TrustNordisk Scores Deals on Sundance Pic ‘Speak No Evil,’ Premieres ‘Becoming Karen Blixen’ at Canneseries (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentCritics Week (or La Semaine de la Critique), the selection dedicated to first and second films running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, will boast a jury presided over by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (“The Man who Sold his Skin”). Ben Hania has directed four features, including “Beauty and the Dogs” which competed in Un Certain Regard in 2017, and “The Man who Sold his Skin” which played at Venice in 2020 and was the first Tunisian film nominated for the Oscars’ international feature film race.

On the heels of her first Oscar nomination for Spencer, Kristen Stewart has signed on to star in the A24 film Love Lies Bleeding from director Rose Glass (Saint Maud), Deadline has confirmed.

Naman Ramachandran In a major deal that lit up the concluding hours of MipTV 2022, Canal Plus acquired BBC series “Rogue Heroes.” Produced by Kudos and Nebulastar for the BBC, and titled “SAS Rogue Heroes” in the U.K. market, the series developed for television and written by Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”), is a dramatized account of how British Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of WWII.

Emiliano De Pablos Munich-based Beta Film has closed a raft of major deals over Europe and beyond on Spanish TV dramas “You Shall Not Lie” and “La Fortuna,” two of the most successful recent originals produced by Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay-TV/SVOD operator.Both series have been sold to Italy’s RAI and to HBO for its platform HBO Max for Eastern Europe, Benelux, the Nordics, Netherlands, and Portugal, among other territories.A six-part thriller by Pau Freixas, co-creator of “The Red Band Society,” “You Shall Not Lie” was sold to RTL Deutschland for Germany, where it will premiere on its streaming platform RTL Plus this spring.In France, the drama has been picked up by M6 with an exclusive window for its SVOD service Salto. Furthermore, Antenna TV secured rights for Greece and Cyprus, as well as Blue TV for Turkey.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentA Canneseries main competition contender, “The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen” begins with a voiceover from Connie Nielsen (“Gladiator,” “Wonder Woman”) reading, in beautifully cadenced Danish, a letter ‘Out of Africa’ author Karen Blixen writes to her mother in 1931.In it, she expresses the joy Africa has given her, that the family farm she ran has gone bankrupt, and she will soon take her life.Exquisite shots of Africa play out, meanwhile, on the screen.It this mix of lush period detail and big production value and a harder economic edge and sustained portrait of a woman’s sentiments and soul –  through read letters, dialog confession and Nielsen’s central commanding central performance – that sets “The Dreamer” apart. Developed from a concept by Nielsen, “The Dreamer” begins when Blixen near ends, economically and emotionally bankrupt after her farm fails and her soulmate, as she calls English aristocrat Denys Finch Hatton, dies in an air crash at Kenya’s Voi Airport.Her suicide fails.

Studiocanal is collaborating with Sixteen Films’ Rebecca O’Brien and Morena Film’s Juan Gordon to develop a series created by longtime Ken Loach scribe Paul Laverty and to be directed by Spain’s Iciar Bollaín.The drama series will be the first for both Laverty and Bollaín after writing and directing respectively 19 and nine feature films, including collaborations on Bollaín’s multi-prized “Yuli,” “The Olive Tree” and “Even the Rain,” movies that established her as one of Spain’s top film directors.Over the last few years, Cannes’ MipTV trade fair, once a strict TV silo, is now ever more MipFilm. Signs of an ever-building crossover between the two sectors look indeed to make up one of the hallmarks of this year’s event.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThree-part documentary series “Delphine: My Story” tells how the artist Delphine Boël, the illegitimate daughter of King Albert II of Belgium, fought for legal recognition, and is now known as Princess Delphine of Saxe-Coburg. It has been sold to multiple territories, Warner Bros. announced at MipTV in Cannes Tuesday.HBO Max has picked up the show in numerous territories in Europe.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStrand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Alain Guiraudie’s “Nobody’s Hero” which is handled by Films du Losange and world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. The movie, which opened the Berlinale Panorama section, is set in Clermont-Ferrand revolves around Frederic, a 35 year-old man who falls in love with with a middle-aged sex worker who is married.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMediawan-owned company Label News has just wrapped the production of “Marilyn, Her Final Secret,” an investigative documentary shedding light on the identity of Marilyn Monroe’s biological father whom she never met. Directed by Francois Pomès, the documentary is based on an exclusive DNA research conducted by Ludovic Orlando, an expert in molecular archaeology working in Southern France.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBanijay has picked up multi-territory format rights to two Korean reality shows which it will begin pitching this week at the MipTV market in Cannes.From Korean broadcaster and producer MBC, Banijay has picked up format rights to competition show “Bloody Game” in France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands. From CJ ENM, it has acquired rights in the Nordics, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Australia to relationship format, “EXchange.”“Bloody Game” launched in Korea in November last year, helping draw subscribers to Wavve, a joint venture streaming platform, in which MBC is a partner. The show is nominated for a C21 Format Award, with the winner revealed during MipTV.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorAbacus Media Rights has closed a flurry of sales for the six-part documentary series “Evolve,” which looks at how scientists are learning from evolutionary adaptations found in the natural world. Patrick Aryee, the series’ presenter, will give the keynote address this week at MipDoc, part of the MipTV television market in Cannes.Deals for the show, produced by Beach House Pictures for Curiosity, in association with Blue Ant Media, have been secured with ABC in Australia, Viasat World for Nordic and Central and Eastern Europe, RAI in Italy, Studio Hamburg in Germany, UR in Sweden, NRK in Norway, and VRT in Belgium, with more deals in the pipeline at MipTV.Production took place last year, over the course of around 12 months.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorRed Arrow Studios Intl. has secured a raft of deals for two of its premium drama titles “Blackout – Tomorrow Is Too Late” and “Departure.”The international thriller “Blackout – Tomorrow Is Too Late,” starring Moritz Bleibtreu (“The Baader Meinhof Complex”) and Marie Leuenberger (“The Divine Order”), has been picked up by Mediawan Rights for French-speaking Europe, Disney Plus in the U.K.

Dave marks a fourth week at Number 1 with Starlight, though Belters Only are beginning to close in with Make Me Feel Good ft. Jazzy.

It’s her-story! Jane Campion won Best Director at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 27, for her work on The Power of the Dog.

Manchester United are to face a 'big battle' for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, according to reports.

Ed Meza @edmezavarSpanish distributors, who have enjoyed a strong track record selling remake rights to local pics, have received a major boost this year with the Malaga Festival Industry Zone’s (MAFIZ) inaugural Remake Day event on Thursday.Leading film sales companies, among them Cinema Republic, Latido Films, Filmax and Feel Content, presented showcases of films considered particularly adaptable to foreign markets. Not surprisingly, comedies and genre pics made up most of the selections.David Castellanos’ Cinema Republic offered one strong example with Borja Cobeaga’s  hit 2009 romantic comedy “Pagafantas,” which has over the years sold to Germany, Italy and Mexico.Cinema Republic also touted Icíar Bollaín’s “Rosa’s Wedding” (“La Boda de Rosa”), about a woman in her mid-40s who decides to finally take charge of her life and fulfill her dream of starting a business.