Swiss Documentary Festival Visions du Réel Unveils Selection of 165 Films, Including 88 World Premieres

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Snow in Midsummer,” which quietly probes the 1969 massacre of Malaysian Chinese during post-election turmoil, was named the winner of the best film for young cinema competition (Chinese-language) at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Liang Ming was named best director for “Carefree Days,” while the film’s female lead Lyu Xingchen collected the best actress award.

Malaysia-Singapore-Taiwan co-production Snow in Midsummer and Swedish title Sons took top prizes in the Young Cinema Competition at the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF).

Lise Pedersen “The Return of the Projectionist,” which is running in the main competition at Swiss doc fest Visions du Réel, where it will have its world premiere, has been picked up by Paris-based doc specialist Cat&Docs. The feature debut of Orkhan Aghazadeh, it tells the story of Samid, a former projectionist in Azerbaijan’s remote Talysh mountains, who is determined to bring cinema back to life in his village using his old Soviet film projector.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S.-based global distributor PBS Intl. is bringing a squad of sports-themed documentaries to MipTV to tie in with the Olympic Games that’ll run this summer in Paris. “Olympic Dreams” travels to Sierra Leone, one of the world’s poorest nations, as it struggles to recover from its 11-year civil war.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will kick off with Quentin Dupieux‘s “The Second Act,” a star-studded surreal French comedy headlined by Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel and Raphaël Quenard, Variety has learned. The anticipated movie is produced by Hugo Selignac at Chi-Fou-Mi, a Mediawan company, and is represented in international markets by Kinology.

Naman Ramachandran Steffi Niederzoll’s Berlin, CPH: DOX and El Gouna-winning documentary “Seven Winters in Tehran” added another award to its collection with the best international film honor at India’s inaugural Cinevesture International Festival (CIFF). Anmol Sidhu’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards nominee “Jaggi” won best Indian film and Elham Ehsas’ BAFTA and Clermont-Ferrand nominee “Yellow” was named as best short.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival is set to celebrate the centennial of Columbia Pictures with a retrospective featuring classic titles spawned by the Hollywood studio between the dawn of sound and the late 1950s. The Locarno retro, titled “The Lady With the Torch –– The Centenary of Columbia Pictures,” is being curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht, co-director of Italy’s Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, which is dedicated to cinematic treasures of the past and organized in partnership with Switzerland’s Cinémathèque Suisse.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bettina Blümner’s “Vamos a la playa” won ArteKino Festival’s European Audience Award at a ceremony co-organized by the iconic French fashion house Chanel in Paris. Held at La Femis, Paris’ prestigious film school, the event also included a conversation with French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski (“Other People’s Children”), followed by a ceremony honoring Blümner and a screening of “Vamos a la playa,” as well as a posh cocktail which brought together film talent, executives and students.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film is launching a new initiative, bannered Cannes Remakes, aimed at fostering remake opportunities for European feature films that have proven successful in their home territories.

Khadlaj Perfumes, a heritage brand with 40 years of legacy in the United Arab Emirates, has announced the expansion of its operations into the influencer market following the viral success of its fragrance, Hareem Al Sultan. The move aims to cement Khadlaj Perfumes as a major player in the global perfume industry, particularly in the USA.

The Berlin Film Festival’s parent org the KBB, which oversees state-backed cultural events in the German capital, has posted job ads for four key executive roles ahead of the arrival of the event’s new director Tricia Tuttle in April.

Ben Croll Facing greater international competition alongside smart TV interfaces that grow all the more convoluted, France Televisions president Delphine Ernotte issued a clarion call to Gallic broadcasters: It’s time to launch a new shared streaming platform that could offer a single point of access for local programing. ‘We’re stronger together,” said the public broadcasting exec.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In one of the most anticipated keynotes at Series Mania Festival, JB Perrette, president/CEO of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, dropped the launch date for Max across the first nine European countries on May 21.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Belgian filmmaker Sofie Benoot‘s “Apple Cider Vinegar,” which has its world premiere in the International Competition section of Visions du Réel, has been picked up for world sales by Filmotor. The trailer and poster are being released exclusively by Variety. The film is narrated by actor Sian Phillips, who appeared in “I, Claudius” and David Lynch’s “Dune,” and is a veteran nature documentary narrator.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Variety’s Series Mania Bulletin highlights breaking news at this year’s French TV festival: Paramount+ has announced the schedule and pricing for its international ad-supported Basic subscription offering and Premium plan, both set to begin this month in selected countries. The ad-supported Basic plan will be available in April in Canada and in June in Australia, priced at $6.99 in Canadian and Australian dollars.

The story shocked the world 10 years ago: the Copenhagen Zoo’s decision to euthanize a healthy two-year-old giraffe named Marius because they considered it a “surplus animal.” CNN reported on it. So did Le Monde in France, the U.K.’s Guardian and The Independent, and the Irish Times.

Series Mania will kick off its 15th edition on March 15 in Lille, Eastern France, reconfirming it status as the biggest dedicated TV festival in Europe. It does so with a bang, with the European premiere of one of the biggest series of the year, Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” which “cements ‘Game of Thrones’ creators as masters of adapting the unadaptable,” Variety announced. Delegate accreditation at Series Mania’s Forum, its three-day industry event running March 19-21, is on track to pass 4,000 participants, an all time record, and a huge step-up, say, from 2016, when attendance was limited to around 300 executives.

Lise Pedersen Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel has unveiled its program for film professionals, VdR-Industry, which includes 29 projects in various stages of production. These will be pitched during the four-day event that runs April 14 through April 17, alongside the fest.

Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand has hinted that Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund will feature in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Michael Douglas, Kyle MacLachlan, Ella Purnell and Daniel Brühl are among the high-caliber stars who will take part in the 7th edition of Canneseries. The robust lineup, unveiled today by Canneseries’ artistic director Albin Lewi at a press conference in Paris, boasts the world premiere of Apple TV+’s “Franklin,” starring Michael Douglas as one of the Founding Fathers, and Disney +’s “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” with Daniel Brühl as the acid-tongued designer.