South Asian Documentaries to Compete at Cannes Docs

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ANTIBES, France -- Sharon Stone hosted and Alicia Keys gave a dazzling performance as the lavish amfAR gala that raises money for AIDS research returned to Cannes Friday evening.One of the most anticipated nights of the festival, the 27th edition was a smaller more intimate affair than previous years, with the exclusive guestlist pared from 900 to 400 people with COVID-19 protocols in place.The night began with a cocktail hour complete with ballerinas, flapper girls with Afghan hounds, vodka and

Kira Kovalenko’s Russian drama Unclenching The Fists won the Grand Prize in Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard sidebar this year.

Naman Ramachandran Indian auteur Anurag Kashyap’s Good Bad Films (“Choked”) has boarded debutant Indian filmmaker Suman Sen’s “Eka” (“Solo”) as a producer.The project was selected as one of the participant’s at this year’s La Fabrique Cinéma de l’Institut Français, a tailored program helping talented young directors from emerging countries increase their international exposure.France’s Dominique Welinski (“House of my Fathers”) is already on board as a producer via outfit DW, as are

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSamuel Goldwyn Films has acquired all U.S. rights to Pan Nalin’s (“Samsara”) India-set tale “Last Film Show” which world premiered at Tribeca last month.

Microsoft executive vice-president of gaming and Xbox chief Phil Spencer has revealed that the company is considering purchasing a studio from either India, Africa or South America.The comments were made during an interview with The Guardian, where Spencer stated that he would be “surprised” if an acquisition of some sort doesn’t happen in the near future.

EXCLUSIVE: Streamer and theatrical distributor Mubi has closed its first on-the-ground Cannes business, signing a multi-territory deal for Sebastian Meise’s second feature Great Freedom, which premiered here in Un Certain Regard.

Sean Penn’s “Flag Day” PremieresSean Penn’s “Flag Day” premiered at the festival on Saturday, marking the third time he’s been in Main Competition section as a director — the other times for “The Pledge” in 2001 and “The Last Face” in 2016.TheWrap’s Steve Pond wrote, “While the film sometimes struggles with disparate tones, it’s a solid, subtle drama that opts in most cases for restraint over excess.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Rahul Jain, whose new film “Invisible Demons” has its world premiere at Cannes in the cinema for the climate special section, is prepping “Falling Star,” a limited fiction series.Jain is developing the series, which is likely to consist of six or seven one-hour episodes, via his Jann Pictures. It will see him reunite with Heino Deckert’s Ma.Ja.De.

Video: Excitement as Cannes Film Festival reopens after pandemic hiatus (France 24)Biden sets August 31 Afghan exit deadline as Taliban surround cityFacing Covid, One year later: Luz, precarious cleaning lady, still depends on food aidNile dam deal between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan is possible, UN saysAfrican American spelling bee champ makes history with flairIn Avignon, a company of actors with mental disabilities wants to "move the lines"'Stay home, stay safe:' Haitian Americans fret for

Video: Glamour, politics and a geeky movie as Cannes film fest returns (France 24)Biden sets August 31 Afghan exit deadline as Taliban surround cityFacing Covid, One year later: Luz, precarious cleaning lady, still depends on food aidNile dam deal between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan is possible, UN saysAfrican American spelling bee champ makes history with flairIn Avignon, a company of actors with mental disabilities wants to "move the lines"'Stay home, stay safe:' Haitian Americans fret for

Christopher Vourlias CAT&Docs, the Paris-based sales agency run by veteran Catherine Le Clef and partners Maelle Guenegues and Aleksandra Derewienko, has acquired the international rights to Haidy Kancler’s “Melting Dreams,” Variety has learned.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Payal Kapadia is back at Cannes with her debut feature, “A Night of Knowing Nothing,” a Directors’ Fortnight selection.A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Kapadia’s 2017 short “Afternoon Clouds” premiered at Cannes as a Cinéfondation selection.For “A Night of Knowing Nothing” Kapadia and the film’s cinematographer and editor Ranabir Das began shooting footage of their friends in 2017 on a small camera without a concrete plan and also gathered

Naman Ramachandran While India does not have its usual physical pavilion at the Cannes market this year, due to pandemic travel restrictions, and Bollywood stars aren’t setting the red carpet on fire, the business of cinema continues to be discussed at the virtual India pavilion.At a lively session on Thursday, moderated by Vikramjit Roy, head of India’s Film Facilitation Office (FFO), Dhanpreet Kaur, MD of the country’s National Film development Corporation (NFDC), said that the long-awaited

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, a regular at Cannes, is currently in post-production on his next feature “Dobaaraa,” a Hindi-language adaptation of Oriol Paulo’s 2018 Spanish-language film “Mirage.”Kashyap had read the script of “Mirage” before the film was made and was taken by it. This is the first time Kashyap has done a remake.