Claire Denis Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

At 77 years young and with nearly 20 feature-length films under her belt, French filmmaker Claire Denis is still going strong with no plans to retire. In a new interview with Screen Daily at a Qumra event in Doha, Qatar, Denis confirmed talk of a new film shot in Cameroon, a country she lived in as a child.

EXCLUSIVE: Impression Entertainment has signed Gloria Obianyo, an actress seen in everything from Dune and the latest Mission: Impossible to Amazon’s Good Omens, for management.

French director Claire Denis is set to return to West Africa for her next feature film, an adaptation of late French playwright Bernard-Marie Koltès’s 1980 work Black Battles With Dogs (Combat de nègre et de chiens).

Jim Sheridan has dispelled rumors around a possible return to acting by Daniel Day-Lewis, who gave an Oscar-winning performance in the Irish director’s drama My Left Foot and also starred in his subsequent films In The Name Of The Father and The Boxer.

Actress Toni Collette discussed her journey from a working-class neighborhood in northwest Sydney to Hollywood star in a masterclass at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent and project development event on Friday.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Doha Film Institute’s unique Qumra incubator kicks off Friday with six days of master classes, labs and mentoring sessions and some 200 industry professionals – including programmers from Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin and many other major festivals – expected to make the trek to the Qatari capital. Qumra, which is an Arab word believed to be the origin of the word “camera,” is dedicated to supporting and shepherding first and second works by Arab directors but also supports some projects from other parts of the world.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief France’s Isabelle Huppert, one of the leading actors of her age, has crafted a unique relationship with Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo. Hong’s “A Traveler’s Needs,” which premieres this week in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, is the third time that Huppert has starred in one of his unique pieces of minimalist cinema. She says she hopes the partnership can go much further. Huppert plays a footloose and intense French woman at large in Korea and vaguely making ends meet as an untrained language tutor with eccentric methods.

Australian Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor and producer Toni Collette (Knives Out) has been announced as a Master at the 10th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent incubator, running from March 1 to 6.

It looks like Joel Edgerton has another drama in the vein of “The Boys In The Boat” and “Thirteen Lives” up next. The actor will co-star with Felicity Jones in “Train Dreams,” Black Bear‘s adaptation of Denis Johnson‘s 2011 novella.

Jessica Kiang A predictably spectacular sunset spreads streaks of pink and orange across a northern Spanish late September sky, heralding the end of another packed edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, where at the closing gala, “The Rye Horn” the second feature from Spanish director Jaione Camborda has just been handed the Golden Shell, the festival’s top award. It is perhaps a surprising win, but does now mark the fourth consecutive year that the festival’s most prestigious prize has gone to a female director. But in another way it has to be a first: the international jury, comprising French director Claire Denis, alongside Chinese actor and producer Fan Bingbing, Colombian producer-director Cristina Gallego, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Spanish actor Vicky Luengo, Canadian producer and distributor Robert Lantos and German director Christian Petzold, has chosen to award not just a Spanish film, but one from a director who was born right here in San Sebastián.

Women Rule Still Coming into the festival, many of the biggest main competition buzz pictures were directed by women. Many now figure, according to a El Diario Vasco Spanish critics’ poll, as Golden Shell frontrunners: Isabel Helguera’s animated pic “Sultana’s Dream,” Raven Jackson’s Sundance hit “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” Jaione Camborda’s Toronto platform screener “The Rye Horn” and Tzu-Hui Peng and Ping-Wen Wang’s “A Journey in Spring.” New Talent All of these four films are debuts or sophomore outings in a competition where 10 of the 16 tiles are indeed first or second films.

The American French Film Festival (TAFFF), which had been due to take place in L.A. from October 18 to 22, has been shelved due to the writers and actors strikes.

Belgium has selected Omen, the debut feature from rapper-turned-filmmaker Baloji, as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2024 Oscars.

Naman Ramachandran The 19th Zurich Film Festival promises to be a star-studded affair with plenty of Hollywood A-list talent attending. Todd Haynes will be honored with the festival’s A Tribute to… Award and will present his film “May December.” Previous recipients include Paolo Sorrentino, Wim Wenders, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Michael Haneke, Oliver Stone, Maïwenn and Luca Guadagnino. “It’s a real honor to celebrate this master of American cinema.

Todd Haynes will be honored with the Zurich Film Festival’s A Tribute To… Award at its upcoming 19th edition.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Javier Bardem, winner of a San Sebastian 2023 Donostia Award for career achievement, is putting back his on-stage acceptance of the distinction until the 2024 San Sebastian Film Festival. The postponement is due to the “limits imposed under the strike called by the U.S. Actors Union (SAG-AFTRA),” the San Sebastian Festival announced Friday.

French filmmaker Claire Denis has been announced as the jury president for the Official Section of the 71st San Sebastian Film Festival, running from September 22-30.

EXCLUSIVE: Two time Emmy-nominated actor Margaret Qualley has signed with CAA for representation.

Marie Amachoukeli’s Ama Gloria has won the Best International Film Prize at the 40th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival, running from July 13 to July 26.

Fresh off of an excellent performance as the wily and wounded Xander in HBO's only slightly maligned drama series The Idol, Troye Sivan returns to his pop career today with "Rush." The song is Sivan's lead single from his upcoming third album Something To Give Each Other, out October 14. The new song is a Balearic disco number that, in fitting with Sivan's pop career thus far, feels like a bespoke version of contemporary radio sounds.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline spoke to leading international sales firm Playtime about why it made sense to join new European film and TV studio Vuelta Group, which we revealed earlier this morning.

Lupita Nyong’o and Kendrick Lamar pose for photos together while attending the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 show during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday (July 4) in Paris, France.

EXCLUSIVE: Longtime IFC Films and Cinetic Media PR colleagues Laura Sok and Kate McEdwards are launching new PR and strategy firm, Track Shot.

EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Miller has been appointed as Festival Director for the Slamdance Film Festival, Deadline has learned.

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.”

The Cannes Film Festival revealed the lineup for its 76th edition Thursday morning, and the Official Selection featured a record number of films directed by women filmmakers set to play in Competition.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The race is wide open at this year’s Cesar Awards, much like its American cousin, the Oscars, with no obvious best picture winner. Although Louis Garrel’s “The Innocent” and Dominik Moll’s thriller “The Night of the 12th” are leading nominations at 48th Cesar Awards, it’s uncertain that they will also walk away with the biggest prizes. Like the Oscars, the Cesars were also embroiled in controversy due to its failure to nominate female directors. The omission came as a surprise especially because 2022 was banner year for French female filmmakers, including Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”) and Claire Denis (“Stars at Noon”) who the festival circuit and scoring prizes.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Scott Waugh whose credits include “Act of Valor” and the upcoming “The Expendables 4,” is attached to direct the upcoming documentary “Escape to Atlantis,” based on the findings of Seattle native Dr. Jason Rubin who has used deductive reasoning, the writings of philosopher Plato and cutting-edge satellite sonar imagery to pinpoint the location of the fabled lost island of Atlantis.  Said Waugh: “Every story, whether fact or fable, has a character we believe in and hope they prevail. Wouldn’t it be great to be part of a story where our protagonist wins and redefines the world’s truth?” “If Dr. Rubin has found Atlantis, not only does he continually save lives in the ER room, but he will have risen the dead of those lost in Plato’s fable and will redefine our history. That is a story I want to be a part of,” he added.  

Guy Lodge Film Critic Giacomo Abbruzzese’s debut feature is a hazily seductive, frequently dreamlike study of life in the French Foreign Legion, fixated on masculine bodies in synchronized and sometimes violently clashing motion. It is also called “Disco Boy.” You almost certainly wouldn’t choose that subject, tone and title for a film if you didn’t want viewers’ minds to immediately wander to “Beau Travail,” Claire Denis’ seminal Foreign Legion cine-ballet, with its climactic solo number set to a thumping Eurodance classic; even if you somehow made that error, you wouldn’t compound it with electro-scored terpsichorean interludes of your own. Choosing homage this direct for a first feature is a brazen move, but notwithstanding its openly derivative qualities, “Disco Boy” doesn’t want for boldness or surprise — Abbruzzese’s hot, fluxional command of sound and image keeps us curious.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The César Awards are characterized as France’s answer to the Oscars. And just like their awards show cousin halfway across the world, the Césars are embroiled in controversy after failing to nominate any women directors.  This year’s Academy Awards were slammed by advocacy groups after ignoring the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Woman King”) and Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”) in favor of an all-male contingent of auteurs. The Césars have followed suit with an all-male group of directing nominees, despite a banner year for French female filmmakers. It’s one that saw directors from Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”) to Claire Denis (“Stars at Noon”) dominating the festival circuit and scoring prizes, only to come up short when the Césars unveiled their contenders on Jan. 25. The omission has sparked a debate about gender equity and sexism in the French film business, as well as social media protests emblazoned with the hashtag #CesarsSoMale, an allusion to the #OscarsSoWhite campaign that erupted in 2015 when the Academy nominated an all-white group of acting nominees. 

Not yet thirty years old, Mia Goth has already collaborated with several world-renowned filmmakers for her willingness to follow their most demented muses. Her girlish appearance strikes a shocking contrast with the atrocity exhibitions that she gravitates toward: eagerly taking to sexual grooming in Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac;” undergoing forcible insemination and grisly spaghettification with Claire Denis in “High Life;” becoming an insane asylum’s incestuous princess for Gore Verbinski in “A Cure for Wellness;” witnessing her own disembowelment as part of the orgiastic blood ritual Luca Guadagnino that’s the grand finale to “Suspiria;” manifesting a century of madness for Ti West’s in-progress trio of period pieces of “X,” “Pearl,” and the upcoming “Maxxxine.” And so it’s no surprise that Goth’s latest outing is another twisted affair: Brandon Cronenberg‘s “Infinity Pool,” which takes place at a Mediterranean beach resort that hides a violent and depraved sub-culture.

EXCLUSIVE: Original Wild Bunch co-founders Vincent Maraval and Brahim Chioua bid farewell to the legendary company name they created in 2002 at a party in Paris on Thursday evening.

Elon Musk’s reluctant $44BN Twitter buyout and Warner Bros’ merger with Discovery were the most market-shifting M&A deals of the year but outside the U.S. there were several major developments that have impacted the global market.

This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the 16 films selected for its flagship Tiger Competition. Scroll down for the full list.

Some of our favorite filmmakers are working at an insane pace right now. Claire Denis released two films in 2022 (“Both Sides of The Blade,” “Stars At Noon”), Yorgos Lanthimos could probably release two films in 2023 if he wanted (“Poor Things” is definitely coming next year and “And” has already been shot), and Wes Anderson’s moving at a clip too.