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Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)

There are a lot of ways A Different Man could go and a lot of things it could be. Aaron Schimberg’s uniquely uncomfortable, uncomfortably unique feature sometimes plays as a reverse-Frankenstein medical horror, a tragic life-imitates-art satire, and a spiraling relationship drama. To its ambitious and distinct credit, it attempts packaging them all into ominous-sounding harmony, as if Charlie Kauffman’s surrealist Escher concoctions became a Twilight Zone episode modeled after David Lynch’s Elephant Man or Beauty and the Beast. It’s a dark, hilarious, and deeply unsettling portrait of a disfigured man that’s also an unflinching mirror of a looks-focused industry. – Jake K. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

Green Border (Agnieszka Holland...

The latest film from buzzy US studio A24 delves into the complexity of a shifting mother-daughter relationship. Much like last year's award-winning Past Lives (also an A24 release), from playwright-turned-director Celine Song, Janet Planet marks Pulitzer Prize-winning Annie Baker’s first steps from stage to screen. A coming-of-age story about a mother (Julianne Nicholson) and daughter Lacy (Zoe Ziegler), the film loosely unfolds throughout four chapters, delineated by distinct title cards, as boyfriend Wayne (Will Patton), old friend Regina (Sophie Okonedo) and theatre troupe leader Avi (Elias Koteas) drift in and out of Janet’s orbit. These interactions are predominantly viewed via the unique perspective of misfit Lacy, an imaginative and observant child who spends her summer vying for her mother’s attention, while adrift and struggling to find her own trajectory in life.

Baker nicely captures a specific moment in time — the seemingly endless feel of a long, hazy...

From gritty banlieue drama Girlhood to period piece Portrait of a Lady on Fire and animation My Life As a Courgette, the French director’s films never fail to connect eloquently with us

“Does French film-maker Céline Sciamma ever put a foot wrong?” That’s a question I posed in my 2021 Observer review of Petite Maman, a sublime modern fable in which a young girl meets her soulmate – a mirror-image child who appears to be a young incarnation of her mother. The film is an astonishing work, a U-certificate masterpiece for children of all ages, conjuring a magical reality in which characters converse across generational divides in disarmingly matter-of-fact fashion. The time-travelling setup may be fantastical, but there’s nothing fanciful or far-fetched about the emotions the film provokes. On the contrary, Sciamma adopts the magical elements of ghost stories and fairytales to create a down-to-earth coming-of-age parable notable for just how real it feels.

“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?” –– Joni Mitchell

More or less a feature-length adaptation of those immortal lyrics, Megan Park’s My Old Ass takes a humorous, crowd-pleasing, and rather pat look at remembering to appreciate what you have in the moment. Anyone long out of high school has had the fantasy of wondering how your life would’ve turned out differently––if only you could have given some insight to your younger self at those crucial forks in the road. Imagining this scenario with a dash of time travel in its comedy-first approach, My Old Ass yearns to go down easy and succeeds at such, but one wishes it dug a bit deeper into its Pollyannaish script and aesthetic.

There are precisely 22 days left until summer wraps for Elliott. She’s ready to experience bigger...

When in office, Barack Obama would release his picks for his bracket for NCAA’s March Madness during the college basketball season, as well as cap off the year with a list of his favorite films of the year. Last year’s list consisted of Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, John Patton Ford’s Emily the Criminal, Celine Sciamma’s Petite Maman, Margaret Brown’s Descendant, Audrey Diwane’s Happening, Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once, Fernando León de Aranoa’s The Good Boss, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, Panah Panahi’s Hit the Road, Todd Field’s Tar and Kogonada’s After Yang.

This year, Obama posted his list on social media with the caption, “Earlier this year, writers and actors...

The holidays are upon us, so whether you looking for film-related gifts or simply want to pick up some of the finest the year had to offer in the category for yourself, we have a gift guide for you. Including must-have books on filmmaking, the best from the Criterion Collection and more home-video picks, subscriptions, magazines, music, and more, dive in below.

Giveaways

In celebration of our holiday gift guide, we’ll be doing a number of giveaways! First up, we’re giving away My First Movie Vol. 2, a three-part ‘lil cinephile series by Cory Everett and illustrator Julie Olivi, featuring My First Spaghetti Western, My First Yakuza Movie, and My First Hollywood Musical.

Enter on Instagram (for My First Yakuza Movie), Twitter (for My First Hollywood Musical), and/or Facebook (for My First Spaghetti Western) by Sunday, November 26 at 11:59pm Et. Those that enter on all three platforms...

In “Àma Gloria,” directed by Marie Amachoukeli, childhood is the domain of formative gains and losses. After opening this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week, the film screened as part of the Meet the Neighbors+ competition at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Amachoukeli previously co-directed “Party Girl,” which won Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2014.

“Àma Gloria” introduces us to six-year-old Cléo (Louise Mauroy-Panzani), who lives in Paris with her widower dad Arnaud (Arnaud Rebotini) and her nanny Gloria (Ilça Moreno Zego). A blissfully constructed day-to-day routine keeps the world in order until one day Gloria has to return to her Cape Verdean family. In preparation to leave France for good, she invites Cléo to spend the summer with her in Cape Verde.

“Àma Gloria” unfolds as an exploration of childhood through the eyes of its young protagonist. Reviewing the film for Variety, critic Jessica Kiang called it “a debut made dazzling by...

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” was Céline Sciamma’s big breakout moment, but the French director was clearly a major talent in the making from the very start of her career.

In 2007, the then 29-year-old filmmaker premiered her first feature at Cannes Film Festival, after writing the movie’s script during her final year at the prestigious film school La Fémis. The story of three teen girls awakening to their sexualities during a single summer, “Water Lillies” featured Sciamma’s future romantic partner and collaborator Adèle Haenel, and established the type of female-focused and queer stories she would spend her entire career bringing to the screen.

Following the positive reception of “Water Lillies,” Sciamma chased it with 2011’s “Tomboy,” a sharply observed coming-of-age about a 10-year-old exploring their gender identity. 2014’s “Girlhood,” about four Black teen girls living in Paris, brought Sciamma further attention, thanks to a much talked...

Marie Amachoukeli’s Ama Gloria has won the Best International Film Prize at the 40th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival, running from July 13 to July 26.

The feature, which world premiered as the opening film of Cannes Critics’ Week in May, revolves around a motherless six-year-old girl who travels to Cape Verde to reunite with her longtime nanny.

The jury presided over by Claire Denis, and also figuring Whit Stillman, Florian Zeller, Joana Vicente, and Maria Schrader praised the film’s “extraordinary poignancy, beauty and insight”.

Ama Gloria is produced by Bénédicte Couvreur, the long-time producer of Céline Sciamma and her films Petite Maman and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire.

Other winners in the International Competition include Best Director for Mexico’s Lila Avilés for Berlinale-selected family drama Totem and a Special Mention for the ensemble cast of Argentinian director Rodrigo Moreno’s The Delinquents, which debuted in Un Certain Regard this year.

The French drama explores the close relationship between a six-year-old girl and her nanny

BFI Distribution has picked up Marie Amachoukeli’s Cannes Critics’ Week opener Ama Gloria for the UK and Ireland. The French drama was acquired from Pyramide International.

The film, which is set to be released in 2024, explores the close relationship between a six-year-old girl and her nanny as they spend their last summer together in Cape Verde.

Pyramide has also sold the film to Transformer in Japan, Hugoeast in China, Cinéart in Benelux, Alambique in Portugal, Ama Films in Greece, Surtsey in Spain, and I Wonder in Italy.

The Video Essay is a joint project of Mubi and Filmadrid International Film Festival. Film analysis and criticism found a completely new and innovative path with the arrival of the video essay. The limits of this discipline are constantly expanding; new essayists are finding innovative ways to study the history of cinema working within images. With this non-competitive section of the festival, both Mubi and Filmadrid will offer the video essay format the platform and visibility it deserves. The seven selected works will premiere online from June 5 through June 11, 2023, on Mubi's online publication Notebook. The selection was made by the Notebook editors and Filmadrid.Where Is Little Trixie? by Carlos BaixauliLittle Trixie is bored. She looks for ways to distract herself, but she gets lost between the gardens of Céline Sciamma and Alice Guy. Small "coincidences" of elements bind together Petite Maman (2021) and Falling Leaves (1912).—Carlos Baixauli...

Writer-director Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman departs from the filmmaker’s last two feature-length directorial efforts in its comparative modesty. With none of the overt social messaging of Girlhood or the grand romance of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma’s precisely composed images and muted dialogue serve a more intimate story about the longing to connect with one’s mother outside the bounds of the parent-offspring relationship.

Petite Maman indulges the same kind of fantasy as Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future, answering the question of what it would be like to meet our parents at our own age—though it’s not overly concerned with temporal paradoxes or a high-stakes race to ensure one’s genesis. Rather, Sciamma’s film is contemplative and cool almost to a fault, emphasizing the simple acts of connecting with and parting from people we care about, and the rueful inevitability of time’s passing.

Cannes acclaimed filmmaker Marie Amachoukeli and leading French studio Miyu Productions will pair on “Happy End,” a macabre comedy Amachoukeli will co-direct with Vladimir Mavounia Kouka. Set for production in 2024, the project has already received backing from Bac Films and MK2, with the latter handling international sales.

Variety has scored a first look at the project, which recently presented at the Cartoon Movie pitch and co-production forum in Bordeaux.

Imagining a world without death and employing a visual style reminiscent of Max Fleischer, the 2D, adult-targeted film follows Bertha King, a suicidal career soldier who has the bad to luck to finally end things right as the grim reaper hangs up his scythe. Left yearning to die while death has gone on strike, the depressed hero must navigate a morose new existence all of sudden freed from the bonds of mortality.

“The idea of the film is to encourage laughter and re-enchantment,...

The most visceral films are often described as sensory experiences. But how can a visual medium translate the sensations of smell without the aid of a John Waters-style scratch-and-sniff card? This is a stylistic quandary French filmmaker Léa Mysius approaches with ease in her accomplished sophomore feature The Five Devils, an entrancing time travel drama in which the odors of the natural world give way to the memories of those who walked there before. Its mythology is deliberately freed of explanation so we may have a child’s-eye view into the timeline-bending narrative––a striking decision that is likely to leave those wanting a straightforward explainer of how it all works firmly in the cold. It’s a film that rewards fantastical curiosity, not literal inquisitiveness, using its borderline-science fiction conceit as a jumping-off point for a more intimate examination of the still-fresh wounds affecting a seemingly functional family unit.

Each month, Criterion does its best to entice cinephiles to spend their money on a variety of new releases that are being added to their collection. For May 2023, the Criterion Collection is doing a great job about offering an eclectic mix of old and new, mainstream and underrated with its list of film offerings being added to the Collection. Do you want the debut film from an iconic filmmaker? Enjoy “Targets” from Peter Bogdanovich.

Continue reading Criterion Collection Adds ‘Thelma & Louise,’ ‘Targets,’ & ‘Petite Maman’ For May at The Playlist.

Your player and Oled alike shall receive a workout this May, Criterion having given some of the sharpest black-and-white cinema’s ever seen the 4K treatment. Wings of Desire––as much of a flagship title as anything among their catalogue, and in 4K even more of a unique opportunity to pretend you saw Nick Cave circa 1987––and Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill, whose widescreen compositions are so honed they might cut glass, constitute nothing but very wise choices. I can’t express much enthusiasm for Thelma and Louis also getting 2,160 pixels, but I don’t run the show and these aren’t my decisions to make.

The Blu-ray side is formidable just on the basis of Peter Bogdanovich’s Targets, among the greatest and most venomous movies about movies––good luck enjoying the drive-in again––and bears further credit for its Adam Nayman essay. Because I haven’t seen...

After last month kicked off with Sight and Sound unveiling of their once-in-a-decade greatest films of all-time poll, detailing the 100 films that made the cut that were led by Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, they’ve now unveiled the full critics’ top 250. While the discourse up until now has featured many wondering why certain directors were totally absent and why other films that previously made the top 100 were left out, more clarity has arrived with this update.

Check out some highlights we clocked below, the full list here, and return on March 2 when all ballots and comments will be unveiled.

The films closest to making the top 100 were Rio Bravo, The House Is Black, and Vagabond, which tied for #103. Four directors absent in the top 100––Terrence Malick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Jacques Demy––have two films each in the top 250: The Tree of Life...

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the festival’s first in-person competition since 2020, has revealed its award winners.

The big winners included Maryam Keshavarz‘s The Persian Version, which earned both the Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and A.V. Rockwell‘s A Thousand and One, which took home the Grand Jury Prize in the same category.

The Persian Version explores an Iranian-American family’s past as its patriarch gets a heart transplant while A Thousand and One centers around a mother who kidnaps her son from the foster care system in order to find a path toward redemption.

Other winners include Festival Favorite Radical directed by Christopher Zalla and Grand Jury Prize winner for U.S. Documentary, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.

The festival has highlighted 101 different features and 64 shorts. These films were selected from a total of 15,856 submissions. Most of...

The Criterion Collection is about to add some of 2022's best films to its roster, all coming out of Neon's award-winning slate. The five titles joining the collection are Alice Diop's "Saint Omer," Academy Award-winner Laura Poitras' "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed," Ruben Östlund's "Triangle of Sadness," Brett Morgen's "Moonage Daydream," and Céline Sciamma's "Petite Maman." Each of these films has garnered critical acclaim and will feel right at home with the esteemed curation.

For example, "Saint Omer" is the French selection for the 2023 Academy Awards and won the coveted Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize when the film premiered at Venice. This has been a banner year for director Alice Diop, who received a DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement for a First-Time Theatrical Feature Film Director for the film, in addition to multiple critics circles awards. Laura Poitras' documentary "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed...

French films drew 27m spectators worldwide in 2022 for a gross of €167.4m (180m), according to the annual report of France’s cinema export agency Unifrance released on Tuesday.

The admissions figure represented a 51.8 hike on 2021 when cinemagoing remained severely impacted worldwide due to the Covid-19 pandemic but is 32 lower than the average of 40m entries per year for the previous decade.

The figure is also way below the bumper years of 2012, 2014 and 2015, when French cinema generated international entries of 144m, 120m and 114m respectively thanks to films as diverse as The Intouchables, The Artist, Lucy, Le Petit Prince and Taken 3.

Breaking the 27m admissions figure down, majority French productions generated 17m of these entries, representing a 78.9 rise on 2021, while 19.6m of the admissions were for French-language productions.

The body noted that the headline admissions figure was achieved in a context in which the overall domestic box office fell 26, while key markets such as Germany,...

The year is almost over, which means it's time for one of the best traditions the internet has to offer: fantastic movie montages of the year that was. Few creators have been in the cinematic mash-up game for as long as YouTube user Sleepy Skunk, whose first currently available trailer mash-up dates back to 2010. Every year since then, through thick and thin, Sleepy Skunk has delivered a beautifully edited supercut of some of the year's most striking cinematic moments. Now, the 2022 video has just dropped, and as expected, it's over six straight minutes of movie magic.

As is now traditional for montages of this sort, the "2022 Movie Trailer Mashup" video shifts moods several times to encompass all the big feelings the world of movies had to offer this year. It starts off intense, dark, and action-packed (shout-out to the inclusion of that shot from "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness...

"Now… the nightmare begins." Let's take a look back! It's time for an emotional look back at all the movies from 20221. Our longtime friend the "Sleepy Skunk" has debuted his annual end-of-the-year recap video - the 2022 Movie Trailer Mashup - utilizing footage from every major movie trailer released throughout 2022 edited together to make you smile and get all mushy. Louis, who makes this mashup every year, puts a lot of time and effort into making sure this plays perfectly. I'm happy to see clips in this from Petite Maman, Turning Red, Marcel the Shell, Close, The Sea Beast, Belle, and Athena, among others. Though it has such a dark start this year! But it brightens up by the end. View below and enjoy this magnificent 2022 video recap. ›››

View the Post: Watch: Sleepy Skunk's 2022 Movie Trailer Mashup Recap of the Year...

How might one sum up 2022 and all of its movie-related (stop-motion) monkey business? 

These past 12 months have been a pretty darn bumpy ride, complete with their share of hand-wringing over the future of cinema. On the flip side, they saw the movie industry make vital gains in representation, all while unique, challenging films misfired left and right financially, and even superhero tentpoles caught the box office blues. Meanwhile, other movies went far harder than expected, giving us writers a free excuse to use the term "maximalist" many times over. (No shade here -- it's a fun word!) They also taught us valuable lessons about the power of radical empathy, the value of vulnerability, and the joys of punching fascists, colonialists, and other oppressors in the face.

But before we get into the top 10 of it all, some honorable mentions -- call them my alternate top 10. Their ranks include:

"Pearl" and "Nope,...

Of all the Best Of lists that come out at the end of the year, few are anticipated with more eagerness than that of former President Barack Obama. The annual list is always an eclectic collection of cinema that reveals a wide-ranging taste that rivals that of professional film critics.

“I always look forward to sharing my lists of favorite books, movies, and music with all of you,” Obama tweeted, before beginning his rollout of his picks from the culture he consumed.

For his films, he tweeted December 23, “I saw some great movies this year — here are some of my favorites.” His list put Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” at the top, followed by Park Chan-wook’s murder-mystery “Decision to Leave” and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King.”

Obama’s list also included “Aftersun,” “Emily the Criminal,” “Petite Maman,” “Happening,” “Till,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Good Boss,...

Unlike other former leaders of the Free World, President Barack Obama is known for keeping his finger on the pulse of pop culture. In addition to sharing his Favorite Books of 2022, Obama is ready to release a list of his Favorite Movies of 2022, including Top Gun: Maverick, The Woman King, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Emily the Criminal, and more. Obama posted the complete list to Instagram on Friday, cementing his reputation as a man of taste.

Earlier this year, Obama shared a Spotify playlist link presenting his favorite Summer Jams of 2022. Included on the list were Beyoncé, Prince, Al Green, Miles Davis, Fatboy Slim, Joe Cocker, Burna Boy, Kendrick Lamar, Tems, and one of my favorites, the British indie rock band Wet Leg. The mix will bring heat to any pool party full of people looking to get their drink on while playing Beach Blanket Bingo.

View this post...

Barack Obama continued his annual tradition of posting his favorite movies of the year by selecting 17 standout titles from 2022. “I saw some great movies this year,” the former president posted on social media. “Here are some of my favorites. What did I miss?”

Obama’s list includes top awards contenders such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” but it’s also heavy on international movies such as Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave,” Celine Sciamma’s “Petite Maman” and “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” from “Drive My Car” Oscar winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

The full list includes: Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun,” John Patton Ford’s “Emily the Criminal,” Celine Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” Margaret Brown’s “Descendant,” Audrey Diwane’s “Happening,” Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till,” Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once,...

This review originally ran May 21, 2022, for the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Early on during the vacation that Calum and his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) take to a Turkish beach resort in “Aftersun” — the heart-achingly stirring and sensorially entrancing debut feature from writer-director Charlotte Wells, set in the 1990s — a brief encounter exposes the film’s profoundly relatable thesis.

As father and child ready themselves for a game of pool, two teenage boys approach them under the impression that the pair are siblings. Once they learn he’s not a brother but a parent, their demeanor changes. Calum immediately becomes a figure of authority. They watch their language around him and treat him with an air of respect.

In their defense, Mescal’s boyish features and playful aura would deceive most, but their reaction exemplifies our collective inability to see those who raise us as individuals...

Ziad Doueiri, the French-Lebanese filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated movie “The Insult” who made his TV debut with the hit series “Baron Noir,” will next direct “Fièvre” (“Fever”).

“Fièvre” was penned by “Baron Noir” screenwriter Eric Benzekri and has been co-developed by French pay TV group Canal+’s Creation Originale label.

The show is being produced by Quad, the Paris-based company behind Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s “Intouchables” and the series “The Bonfire of Destiny.”

“Fievre” is headlined by two female characters played by Nina Meurisse, who notably starred in Celine Sciamma’s Berlinale competition film “Petite Maman,” and Julia Piaton, from Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affair(s)” which was part of Cannes 2020’s official selection.

Doueiri told Variety that the series will follow a woman who leads a crisis management firm and comes across a massive scandal involving a Black soccer player who beat the team’s coach, who is white.

The leaves are withering, the air is turning crisp, and film festival season is well underway — which means even more foreign-language movies to receive raves on the fall awards circuit before getting promptly buried on a streamer. But don't let that happen to "Athena," a staggering French drama that is in danger of falling into the Netflix abyss, crowded out by your "Gray Men" or "Kissing Booth's." Or check out one of last year's forgotten festival darlings in Céline Sciamma's "Petite Maman." And because spooky season is now here, we have a horror anime classic making their streaming debuts, alongside a cyberpunk anime classic. Plus, "Little Women," but make it crime?

Let's fire up those subtitles and get streaming.

Athena – Netflix

Country: France

Genre: Action drama

Director: Romain Gavras

Cast: Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti.

"Athena" is a Molotov cocktail of a movie: incendiary,...

Emily Ratajkowski stuns in Versace from inside a clear box. Pic credit: ©ImageCollect.com/Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency

If there’s one thing Emily Ratajkowski can pull off, it’s taking leather to another level.

The 31-year-old model showed off her latest look for her 29.5 million followers on Instagram, which included an all-black Versace exclusive ensemble.

Emily uploaded a video of herself during a photo shoot, which had her posing from inside a clear box and placing her hands on the surrounding walls.

Her edgy look consisted of a leather jacket and a low-rise leather miniskirt, which also featured a belt with a silver clasp around her waist.

To show off her lean legs to their full capacity, Emily’s miniskirt was paired with knee-high, platform leather boots.

To wrap up the look, she added in a matching silver-studded handbag and a pair of silver hoop earrings.

Emily Ratajkowski...

It's out with the old and in with the new — another month is coming to a close, so it's time for each of our many different streaming services to refresh their libraries by adding new titles and getting rid of others. So far, no one is doing this quite as dramatically as HBO Max, but alas, no one is completely safe from the possibility of removal. Bet let's instead focus on the upside: More titles will be available to stream this month! Meaning lots more TV series and movies to add to your watchlist and hopefully cross off before they inexplicably disappear from the service.

This month, Hulu is whipping out a selection that really runs the gamut. Looking to linger in the comforting space of reality TV? The streamer has everything from Kardashian family drama to foodie-leaning titles like "Best in Dough" and the season premiere of "Hell's Kitchen.

Click here to read the full article.

Shia Labeouf’s latest performance, a turn as an Italian monk in Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, will get its world premiere in Venice as part of the Venice Days lineup, the independently-run sidebar to the Venice International Film Festival.

Labeouf, who co-starred in 2020 Venice Festival competition title Pieces of a Woman, took a well-publicized break from acting two years ago after his ex-girlfriend, Tahliah Debrett Barnett, sued him for assault, sexual battery and emotional distress.

Padre Pio sees Labeouf play a real-life Italian monk who became a superstar among the Catholic faithful, who believe he bore the holy stigmata, the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. Padre Pio, who died in 1968 was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

It is not yet clear whether Labeouf will attend Venice to promote the movie.

The 2022 Venice Days program opens with Dirty,...

The French writer-director will help young film enthusiasts choose the best film from selection.

French director Céline Sciamma has been named jury president of this year’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA), which runs alongside the Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).

Sciamma will preside over 27 young European film enthusiasts to select the recipient of the GdA Director’s award for best film from the Giornate Official Selection. The process will be coordinated by Karlovy Vary Film Festival director Karel Och.

It is the only award given at the GdA, a sidebar of the Venice Film Festival which runs independently parallel...

French director and screenwriter Céline Sciamma has been announced as jury president of Venice parallel section Giornate degli Autori (GdA), running August 31 to September 10.

She will preside over a jury of 27 young European cinephiles attending GdA under the auspices of the 27 Times Cinema program, a joint initiative organized by the independent sidebar, the European Parliament’s Lux Audience Award and Europa Cinemas

This jury decides the GdA Director’s Award, the sidebar’s only official prize, under the coordination of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) director Karel Och.

“Our choice of Céline Sciamma as jury president doesn’t only mean having one of the most intriguing voices in contemporary film with us at Giornate degli Autori; most importantly, what it means is embracing her vision of reality,” said GdA artistic director Gaia Furrer of the Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Petite Maman director.

“Céline Sciamma has always...

Lady On Fire

Cutting edge French director and screenwriter Céline Sciamma has been appointed as president of the jury at the Giornate degli Autori (aka Venice Days), a sidebar to the Venice Film Festival. She will preside over a special jury made up of 27 young European cinephiles present in a campus. “[Sciamma] has thoroughly upended the basic structure of our society and masterfully created new images and new memories. With her latest film, ‘Petite Maman,’ she has provided further proof that the prevailing canon of film production can indeed be challenged,” said Venice Days’ artistic director Gaia Furrer. Sciamma’s earlier credits include: “Bande de filles” in 2014; “Tomboy” in 2011 and “Naissance des Pieuvres” in 2009. The appointment is a homecoming of sorts for the director of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” ever since she was shortlisted for the 2014 Lux Prize at 27 Times Cinema, the initiative organized by Giornate degli Autori, the...

If you’re lucky enough to live in a fairly progressive or even populous place, it can feel like everyone and everything is queer. LGBTQ identities are everywhere: From The New York Times writing about they/them pronouns to the year’s second highest-grossing movie including an (albeit chaste) same-sex kiss. For the average queer person just trying to live their life, the focus of the mainstream microscope can be exhausting. For queer filmmakers, or filmmakers who happen to fall somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, it can be a double-edged sword.

John Waters, for example, bristles at being called an “openly gay director.” In sharing this fact with Luca Guadagnino, whom he spoke to recently at the Provincetown Film Festival, the “Call Me by Your Name” filmmaker concurred. “I don’t believe in openly anything,” Guadagnino said.

There is no doubt that the man who introduced Divine to the world makes queer films,...

One year after merging with the promotion org TV France International, Unifrance is preparing a series of strategic events in key markets across Europe, the U.S., China and Japan to fast-track the global distribution of local series and movies.

The French film and TV advocacy banner will host trade shows bringing together French sales outfits and international distributors in Paris in January, Biarritz (Southwestern France) in September, as well as in Roma in April, Madrid in June, Berlin in November, New York in March and Yokohama in December. The 13th edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival, the online fest dedicated to French movies will be held in January and February.

While the French box office has suffered a decline due to the pandemic, Unifrance highlighted the recent critical success of French productions at major festivals, for instance Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winning “Titane,” as well as the series “Call My Agent!” winning an International Emmy,...

As we approach 2022’s halfway point it’s time to take a temperature of the finest cinematic thus far: we’ve rounded up our favorites from the first six months of the year, many of which have flown under the radar. Kindly note that this is based solely on U.S. theatrical and digital releases from 2022.

We should also note a number of films that premiered on the festival circuit last year also had an awards-qualifying run, thus making them 2021 films by our standards—including Memoria, Petite Maman, The Worst Person in the World, A Hero, and Cyrano. Check out our picks below, as organized alphabetically, followed by honorable mentions.

After Yang (kogonada)

Many artists strive to find meaning in their work, but for kogonada it’s the pursuit that provides the meaning. In a way, if he were to “find it” that wouldn’t be nearly as special as...

Global arthouse movie streamer, producer and distributor Mubi has acquired all Turkish rights to Iranian director Saeed Roustaee’s timely Cannes title “Leila’s Brothers.”

A female empowerment drama set against the backdrop of a family crushed by debts linked to international economic sanctions, “Leila’s Brothers” won the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) prize for best film in Cannes’ main competition.

The film, which is Roustaee’s third feature, follows from his tense actioner “Just 6.5,” about a cop trying to pin down a drug lord. This hit film, which exposed Iran’s heroin addiction plague, made an international splash and this year was nominated for France’s César Award for best foreign film.

“Leila’s Brothers” sees the 40-year-old Leila, played by Taraneh Alidoosti (“The Salesman”), as the titular character who has spent her whole life taking care of her parents and her four brothers. She has a plan to...

(Welcome to Under the Radar, a column where we spotlight specific movies, shows, trends, performances, or scenes that caught our eye and deserved more attention ... but otherwise flew under the radar. In this edition: Céline Sciamma's minimalist "Petite Maman" soars, Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet debuts with the brilliant "Anaïs in Love," and Alex Garland confounds and provokes in equal measure with "Men.")

Every word that James Gray said last week was right.

Admittedly, many critics, industry analysts, and even artists have sounded the alarm bells about the current state of affairs in the movie business far longer than I've been alive, bemoaning the failure to measure up to the glory days...

The post Under the Radar: Men, Petite Maman, And More Underseen Gems From May appeared first on /Film.

Arthouse distribution, streaming and production company Mubi has taken all rights for the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Turkey, India and Southeast Asia (excluding the Philippines and theatrical rights in Cambodia) for Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul,” which plays in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. MK2 films is handling international sales.

Sony Pictures Classics recently picked up rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

The film centers on 25-year-old Freddie, who on an impulse to reconnect with her origins, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

The film stars Park Ji-Min, Oh Kwang-Rok, Guka Han, Kim Sun-Young, Yoann Zimmer and Louis-Do De Lencquesaing.

Executive has expanded production roster and brought in titles like Flee, Memoria, Titane.

Neon’s Jeff Deutchman, in Cannes scouring the festival and market for hot pick-ups, has been promoted to president of acquisitions and production.

Deutchman led negotiations on recent Oscar nominees The Worst Person In The World from Joachim Trier, Jonas Poher’s Rasmussen’s Flee and Pablo Larraín’s Spencer.

He also led the charge on Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria, Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman, and Nicolas Cage drama Pig.

The executive has overseen an expansion of the production...

Neon has promoted Jeff Deutchman to president of acquisitions and production.

Deutchman previously served as Neon’s executive VP of acquisitions and production. Under his leadership, the studio has grown its recent production slate with director Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo,” starring Hunter Schafer; Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End,” a golden-age musical with Tilda Swinton; Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool” featuring Alexander Skarsgård.

On the acquisitions front, Deutchman has negotiated deals for director Joachim Trier’s unconventional romantic comedy “The Worst Person in The World,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary “Flee,” and Pablo Larraín’s Princess Diana drama “Spencer.” Other recent purchases include Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner “Titane,” Céline Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” and the Nicolas Cage-led “Pig.”

“Jeff has been here from the beginning and is a big part of Neon’s success; his taste and his instincts are simply impeccable. I’m looking forward...

Neon has promoted Jeff Deutchman to be its new president of acquisitions and production, Tom Quinn’s arthouse distributor announced Tuesday.

Deutchman has been with Neon since its founding five years ago, and in that time he has been instrumental in landing some of the distributors biggest acquisitions, including last year negotiating deals for “The Worst Person in the World,” “Flee,” “Spencer,” “Pig,” “Memoria” and “Petite Maman.”

Deutchman also helped to grow Neon’s production slate, launching projects such as Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo” starring Hunter Schafer, Joshua Oppenheimer’s musical “The End” with Tilda Swinton, Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool” starring Alexander Skarsgård and Ben Wheatley’s horror film “In the Earth,” which was one of the first fully completed productions of the pandemic.

Also Read:

Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain’s ‘Mothers’ Instinct’ Heads to Neon for U.S. Rights

“Jeff has been here from the beginning and...

In his previous film Martin Eden, and now with Scarlet, Pietro Marcello has found a novel way to depict artistic striving, closely tying it with the concept of labor. It’s also something that runs through Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, about the poetry-penning bus driver of the same name: both filmmakers have helped demystify our idea of the artist as a potential “great man of history” and the deification often accorded them. The would-be literary maven of Martin Eden and two artist-craftsmen of Scarlet are engaged instead in a noble struggle, a bit like the eternal workers’ struggle of Marcello’s other chief interest: that of leftist political thought.

Scarlet, a quasi-fairytale adapted from Russian author Aleksandr Grin’s Scarlet Skies, is a more even-tempered work than Martin Eden, and less likely to command the same ardor directed towards that film. But it finds Marcello acing another high-end literary adaptation,...

MK2 Films, which is presenting six movies at the Cannes Film Festival, will be attending the market with a pair of hot new titles, French director Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and Israeli helmer Maya Dreifuss’s “Highway 65.”

“Anatomy of a Fall” stars Sandra Hüller, the critically acclaimed German actor of “Toni Erdmann,” as an enigmatic German novelist who is arrested after the mysterious death of her husband at their chalet in the French Alps. The court case examines every aspect of the relationship she had with her husband, while her visually impaired son is called to testify as a witness.

The movie will re-team MK2 Films with Triet, whose latest film “Sybil” competed at Cannes. Fionnuala Jamison, MK2 Films’s managing director, described the film as a “Hitchcockian tale of suspense.” “We were hooked on the script, the complexities of Sandra’s character, and its original premise...

IndieWire has confirmed the Landmark Theatres chain will vacate its most important location with the end of its lease May 31. It has been a key west side venue for awards-season screenings, Q&As, and tastemaker events for specialized films.

Landmark said it was unable to come to terms with the landlord on an extension of its lease. Located inside what used to be the Westwood Pavilion shopping mall, the retail that once thrived is gone. Adjacent space, now occupied by Google, is being renovated into a corporate campus. The Landmark space is expected to become an attractive target — if not for Google, then for retail, residential, or office space. Industry sources indicate no likelihood that another exhibitor will step in to replace its occupancy and programming.

Since reopening about a year ago, The Landmark struggled with a significant drop in box office — the same problem facing many theaters with older audiences.

by Nathaniel R

The two most exciting platform releases of the moment are the French films Petite Maman (on 224 screens) and Venice Golden Lion winner Happening (opening on just 4). Go see them and support your local arthouses. Everyone was at Doctor Strange 2 which grossed a massive 187.4 in its first frame though CinemaScore grades suggest it will have a bigger drop than usual for Marvel films next week. The Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum rom-com-adventure The Lost City is hanging on pretty well in theaters but it just debuted on Paramount+ which will likely cut its theatrical run short preventing it from reaching the 100 million mark (pity since it was an original comedy and it almost got there). More after the jump...

Weekend Box Office

May 6th-8th...

With an opening weekend of 185 million, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has restored the Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, the most lucrative franchise in film history, to the level exhibitors need. Male ticket buyers (62 percent of the total) propelled the gross, with 36 percent coming from higher-price premium formats.

Its opening ranks behind only the “Avengers” entries, fulfilling high-end expectations for not only the franchise, but also for Disney’s traditional Marvel date. The studio’s estimate might even be low: Disney projects that Sunday will be down 35 percent from Saturday and distributors typically project a 25 to 30 percent drop.

Disney’s pessimism has several sources. It has a B+ Cinemascore (lower than all but one MCU film), and a steep 36 percent Saturday drop from the Thursday/Friday combined total. There’s also the potential for Mother’s Day to impact turnout. Also, there’s no harm in exceeding expectations:...

Petite Maman Review — Petite Maman (2021) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Celine Sciamma and starring Josephine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse, Stephane Varupenne, Margot Abascal, Flores Cardo, Josee Schuller, Guylene Pean and Masoud Tosifyan. French director Celine Sciamma is most noted for the remarkable 2019 film, Portrait of a Lady on [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Petite Maman (2021): Celine Sciamma’s Film is an Artistically Satisfying Portrait of Youth...