News

Newen Connect will head to AFM with four fresh French features: trans-continental comedy Off To India,romance Match Made In Heaven, sisterhood comedy drama Better Days and family adventure Marius & the Treasure Hunters.

Newen Connect is the TF1-owned film and TV distribution arm of French media group Newen Studios. The new films continue the outfit’s push into more commercial, comedy-driven, local-language fare produced by TF1 Group production companies and third-party producers.

Ali and Redouane Bougheraba’s Off To India (Delocalisés) stars the latter co-director as a mattress factory worker relocated to India who convinces his French girlfriend to...

Gaumont has added French-language action feature The Orphans starring Dali Benssalah, Alban Lenoir, Anouk Grinberg and Sonia Faidi, to its Cannes slate.

The film is the first feature from Olivier Schneider who has worked as stunt coordinator on films including No Time To Die, Spectre, Taken and Fast and Furious X. It is about a cop and a mob fixer who team up to search for the killer of a former friend from their orphanage. Producers are Inoxy Films and Gaumont.

“Our ambition is to rehabilitate the French action movie and bring it back to cinemas,” said Alexis Cassanet, Gaumont’s head of international sales.

Paris and Los Angeles-based sales agency has boarded films by Nicolas Benamou, Artus and Christophe Duthuron

Paris and Los Angeles-based Other Angle Pictures has boarded three French comedy dramas: Nicolas Benamou’s We Should Have Gone to Greece, Artus’ A Little Something Extra and Christophe Duthuron’s Happiness Therapy.

The company will launch sales for all three films at this week’s Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris in the French capital.

We Should Have Gone to Greece is the latest feature from Benamou, known for co-directing local and international hit comedies Babysitting and Babysitting 2 with Philippe Lacheau, 2020’s Mystery in St. Tropez,...

Paris-based outfit releases first look image from Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile On Earth.

Paris-based Charades has sold Laurent Tirard’s Oh My Goodness! (Juste Ciel!) to a slew of territories and will kick off sales on several all-new titles at Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris including Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile On Earth.

Charades will host the first market screening for buyers of Oh My Goodness! after selling the anticipated title from veteran filmmaker Tirard to Prokino in Germany, Selecta Vision in Spain, I Wonder in Italy, Cineart in Benelux, Praesens in Switzerland, Thim Films in Austria, Ads in Hungary,...

Paris-based outfit releases first look image from Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile On Earth.

Paris-based Charades has sold Laurent Tirard’s Oh My Goodness! (Juste Ciel!) to a slew of territories and will kick off sales on several all-new titles at Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris including Jérémy Clapin’s Meanwhile On Earth.

Charades will host the first market screening for buyers of Oh My Goodness! after selling the anticipated title from veteran filmmaker Tirard to Prokino in Germany, Selecta Vision in Spain, I Wonder in Italy, Cineart in Benelux, Praesens in Switzerland, Thim Films in Austria, Ads in Hungary,...

Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s “Forever Young,” Golshifteh Farahani starrer “Romantique,” and the documentary “Last Dance” will be launched by sales boutique Charades at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous.

“Forever Young” (“Les amandiers”) stars Nadia Tereszkiewicz (“Possessions”), Louis Garrel (“An Officer and a Spy”), Vassili Schneider and Suzanne Lindon (“Spring Blossom”). The film opens at the end of the 1980s in Paris and follows a young troupe of comedians who have just have been admitted to Les Amandiers, the prestigious theater school headed by Patrice Chéreau. The film is produced by France’s Ad Vitam production and Italy’s Bibi Film.

“Romantique” (“Une Comedie romantique) marks Thibault Segouin’s feature debut, starring Farahani and Alex Lutz. The movie follows César, a notorious liar and a failing artist who lives in Montmartre in Paris and discovers he is the father of a three-year-old little girl. The film is produced by Latika and will be released by Alba Films.

Paris-based company unveils first details on new slate for Cannes Pre-screenings and Marché du Film.

Charades has boarded sales on Laurent Tirard’s new comedy Oh My Goodness! and plans to launch pre-sales at the upcoming online Cannes Pre-screenings in June and physical Marché du Film in July.

It revolves around five nuns who set their sights on winning the cash prize in a major cycling race to raise money to renovate a dilapidated hospice. The only hitch is that none of them can ride a bicycle but they are counting instead on God working in mysterious ways.

The ensemble...

‘Black Water: Abyss.’

Studiocanal’s road rage thriller Unhinged was the top choice again for cinemagoers in its second weekend while R&r Films’ Black Water: Abyss, director Andrew Traucki’s sequel to his 2007 cult-horror Black Water, opened on limited screens in Oz and the US.

Starved of new, wide releases, the market had to rely on holdovers as well as two French specialty films, Palace’s We’ll End Up Together and Umbrella Entertainment’s Deerskin.

The top 20 titles generated $2.1 million, 4 per cent up on the previous frame, according to Numero.

Directed by Derrick Borte and starring Russell Crowe and Caren Pistorius, Unhinged rang up $701,000 on 193 screens, easing by a mere 12 per cent, upping the total to $1.7 million.

In second spot, Roadshow’s The Secret: Dare to Dream actually lifted its takings by 15 per cent to $259,000 in its second frame on 212. Director Andy Tennant’s adaptation of Rhonda Byrne...

To say that ‘Nous finirons ensemble’ suffers from many of the same problems as its predecessor should come as no surprise. “Les petits mouchoirs” (released as “Little White Lies” in English-speaking territories) was the second most popular film in France in 2010, behind “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” so one cannot fault writer-director Guillaume Canet for wanting to give Gallic audiences more of what they loved the first time around. However, we can fault Canet for the result, a jabbering and ingratiating followup filled with narrative dead ends, unexplored themes and late-inning plot contrivances.

None of these issues seem to bother local audiences, who have made “Nous finirons ensemble” (which translates to “We will end up together”) a hit, albeit a smaller one than its predecessor. Fortunately, considering the first film’s mediocre performance in North America — where it earned just $206,088 of its more than $48 million haul — foreknowledge of “Les petits mouchoirs” is not mandatory,...

After collaborating on Mounia Meddour’s 2019 Un Certain Regard title “Papicha,” High Sea Production and Tribus P have joined forces with CG Cinema to launch an investment fund, Dock, which is dedicated to financing and co-financing director-driven film and TV content for the international market.

Patrick André at High Sea, Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema and Paul-Dominique Vacharasinthu at Tribus P Films will work together to co-finance four to five films as well as three series or other formats per year during the next five years. The fund’s committee will include André, Gillibert, Vacharasinthu and investors. The fund will be open to international third-party productions that are not set up at High Sea Production, CG Cinéma or Tribus P.

Dock’s first slate of projects include Alex Carvalho’s “La salamandre,” inspired by Jean-Christophe Rufin’s novel and set in Brazil. The movie will star Marina Fois, Jesuita Barbosa and Laetitia Dosch.

Seven-time César Award nominee Guillaume Canet is currently filming the sequel to his hit film, “Les petits mouchoirs” (“Little White Lies“), titled “Nous finirons ensemble” (“We’ll End Up Together“). In 2010, “Little White Lies” grossed over $48 million in France, and was nominated for two César Awards, including one nomination for Gilles Lellouche for Best Supporting Actor, and one nomination for Valérie Bonneton for Best Supporting Actress.

The Big Chilly Summer Vacation: Canet’s Latest an Exemplary Drama

For his third outing as director, actor/screenwriter Guillaume Canet looks to have been heavily influenced by Lawrence Kasdan’s American classic, The Big Chill (1983) when he penned Little White Lies. Originally premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in 2010, the film now has two cast members with Oscar statues. Whatever the impetus that has vanquished the delayed release of this title, we should be thankful to have the chance to see such a finely wrought and engrossing drama about adult relationships. And while it may indeed share similar themes with an aforementioned title, this is the type of intelligently written and engaging cinema rarely produced for American audiences.

Concerning a large group of close friends residing in Paris, their lives are altered when one of their most affable members, Ludovic (Jean Dujardin) is involved in a tragic accident...

Title: Goodbye First Love Director: Mia Hansen-Love Starring: Lola Créton, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Magne-Havard Brekke, Valérie Bonneton, Serge Renko, Ozay Fecht, Max Ricat There’s no one way to tell a love story. Often, romances are recounted on the big screen out of order, to present the happiest of times and the low points without explicitly distinguishing the two. Cinematic examples range from Annie Hall to 500 Days of Summer to Peter and Vandy, and many, many more. That tactic effectively captures what makes the relationship work, the spark and the connection, by citing instances of true delight and weaving them into a grander universe in which these two people exist just [ Read More ]...

#9. Goodbye First Love Director: Mia Hansen-Løve Cast: Lola Créton, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Magne Brekke, Valérie Bonneton, Serge Renko Distributor: IFC Films Buzz: Mia Hansen-Løve likely needs no introduction. Her first two features premiered in Cannes and left noticeable imprints and a healthy following on her tail. Releasing a new film for the first time as an anticipated director (IFC Films made a rare rights grab during production), the pressure is definitely hot and heavy. Picked up pretty decent word after its Locarno unveiling, the trajectory for this budding superstar is still aimed due north. The Gist: The detailed story of a young girl's first love - and there's probably no need to take bets on how it ends up. Typical of Hansen-Løve, though, it'll be the blissful structural shape that'll make this a complex and emotional punch in the gut. Tiff Schedule: Friday September 9 Scotiabank Theatre 3 6:45pmSaturday September 10 AMC 3 3:...

Summer holidays are lovely aren’t they? Sunning yourself on a beach, drinking and relaxing with friends. However, unfortunately for director Guillaume Canet, it turns out watching other people having a vacation isn’t quite as much fun – no matter how much angst and self-indulgent boohooing you can cram into 154 minutes.

Called Les petits mouchoirs (The Small Handkerchiefs) at home, the film was a runaway success at the French box-office, with Marion Cotillard (Canet’s real-life partner) starring alongside equally big names in the domestic cinema such as François Cluzet, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche and Valérie Bonneton. The excitement it generated can perhaps be attributed to its being the director’s follow-up to the 2006 international hit Tell No One. Though far from being another taut thriller, Little White Lies is an airy, surprisingly baggy, summer jaunt in the company of a smug group of affluent thritysomethings.

There is a measure of tension however,...

A bunch of thirty/fortysomething middle class Parisian friends (one of whom is played by beloved French import Marion Cottillard) are rocked by the news when one member of their close-knit group is involved in a serious accident. This occurs on the verge of their yearly summer getaway in the sun, and after a little deliberation, they still (somewhat selfishly) opt for the holiday anyway.

The action then shifts to the gorgeous, sun-drenched Cap Ferret in the South West of France, where the friends congregate at the holiday home of Max (Francois Cluzet) and his wife (Valérie Bonneton). All is seemingly fine at first, but the growing discontentment of the group (fuelled partly by the guilt of leaving their friend in hospital) puts a strain on things, and what was once a playful, fun-loving dynamic and fun retreat begins to lose it lustre as secrets are revealed and relationships are tested.

Little White Lies, starring Marion Cotillard, comes to UK cinemas on 15th April, and to mark its releases we have a DVD bundle consisting of I’Ve Loved You So Long, Angel, The Lives Of Others and Children Of Glory to give away!

Despite a traumatic event, a group of friends decide to go ahead with their annual beach vacation. Their relationships, convictions, sense of guilt and friendship are sorely tested.

They are finally forced to own up to the little white lies they have been telling each other.

Directed by Guillaume Canet (Tell No One), the film has an all star cast featuring François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton and Pascale Arbillot. Find out more at http://www.littlewhiteliesmovie.co.uk/.

To be in with a chance of winning, just become a fan of HeyUGuys on Facebook and answer the following...

Little White Lies

Director: Guillaume Canet

Written by Guillaume Canet

France, 2010

Guillaume Canet’s Little White Lies starts with a big bang and ends with a whole lot of whimpering. The third feature from the director of Tell No One promised to be undemanding fun, accompanied by that veneer of French sophistication you don’t find in Jennifer Aniston movies. A bunch of affluent, self-obsessed Parisians on a beach holiday also sounds like material that’s just ripe for a Hollywood makeover. But it turns out that Canet’s film is a remake – a homage if you prefer – to that Baby Boomer classic, The Big Chill. The bad news is that Canet’s film runs to an extravagant 154 minutes. As the lachrymose finale dragged on and on, I’m afraid I almost lost the will to live.

The bravura opening gives no hint of the cinematic car crash that follows.

Lionsgate have sent us this new poster for their new movie, Little White Lies. If you missed it, Jamie put up the trailer for the movie last week here. Little White lies is directed by Guillaume Canet and stars Marion Cotillard, François Cluzet, Benoit Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Laurent Lafitte, Jean Dujardin, Valérie Bonneton, Pascale Arbillot, Anne Marivin, Louise Monot, Joel Dupuch and Hocine Merabet.

Synopsis: From the prolific César winning director who gave us Tell No One this intimate study of friendship and humanity brings together a truly exceptional ensemble cast; including the Academy and BAFTA award winning actress Marion Coutillard; and the César ‘Best Actor’ award winner François Cluzet. Walking the fine line between laughter and tears Canet directs some of France’s most skillful performers to deliver startlingly intimate performances. As we learn of each character’s flaws we also understand the bond between the friends, and recognise ourselves in them.

Lionsgate have released the worldwide exclusive new trailer for acclaimed comedy-drama Little White Lies.

Directed by Guillaume Canet (Tell No One), Little White Lies stars François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton and Pascale Arbillot.

Little White Lies, which premiered to rave reviews at the 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival, will be released in the UK on April 15.

In a Parisian nightclub, party man Ludo (Dujardin) takes off late at night on his scooter, where he’s blindsided by a truck. Lying between life and death in the hospital, Ludo is visited by his band of longtime pals, who decide that the gruesome crash shouldn’t prevent them from embarking on their coveted summer holidays.

Prior to the trip, another major problem arises when one of the friends, chiropractor Vincent (Magimel), confesses his attraction to nervous-wreck restaurateur Max (Cluzet); their initial tête-à-tête...

The nominations for this year’s César Awards (France’s Oscar equivalent) has been announced. In addition the awards ceremony has also chosen Quentin Tarantino as the recipient of the ceremony’s honorary award. Alain Terzian, the president of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma announced at a press conference this morning confirmed that the director would be present to ick up his award in person.

It is also worth noting that there are three American movies among the seven nominees for Best Foreign Film: Inception, The Social Network and perhaps the biggest surprise, Invictus.

The 36th edition of the Césars will take place on February 25 in Paris.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Movie

L’arnacoeur by Pascal Chaumeil

Le nom des gens by Michel Leclerc

The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski

Tournée by Mathieu Amalric

Des Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois

Gainsbourg...

Three U.S. films are among the seven nominees for best foreign film in this year’s César Awards, France’s version of the Oscars. Meanwhile, American director Quentin Tarantino has been selected to receive an honorary award and will be at the Feb. 25 ceremony in Paris to accept it, it was announced Friday.

The three American films cited by the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema are Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” an Oscar contender in the States last year.

Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods and Men” (“Des hommes et des Dieux”) — not one of the nine films still in contention for the best foreign film Oscar — leads with 10 nominations, while Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg” (“Vie Héroïque”) are also nominated in multiple categories.

Presiding over this year’s awards is American actress and director Jodie Foster.

Unless you speak French, you won't understand a lick of this, however, what director Hélène Angel has coming our way looks interesting. It's the trailer for Forbidden House , a thriller opening in France on January 19 with Valérie Bonneton and Charles Berling starring. We told you about this one a few weeks ago. Check out the trailer past this synopsis. Bonneton and Berling play Claire and Benoît, respectively, who arrive in the country to sell the family home in which Claire's brother recently committed suicide. Benoît wants to start work as soon as possible to sell at the best price, but even from the first night, Claire is convinced they are not alone in the house. Worried that his wife's fragile psychological state may be on the edge of cracking, Benoît does his best to...

From writer-director Hélène Angel comes Propriété interdite (or, Forbidden House ), a new French thriller we were tipped off to thanks to the gang at 24fps. The film, starring Valérie Bonneton and Charles Berling, opens next month in France, and while there is no trailer yet, there is a synopsis to chew on and a gallery of images to peruse. Bonneton and Berling play Claire and Benoît, respectively, who arrive in the country to sell the family home in which Claire's brother recently committed suicide. Benoît wants to start work as soon as possible to sell at the best price, but even from the first night, Claire is convinced they are not alone in the house. Worried that his wife's fragile psychological state may be on the edge of cracking, Benoît does his best to reassure her...

Here comes the 35th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, and the line-up thus far of Galas and Special Presentations (that is code for High Profile Films) is looking quite stellar. In this first taster, there are new films from Kim Ji-Woon, Andrew Lau (and not even in the Midnight Madness portion, those films have not been announced yet!) Stephen Frears, Mark Romanek, Darren Aronfosky, Michael Winterbottom, Sylvain Chomet, Mike Leigh, François Ozon, Tran Anh Hung, Guillaume Canet, John Cameron Mitchell, Danis Tanovic, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Julian Schnabel and Im Sang-Soo. Please sirs, I want some more! 

No signs of Terrence Malick yet, but fingers crossed!

Full Press Release from Tiff:

"On the occasion of our 35th anniversary, we are thrilled to announce this selection of important and notable films," says Piers Handling, Director and CEO of Tiff. "The richness and diversity of this year's Galas and Special...

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: Attention shifts this morning from San Diego (and the Comic-Con gathering) to Canada, where representatives for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival unveiled its lineup of Gala Premieres and Special Presentations.

According to this morning’s announcement, Tiff — which runs Sept. 9-19 — boast world premieres of new films by Robert Redford, Michael Winterbottom, Guillaume Canet, John Cameron Mitchell, Kiran Rao, Mike Mills and Andrucha Waddington.

In addition, critically acclaimed filmmakers Woody Allen, Sylvain Chomet, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Tran Anh Hung, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mike Leigh, Julian Schnabel and Im Sang-Soo will make their North American premieres in Toronto. Meanwhile, the Galas and Special Presentations announced today feature on-screen performances by Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Aamir Khan, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Clive Owen, Colin Firth, Juliette Lewis, James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor, Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, Christopher Plummer, Natalie Portman, Om Puri, Ryan Reynolds,...

The Toronto International Film Festival will be celebrating its 35th year this September and it has announced today the first batch of big premieres. Some highlights include Darren Aronofsky‘s Black Swan, Robert Redford‘s The Conspirator, John Madden‘s The Debt, Tom Hooper‘s The King’s Speech, and Mark Romanek‘s Never Let Me Go. Check out the initial line-up below.

Galas

The Bang Bang Club. Steven Silver, Canada/South Africa World Premiere The Bang Bang Club was the name given to four young photographers, Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva, whose photographs captured the final bloody days of white rule in South Africa and the final demise of apartheid. The film tells the remarkable and sometimes harrowing story of these young men – and the extraordinary extremes they went to in order to capture their pictures. The film stars Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman, Taylor Kitsch,...

• Guillaume Canet can count on the return of François Cluzet, the participation of an Oscar winning actress in Marion Cotillard, and Benoît Magimel for his third feature in the director's chair. Canet will follow up Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne) with with Les Petits Mouchoirs (“The Little Handkerchiefs”). Cineuropa reports that Valérie Bonneton, Gilles Lellouche, Anne Marivin, Louise Monot, Laurent Lafite, Pascale Arbillot and Jean Dujardin (Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) round out the cast. Production will last three months in Gironde, Cap Ferret and Paris. Written by the Canet, Les Petits Mouchoirs centres on a group of friends who holiday together every summer at Cap Ferret (South West portion of France). The good spirits of the first few days give way to less exalted feelings when they each express their innermost doubts. Productions du Trésor's Alain Attal (who also produced Ne le dis à personne) produces.

...

The Festival De Television De Monte-Carlo aka The Monte-Carlo TV Festival was created in 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, looking to "...encourage a new art form, in the service of peace and understanding between men..." In 2002, the festival was reorganized to include additional categories to recognize new trends in the TV industry. The top prize in the festival is a gold copy statuette of the "Salmacis" Nymph by the Monegasque sculptor, François Joseph Bosio. And the winners of the 49th Annual Festival, (including numerous TV films never seen before in North America) are: Television Films / Films De TÉLÉVISION Best Television Film / Meilleur Film de Télévision The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall Talkbackthames - United Kingdom Outstanding Director / Meilleur Réalisateur Rowan Joffe "The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall" - United Kingdom Outstanding Actor / Meilleur Acteur Masakazu Tamura "Ah, You're Really Gone Now" - Japan Outstanding Actress / Meilleure Actrice Julie Walters "A Short...

This week's indie film feature is IFC Films' "Summer Hours" (a.k.a. L' Heure d'été).   Renowned filmmaker Olivier Assayas ("Clean," "Paris je t'aime") directs the drama from his own writing the drama which stars Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jérémie Renier, Edith Scob, Dominique Reymond, Valérie Bonneton and Kyle Eastwood.   Produced by Charles Gillibert, Marin Karmitz and Nathanaël Karmitz, the film is due for release on May 8th this year.   See the official site here.   What's it about?   The divergent paths of three forty-something siblings collide when their mother, heiress to her uncle's exceptional 19th century art collection, dies suddenly. Left to come to terms with themselves and their differences, Adrienne (Juliette Binoche), a successful New York designer, Frederic (Charles Berling), an economist and university professor in Paris, and Jeremie (Jeremie Renier), a dynamic businessman in China, confront the end of childhood, their shared memories, background and unique vision of the future.

This week's indie film feature is IFC Films' "Summer Hours" (a.k.a. L' Heure d'été). Renowned filmmaker Olivier Assayas ("Clean," "Paris je t'aime") directs the drama from his own writing the drama which stars Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jérémie Renier, Edith Scob, Dominique Reymond, Valérie Bonneton and Kyle Eastwood. Produced by Charles Gillibert, Marin Karmitz and Nathanaël Karmitz, the film is due for release on May 8th this year.

This week's indie film feature is IFC Films' "Summer Hours" (a.k.a. L' Heure d'été). Renowned filmmaker Olivier Assayas ("Clean," "Paris je t'aime") directs the drama from his own writing the drama which stars Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jérémie Renier, Edith Scob, Dominique Reymond, Valérie Bonneton and Kyle Eastwood. Produced by Charles Gillibert, Marin Karmitz and Nathanaël Karmitz, the film is due for release on May 8th this year.