Suspense-Filled Abortion Drama ‘Power Alley’ Boarded by M-Appeal Ahead of Cannes’ Critics’ Week Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has released the first-look trailer (below) for the suspense filled drama “Power Alley,” from Brazilian director Lillah Halla, ahead of its world premiere in Cannes’ Critics’ Week sidebar. The gripping drama is set in Brazil, where abortion is illegal. Talented volleyball player Sofia (Ayomi Domenica Dias) discovers she is pregnant at a crucial moment, jeopardizing her career plans. Intent on deciding her own fate, Sophia tries everything possible to get an illegal abortion, but has to contend with an increasingly sinister fundamentalist group determined to stop her — but Sophia, her team and all those who love her, refuse to give up.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor MAD Solutions has acquired the distribution rights to “Concrete Valley” for multiple territories. The film focuses on a Syrian family living in Toronto. The film, from Canadian-French filmmaker Antoine Bourges, premiered at Toronto Film Festival, before travelling to Berlinale, and it just screened at Jeonju. The deal covers the following territories: UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, South of Sudan and Comoro Island. The writers are Bourges and Teyama Alkamli. The producer is Shehrezade Mian at Markhor Pictures.

Jack Harlow has the acting bug. The rapper-turned-screen star is gearing up for the release of his first feature film, and already has his sights set on the future and all it's multitude of possibilities.Harlow, 25, walked the red carpet on Thursday at the premiere of his new film,, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, and he spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier about the warm response he's gotten for his first major acting gig.«It felt good!» Harlow said with a broad smile.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given access to an exclusive clip from “Anselm,” the 3D documentary from the three-time Academy Award nominated director Wim Wenders. The film will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival as a Special Screening. HanWay Films is handling world sales. It will be released by Les Films du Losange in France and DCM in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Add another Starz series to the list of shows suspended as a result of the writers strike.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency The Match Factory is launching the trailer (below) of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in Competition. This gentle tragicomedy is the fourth part of Kaurismäki’s working-class quartet, following “Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel” and “The Match Factory Girl,” which The Match Factory, the company, is named after. The film tells the story of two lonely people (played by Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen) who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night. They then try to re-find each other: the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives. Their path toward this goal is clouded by the man’s alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other’s names or addresses, and life’s tendency to place obstacles in the way of those seeking their happiness.

Halle Bailey’s no. 1 fan is her own sister, and their sweet moment on the carpet at Monday’s premiere of “The Little Mermaid” made that abundantly clear.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has closed a deal for German distribution rights for “Let Me Go” with Alamode Film, ahead of the film’s world premiere as the opening film of Cannes ACID sidebar next week. “Let Me Go” (Laissez-Moi), the debut feature by Swiss director Maxime Rappaz, is set in a remote Swiss mountain village, where Claudine (Jeanne Balibar) lives a life dedicated to taking care of her son. Every Tuesday, however, she has an afternoon to herself and goes to a nearby hotel to meet men passing through. She pursues her desires in a carefully controlled way, so as not to interfere with her life, but when she meets Michael (Thomas Sarbacher) everything changes.

Halle Bailey's no. 1 fan is her own sister, and their sweet moment on the carpet at Monday's premiere of made that abundantly clear.As Halle's sister, Chlöe Bailey, spoke with ET's Nischelle Turner on the blue carpet in Hollywood, their chat was punctuated by Halle's arrival — which led to the pair yelling as they ran across the carpet to one another and embraced.It was a heartwarming and emotional moment of sisterly love that had Halle beaming as she came to speak with ET shortly after.«Oh my gosh, I'm so happy that my sister's here,» Halle gushed.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London- and Paris-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation is launching sales on “Return to Reason,” the newly restored 4K version of an assembly of Man Ray’s four cult classic silent films, paired with an original soundtrack by Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan’s SQÜRL. The film, which is produced by Marieke Tricoire at Womanray and Julie Viez at Cinenovo, will premiere in Cannes’ Official Selection as part of the Cannes Classics sidebar. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Man Ray’s first film in 1923, “Return to Reason” is the first 4K restoration of Man Ray’s four surrealist and dreamlike short films, known as the first surrealist films, now accompanied by an exclusive soundtrack composed and performed by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and musician Carter Logan’s band SQÜRL.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Glossy drama film, “Inside the Yellow Cocoon,” has unveiled its first trailer ahead of its world premiere this month in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes. Its world sales representative, Cercamon will give the picture a market launch with a buyers-only screening on May 16. The anticipated Vietnamese-Singapore co-production is the debut feature by Pham Thien An and is eligible for the Camera d’Or prize. Its narrative follows a man whose sister-in-law is killed in a freak motorcycle accident in Saigon. He is tasked with delivering her body back to their countryside hometown. It is a journey on which he also takes his young nephew, who miraculously survived the crash. Amidst the mystical landscapes of rural Vietnam, the man begins a search for his older brother who vanished years ago in order to be able to hand over the boy. His pursuit, interrupted by magical dreams and forbidden desires, leads him to question what is worth living for.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Marco Bellocchio’s “Kidnapped” (Rapito), which has its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film starts in 1858 in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, when the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.

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.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given access to the teaser (below) for “Murals,” an immersive 3D documentary that has its world premiere on May 18 at Cannes Next, a sidebar to the Marché du Film in Cannes. The experience, which is created in Unreal Engine and displayed on LED screens, centers on murals by Banksy, created following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The project was initiated by Artem Ivanenko, a 3D artist from Irpin, Ukraine, which was one of the first towns to be hit during the Russian invasion. Later, when the Russians withdrew, Ivanenko returned to Irpin to record the devastating destruction using 3D scanning.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has come on board to handle the international sales of black comedy “Shooting Blanks,” written and directed by Žiga Virc (“Houston, We Have a Problem!”). The Slovenian film looks at what happens when a family goes to war with itself. The film is in post-production. PTI will present a first private market screening at the Marché du Film in Cannes. Vida’s father France worships his father, a hero of the partisan resistance. When a German supermarket chain decides to build a new store in his hometown, demolishing a statue of his father in the process, France declares war on this new “enemy.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety is releasing the poster and teaser (below) for “La Mer et ses vagues,” which will world premiere in the ACID sidebar in Cannes later this month. The Lebanese film, directed by Liana and Renaud, follows the young Najwa and the musician Mansour as they cross the Lebanese border and reach Beirut on a full moon night. They follow the trail of smugglers hoping to join a women, Haifa, on the other side of the sea. A few streets away, Selim, the old lighthouse keeper, tries to repair the electricity in his neighborhood. The cast is led by Mays Mustafa, Roger Assaf, Mohammed Al Ammari and Hanane Hajj-Ali. The producer is Mathieu Mullier-Griffiths for Kafard Films. The co-producer is Monkey Business Virals.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Variety has a first look at the anticipated Cannes Film Festival competition premiere “May December,” led by Oscar-winning heavyweights Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman and directed by Todd Haynes. The title, which is also for sale out of this year’s Marché du Film, represents a “Far From Heaven” reunion for Moore and Haynes and a significant breakout opportunity for “Riverdale” heartthrob Charles Melton. Moore and Melton star as married couple whose 20-year relationship inspired a national tabloid obsession at its offset. Now preparing to send their grown children off to college – as Melton reconciles with empty nest syndrome in his mid-30s – an actress (Portman) embeds with the family to study them for an upcoming film where she’ll play Moore. The couple buckles under the pressure as Portman probes as deeply as she can for an honest performance.

Pete Davidson may have gone incognito to his premiere at the Apollo Theater in New York City on Thursday, but there was no hiding the way he feels about his girlfriend, Chase Sui Wonders.While speaking to ET on the red carpet, the 29-year-old alum was inevitably asked about Sui Wonders, the actress he's been dating since they were first linked together back in December. She first played his love interest in, and she'll appear in his semi-autobiographical series when the Peacock series drops May 4.«I mean, she's the best. She's the best actress,» Davidson gushed over Wonders.

Naman Ramachandran “Luther” star Idris Elba has joined the team at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre as an associate producer for the U.K. production of “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” by Jocelyn Bioh, in association with Mark Gordon Pictures and Francesca Moody Productions. The play is set in Ghana’s prestigious Aburi Girls Boarding School in 1986, and follows Queen Bee Paulina and her crew as they await the arrival of the Miss Ghana pageant recruiter. It’s clear that Paulina is in top position to take the title until her place is threatened by Ericka – a beautiful and talented new transfer student. The cast includes Heather Agyepong, Bola Akeju, Deborah Alli, Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and Jadesola Odunjo, with further casting to be announced.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin sales agency M-Appeal has come on board to handle world sales for “Let Me Go” (“Laissez-Moi”), the debut feature by Swiss director Maxime Rappaz, which will world premiere as the opening film of the Cannes ACID sidebar. Set in a Swiss mountain village, “Let Me Go” follows Claudine, a dedicated mother whose life revolves around her son. Every Tuesday, according to her careful schedule, she goes to a nearby mountain hotel to meet men who are passing through. When she meets Michael and he decides to extend his stay for her, Claudine is confused and finds herself dreaming of another life.  French actress Jeanne Balibar stars in the lead role of Claudine, an elegant woman in her early 50s, who, although living a traditional life, pursues her desires in an unconventional way. She unexpectedly finds a romantic connection with Michael (Thomas Sarbacher).