Viggo Mortensen’s Cannes Title ‘Eureka’ Snapped Up for U.K., Ireland by Sovereign (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to “Four Daughters,” Kaouther Ben Hania’s film which competed at the Cannes Film Festival. The competition’s sole Arab film, “Four Daughters” mixes documentary and fiction to tell the story of a Tunisian mother whose two elder daughters joined ISIS. It won L’Oeil d’or or “Golden Eye” Award at Cannes for best documentary and is now set to roll off into the international festival circuit. Kino Lorber plans to release it theatrically this fall, followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms. The New York-based distribution company has high hopes for “Four Daughters” during the next awards season. Last year’s L’Oeil d’Or winner, “All That Breathes,” went on to earn an Oscar nomination for best documentary. Ben Hania previously earned an Oscar nomination with her 2020 film “The Man Who Sold His Skin” in the international feature film category.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief NBCUniversal is to expand its One Platform advertising, technology, data and measurement system further into global markets through an alliance with international broadcast and tech partners. The move was announced on Tuesday at the Cannes Lions advertising convention in Cannes, France.International partners include Atresmedia from Spain, Bell Media from Canada, Channel 4 from the U.K., Mediaset from Italy, Seven West Media from Australia, Sky Media from the U.K., Italy and Germany, and Talpa from the Netherlands, TF1 Pub of France, Japan’s Tokyo Broadcasting Systems and Omnicom Media Group. “By bringing together leading local broadcasters and publishers across the world, NBCUniversal seeks to enhance the premium video ecosystem and build the foundation for greater industry advancement and collaboration at an international level, across data and identity, activation and automation, ad innovation, and measurement,” NBCUniversal explained in a statement.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s feature debut “Goodbye Julia,” a timely morality tale that takes place just before the 2011 secession of South Sudan and won the Un Certain Regard section’s Prix de Liberté (Freedom Prize) at Cannes, has scored a raft of sales following its launch. The first Sudanese film ever to screen in Cannes official selection, “Goodbye Julia” is the story of two women — one from the North, the other from the South — who are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities in the currently war-ravaged country.

Ke Huy Quan has nothing but love for Harrison Ford!ET's Cassie DiLaura spoke to Quan at the  premiere Wednesday, where the Oscar-winner gushed over his long-lasting relationship with the actor, who he credits for his love of acting.«Honestly, every time I see him — he's such a gracious man, such a humble man. And the reason why I love acting so much is because of him, because of that experience that we had on ,» Quan shared. «So, here we are so many years later.»Quan reunited with Ford at the D23 expo back in September, where Ford was promoting the film, and again on stage at the Academy Awards after presenting Quan and the  cast with an Oscar for Best Picture.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Actor Alfredo Castro (The Club, No, From Afar) is in the middle of what could be described as a mid-career boom, but he doesn’t think it’ll bring him many plaudits in his native country.

Eva Vik’s ‘Serpentine’ Starring Barbara Palvin To Make European Premiere at TaorminaEva Vik’s short film Serpentine, starring supermodel Barbara Palvin, will make its European premiere at the 69th edition of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival, running from June 23 to July 1. Czech writer and director Eva Vik explores the possibilities of interspecies development in the film, which was previously nominated for the X Award at the Tribeca Film Festival. Set within a mysterious snake cult, the stylistic body-horror follows attempts to initiate a snake-human hybrid through genetic engineering – creating an extraterrestrial higher power intelligence as a new influential force. Palvin is joined in the cast by Soo Joo Park, and Luke Brandon Field. The film’s official partner is Bulgari brand, and it was produced by Evasion Pictures. The film will play in Taormina’s Influential Shorts program, a special gala event curated by Bella Thorne. “I look forward to welcoming both Eva Vik and Barbara Palvin to the Taormina Film Festival later this month. The short is thought-provoking and we are excited to be presenting it as part of our Influential Shorts evening,” said festival co-Artistic Director Barrett Wissman.

Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s latest pic La Chimera has inked a series of international deals for The Match Factory following its well-received debut at last month’s Cannes Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: Gaga Corp. and Goodfellas have revealed new sales on Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or contender Monster as the drama enjoys a strong theatrical kick-off at the Japanese box office.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the dates of its 77th edition which will take place May 14-25, 2024. This year’s festival wrapped May 27 with Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” winning the Palme d’Or, Jonathan Glazer’s “A Zone of Interest” take home the Grand Prize, and Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves” nabbing the Jury Prize. The jury of the 76th edition was presided over by Ruben Ostlund, the two-time Palme d’Or winning director of “The Square” and “Triangle of Sadness.” The first post-pandemic edition, 2023 was marked by an overall well-received Official Selection lineup and a strong presence of American talent and studios. Some of the anticipated films spotlighted at the festival included Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Wes Anderson‘s “Asteroid City,” as well as Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Pedro Almodóvar’s short film “Strange Way of Life” and Pixar’s “Elemental.”

Guy Lodge Film Critic By the brazenly esoteric standards of Argentine director Lisandro Alonso, his last feature “Jauja” was virtually a concession to the mainstream. A lushly shot 19th-century historical drama led by Viggo Mortensen, it was — until a typically disorienting coda — close to linear in its colonialist-quest narrative, even as it moved in slow, ever-widening circles, and duly became Alonso’s most widely released film to date. Nine years later (the longest gap yet in a career taken at his own pace), Alonso’s follow-up “Eureka” playfully appears to mock whatever tentative gestures “Jauja” made toward accessibility: A glisteningly opaque meditation on Indigenous living that refracts viewers’ interpretations as it repeatedly switches gear, focus, locus and story, it’s a film built to frustrate those who don’t succumb to its oneiric spell, not that it especially imparts its secrets to those who do.

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired all North American rights for Catherine Breillat’s drama Last Summer (L’été dernier) following its well-received premiere in competition in the final days of the Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27).

Naman Ramachandran The U.K.’s Stigma Films has snapped up TV rights for Jeffrey Boakye’s “I Heard What You Said,” an Amazon Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2022. Told via a series of encounters based on the challenging and outrageous things people have said to him or about him, Boakye, a Black, male English teacher who has had to teach problematic texts, recounts how it feels to be on the margins of the British education system. The deal was brokered by the Sarah Such Literary Agency. Stigma’s film credits include “Daddy’s Head,” “T.I.M.,” “The Score,” upcoming Romola Garai project “Monstrous Beauty” and Netflix original “Choose or Die,” starring Asa Butterfield. The acquisition of “I Heard What You Said” follows on from Stigma branching out from feature films to television in the last year. Their first project is Steven Knight/Kudos series, “This Town” for BBC and the company is in active development with Ringside Studios on Iain Banks novel “The Business.”

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a show of force, English-language “Spellbound,” the live-action tween series from “Find Me in Paris” creators and production partners will get a Season Two.  Produced by Cottonwood Media, with ZDF, ZDF Studios and the Opéra national de Paris, the 13 new episodes of the ballet/witchcraft series will go into production in August.  The “Spellbound” renewal news comes as Season One is set to roll out in international markets across broadcasters and streaming services from this fall.  Federation Kids & Family, the sales arm of Cottonwood Media parent Federation Studios, and ZDF Studios, the commercial company of German public broadcaster ZDF, will handle worldwide sales. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Kore-eda Hirokazu’s film “Monster” which world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and and won best screenplay (for Yuji Sakamoto). A critically acclaimed Japanese master, Kore-eda previously won Cannes’ Palme d’Or with “Shoplifters” in 2018 and returned to the competition last year with “Broker” which won best actor for Song Kang-ho. Well Go USA Entertainment plans to release “Monster” in North American theaters in late 2023 or early 2024. Scored by late Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (“The Last Emperor”) and lensed by Ryoto Kondo (“Shoplifters”), “Monster” tells the story of a widowed mother (Ando Sakura, “Shoplifters) who notices that her young son (Kurokawa Soya) has begun exhibiting strange behaviors. When she brings her concerns to the staff at his school, she discovers that a teacher (Nagayama Eita, “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”) is responsible and demands an explanation. Told through the multilayered perspectives of mother, teacher and child, the film gradually unveils the truth which proves much more complex than anyone expects.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes Festival’s digital media partner Brut. and leading podcast studio Paradiso Media are launching “Brutally Informed,” a weekly podcast series that just launched exclusively on Audible. The program is part of Audible’s expanding news and non-fiction slate. Hosted by journalists Jared Marcelle, Rheya Spigner, and Noah Jones, “Brutally Informed” aims at delivering insights on issues spanning current affairs, culture, and societal issues with topics ranging from polyamory to the Colorado River to counterfeit sneakers. Each 15-minute episode boasts original interviews and investigative reporting. The audio show is produced by Alex Schuman, with Paradiso Media’s Yael Even Or serving as supervising producer. Executive Producers are Ann Heppermann for Audible, Carly Figueroa for Brut, and Emi Norris for Paradiso.

Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu, who is in Cannes with Anthony Chen’s Un Certain Regard title The Breaking Ice, has had a fairytale career trajectory. 

Mubi has picked The Settlers, the latest pic from Chilean filmmaker Felipe Gálvez for North America, the UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, and India.

EXCLUSIVE: French director Jean-Bernard Marlin made waves in Cannes Critics’ Week in 2018 with Marseille-set feature debut Shéhérazade about the relationship between a young prostitute and an underage ex-convict who becomes her pimp.

Lise Pedersen Award-winning US producer and distributor Karin Chien (“Robot Stories,” “Circumstance”), whose latest co-production, “Man in Black,” is one of two films by Chinese director Wang Bing running in Cannes’ official selection, shared her experience with the crowd during a masterclass at Cannes Docs, the Film Market section dedicated to documentary films. “Man in Black” premiered at a special screening in Cannes on May 22. Wang’s other film selected in this year’s edition is main competition title “Youth.” In the talk, moderated by Documentary Association of Europe co-founder Brigid O’Shea, Chien put on her distributor’s hat to talk about a job she said was “not pitched enough but [represented] some of the most meaningful work she [had] ever done.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kirsten Niehuus, CEO at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, which funds films and TV series production in the Berlin region, and Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films, which promotes and supports the release of German films abroad, welcomed a wide array of guests to their garden party at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. Three Medienboard-funded films are in this year’s Competition: Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero,” and U.S. helmer Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City.” Niehuus told Variety: “Those are three very different productions, but it shows the spectrum [of films] that Medienboard supports.” Tunisian films, like “Four Daughters,” need international co-production funding to get made, she said, and “we believe in world cinema, so were very happy [to back it].” Hausner is “one of the most impressive female filmmakers [in the world], and I think there should be more female filmmakers on the Croisette and every other ‘A’ festival,” she said. “Asteroid City” is “the best of American arthouse filmmaking; very stylish, with a great narrative – so we love it,” she said.