Playtime (“Son of Saul”) is reteaming with celebrated French directors François Ozon (“By the Grace of God”) and sister duo Delphine and Muriel Coulin (“17 Girls”) on their respective upcoming films, “When Fall Is Coming” and “The Quiet Son.”
“When Fall is Coming” marks Ozon’s follow up to “The Crime Is Mine.” The film stars Hélène Vincent (“The Specials”), Josiane Balasko (“Back to Mom’s”), Ludivine Sagnier (“Lupin”) and Pierre Lottin (“Notre-Dame on Fire”).
The film tells the story of Michelle, who is enjoying a peaceful retirement in a charming Burgundy village near her longtime friend Marie-Claude. She eagerly anticipates her grandson Lucas spending the school vacation with her, but things don’t go as planned. Feeling lonely, Michelle loses her sense of purpose, until Marie-Claude’s son gets out of prison.
The film is self-produced by Ozon through his vehicle Foz. Diaphana Distribution will release it in France.
“When Fall is Coming” marks Ozon’s follow up to “The Crime Is Mine.” The film stars Hélène Vincent (“The Specials”), Josiane Balasko (“Back to Mom’s”), Ludivine Sagnier (“Lupin”) and Pierre Lottin (“Notre-Dame on Fire”).
The film tells the story of Michelle, who is enjoying a peaceful retirement in a charming Burgundy village near her longtime friend Marie-Claude. She eagerly anticipates her grandson Lucas spending the school vacation with her, but things don’t go as planned. Feeling lonely, Michelle loses her sense of purpose, until Marie-Claude’s son gets out of prison.
The film is self-produced by Ozon through his vehicle Foz. Diaphana Distribution will release it in France.
- 1/31/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Algerian-French drama had its world premiere in Montpellier in October.
Paris-based The Party Film Sales has secured international sales rights to Karim Bensalah’s feature debut Six Feet Over.
The Algerian-French feature had its Mena premiere in the Red Sea Competition on Monday, December 4, having debuted at France’s Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival in October. Mad Solutions handles distribution in the Arab world.
Co-written by Bensalah with Jamal Belmahi, Six Feet Over follows the son of a former Algerian diplomat, who takes a job with Muslim undertakers to try and legitimise his immigrant status.
The film is produced by...
Paris-based The Party Film Sales has secured international sales rights to Karim Bensalah’s feature debut Six Feet Over.
The Algerian-French feature had its Mena premiere in the Red Sea Competition on Monday, December 4, having debuted at France’s Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival in October. Mad Solutions handles distribution in the Arab world.
Co-written by Bensalah with Jamal Belmahi, Six Feet Over follows the son of a former Algerian diplomat, who takes a job with Muslim undertakers to try and legitimise his immigrant status.
The film is produced by...
- 12/6/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Mad Celebrity — the talent management subsidiary of the pan-Arab film and TV company Mad Solutions — has signed Tunisian actor and writer Majd Mastoura, French Lebanese actor Isabelle Zighondi, and Saudi actor, producer and director Amawri Ezayah to the roster of its Mad Rising Celebrity unit, and visual artist, producer and Dop Mostafa El Kashef, who will be joining Mad Crew Celebrity.
Mastoura is best known for his work on Mohamed Ben Attia’s “Hedi” — for which he received a Silver Bear for best actor from the Berlin Film Festival, making him the first-ever Arab actor to receive the award — and Léonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son,” which world premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
His most recent project is Ben Attia’s surreal Tunisian drama feature “Behind the Mountains,” which world premiered in the Horizons Section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and is holding its Arab...
Mastoura is best known for his work on Mohamed Ben Attia’s “Hedi” — for which he received a Silver Bear for best actor from the Berlin Film Festival, making him the first-ever Arab actor to receive the award — and Léonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son,” which world premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
His most recent project is Ben Attia’s surreal Tunisian drama feature “Behind the Mountains,” which world premiered in the Horizons Section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and is holding its Arab...
- 12/5/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Mohamed Ben Attia’s third feature played at Red Sea International Film Festival last week.
Kinovista has acquired French distribution rights to Mohamed Ben Attia’s Behind The Mountains.
Kinovista acquired the film from Paris-based sales agent Luxbox. The film had its Arab premiere at Red Sea on Friday, December 1, having debuted in Horizons at Venice in September, and gone on to play BFI London Film Festival and Thessaloniki.
Behind The Mountains is Ben Attia’s third feature, after 2016’s Heidi and 2018’s Dear Son. The fantasy-thriller tells the story of Rafik [Majd Mastoura], a Tunisian father and husband with mental health issues,...
Kinovista has acquired French distribution rights to Mohamed Ben Attia’s Behind The Mountains.
Kinovista acquired the film from Paris-based sales agent Luxbox. The film had its Arab premiere at Red Sea on Friday, December 1, having debuted in Horizons at Venice in September, and gone on to play BFI London Film Festival and Thessaloniki.
Behind The Mountains is Ben Attia’s third feature, after 2016’s Heidi and 2018’s Dear Son. The fantasy-thriller tells the story of Rafik [Majd Mastoura], a Tunisian father and husband with mental health issues,...
- 12/4/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Catatonic with a bright red swollen eye, middle-aged Rafik (Majd Mastoura) sits handcuffed inside a police station in the aftermath of a violent outburst at his soul-crushing office job. Whatever gripe eroded his sanity doesn’t matter as much now, since the incident, including a suicide attempt, unearthed a supernatural ability he possesses. An unpredictable oddity of a film, “Behind the Mountains” sees seasoned Tunisian writer-director Mohamed Ben Attia step away from the straightforward social realist drama of his previous festival standouts “Dear Son” and “Hedi,” while staying steadfast in his interest for emotionally intricate protagonists and the complications of parent-child relationships.
Four years after the breakdown that landed him in prison, Rafik kidnaps his son Yassine (Walid Bouchhioua), an impressionable grade-school kid who barely remembers his father, and drives away from the capital and into the open spaces of the mountainous countryside. In brief exchanges, we learn of Rafik...
Four years after the breakdown that landed him in prison, Rafik kidnaps his son Yassine (Walid Bouchhioua), an impressionable grade-school kid who barely remembers his father, and drives away from the capital and into the open spaces of the mountainous countryside. In brief exchanges, we learn of Rafik...
- 12/2/2023
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Variety Film + TV
Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone among international guests in attendance.
The third edition of Red Sea International Film Festival opened on Thursday, November 30 with a ceremony that added local interests and humour to the standard festival event template.
Stars including Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone, Michelle Williams, Sofia Vergara, Diane Kruger and Ranveer Singh were in attendance at the 1,000-seat Grand Ballroom in the Ritz-Carlton Jeddah, for a one-hour ceremony prior to the world premiere of Yasir Alyasiri’s Saudi fantasy romance Hwjn. Screen’s review described the film as ”an entertaining, swashbuckling fantasy epic.”
Smith took his...
The third edition of Red Sea International Film Festival opened on Thursday, November 30 with a ceremony that added local interests and humour to the standard festival event template.
Stars including Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone, Michelle Williams, Sofia Vergara, Diane Kruger and Ranveer Singh were in attendance at the 1,000-seat Grand Ballroom in the Ritz-Carlton Jeddah, for a one-hour ceremony prior to the world premiere of Yasir Alyasiri’s Saudi fantasy romance Hwjn. Screen’s review described the film as ”an entertaining, swashbuckling fantasy epic.”
Smith took his...
- 12/1/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
“Your Story, Your Festival,” is the theme for this year‘s Red Sea International Film Festival, with organizers promising “a unique and powerful platform for celebrating film, connecting cultures and expanding horizons while welcoming stories from all walks of life.”
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
The festival’s third edition will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 9 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alongside an international line-up that includes Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Ava Duvernay’s Origin and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Red Sea festival is a showcase for new Arab cinema.
Here’s The Hollywood Reporter‘s pick of six new titles from across the region that expand the image of Arab movies, ranging from a jinn fantasy romance and a coming-of-age drama to an adventure thriller featuring a vengeance-seeking camel.
Hwjn, opening film
A local Saudi Arabian movie will raise the curtain on the Red Sea Festival for the first time this year,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Festival has programmed 75 films from 36 countries.
The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the full line-up for its 20th edition, which runs from November 24-December 2.
The festival is opening with Richard Linklater’s action comedy Hit Man, starring Glen Powell, and is screening 75 films in total from 36 countries.
Marrakech’s official competition, which comprises first and second feature films, includes Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Cannes Competition title Banel & Adama, Lina Soualem’s Venice Giornate degli Autori documentary Bye Bye Tiberias and Moroccan director Kamal Lazraq’s feature debut Hounds, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Scroll down for full line-up
Johnny Barrington,...
The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the full line-up for its 20th edition, which runs from November 24-December 2.
The festival is opening with Richard Linklater’s action comedy Hit Man, starring Glen Powell, and is screening 75 films in total from 36 countries.
Marrakech’s official competition, which comprises first and second feature films, includes Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Cannes Competition title Banel & Adama, Lina Soualem’s Venice Giornate degli Autori documentary Bye Bye Tiberias and Moroccan director Kamal Lazraq’s feature debut Hounds, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Scroll down for full line-up
Johnny Barrington,...
- 11/2/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Richard Linklater’s action comedy “Hit Man” is set to open the Marrakech International Film Festival, which has announced its lineup of more than 70 films mixing known titles and fresh fare.
The fest is forging ahead with its 20th edition, which will run Nov. 24- Dec.2 in the ancient Moroccan city despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region, as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September.
“Hit Man,” for which organizers declined to specify whether talent will attend, will screen as part of Marrakech’s red carpet gala screenings. Italian director Matteo Garrone is expected to make the trek for the gala of his Venice prizewinning immigration drama “Io Capitano” and Michel Franco will be coming to present another Venice prizewinner, “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain, who is presiding over the fest’s main jury.
Also expected on hand for...
The fest is forging ahead with its 20th edition, which will run Nov. 24- Dec.2 in the ancient Moroccan city despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region, as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September.
“Hit Man,” for which organizers declined to specify whether talent will attend, will screen as part of Marrakech’s red carpet gala screenings. Italian director Matteo Garrone is expected to make the trek for the gala of his Venice prizewinning immigration drama “Io Capitano” and Michel Franco will be coming to present another Venice prizewinner, “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain, who is presiding over the fest’s main jury.
Also expected on hand for...
- 11/2/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival has announced its selection, opening with Richard Linklater’s comedy Hit Man.
The event, running from November 24 to December 24, will unfold two months after the devastating earthquake in the nearby Atlas Mountains in September, which killed more than 2,000 people.
The management team has decided to push on with the event to support Marrakech, which suffered very little damage and relies heavily on tourism for its livelihood.
Hit Man will play as part of the festival’s six picture red carpet Gala selection which also includes Matteo Garrone’s Italian Oscar entry Me Captain and Michel Franco’s Memory.
Previously announced high-profile guests due to attend this year include Martin Scorsese, who will act as a mentor to emerging filmmakers attending the industry-focused Atlas Workshops, and Jessica Chastain as president of the jury.
She will be joined by Iranian actress and director Zar Amir,...
The event, running from November 24 to December 24, will unfold two months after the devastating earthquake in the nearby Atlas Mountains in September, which killed more than 2,000 people.
The management team has decided to push on with the event to support Marrakech, which suffered very little damage and relies heavily on tourism for its livelihood.
Hit Man will play as part of the festival’s six picture red carpet Gala selection which also includes Matteo Garrone’s Italian Oscar entry Me Captain and Michel Franco’s Memory.
Previously announced high-profile guests due to attend this year include Martin Scorsese, who will act as a mentor to emerging filmmakers attending the industry-focused Atlas Workshops, and Jessica Chastain as president of the jury.
She will be joined by Iranian actress and director Zar Amir,...
- 11/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
"You'd better not let him catch you." Film Movement has revealed an official US trailer for a Tunisian indie drama titled Under the Fig Trees, made by documentary filmmaker Erige Sehiri as her first narrative feature. This initially premiered way back during the 2021 Venice Film Festival, and it is finally getting a proper art house release in the US this fall. It also toured to other fests, including at the Munich, Melbourne, Reykjavik, London, and Toronto Film Festivals in 2022. Set over the course of a single day, and with a cast made up of an ensemble of non-professional actors, Under the Fig Trees is "an elegant, understated tapestry of complex interactions" and "pleasurable, immersive experience" that ultimately reveals the ways in which sisterhood itself becomes an act of resistance. The film stars Fide Fdhili, Feten Fdhili, Ameni Fdhili, Samar Sifi, and Leila Ouhebi. The country of Tunisia...
- 10/15/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Noah Pritzker’s San Sebastian competition feature ‘Ex-Husbands’ stars Griffin Dunne and James Norton
Luxbox has picked up international sales rights to Noah Pritzker’s San Sebastian competition feature Ex-Husbands and has sold the film to Avalon in Spain and September Films in Benelux.
UTA is handling North American rights for Pritzker’s second feature about three generations of men in the same family simultaneously experiencing marital disappointment.
Griffin Dunne stars as a man floundering after his father (Richard Benjamin) leaves his mother after 65 years of marriage and his own wife (Rosanna Arquette) leaves him after thirty-five. With the wedding...
Luxbox has picked up international sales rights to Noah Pritzker’s San Sebastian competition feature Ex-Husbands and has sold the film to Avalon in Spain and September Films in Benelux.
UTA is handling North American rights for Pritzker’s second feature about three generations of men in the same family simultaneously experiencing marital disappointment.
Griffin Dunne stars as a man floundering after his father (Richard Benjamin) leaves his mother after 65 years of marriage and his own wife (Rosanna Arquette) leaves him after thirty-five. With the wedding...
- 10/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
China’s Pingyao International Film Festival has announced the line-up for its seventh edition (October 11-18), which will open with Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows and close with the world premiere of Fei Yu’s Football On The Roof.
Wei’s 1990s-set noir thriller, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes film festival, is also one of 11 titles competing in Pingyao’s Hidden Dragons competition for emerging Chinese filmmakers. Football On The Roof tells the story of a female soccer team fighting against the odds in the remote mountains of Yunnan province.
The Hidden Dragons line-up also includes Geng Zihan’s A Song Sung Blue, which premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight, along with world premieres including Hao Feihuan’s Records Without Words, Li Binbin’s The Night Rain South Township and Yang Pingdao’s A Romantic Fragment (see full line-up below).
Pingyao has also...
Wei’s 1990s-set noir thriller, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes film festival, is also one of 11 titles competing in Pingyao’s Hidden Dragons competition for emerging Chinese filmmakers. Football On The Roof tells the story of a female soccer team fighting against the odds in the remote mountains of Yunnan province.
The Hidden Dragons line-up also includes Geng Zihan’s A Song Sung Blue, which premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight, along with world premieres including Hao Feihuan’s Records Without Words, Li Binbin’s The Night Rain South Township and Yang Pingdao’s A Romantic Fragment (see full line-up below).
Pingyao has also...
- 10/8/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Move over, Richard Donner.
In “Behind the Mountains,” premiering in Venice’s Horizons section, Mohamed Ben Attia makes sure “you’ll believe a man can fly” once again. Although it might not be as graceful.
“I didn’t want him to be like a superhero or fly like Superman. He is floating, struggling with gravity,” he says about his protagonist Rafik, who gives up his entire life – and even ends up in jail – chasing an impossible dream. But there is one place where dreams come to life and he wants his son to experience it too.
The Tunisian director, also behind “Hedi” and “Dear Son,” was hesitant to play with supernatural elements at first.
“I don’t have any technical background. I am not technical at all! But I’ve become obsessed with this man, who extracts himself from his community in such a radical way. I kept seeing an...
In “Behind the Mountains,” premiering in Venice’s Horizons section, Mohamed Ben Attia makes sure “you’ll believe a man can fly” once again. Although it might not be as graceful.
“I didn’t want him to be like a superhero or fly like Superman. He is floating, struggling with gravity,” he says about his protagonist Rafik, who gives up his entire life – and even ends up in jail – chasing an impossible dream. But there is one place where dreams come to life and he wants his son to experience it too.
The Tunisian director, also behind “Hedi” and “Dear Son,” was hesitant to play with supernatural elements at first.
“I don’t have any technical background. I am not technical at all! But I’ve become obsessed with this man, who extracts himself from his community in such a radical way. I kept seeing an...
- 9/4/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation has announced it is investing in Johnny Depp’s Modi, Michael Mann’s Venice title Ferrari and Guy Ritchie’s World War Two spy action feature The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
The foundation, which is the parent body of the Jeddah-set Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), has supported the films through its Red Sea International Film Financing arm, which previously backed Maïwenn’s Cannes 2023 opening film Jean du Barry as its first major international co-production.
There are no details on the size of the investments, but the foundation revealed Modi would also act as a pilot for a new program under which Saudi Arabian interns would be welcomed on set to gain hands-on training in various departments including art, camera, and production.
The investments are a further sign of Saudi Arabia’s determination to carve itself out a place as a...
The foundation, which is the parent body of the Jeddah-set Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), has supported the films through its Red Sea International Film Financing arm, which previously backed Maïwenn’s Cannes 2023 opening film Jean du Barry as its first major international co-production.
There are no details on the size of the investments, but the foundation revealed Modi would also act as a pilot for a new program under which Saudi Arabian interns would be welcomed on set to gain hands-on training in various departments including art, camera, and production.
The investments are a further sign of Saudi Arabia’s determination to carve itself out a place as a...
- 9/1/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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