French independent producer Haut Les Mains has come on board “A Useful Ghost,” a film project that is both topical and supernatural. The deal was announced on the margins of the Cannes Film Festival and its accompanying rights market. “A Useful Ghost” follows March and Nat, a happily married couple,…
Locarno
A-lister Manoj Bajpayee, one of the few Indian actors who scores critical acclaim and commercial success in equal measure, has notched up another triumph with ZEE5 Global film “Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai.” Directed by Apoorv Singh Karki (Prime Video series “Flames”) and written by Deepak Kingrani (Disney+ Hotstar series…
When director Elene Naveriani first read the book upon which “Blackbird Blackbird Blueberry” is based, they immediately recognized a whole community. “It was the story of my mom, the story of my aunt, the story of my neighbor,” Naveriani tells Variety. “I could name so many women around me that…
A record number of African films are premiering at this year’s Cannes Film Festival — including two titles in the main competition and four more in Un Certain Regard — promising a robust turnout on the Croisette from a continent that doesn’t often find itself being feted on world cinema’s…
Beta Cinema has closed the first deals on tragicomedy “One Last Evening,” the inventive debut feature film from up-and-coming German director Lukas Nathrath. The Munich-based sales agency discovered the film at the Locarno Film Festival last year, where it screened in the Works-in-Progress section, and took the main prize, the…
Debutante director Ramata-Toulaye Sy will join one of world cinema’s most select clubs when she climbs the stairs of the Grand Theatre Lumière on May 20 for the premiere of “Banel & Adama,” which unspools in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It marks just the second time…
Wilfredo Manalang, who was one of the producers of last year’s Cannes’ Japanese hit “Plan 75,” has come on board Vietnamese film project “Don’t Cry, Butterfly.” Manalang (aka Will Fredo) and partners in his Philippines-based Fusee consortium will join as an executive producer. Written and to be directed by Duong…
These women are backing buzzed-about Spanish projects, many of them co-productions. Leire Apellaniz Image Credit: Eneko Muruzabal With noteworthy titles — Goya-nominated “Advantages of Travelling by Train,” Locarno standout “The Sacred Spirit” — proud Basque Country native Apellaniz has grown step by step. She is following “Samsara,” buzzed about at…
U.S. director and artist Harmony Korine, whose films include “Gummo,” “Spring Breakers” and “Beach Bum” – which stars Matthew McConaughey as a stoner poet named Moondog – is being honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Pardo d’onore Manor lifetime achievement award. Born in Bolinas, California, in 1974, Harmony…
Twenty emerging producers from across Europe have been selected to take part in European Film Promotion’s promotion and networking platform Producers on the Move before and during the Cannes Film Festival. The producers who were selected for the program from nominations submitted by EFP’s member organizations are Gentian Koçi (Albania),…
Capping a year of extraordinary success among Bolivian filmmakers in the international arena, Rodrigo Bellott, a key driving force behind the tiny Central American country’s cinematic advances, has inked with the Gersh Talent Agency and is prepping his first U.S. feature, “Cutting Season.” To be shot in English with an…