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Poster For Gay-Themed Cannes Pic ‘Stranger By The Lake’ Pulled In Paris Suburbs

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday June 12, 2013 @ 3:34am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Stranger By The Lake

Alain Guiraudie was named best director in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at last month’s Cannes Film Festival for his roundly-lauded thriller L’Inconnu Du Lac (Stranger By The Lake). During the festival, the sexually explicit gay-themed tale of summer love and murder was picked up by Strand Releasing for a U.S. release later this year. But on the eve of its release in France, where expressions of sexuality are de rigueur and where gay marriage was recently legalized, the film’s advertising (left) proved too much for some. In the Parisian suburbs of Versailles and Saint-Cloud, a series of promotional posters was pulled at the request of the individual town halls, ad agency JC Decaux told AFP. The mayor’s office in Saint-Cloud said it had been “harassed” by phone calls and emails about the poster since it went up last week. Versailles says it did not contact JC Decaux, but a rep told French media it was understandable that the image “could shock people who find themselves disarmed by posters in the street that address sexuality.”

Related: Hammond On Cannes: Spielberg And Jury Award France’s Sizzling, Sexy And First Gay Palme d’Or Winner; Is Oscar Next?

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UTA Signs German Helmer Katrin Gebbe Out Of Cannes

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday June 11, 2013 @ 3:55pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Katrin Gebbe, Nothing Bad Can Happen, UTA
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed German writer-director Katrin Gebbe. Her directorial debut Nothing Bad Can Happen (Tore Tanzt) made its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and the film was a runner-up for … Read More »

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Arclight Sells ‘Mystery Road’ Rights To Well Go USA

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday June 6, 2013 @ 8:48am PDTTags: Arclight Films, Cannes Film Festival, Mystery Road, Well Go USA
Mike Fleming

Arclight Films sold US distribution rights to new the feature thriller Mystery Road to Well Go USA. Gary Hamilton, Executive Producer of Mystery Road, said that the deal, which he described as ‘significant’ was negotiated at Cannes. Ivan Sen’s new feature film, Mystery Road stars Aaron … Read More »

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Sundance Selects Acquires Roman Polanski’s ‘Venus In Fur’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday June 5, 2013 @ 9:58am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Cannes Film Festival, Roman Polanski, Sundance Selects, Venus In Fur
Mike Fleming

Sundance Selects grabbed U.S. rights to the Roman Polanski-directed Venus In Fur. Polanski and David Ives wrote it based on the Tony-winning stage play by Ives. Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric star and Robert Benmussa and Alain … Read More »

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Bruno Wu On His Movie/TV Deals And China-Hollywood Dilemmas

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday June 5, 2013 @ 5:59am PDTTags: Bruno Wu, Cannes Film Festival, Harvest Seven Stars Media Fund, Justin Lin

Chinese media entrepreneur Bruno Wu in his recent interview with me touts ”a next-generation entertainment company that’s lean and mean and scalable. Building an ecosystem for the … Read More »

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Focus Features Intl Makes Strong Sales On Amy Winehouse Docu And Mike Leigh Pic

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday June 3, 2013 @ 10:22am PDTTags: Alison Thompson, Amy Winehouse, Big Deals Film, Cannes Film Festival, Focus Features International, Mike Leigh
Mike Fleming

Alison Thompson, co-president of Focus Features International (FFI), announced multi-territory sales on director Asif Kapadia’s (Senna, The Warrior) untitled documentary on five-time Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse. FFI also saw strong sales on seven-time Academy Award-nominated writer/director Mike Leigh’s (Another Year, Vera Drake, Secrets & Lies) J.M.W. Turner film, which stars Timothy Spall (Harry Potter, Secrets & Lies).

FFI has secured the following territories and respective distributors on behalf of Asif Kapadia’s Amy Winehouse documentary: France – Mars Films; Germany – Prokino; Benelux – Cineart; Greece – Odeon; Iceland – Sena; Israel – Lev Cinema; Middle East – Italia Film; Portugal – Lusomundo Audiovisuals; Turkey – D Productions; Hong Kong – Edko Films; India – PVR Limited; Singapore – Shaw Renters; Thailand – IPA Pacific; Australia/NZ – eOne; and South Africa – Ster-Kinekor. Focus Features International is currently fielding multiple offers for the UK, CIS, and Italy.

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WME Spans The Globe, Signs Three Top Offshore Helmers At Cannes

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday May 31, 2013 @ 11:37am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Erik Skjoldbjaerg, Jorge Dorado, Mikkel Norgaard, WME
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: WME came back from Cannes with a trio of offshore directing talents, as the agency signed Jorge Dorado, Erik Skjoldbjaerg, and Mikkel Norgaard. Dorado made his feature directing debut with the psychological thriller Mindscape for Studio Canal starring Mark Strong, Brian Cox and Taissa Farmiga and produced by Jaume Collet-Sera. The film is slated for a fall 2013 release. Warner Bros is distributing foreign and domestic will be sold shortly. Dorado has directed many award-winning shorts including La Guerra, which won 47 awards at festivals around the world. He has also been assistant director on more than 20 films by the likes of Pedro Almodovar, Baz Luhrmann, and Guillermo del Toro. He is managed by Tom Drumm.

Norgaard is the director of Klown, the 2012 pic that became the highest-grossing Danish film of all time. He is currently in post on Keeper Of Lost Causes, a film that screened in Cannes for distributors. The film is based on the bestselling series of novels that Nik Arcel adapted as a trilogy. The movie will be released in October and the sequel, also written by Arcel for Norgaard to direct, will shoot in September. Read More »

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Drafthouse Films Acquires Cannes Competition Thriller ‘Borgman’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 31, 2013 @ 10:00am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Borgman, Cannes Film Festival, Drafthouse Films

Borgman was the first Dutch film in the Cannes Film Festival‘s competition lineup in almost 40 years when the Dutch thriller from director Alex van Warmerdam hit the Croisette earlier this month. Now Drafthouse Films has picked up North American rights in a deal with Fortissimo Films, with a U.S. theatrical and VOD/digital release planned for 2014. Films We Like will handle Canadian distribution.

Borgman is an allegorical tale exploring the nature of evil in unexpected places. A vagrant enters the lives of a typical but arrogant upper-class family, igniting a descent from darkly comic dream to maddening psychological nightmare. Annet Malherbe and Eva van de Wijdeven, two regulars in van Warmerdam’s films, stars along with Jan Bijvoet. Graniet Film (Netherlands) produced.

“Maybe once a year, I am deluged after a premiere with texts and emails to the effect of ‘this is such a Drafthouse movie,’” says Drafthouse Films founder and CEO Tim League, “Its strange, disturbing, hysterical and utterly unique. Borgman is the quintessential Drafthouse film of Cannes. We can’t wait to share it with audiences in North America.” Read More »

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Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond, Episode 28

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday May 30, 2013 @ 1:25pm PDTTags: Blue Is The Warmest Color, Cannes Film Festival, Deadline Awards Watch, Jerry Lewis
Pete Hammond

Listen to (and share) episode 28 of our audio podcast Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond a special wrap-up episode from the just-concluded Cannes Film Festival. Deadline’s Awards Columnist talks with host David Bloom about the festival’s winners, led by Blue Is The Warmest Color, a three-hour lesbian love story that captured the Palme D’Or. They also talk about Jerry Lewis’ return to the Cannes spotlight 18 years after his last film, and this week’s notable releases, including the indie coming-of-age tale The Kings Of Summer and the magicians caper movie Now You See Me.

Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 28 (MP3 format)
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Cannes: Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ Sells Key World Territories

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday May 30, 2013 @ 12:11pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Martin Scorsese, Silence
Mike Fleming

It was announced today by IM Global CEO Stuart Ford and the picture’s financiers Emmett/Furla Films, Paul Breuls’ Corsan Films and Len Blavatnik’s AI Film that IM Global has made a number of important territorial sales on Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE during the past fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. IM Global is handling foreign sales alongside AI Film.

Key deals closed included Metropolitan for France, Concorde for Germany, Gaga for Japan, RAI for Italy, Gussi for Latin America, Transmission for Australia, Mis Label for Scandinavia, Paradiso for Benelux, JMD Entertainment for South Korea, Aqua for Turkey, Lusomundo for Portugal, United King for Israel, Golden Scene for Hong Kong, Spentzos for Greece, Padora for Ex-Yugoslavia, Catchplay for Taiwan, Apsara for India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand and MVP for Singapore.

Scorsese came to Cannes to help pitch the project and performed a 45 minute presentation in front of more than 300 international distributors on stage with Ford. He also completed select one-on-one meetings with distributors.

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Bon Aire Productions Picks Up ‘Keeping Time’ Spec In Cannes

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday May 30, 2013 @ 8:03am PDTTags: Bon Aire Productions, Cannes Film Festival, Keeping Time
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Before they left Cannes, Bon Aire Productions‘ Carmella Casinelli and Ben Everard optioned Keeping Time, a spec script by Nathan Zoebl. They are partnering in the film with Patrick Cunningham, the producer of Martha Marcy May … Read More »

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Cannes: Film Movement Acquires Camera d’Or Winner ‘Ilo Ilo’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday May 29, 2013 @ 12:36pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Camera d'Or, Cannes Film Festival, Film Movement, Ilo Ilo
Mike Fleming

Film Movement has acquired Ilo Ilo, the Anthony Chen-directed family drama that became the first Singaporean feature film to win a big prize at Cannes with the Camera d’Or. Pic’s in Chinese, English and Tagalog with English … Read More »

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IM Global Chief Stuart Ford Re-Ups

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday May 28, 2013 @ 8:01am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, IM Global, Stuart Ford
Mike Fleming

IM Global Founder and CEO Stuart Ford has signed a multiple year extension to his CEO service contract it was announced today by a company spokesperson. The 43 year old executive founded the company with a launch at Cannes in 2007 and IM Global has since gone on to become one of the most visible and active companies in the independent sector.

The company had eight new films in the Cannes Market and played host to Martin Scorsese, who was in town to help IM Global promote his longtime passion project “Silence”. On the opening day of the Festival Ford and Scorsese combined to give a presentation to 300 foreign distributors in one of the Croisette’s most high profile events of the opening week.

An international sales powerhouse, the company customarily brings 15-18 new projects a year into the market across its unique structure of four separate sales labels handling mainstream commercial, arthouse, genre and foreign language films.

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CANNES TOLDJA! The Weinstein Company Acquires U.S. Rights To Todd Haynes-Helmed ‘Carol’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday May 28, 2013 @ 3:39am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Carol, The Weinstein Company, Todd Haynes
Mike Fleming

They’ve announced it and it’s in the trades. Deadline broke the story Saturday. Here’s the official word:

The Weinstein Company (TWC) today announced that it has acquired US rights for Number 9 Films CAROL from HanWay Films. Producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley simultaneously announced that Academy Award nominee Todd Haynes (I’m Not There, Far From Heaven) has come on-board to direct.

Carol is a love story about pursuit, betrayal and passion that follows the burgeoning relationship between two very different women in 1950s New York. One, a girl in her twenties working in a department store who dreams of a more fulfilling life, and the other, a wife trapped in a loveless, moneyed marriage desperate to break free but fearful of losing her daughter in the process.

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Hammond On Cannes: Spielberg And Jury Award France’s Sizzling, Sexy And First Gay Palme d’Or Winner; Is Oscar Next?

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday May 26, 2013 @ 4:29pm PDTTags: Berinice Bejo, Blue Is The Warmest Color, Bruce Dern, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Coen Brothers, Inside Llewyn Davis, Steven Spielberg, The Past
Pete Hammond

Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 & 2) is only the second purely French film in this most French of festivals to win the Palme d’Or in the past 46 years. The film has had the … Read More »

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CANNES: Sundance Selects Lands U.S. For ‘Like Father, Like Son’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Sunday May 26, 2013 @ 3:59pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Like Father Like Son, Sundance Selects
Mike Fleming

Sundance Selects acquired U.S. rights to Japanese writer-director Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Jury Prize Winner Like Father, Like Son from Wild Bunch. With a screenplay by Kore-eda, the film stars Fukuyama Masaharu, Ono Machiko, Maki Yoko, and Lily Franky, and was produced by Kameyama Chihiro, Hatanaka Tatsuro, and Tom Yoda. … Read More »

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Cannes: ‘Blue Is The Warmest Color’ Wins Palme D’Or; Coen Brothers Take Grand Prize; Bérénice Bejo, Bruce Dern Nab Acting Kudos

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Sunday May 26, 2013 @ 10:13am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Palme d'Or

Refresh for latest…

Steven Spielberg‘s jury is handing out the awards for the 66th Cannes Film Festival this evening in the Palais. There have been some stand-out favorites over the past two weeks, while many … Read More »

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Hammond On Cannes: Suspense Builds To Sunday’s Palme D’Or And Acting Winners

By PETE HAMMOND | Saturday May 25, 2013 @ 1:45pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Palme d'Or, Steven Spielberg
Pete Hammond

We are at the end of a long Cannes, and jury members have had the opportunity to see all 20 films in the main competition. But who wins the Palme d’Or? I have learned  that jury president Steven Spielberg has specifically instructed his colleagues to remain tight-lipped and not provide any clues. Cannes juries anyway are notoriously hard to predict and critical reaction through the festival doesn’t necessarily mean anything. But, jumping into the shark-infested waters of predictions, I would say frontrunners for the Palme d’Or are likely Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, Italian director Paolo Sorrentino’s stunning The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza), Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is The Warmest Color (thanks to buzz), and possibly Iranian director  Asghar Farhardi’s The Past which was shot in Paris and mostly in French. I also would throw in the wonderfully heartfelt Japanese entry Like Father, Like Son, a truly moving film from director Kore-Eda Hirokazu. It’s a long-shot but human emotion goes a long way with juries. I could have picked J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost with a virtuoso performance from Robert Redford but for some reason it was shown out of competition and not eligible. Otherwise it would have been in the top tier of contenders. Watch for a possible sleeper with the  Chinese entry (their first in a few years) ,A Touch Of Sin  from director Jia Zhangke who is overdue. Reaction was mixed overall  to the overlong four-segment story that examines China today warts and all in some cases. Plus it has some pretty extreme violence. But he could win a prize as a statement supporting more honest and open China filmmaking which this seems to represent. Further down the list  are Alexander Payne’s Nebraska and James Gray’s beautifully realized period piece The Immigrant, at least in terms of Palme d’Or buzz for both very American directors. The wild card is likely Steven Soderbergh’s Behind The Candelabra since he said it’s his last film for the forseeable future. But that could be hampered by the fact it premieres on HBO in the U.S. tomorrow and most think it is more likely to win for its acting, specifically Michael Douglas.

The last three days of the festival saw the sun come out on the Croisette and the quality of films particularly impressive. High profile contenders holding premieres included Nebraska, The Immigrant, and the much touted by critics 3-hour French teen lesbian drama Blue Is The Warmest Color. Followed by Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Roman Polanski’s Venus In Fur had its official premiere Saturday night. This entertaining French language adaptation of the hit Broadway play stars his wife Emmanuelle Seigner in an actress audition that turns into a sexual game of cat and mouse with her director portrayed by Mathieu Amalric (who looks uncannily like a younger Polanski – likely on purpose).

The acting categories will provide the most Solomon-like decisions for the jury. Michael Douglas may receive a prize alone or add his equally fine co-star Matt Damon. The actor race is impossibly crowded and also includes the magnificent Toni Servillo of Great Beauty, Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis, Bruce Dern and Will Forte of Nebraska, and Amalric of Venus In Fur. And if the jury is watching closely there’s a truly moving performance from Masaharu Fukuyama as the flawed parent in Like Father, Like Son. I would also give a shout-out to the excellent Souleymane Deme as Grigris in a film that didn’t get a lot of traction. On the women’s side, Adele  Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux could be honored together or apart for brave and explicit work in Blue Is The Warmest Color. Read More »

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Cannes: Un Certain Regard Winners Include ‘The Missing Picture’, ‘Fruitvale Station’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Saturday May 25, 2013 @ 11:08am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Fruitvale Station

The 2013 Un Certain Regard prizes were handed out by Thomas Vinterberg’s jury this evening in Cannes. Cambodian director Rithy Panh won the top award for his first-person story The Missing Picture. The Jury Prize was given to the well-liked Omar by Oscar nominee Hany Abu-Assad. Alain Guiraudie won the Directing Prize for the controversial but acclaimed erotic thriller Stranger By The Lake which Strand Releasing picked up this week. The Un Certain Talent award was given to the ensemble of actors from Spanish director Diego Quemada-Diez’ The Golden Cage. And Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station was honored with the Prize of the Future. His film, which won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in Sundance, held a berth in UCR that’s usually reserved for movies that made a name in Park City. Eventual Oscar nominee Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts Of The Southern Wild ran in UCR last year. Read More »

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