Rotterdam Opening Film; Paul Schrader Avellino Honor; New UNESCO Paris Film Fest & Clermont Ferrand Confirms Reduced 2024 Edition – Festival Briefs

Paul Schrader’s Facebook feed is pure gold. The man just loves to give hot takes left and right about new and old films.

Michael Imperioli (The White Lotus) is confirmed for a role in Academy Award nominee Paul Schrader’s new film, Oh, Canada, Deadline has learned.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Les Arcs Film Festival, the European equivalent to the Sundance Film Festival, has unveiled the list of projects which will be presented during its competitive Work-in-Progress showcase. Curated by Tribeca and Les Arcs’ artistic director Frederic Boyer and Lison Hervé, the selection will present a broad range of movies in post-production seeking a sales agent, festival slots and international distribution.

The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.

The Sundance Film Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary in January and it’s no surprise that some legendary Park City filmmakers are returning with new films for the 2024 edition. Among the alumni are Steven Soderbergh, whose landmark film “Sex, Lies and Videotape” debuted at the 1989 fest; Debra Granik, whose Best Picture nominated “Winter’s Bone” won the Grand Jury Dramatic prize at the 2010 festival; and Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who will premiere their fourth movie at Sundance following 2006’s “Half Nelson,” 2008’s “Sugar” and 2015’s “Mississippi Grind.” READ MORE: “American Fiction,” “May December,” and “Past Lives” Top 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards Soderbergh’s latest effort is “Presence,” starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Julia Fox.

EXCLUSIVE: Kristine Froseth (The Buccaneers) has been set to star alongside Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi in Oh, Canada, the newest feature written and directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Schrader (First Reformed).

MBC Studios is developing a series adaptation of popular Saudi writer Osamah Almuslim’s best-selling debut horror novel Khawf (Fear).

EXCLUSIVE: Plan B Entertainment has started a new micro budget film finance initiative to produce and finance lower cost films which will be led by newly hired Caddy Vanasirikul. The veteran film producer and acquisition and production executive will manage Plan B’s forthcoming slate in this sector.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival launched its third edition on Thursday with a characteristically starry red carpet featuring the likes of Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone and Will Smith.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Though the Red Sea Film Festival will feature a slew of films from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – including 11 feature films from Saudi Arabia – there is a rich roster of international fare set to launch locally from Jeddah. Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AGC Intl., the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio AGC Studios, has picked up world rights from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, MBC Studios and VOX Studios on Yasir Al Yasiri‘s “HWJN,” and from O3 Medya and Dhafer L’Abidine’s Double A Productions on L’Abidine’s “To My Son.” Saudi fantasy romance ‘HWJN’ will open the Red Sea Film Festival on Nov. 30, while the emotional family drama “To My Son” will premiere in Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section.

Stuart Ford’s AGC International has picked up world rights to two Arab-produced titles, HWJN by Yasir Al-Yasiri and To My Son byDhafer L’abidine, ahead of their debuts at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. 

Jessica Chastain and Tilda Swinton provided the ultimate study in contrast while attending the second day of the 2023 Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday (November 25) in Marrakech, Morocco.

Martin Scorsese has cancelled his trip to the Marrakech International Film Festival at the eleventh hour, which he was due to attend as the special honorary guest of its 20th edition.

Martin Scorsese has cancelled his trip to the Marrakech International Film Festival at the eleventh hour, which he was due to attend as the special honorary guest of its 20th edition.

Naman Ramachandran Film co-productions between Australia and India received a significant double boost this week with the ratification of a treaty that was proposed last year and the Indian government’s major enhancement of filming incentives. An Australian delegation is attending the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa and the concurrent film market, Film Bazaar.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk coming-of-age comedy “Head South” will open the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam on Jan. 25, with the festival running until Feb. 4.

During this year’s Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm finally gave some definitive news about what to expect on the big screen with the galaxy far, far away. We have a movie from Dave Filoni, which is expected to be an “Avengers”-style convergence of all the live-action TV shows.

IDFA – the largest documentary film festival in the world — has just wrapped its 36th edition, and it was a memorable one by every definition. Two hundred and fifty films screened in Amsterdam, representing work from across the globe –the Middle East to Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Europe.

Martin Dale Contributor Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes” won best film at the 17th edition of Leffest Lisboa Film Festival, which announced awards Saturday night. Marking Erice’s first feature film since his 1992 docudrama “The Quince Tree Sun” and garnering almost universal positive reviews – Variety called it “an aching ode to film, time and memory” – following its world premiere at Cannes, “Close Your Eyes” has screened at Toronto, Busan, BFI London and New York.