but his domestic responsibilities step up when his father’s sudden death leaves him in charge of his two young sisters. With the family facing impending eviction, Ali seeks steadier work and a stable life.

EXCLUSIVE: Ian McKellen is among the stars of Ken McMullen’s Hamlet Within, a part-documentary feature investigating the mythology around the Shakespeare play, which is headed to the Cannes Market.

Cannes Film Festival almost 35 years ago, I was still green and naïve enough to ask long-time Cannes attendees why the famed French fest held such a powerful place in the pecking order of international film gatherings. The late Richard Corliss, Time magazine’s peerless and beloved film critic, answered warmly and succinctly, with his own more worldly query: “Would you rather be in Germany in the winter or the South of France in the spring?”Corliss had a point, but in the decades since I’ve tucked my own couple of dozen Cannes fests under my belt, I’ve compiled my own list of reasons why Cannes remains the one film festival that people who’ve never been to a film festival have heard about and wish they could go to, and know that if a film has scored there, it must be worth their time.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCondor has picked up French rights to Saim Sadiq’s drama “Joyland” ahead of its world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. The title, the first Pakistani film to be selected in Cannes, will vie for the Caméra d’Or.Film Constellation is representing international sales rights.

 reunited to bring Rooney's debut novel,  to the small screen.Set in Dublin,  follows 21-year-old college student Frances and her former girlfriend and current best friend, Bobbi, as they navigate a complex new relationship with a married couple.Watch on May 15Like Sally Rooney’s other works,  is an intimate character study of complicated individuals, and the ways in which they communicate with one another. Alison Oliver, Joe Alwyn, Sasha Lane and Jemima Kirke star in this new Hulu original series. Keep reading to find out how to watch  premieres on Sunday, May 15.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentLes Films du Losange has unveiled the trailer for Lola Quivoron’s daring feature debut “Rodeo” ahead of its world premiere in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. Produced by Charles Gillibert (“Annette”) at CG Cinema, “Rodeo” follows a hot tempered and fiercely independent young woman who infiltrates an underground dirt bike community in France.

Jason Oppenheim has some feelings about Chrishell Stause’s new romance!

five months after her split from Jason Oppenheim, Chrishell Stause is in the midst of a new romanceDuring the reunion, which debuted Friday on Netflix, Stause revealed she's dating G Flip, an Australian singer. Stause explained to her  co-stars and host Tan France that G Flip, 27, is non-binary and goes by they/them pronouns. «You guys just saw that I had this serious relationship and obviously I am hoping to have a family, but I've also taken some of the pressure off myself as far as what that looks like,» she said, referencing her recent relationship with Oppenheim that was chronicled on season five of the show.

Joe Leydon Film CriticIt’s easy to see why Netflix wanted to reteam actor Omar Sy and director Louis Leterrier in something, anything, given the popularity of their previous collaboration, the French thriller series “Lupin.” But U.S. viewers may be a tad puzzled by the streamer’s decision to green-light as their follow-up a popcorn movie as nondescript as “The Takedown” — a sequel to “On the Other Side of the Tracks” (“De l’autre côté du périph”), a lightweight 2012 French-produced buddy-cop action-comedy that, whatever its popularity in its home territory, received only (very) limited release by The Weinstein Company in this county.On the other hand: Leterrier — whose credits also include “Now You See Me” and the first two entries in the “Transporter” franchise — has just this week been given the keys to “Fast X,” replacing the creatively distanced Justin Lin as director for the next installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise.

Johnny Depp’s new movie Jeanne Du Barry will be launched for pre-sales at this month’s Cannes market, marking a first narrative feature for the actor in more than three years.

Ditching their corsets. The Bridgerton cast traded their period costumes from the Netflix drama for some designer duds at the Met Gala 2022 in New York City on Monday, May 2.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorNew Europe Film Sales has announced the first sales for Cannes Un Certain Regard-selected “Godland,” directed by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason.The film was picked up in France by Jour2Fete, and the movie was also acquired by three distributors that worked on Pálmason’s Cannes Critics’ Week title “A White, White Day” – Benelux rights were sold to Imagine, Poland was picked up by New Horizons Association and Australia/New Zealand was picked up by Palace.The film is set in the late 19th century, when a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.

Mike Myers pulls quadruple-duple duty in Netflix’s “The Pentaverate”.

Italian actor and director Valeria Golino has been set as jury president for the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival this year.

Zack Sharf Italian director, actor and producer Valeria Golino will serve as the president of the jury for this year’s Un Certain Regard sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival. Golino follows in the footsteps of last year’s jury president Andrea Arnold.

The 2022 edition of the Cannes Film Festival will include a record number of films directed or co-directed by female filmmakers, one year after Julia Ducouranu’s “Titane” took home the festival’s top award.

Cannes Film Festival section Un Certain Regard, part of the Official Selection, will open with Mathieu Vadepied’s World War One film Father & Soldier.

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefIt’s beyond distressing how women directors continue to get short shrift at Cannes.How could it be that this year only three movies helmed by females will be contenders in the main competition of the world’s most prestigious film festival?It’s horribly disappointing, but far from shocking, given that last year only four out of 21 competition titles were directed by females and considering Cannes’ poor track record when it comes to recognizing women filmmakers competing throughout its 75-year history. After all, just two movies by women directors, Jane Campion’s “The Piano” and Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” have ever won the coveted Palme d’Or.Of course, I’m thrilled for director Kelly Reichardt (“Showing Up”), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“Forever Young”) and Claire Denis (“Stars at Noon”), but nonetheless their movies represent a meager portion of the 18 titles in competition at Cannes.