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.
Astrakan (David Depesseville)
Astrakhan fur is unique: dark, beautiful, and stripped exclusively from newborn lambs, even ones killed in their mother’s womb. (Stella McCarthy once said it’s like wearing a fetus.) That ruthlessness—a sense of lost innocence; blood sacrifice—runs deep in Astrakan, a new film from France and one of the better in Locarno this year; and if that title isn’t enough to give pause, plenty else in the opening exchanges will. The first act is a procession of flags, both red and false: at the opening the protagonist, Samuel, lightly goads a snake in the reptile house of a zoo; moments later a rabbit is hung and skinned in his kitchen with all the ceremony of...
Astrakan (David Depesseville)
Astrakhan fur is unique: dark, beautiful, and stripped exclusively from newborn lambs, even ones killed in their mother’s womb. (Stella McCarthy once said it’s like wearing a fetus.) That ruthlessness—a sense of lost innocence; blood sacrifice—runs deep in Astrakan, a new film from France and one of the better in Locarno this year; and if that title isn’t enough to give pause, plenty else in the opening exchanges will. The first act is a procession of flags, both red and false: at the opening the protagonist, Samuel, lightly goads a snake in the reptile house of a zoo; moments later a rabbit is hung and skinned in his kitchen with all the ceremony of...
- 4/5/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The film is directed by five rising female directors.
Six rising female directors from around the world have joined forces for the animation anthology Animal Tales Of Christmas Magic which is being launched by The Bureau Sales at this week’s Rendez -Vous With French Cinema in Paris this week.
Caroline Attia, Ceylan Beyoglu, Olesya Shchukina, Haruna Kishi, Camille Almeras and Natalia Chernysheva have used uses poetry and humour to tell five Christmas stories that take place across the globe from Japan to the Far North and the Northern Lights.
The stories are all told in 2D digital animation, and...
Six rising female directors from around the world have joined forces for the animation anthology Animal Tales Of Christmas Magic which is being launched by The Bureau Sales at this week’s Rendez -Vous With French Cinema in Paris this week.
Caroline Attia, Ceylan Beyoglu, Olesya Shchukina, Haruna Kishi, Camille Almeras and Natalia Chernysheva have used uses poetry and humour to tell five Christmas stories that take place across the globe from Japan to the Far North and the Northern Lights.
The stories are all told in 2D digital animation, and...
- 1/15/2024
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
And now, we wait. The bulk of precursor nominations have poured in, and Oscar voting is newly underway. Aside from the final BAFTA roster, most of what’s left is merely a swift march to January 23, nomination day. A couple of films in particular are making well-timed streaming premieres that function as end-of-the-road campaign strategies.
The contender to stream this week: “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”
This Oscar-shortlisted documentary co-directed by spouses Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, who also made 2013’s “American Promise,” follows the eponymous poet and activist through years of civil-rights evolutions. If Black women can withstand the hardships of Earth, Giovanni posits, maybe they can survive in space, too. “Going to Mars” is more experimental than the average biography, which makes sense for such an elusive figure. The film won a jury prize at Sundance and has an Independent Spirit Award nomination. It’s newly streaming on Max.
The contender to stream this week: “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”
This Oscar-shortlisted documentary co-directed by spouses Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, who also made 2013’s “American Promise,” follows the eponymous poet and activist through years of civil-rights evolutions. If Black women can withstand the hardships of Earth, Giovanni posits, maybe they can survive in space, too. “Going to Mars” is more experimental than the average biography, which makes sense for such an elusive figure. The film won a jury prize at Sundance and has an Independent Spirit Award nomination. It’s newly streaming on Max.
- 1/12/2024
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Three very different movies, original, with arthouse cred and in theaters for weeks, are drawing audiences showing welcome depth and breadth in the specialty market as awards season kicks off. Nicolas Cage’s nerdy character sees his life collapse when he randomly starts appearing in people’s dreams as Dream Scenario has a solid expansion, Saltburn is attracting young crowds on the coasts, The Holdovers drawing elusive older demos to theaters.
Meanwhile, Bollywood’s Animal showcases the ongoing strength of Indian films Stateside. The revenge thriller starring Ranbir Kapoor racked up an estimated $6.14 million on about 700 screens over the three days, the second biggest opening weekend of all time for a Bollywood film in North America behind Pathaan, taking the no. 7 slot at the North. American box office.
A24’s Dream Scenario has an estimated weekend gross of about $1.69 million in a major expansion...
Meanwhile, Bollywood’s Animal showcases the ongoing strength of Indian films Stateside. The revenge thriller starring Ranbir Kapoor racked up an estimated $6.14 million on about 700 screens over the three days, the second biggest opening weekend of all time for a Bollywood film in North America behind Pathaan, taking the no. 7 slot at the North. American box office.
A24’s Dream Scenario has an estimated weekend gross of about $1.69 million in a major expansion...
- 12/3/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
I’ll admit I didn’t expect to see an overt Vertigo homage in the middle of this rather matter-of-fact Isabelle Huppert procedural. Fixating for a second on the bun on the back of her noticeable-through-the-runtime blonde wig, La Syndicaliste affords some time, in the middle of all its backroom dealings and court hearings, to ponder her as a star and film history. For all the dramatic proceedings surrounding her, the icon––who’s essentially been anointed France’s Meryl Streep (though far less annoying and mechanical a performer)––is given some opportunities to “serve” throughout; chiefly she looks very poised answering her cell phone.
She portrays real-life figure Maureen Kearney, who as a rep on behalf of the nuclear-workers union was a figure under constant threat from the country’s corporate establishment. But despite the nation shifting from the right-wing Sarkozy to left-wing Hollande in the early goings of its narrative,...
She portrays real-life figure Maureen Kearney, who as a rep on behalf of the nuclear-workers union was a figure under constant threat from the country’s corporate establishment. But despite the nation shifting from the right-wing Sarkozy to left-wing Hollande in the early goings of its narrative,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Isabelle Huppert isn’t always an actress who disappears into her roles because, like perhaps her American counterpart Meryl Streep, her presence is already iconic and bigger than the screen itself. But in Jean-Paul Salomé’s “La Syndicaliste,” she goes full Hitchcock-blonde, bangs and all, to play Irish whistleblower Maureen Kearney. A trade unionist who exposed corruption at multinational nuclear powerhouse Areva in 2012, Kearney was violently assaulted in her own home after she brought to light secret dealings with China, but police and press didn’t believe her, and she was accused of staging her own attack.
While the story was widely publicized in Europe, Huppert herself wasn’t familiar with Kearney’s case. Kearney, forced into confessing to fabricating the assault after a brutal and longwinded police custody, eventually retracted her statement and was cleared of charges. But “La Syndicaliste,” even if you know the story, still plays...
While the story was widely publicized in Europe, Huppert herself wasn’t familiar with Kearney’s case. Kearney, forced into confessing to fabricating the assault after a brutal and longwinded police custody, eventually retracted her statement and was cleared of charges. But “La Syndicaliste,” even if you know the story, still plays...
- 11/30/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Isabelle Huppert is one of cinema’s most fearless and compelling performers: she can be both powerfully raw and impenetrably composed at once. It is even more impressive that such an intimidating and disarming onscreen presence is disarmingly cheerful and warm in person. She is also a workhorse and appearing in four films this year, including a pair of December releases: her second collaboration with Jean-Paul Salomé (following 2019’s La Daronne), La Syndicaliste, and the upcoming murder mystery romp The Crime is Mine, directed by François Ozon.
La Syndicaliste is an elegant, ambiguous true-crime story that explores women in the workplace, corporate greed, and the slippery nature of truth. Huppert plays Maureen Kearney, a union rep for the massive nuclear company, Areva, who becomes a whistle-blower when she learns of the company’s secret deal with China that threatens thousands of French jobs. While the film has all the trademarks...
La Syndicaliste is an elegant, ambiguous true-crime story that explores women in the workplace, corporate greed, and the slippery nature of truth. Huppert plays Maureen Kearney, a union rep for the massive nuclear company, Areva, who becomes a whistle-blower when she learns of the company’s secret deal with China that threatens thousands of French jobs. While the film has all the trademarks...
- 11/30/2023
- by Gabrielle Marceau
- The Film Stage
Comedy of Power: Huppert Shines in Whistleblower Expose from Salomé
Making a rare appearance in a ‘based on a true story’ film, Isabelle Huppert elevates a character study in whistle-blowing with La syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck), a reunion with her Mama Weed (2020) director Jean-Paul Salomé. It’s also rather an anomaly for the consummately bustling actor in how she’s somewhat cast against type as a resilient but fragile personality.
Based on the 2019 publication from investigative journalist Caroline Michel-Aguirre, corruption, violence, and political intrigue swirl maliciously in this tale of blatant misogyny following the sexual assault against a woman whose position allowed her access to the president, ultimately forced to clear her own name against charges of filing a false report.…...
Making a rare appearance in a ‘based on a true story’ film, Isabelle Huppert elevates a character study in whistle-blowing with La syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck), a reunion with her Mama Weed (2020) director Jean-Paul Salomé. It’s also rather an anomaly for the consummately bustling actor in how she’s somewhat cast against type as a resilient but fragile personality.
Based on the 2019 publication from investigative journalist Caroline Michel-Aguirre, corruption, violence, and political intrigue swirl maliciously in this tale of blatant misogyny following the sexual assault against a woman whose position allowed her access to the president, ultimately forced to clear her own name against charges of filing a false report.…...
- 11/27/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
For more on Venice's standout films, read our dispatch coverage: "Biopics Reloaded" and "Hitmen, A.I., and Dangerous Women."Poor Things.Main Competition(Jury: Damien Chazelle (chair), Saleh Bakri, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Gabriele Mainetti, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Laura Poitras, and Shu Qi)Golden Lion: Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)Silver Lion Best Director: Matteo Garrone (Io Capitano)Special Jury Prize: Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)Best Screenplay: Pablo Larraín and Guillermo Calderón (El Conde)Best Actress: Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)Best Actor: Peter Sarsgaard (Memory)Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Seydou Sarr (Io Capitano)Explanation For Everything.HORIZONSJury: Jonas Carpignano (chair), Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé, and Tricia Truttle)Best Film: Explanation For Everything (Gábor Reisz)Best Director: Mika Gustafson (Paradise Is Burning)Special Jury Prize: Una Sterminata Domenica (Alain Parroni)Best Actress:...
- 9/12/2023
- MUBI
As a female union rep in the oppressively male-dominated French nuclear industry, Maureen Kearney — the real-life heroine of Jean-Paul Salomé’s “La Syndicaliste” (“The Sitting Duck” in the U.K.) — is accustomed to keeping a cool head in a crisis. That doesn’t stop her male superiors from accusing her of the opposite, with then-President Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly branding her a “hysteric in a skirt”: In this men’s club, a woman’s mere presence is deemed her weakness. Yet when Kearney is raped and mutilated by unknown assailants, seemingly as a professional warning, it’s her lack of hysteria under the circumstances that is declared suspicious by men in power. As she’s first disbelieved, then charged without outright fabrication, Salomé’s film pivots from itchy whistleblower thriller to irate courtroom drama, with institutional misogyny as its binding thread.
A rape survivor criticized for her composure: sounds like an assignment for Isabelle Huppert,...
A rape survivor criticized for her composure: sounds like an assignment for Isabelle Huppert,...
- 7/24/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The main jury for the upcoming Venice Film Festival has added a number of prestigious filmmakers, with Jane Campion, Martin McDonagh, Laura Poitras and Mia Hansen-Løve joining jury president Damien Chazelle for the festival.
Other jurors on the panel include Saleh Bakri (“Wajib”), Gabriele Mainetti (“They Call Me Jeeg”), Santiago Mitre and Shu Qi (“The Assassin”).
The jury is responsible for awarding the following prizes during the festival: Golden Lion for Best Film, Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Coppa Volpi for Best Actress, Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, Special Jury Prize, Award for Best Screenplay and “Marcello Mastroianni” Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress.
The festival also unveiled the juries for the other sections on Thursday, with the Orizzonti section jury set to include Jonas Carpignano, Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé and Tricia Tuttle.
The “Luigi De Laurentis” award for a debut film,...
Other jurors on the panel include Saleh Bakri (“Wajib”), Gabriele Mainetti (“They Call Me Jeeg”), Santiago Mitre and Shu Qi (“The Assassin”).
The jury is responsible for awarding the following prizes during the festival: Golden Lion for Best Film, Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize, Silver Lion for Best Director, Coppa Volpi for Best Actress, Coppa Volpi for Best Actor, Special Jury Prize, Award for Best Screenplay and “Marcello Mastroianni” Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress.
The festival also unveiled the juries for the other sections on Thursday, with the Orizzonti section jury set to include Jonas Carpignano, Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé and Tricia Tuttle.
The “Luigi De Laurentis” award for a debut film,...
- 7/13/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
An all-star award-winning filmmaker jury is lining up to judge the competition titles of the 80th Venice Film Festival. Oscar and Palme d’Or winner Jane Campion, Oscar winner Martin McDonagh, and Oscar and Venice Golden Lion winner Laura Poitras will join jury president Damien Chazelle on the Venice 2023 international jury.
Also on this year’s jury judging the Golden and Silver Lion winners will be acclaimed French director Mia Hansen-Love, Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, Argentine filmmaker Santiago Mitre as well as Chinese actress Shu Qi.
Most of the jury has a history with Venice. Chazelle premiered La La Land and First Man in competition on the Lido. Poitras’ last film, the documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, won last year’s Golden Lion. Campion’s The Power of the Dog was a Silver Lion winner in 2021. McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, a 2022 Venice competition title, took the...
Also on this year’s jury judging the Golden and Silver Lion winners will be acclaimed French director Mia Hansen-Love, Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, Argentine filmmaker Santiago Mitre as well as Chinese actress Shu Qi.
Most of the jury has a history with Venice. Chazelle premiered La La Land and First Man in competition on the Lido. Poitras’ last film, the documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, won last year’s Golden Lion. Campion’s The Power of the Dog was a Silver Lion winner in 2021. McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, a 2022 Venice competition title, took the...
- 7/13/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Among those selected, Laura Poitras won the Golden Lion at the festival last year.
Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Laura Poitras and Martin McDonagh have joined the main Competition jury of the 80th Venice Film Festival (August 30-September 9).
The filmmakers will be joined by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (Wajib); Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, who was in Competition at the festival in 2021 with Freaks Out; Argentinian writer/director Santiago Mitre, whose Argentina, 1985 premiered in Competition at Venice last year; and Chinese actress Shu Qi, known for her performances in Hou Hsiao-Hsien films Millennium Mambo, Three Times and The Assassin.
US director Poitras...
Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Laura Poitras and Martin McDonagh have joined the main Competition jury of the 80th Venice Film Festival (August 30-September 9).
The filmmakers will be joined by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (Wajib); Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, who was in Competition at the festival in 2021 with Freaks Out; Argentinian writer/director Santiago Mitre, whose Argentina, 1985 premiered in Competition at Venice last year; and Chinese actress Shu Qi, known for her performances in Hou Hsiao-Hsien films Millennium Mambo, Three Times and The Assassin.
US director Poitras...
- 7/13/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Jane Campion, Laura Poitras, Martin McDonagh and Mia Hansen-Løve have joined the main jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival.
The prominent directors, most of whom are Venice regulars – Poitras last year scored the Golden Lion with documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” – will be joined by fellow jury members including Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“Wajib”); Chinese star Shu Qi (“The Assassin”); Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, who was at Venice last year with “Freaks Out”; and Argentinian auteur Santiago Mitre, whose “Argentina, 1985” also launched from the Lido last year.
They will join Damien Chazelle who, as previously announced, will serve as president of the Venice competition jury.
Venice revealed its jury just hours after talks broke down without a deal between actors union SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance for Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). A strike is expected to be called on Thursday morning, Pacific time, which could have...
The prominent directors, most of whom are Venice regulars – Poitras last year scored the Golden Lion with documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” – will be joined by fellow jury members including Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“Wajib”); Chinese star Shu Qi (“The Assassin”); Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, who was at Venice last year with “Freaks Out”; and Argentinian auteur Santiago Mitre, whose “Argentina, 1985” also launched from the Lido last year.
They will join Damien Chazelle who, as previously announced, will serve as president of the Venice competition jury.
Venice revealed its jury just hours after talks broke down without a deal between actors union SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance for Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). A strike is expected to be called on Thursday morning, Pacific time, which could have...
- 7/13/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Also opening this weekend was ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ which made £2.3m for Sony.
RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (June 30-July 2)Total gross to date Week 1. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (Disney) £3m £13.2m 2 2. Elemental (Disney) £2.9m £3m 1 3. Insidious: The Red Door (Sony) £2.3m £2.3m 1 4. Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse (Sony) £964,646 £27.7m 6 5. The Little Mermaid (Disney) £490,133 £26m 7
Disney titles went head-to-head at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend after Pixar animation Elemental narrowly missed out on knocking Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny off the top spot.
While previews helped push the Elemental over the £3m mark, its three-day...
RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (June 30-July 2)Total gross to date Week 1. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (Disney) £3m £13.2m 2 2. Elemental (Disney) £2.9m £3m 1 3. Insidious: The Red Door (Sony) £2.3m £2.3m 1 4. Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse (Sony) £964,646 £27.7m 6 5. The Little Mermaid (Disney) £490,133 £26m 7
Disney titles went head-to-head at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend after Pixar animation Elemental narrowly missed out on knocking Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny off the top spot.
While previews helped push the Elemental over the £3m mark, its three-day...
- 7/10/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
The Harrison Ford blockbuster dethroned ‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse’.
Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (June 30-July 2) Total gross to date Week 1. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (Disney) £5.4m £7.1m 1 2. Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse (Sony) £1.5m £25.9m 5 3. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Universal) £884,898 £884,898 1 4. The Little Mermaid (Disney) £837,544 £25m 6 5. Asteroid City (Universal) £797,946 £2.7m 2
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.27
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny opened to £5.4m at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend – enough to top the charts, but significantly down on the most recent title in the action franchise.
The Dial Of Destiny had the widest release of...
Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (June 30-July 2) Total gross to date Week 1. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (Disney) £5.4m £7.1m 1 2. Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse (Sony) £1.5m £25.9m 5 3. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Universal) £884,898 £884,898 1 4. The Little Mermaid (Disney) £837,544 £25m 6 5. Asteroid City (Universal) £797,946 £2.7m 2
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.27
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny opened to £5.4m at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend – enough to top the charts, but significantly down on the most recent title in the action franchise.
The Dial Of Destiny had the widest release of...
- 7/3/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Also new this weekend: Dreamworks animation ’Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’ and ’La Syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck)’, starring Isabelle Huppert.
Disney is leading the pack this weekend with Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny out at 743 venues, the widest UK-Ireland release of 2023 so far.
It opens ahead of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which debuted at 732 sites in May. The Cannes premiere, the fifth instalment in the franchise, sees James Mangold take the reins from Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford returns as the titular adventurer, this time in 1969. Jones is living a quieter life, until his estranged goddaughter – played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge...
Disney is leading the pack this weekend with Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny out at 743 venues, the widest UK-Ireland release of 2023 so far.
It opens ahead of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which debuted at 732 sites in May. The Cannes premiere, the fifth instalment in the franchise, sees James Mangold take the reins from Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford returns as the titular adventurer, this time in 1969. Jones is living a quieter life, until his estranged goddaughter – played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge...
- 6/30/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Also new this weekend: Dreamworks animation ’Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’ and ’La Syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck)’, starring Isabelle Huppert.
Disney is leading the pack this weekend with Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny out at 743 venues, the widest UK-Ireland release of 2023 so far.
It opens ahead of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which debuted at 732 sites in May. The Cannes premiere, the fifth instalment in the franchise, sees James Mangold take the reins from Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford returns as the titular adventurer, this time in 1969. Jones is living a quieter life, until his estranged goddaughter – played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge...
Disney is leading the pack this weekend with Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny out at 743 venues, the widest UK-Ireland release of 2023 so far.
It opens ahead of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which debuted at 732 sites in May. The Cannes premiere, the fifth instalment in the franchise, sees James Mangold take the reins from Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford returns as the titular adventurer, this time in 1969. Jones is living a quieter life, until his estranged goddaughter – played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge...
- 6/30/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Back in Paris at the turn of the year, HeyUGuys were fortunate enough to sit in on a roundtable with French icon Isabelle Huppert, promoting her latest film La Syndicaliste, where the actress discusses her latest film, politics, her career – and her love for Bryan Cranston.
Below is an edited transcription of the conversation, of which we were the only UK outlet. We have included questions from varying publications, though have highlighted at the start of a question when it was one we asked ourselves.
This woman is fearless. Do you feel similar to her?
She doesn’t fear people, but I don’t think she is fearless. I think if she knew what was going to happen to her she would be afraid, but she was never afraid of people above her, that’s for sure. She can be intimidated sometimes, because she’s a woman and she knows exactly what she represents,...
Below is an edited transcription of the conversation, of which we were the only UK outlet. We have included questions from varying publications, though have highlighted at the start of a question when it was one we asked ourselves.
This woman is fearless. Do you feel similar to her?
She doesn’t fear people, but I don’t think she is fearless. I think if she knew what was going to happen to her she would be afraid, but she was never afraid of people above her, that’s for sure. She can be intimidated sometimes, because she’s a woman and she knows exactly what she represents,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The fearless French actor is known for playing powerful, complex women, mostly recently in Jean-Paul Salomé’s corporate drama La Syndicaliste. But she has her own way of balancing loyalty to film with her feminist principles
Isabelle Huppert has a way of inspiring intrigue – even without trying. On the red carpet at Cannes last month, she raised eyebrows with her choice of footwear: a pair of Balenciaga Anatomic heels, whose tips are moulded to look like human toes. It seemed like quintessential Huppert: an arch joke about the furore over the festival’s insistence on heels for women at events, rising above the idiotic dictate and the barefoot rebels who have recently flouted it.
Except apparently I’m overthinking it: “People were looking at my shoes?” asks the actor, in her soigné tones, on the phone from Paris. Yes, those weird ones with toes. “No, I wasn’t making any statement.
Isabelle Huppert has a way of inspiring intrigue – even without trying. On the red carpet at Cannes last month, she raised eyebrows with her choice of footwear: a pair of Balenciaga Anatomic heels, whose tips are moulded to look like human toes. It seemed like quintessential Huppert: an arch joke about the furore over the festival’s insistence on heels for women at events, rising above the idiotic dictate and the barefoot rebels who have recently flouted it.
Except apparently I’m overthinking it: “People were looking at my shoes?” asks the actor, in her soigné tones, on the phone from Paris. Yes, those weird ones with toes. “No, I wasn’t making any statement.
- 6/23/2023
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
What makes Jean-Paul Salomé’s “paranoid” thriller particularly engrossing is the way it tackles multiple themes - the nature of women in the workplace, the environment, political manipulation, union power - while never losing sight of the nail-biting suspense along the way.
Sustained by a bravura performance from Isabelle Huppert in a total change of register from her last comedic outing with the same director Mama Weed, the new collaboration never puts a frame out of place. It is based on a true story, first tackled in a book by the journalist Caroline Michel-Aguirre.
With new blonde chignon hair style and spectacles that almost become a character in their own right, Huppert plays Irish woman Maureen Kearney, who has lived in France since she arrived in her twenties on a teaching assignment. She’s now the head union representative of a multinational nuclear conglomerate who has no hesitation in denouncing top secret deals in.
Sustained by a bravura performance from Isabelle Huppert in a total change of register from her last comedic outing with the same director Mama Weed, the new collaboration never puts a frame out of place. It is based on a true story, first tackled in a book by the journalist Caroline Michel-Aguirre.
With new blonde chignon hair style and spectacles that almost become a character in their own right, Huppert plays Irish woman Maureen Kearney, who has lived in France since she arrived in her twenties on a teaching assignment. She’s now the head union representative of a multinational nuclear conglomerate who has no hesitation in denouncing top secret deals in.
- 5/11/2023
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Modern Films has shared an exclusive look at the trailer for the political thriller ‘La Syndicaliste.’
Based on the true story of Maureen Kearney, a trade union organiser in the French nuclear industry who became both a victim and suspect in a shocking scandal. Starring Isabelle Huppert in an electrifying performance as Kearney.
Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert) was the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. She became a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. Alone against the world, she fought government ministers and industry leaders tooth and nail to bring the scandal to light and to defend more than 50,000 jobs. Her life was turned upside down when she was
violently assaulted in her own home. The investigation was carried out under pressure: the subject was sensitive. Suddenly, new elements created doubt in the minds of the investigators, and at first a victim, Maureen became a suspect.
Based on the true story of Maureen Kearney, a trade union organiser in the French nuclear industry who became both a victim and suspect in a shocking scandal. Starring Isabelle Huppert in an electrifying performance as Kearney.
Maureen Kearney (Isabelle Huppert) was the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse. She became a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. Alone against the world, she fought government ministers and industry leaders tooth and nail to bring the scandal to light and to defend more than 50,000 jobs. Her life was turned upside down when she was
violently assaulted in her own home. The investigation was carried out under pressure: the subject was sensitive. Suddenly, new elements created doubt in the minds of the investigators, and at first a victim, Maureen became a suspect.
- 5/11/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Kino Lorber has bought U.S. rights to Jean-Paul Salomé’s true life thriller “The Sitting Duck,” starring Isabelle Huppert as the French union organizer and whistleblower Maureen Kearney.
Represented in international markets by The Bureau Sales, “The Sitting Duck” world premiered at Venice where it won the Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Prize. The film will open theatrically in France in March, and Kino Lorber is planning a U.S. theatrical release later this year, followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms.
“The Sitting Duck” has now been sold around the world. The Bureau Sales has closed deals for Canada (Axia Films Inc.), UK (Modern Films), Germany/Austria (Weltkino Filmverleih Gmbh), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), France (Le Pacte), Spain (Wanda Vision S.A.), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi Zurich Ag), Greece (Cinobo), Portugal, Bulgaria (Beta Film Ltd.), Hungary (Ads Service Ltd.), Romania (Transilvania Film), Israel (Forum Film Ltd.
Represented in international markets by The Bureau Sales, “The Sitting Duck” world premiered at Venice where it won the Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Prize. The film will open theatrically in France in March, and Kino Lorber is planning a U.S. theatrical release later this year, followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms.
“The Sitting Duck” has now been sold around the world. The Bureau Sales has closed deals for Canada (Axia Films Inc.), UK (Modern Films), Germany/Austria (Weltkino Filmverleih Gmbh), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), France (Le Pacte), Spain (Wanda Vision S.A.), Benelux (September Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi Zurich Ag), Greece (Cinobo), Portugal, Bulgaria (Beta Film Ltd.), Hungary (Ads Service Ltd.), Romania (Transilvania Film), Israel (Forum Film Ltd.
- 2/15/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Nadia Tereszkieicz takes the stand accused of murder in François Ozon’s The Crime is Mine, (Mon Crime), alongside Rebecca Marder as her lawyer. The film is slated for the Berlin Film Festival and to open the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris Photo: © Foz – Mandarin Production Traditionally this is the time of year when lovers of French cinema from Europe and further afield gather in Paris to consider (and hopefully snap up) the offerings in prospect for the year ahead.
This will mark the 25th year of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, which was started by the late Daniel Toscan du Plantier, the flamboyantly dynamic head of Unifrance (the export body for le cinéma français). Toscan du Plantier who passed away unexpectedly in 2003, and was president of Unifrance from 1988 until his death, will be given a special 20th anniversary tribute at the Ministry of Culture. He was mindful...
This will mark the 25th year of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, which was started by the late Daniel Toscan du Plantier, the flamboyantly dynamic head of Unifrance (the export body for le cinéma français). Toscan du Plantier who passed away unexpectedly in 2003, and was president of Unifrance from 1988 until his death, will be given a special 20th anniversary tribute at the Ministry of Culture. He was mindful...
- 1/6/2023
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Alpine event runs December 10-17.
The in-person 14th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival returns to the French Alps from December 10-17 to celebrate European Cinema and present eight films in Official Competition as well as the industry programme.
Official Competition selections vying for the Crystal Arrow award include David Wagner’s Eismayer from Austria (Loco Films handles sales), Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska’s co-production The Happiest Man In The World (distributed by Pyramide Films), and Fulvio Risuleo’s Ghost Night from Italy (Vision Distribution), and Leonor Serraille’s French title Un Petit Frère (Diaphana Distribution).
Rounding out the...
The in-person 14th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival returns to the French Alps from December 10-17 to celebrate European Cinema and present eight films in Official Competition as well as the industry programme.
Official Competition selections vying for the Crystal Arrow award include David Wagner’s Eismayer from Austria (Loco Films handles sales), Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska’s co-production The Happiest Man In The World (distributed by Pyramide Films), and Fulvio Risuleo’s Ghost Night from Italy (Vision Distribution), and Leonor Serraille’s French title Un Petit Frère (Diaphana Distribution).
Rounding out the...
- 11/9/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
The Bureau Sales has scored a raft of deals on “The Sitting Duck,” Jean-Paul Salomé’s thriller based on a true story starring Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”). The movie world premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section.
Adapted from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book “La Syndicaliste,” “The Sitting Duck” tells the true story of Maureen Kearney (Huppert), the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse who becomes a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. One day, Kearney is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina.
Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. However, after an investigation, the police accused her of staging the attack herself.
The Bureau Sales, which is spearheaded by Clementine Hugot, has sold the film to the U.K. (Modern Films), Latin America (Cineplex), Japan (Only Hearts Co.
Adapted from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book “La Syndicaliste,” “The Sitting Duck” tells the true story of Maureen Kearney (Huppert), the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse who becomes a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. One day, Kearney is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina.
Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. However, after an investigation, the police accused her of staging the attack herself.
The Bureau Sales, which is spearheaded by Clementine Hugot, has sold the film to the U.K. (Modern Films), Latin America (Cineplex), Japan (Only Hearts Co.
- 11/1/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Official competition includes Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan and Cristèle Alves Meira’s Alma Viva.
The Marrakech International Film Festival (November 11-19) has announced the line-up for its 2022 edition, which returns as a physical edition following its cancellation in 2020 and 2021.
The official competition will see 14 first and second features vie for the Etoile d’Or (Gold Star) prize voted upon by a jury presided by Paolo Sorrentino. Among the selected titles, 10 are first features and six are from female directors.
The section includes two best international feature Oscar entries; Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan (Morocco) and Cristèle Alves...
The Marrakech International Film Festival (November 11-19) has announced the line-up for its 2022 edition, which returns as a physical edition following its cancellation in 2020 and 2021.
The official competition will see 14 first and second features vie for the Etoile d’Or (Gold Star) prize voted upon by a jury presided by Paolo Sorrentino. Among the selected titles, 10 are first features and six are from female directors.
The section includes two best international feature Oscar entries; Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan (Morocco) and Cristèle Alves...
- 10/14/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Coinciding with its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has provided Variety with an exclusive peek at the trailer for Chilean writer-director Fernando Guzzoni’s (“Jesus”) thriller, “Blanquita.”
Based on the young witness at the center of the Spinak case, a scandal involving Chilean pedophilia and prostitution networks that rocked the country, the film grapples with morality and the struggle towards justice for those without means.
In the film, Blanca (Laura López) leads investigators, and the public, on a baffling journey as she plants herself at the center of a trial against powerful politicians.
“I think that what seduced me about the case is how a girl who was an outsider kept the entire Chilean community on edge for almost a year,” relayed Guzzoni.
“Her appearance in the case seemed very performative to me and how she, to some extent, built a character that...
Based on the young witness at the center of the Spinak case, a scandal involving Chilean pedophilia and prostitution networks that rocked the country, the film grapples with morality and the struggle towards justice for those without means.
In the film, Blanca (Laura López) leads investigators, and the public, on a baffling journey as she plants herself at the center of a trial against powerful politicians.
“I think that what seduced me about the case is how a girl who was an outsider kept the entire Chilean community on edge for almost a year,” relayed Guzzoni.
“Her appearance in the case seemed very performative to me and how she, to some extent, built a character that...
- 9/5/2022
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
The Unifrance cocktail event at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, held in partnership with Variety, saw a heady mix of film executives and artists mingle at the sea terrace of the plush Excelsior hotel.
Presiding over proceedings was Unifrance executive director Daniela Elstner and artists present included director Romain Gavras and actor Ouassini Embarek, whose film “Athena” is in the main competition at the festival. Also attending were actor Swann Arlaud, César winner for “Bloody Milk” and “By the Grace of God,” who is at Venice with his new film “Beating Sun,” by Philippe Petit, who was also present; and filmmaker Audrey Diwan, who won the Venice Golden Lion last year for “Happening” and is serving on the jury this year.
Jean-Paul Salomé and Bertrand Faivre, the director and producer respectively of Horizons strand selection “The Sitting Duck,” were also present as was “The Blessed” filmmaker Sofia Djama, who...
Presiding over proceedings was Unifrance executive director Daniela Elstner and artists present included director Romain Gavras and actor Ouassini Embarek, whose film “Athena” is in the main competition at the festival. Also attending were actor Swann Arlaud, César winner for “Bloody Milk” and “By the Grace of God,” who is at Venice with his new film “Beating Sun,” by Philippe Petit, who was also present; and filmmaker Audrey Diwan, who won the Venice Golden Lion last year for “Happening” and is serving on the jury this year.
Jean-Paul Salomé and Bertrand Faivre, the director and producer respectively of Horizons strand selection “The Sitting Duck,” were also present as was “The Blessed” filmmaker Sofia Djama, who...
- 9/5/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
After taking a break from his filmmaking career to preside over the French film promotion org Unifrance, Jean-Paul Salomé has made a big comeback with a pair of films with Oscar-nominated French actor Isabelle Huppert. The latest one, “The Sitting Duck,” is world premiering at Venice in the Horizons section.
Adapted from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book “La Syndicaliste,” “The Sitting Duck” tells the true story of Maureen Kearney, the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse who becomes a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. One day, Kearney is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina. Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. However, after an investigation, the police accused her of staging the attack herself.
Penned by Salomé and Fadette Drouard, the film has already been...
Adapted from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book “La Syndicaliste,” “The Sitting Duck” tells the true story of Maureen Kearney, the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse who becomes a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. One day, Kearney is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina. Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. However, after an investigation, the police accused her of staging the attack herself.
Penned by Salomé and Fadette Drouard, the film has already been...
- 9/3/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Maureen Kearney’s story is unbelievable. It is a story of unbelief, in fact — of denial, cover-ups, corruption and injustice directed at a small woman who was just doing her job. She’s played with an electric stillness by the great Isabelle Huppert in Jean-Paul Salome’s Venice Film Festival Horizons title The Sitting Duck (La Syndicaliste). There are still plenty of people who openly doubt her story, including people on her own side of politics. Perhaps it would be easier all round if it weren’t true.
Kearney was a union officer working within the partly French government-owned energy company Areva, which included a significant nuclear reactor business with projects all over the world. Kearney was no Karen Silkwood; she posed no threat to the concept of nuclear power. She maintains she was targeted when...
Kearney was a union officer working within the partly French government-owned energy company Areva, which included a significant nuclear reactor business with projects all over the world. Kearney was no Karen Silkwood; she posed no threat to the concept of nuclear power. She maintains she was targeted when...
- 9/2/2022
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...
- 7/28/2022
- MUBI
With opening night locked in––Noah Baumbach’s highly-anticipated Don DeLillo adaptation White Noise––Venice Film Festival has unveiled the rest of their lineup. Amongst the slate is Todd Field’s TÁR, Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener, Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, Frederick Wiseman’s A Couple, Laura Poitras’ All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, Walter Hill’s Dead for a Dollar, and more.
Check out the lineup below, with a hat tip to Deadline.
Venezia 79 Competiton
Il Signore Delle Formiche, dir: Gianni Amelio
The Whale, dir: Darren Aronofsky
L’Imensita, dir: Emanuel Crialese
Saint Omer, dir: Alice Diop
Blonde, dir: Andrew Dominik
TÁR, dir: Todd Field
Love Life, dir: Koji Fukada
Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths, dir: Alejandro G. Inarritu
Athena,...
Check out the lineup below, with a hat tip to Deadline.
Venezia 79 Competiton
Il Signore Delle Formiche, dir: Gianni Amelio
The Whale, dir: Darren Aronofsky
L’Imensita, dir: Emanuel Crialese
Saint Omer, dir: Alice Diop
Blonde, dir: Andrew Dominik
TÁR, dir: Todd Field
Love Life, dir: Koji Fukada
Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths, dir: Alejandro G. Inarritu
Athena,...
- 7/26/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Olivia Wilde, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino and Florian Zeller.
The line-up of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10) has been announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for full line-up
The heavyweight competition line-up includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino, Martin McDonagh and Florian Zeller. As with last year, five female directors were selected in the main competition. Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling is playing out of competition.
As previously announced, Noah Baumbach...
The line-up of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10) has been announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for full line-up
The heavyweight competition line-up includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino, Martin McDonagh and Florian Zeller. As with last year, five female directors were selected in the main competition. Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling is playing out of competition.
As previously announced, Noah Baumbach...
- 7/26/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The line-up will be unveiled this morning at around 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST).
The line-up for the 79th Venice International Film Festival (August 31-September 10) will be unveiled this morning at around 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for line-up
The press conference will be live-streamed below, and this page will be updated with the films as they are announced.
As previously announced, Noah Baumbach’s White Noise will open the festival in competition.
Julianne Moore will preside over the competition jury that also includes Audrey Diwan, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Mariano Cohn,...
The line-up for the 79th Venice International Film Festival (August 31-September 10) will be unveiled this morning at around 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Scroll down for line-up
The press conference will be live-streamed below, and this page will be updated with the films as they are announced.
As previously announced, Noah Baumbach’s White Noise will open the festival in competition.
Julianne Moore will preside over the competition jury that also includes Audrey Diwan, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Mariano Cohn,...
- 7/26/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Bernard-Henri Lévy just days before he is elected President of Ukraine Photo: Yann Revol, courtesy Cohen Media Group
Bernard-Henri Lévy on Wednesday, April 20 moved up our scheduled time to meet from 3:00pm (New York time) to 2:30pm so he could watch from the start the final French presidential debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. The election is today, Sunday April 24.
In The Will To See (Une Autre Idée Du Monde), co-directed with Marc Roussel, produced by Kristina Larsen, and executive produced by Emily Hamilton, Bernard-Henri Lévy takes us up close to many of the never-ending crises around the world.
Bernard-Henri Lévy: “I was in Ukraine a few days ago. Before that I was in the area of Odessa, Mykolaiv, I continue to go.” Photo: Cohen Media Group
This must-see documentary, shot by Olivier Jacquin and Roussel is dedicated to Paris Match Managing...
Bernard-Henri Lévy on Wednesday, April 20 moved up our scheduled time to meet from 3:00pm (New York time) to 2:30pm so he could watch from the start the final French presidential debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. The election is today, Sunday April 24.
In The Will To See (Une Autre Idée Du Monde), co-directed with Marc Roussel, produced by Kristina Larsen, and executive produced by Emily Hamilton, Bernard-Henri Lévy takes us up close to many of the never-ending crises around the world.
Bernard-Henri Lévy: “I was in Ukraine a few days ago. Before that I was in the area of Odessa, Mykolaiv, I continue to go.” Photo: Cohen Media Group
This must-see documentary, shot by Olivier Jacquin and Roussel is dedicated to Paris Match Managing...
- 4/24/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Other EFM acquisitions including ‘Rimini’, ’Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom’, ’Peter Von Kant’ and ’La Syndicaliste’.
Pim Hermeling’s Amsterdam-based September Films, one of Benelux’s leading art house distributors, has been on a buying spree at the EFM.
The company has acquired Li Ruijun’s Berlin competition entry Return To Dust from Berlin-based m-appeal. This follows other EFM acquisitions including Ulrich Seidl’s Rimini from the Coproduction Office; Oscar international feature film nominee Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom (from Films Boutique); François Ozon’s Berlinale opening film Peter Von Kant (sold by Playtime) and La Syndicaliste (The...
Pim Hermeling’s Amsterdam-based September Films, one of Benelux’s leading art house distributors, has been on a buying spree at the EFM.
The company has acquired Li Ruijun’s Berlin competition entry Return To Dust from Berlin-based m-appeal. This follows other EFM acquisitions including Ulrich Seidl’s Rimini from the Coproduction Office; Oscar international feature film nominee Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom (from Films Boutique); François Ozon’s Berlinale opening film Peter Von Kant (sold by Playtime) and La Syndicaliste (The...
- 2/16/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
La Syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck)
Jean-Paul Salomé moves the pendulum from crime caper to crime thriller but with biopic elements in his second consecutive project with Isabelle Huppert. With a newly added supporting cast, a 2022 shoot is imminent. Entering his third decade of filmmaking, La Syndicaliste (which will be known by international auds as “The Sitting Duck“) quickly follows La Daronne (aka Mama Weed) – which surprisingly didn’t receive any prestige film festival premiere but played extremely well at the French box office.…...
Jean-Paul Salomé moves the pendulum from crime caper to crime thriller but with biopic elements in his second consecutive project with Isabelle Huppert. With a newly added supporting cast, a 2022 shoot is imminent. Entering his third decade of filmmaking, La Syndicaliste (which will be known by international auds as “The Sitting Duck“) quickly follows La Daronne (aka Mama Weed) – which surprisingly didn’t receive any prestige film festival premiere but played extremely well at the French box office.…...
- 1/13/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Isabelle Huppert, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Elle,” is set to reteam with French director Jean-Paul Salomé (“Mama Weed”) on the French thriller “The Sitting Duck.”
The movie, produced by Bertrand Faivre at Le Bureau and co-produced by Bettina Brokemper at Heimatfilm, boasts a stellar cast, which also includes Benoit Magimel, Marina Fois, Alexandra Maria Lara, Grégory Gadebois and François-Xavier Demaison.
Huppert previously starred in Salomé’s crime comedy “Mama Weed” as a French-Arabic translator for the Paris drug police who becomes a savvy wholesale pusher.
The French star will this time star as Maureen Kearney, a whistleblower who is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina. Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. But the investigation uncovers new elements leading Maureen to become a suspect.
The Bureau Sales (“True Things”) will launch the...
The movie, produced by Bertrand Faivre at Le Bureau and co-produced by Bettina Brokemper at Heimatfilm, boasts a stellar cast, which also includes Benoit Magimel, Marina Fois, Alexandra Maria Lara, Grégory Gadebois and François-Xavier Demaison.
Huppert previously starred in Salomé’s crime comedy “Mama Weed” as a French-Arabic translator for the Paris drug police who becomes a savvy wholesale pusher.
The French star will this time star as Maureen Kearney, a whistleblower who is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina. Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. But the investigation uncovers new elements leading Maureen to become a suspect.
The Bureau Sales (“True Things”) will launch the...
- 1/10/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on the new film “Mama Weed,” a French Film distributed by Music Box Films of Chicago. In select theaters including Music Box Theatre beginning July 16th, 2021, and through Video On Demand July 23rd.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Mama Weed features notable French actor Isabelle Huppert as the aptly named Patience, an Arabic translator for the French police. While interpreting a case, she happens upon a stolen cache of high quality hashish, and steals it herself to take care of her financial woes. This puts her in between her employers, and the cartel that’s very angry that lost their stash.
“Mama Weed” is in select theaters (see local listings) and through Video On Demand July 23rd. Featuring sabelle Huppert, Hippolyte Girardot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovére and Irs Bry. Screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Salomé and Hannelore Cayre. Directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. Not Rated.
Click here...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Mama Weed features notable French actor Isabelle Huppert as the aptly named Patience, an Arabic translator for the French police. While interpreting a case, she happens upon a stolen cache of high quality hashish, and steals it herself to take care of her financial woes. This puts her in between her employers, and the cartel that’s very angry that lost their stash.
“Mama Weed” is in select theaters (see local listings) and through Video On Demand July 23rd. Featuring sabelle Huppert, Hippolyte Girardot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovére and Irs Bry. Screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Salomé and Hannelore Cayre. Directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. Not Rated.
Click here...
- 7/16/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Writer-director Jonas Carpignano has scored at Cannes with “A Chiara,” winning the Europa Cinemas Cannes Label nod for best European film at Directors’ Fortnight, the festival’s biggest independent parallel section. Carpignano took the same prize for his previous film, “A Ciambra,” which was exec produced by Martin Scorsese, in 2017.
In the second big Directors’ Fortnight prize announcement, Vincent Maël Cardona’s feature debut “Magnetic Beats (“Les Magnétiques”) won the section’s Sacd Prize, awarded by France’s Writers’ Guild. Cardona’s short, “Anywhere Out of the World,” featured at the 2010’s Cannes Cinefondation student short competition.
“A Chiara” focuses on a family’s 16-year-old daughter and her growing realization that her beloved father may be part of the local criminal organization. Set in what the Variety review describes as the “hardscrabble underside” of the Calabrian city of Gioia Tauro, “A Chiara” delivers “a complex and ultimately realistic picture,” it said.
In the second big Directors’ Fortnight prize announcement, Vincent Maël Cardona’s feature debut “Magnetic Beats (“Les Magnétiques”) won the section’s Sacd Prize, awarded by France’s Writers’ Guild. Cardona’s short, “Anywhere Out of the World,” featured at the 2010’s Cannes Cinefondation student short competition.
“A Chiara” focuses on a family’s 16-year-old daughter and her growing realization that her beloved father may be part of the local criminal organization. Set in what the Variety review describes as the “hardscrabble underside” of the Calabrian city of Gioia Tauro, “A Chiara” delivers “a complex and ultimately realistic picture,” it said.
- 7/15/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
With a body of work that rivals any performer’s across the history of film, French actress Isabelle Huppert can swan in and out of challenging material with nary a scratch to her matchless reputation. Often, her cool intensity and versatility is what makes that material work, most recently exemplified in her Oscar-nominated turn in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle.” But sometimes you get what amounts to a perfect fit of risk and skill, leading to sheer delight. That’s the case with the fleet French crime comedy “La Daronne,” translated with a winking nudge into colloquial English, and toward its particular narrative, as “Mama Weed.”
No, Huppert is not on the toking end in director Jean-Paul Salomé’s film (not that she couldn’t rock a pot comedy), but rather the dealing side. Huppert plays Patience Portefeux, a widow with money problems and a mother with dementia in an expensive assisted home,...
No, Huppert is not on the toking end in director Jean-Paul Salomé’s film (not that she couldn’t rock a pot comedy), but rather the dealing side. Huppert plays Patience Portefeux, a widow with money problems and a mother with dementia in an expensive assisted home,...
- 7/14/2021
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
UniFrance, the French film promotion org headed by Serge Toubiana and Daniela Elstner, is launching the International French Cinema Fest on Bastille Day at the Cannes Film Festival.
The event aims at shining a light on some of France’s latest productions whose release plans were disrupted due to the pandemic.
Spanning over 30 countries, the International French Cinema Fest is being organized in partnership with distributors and exhibitors around the world who will host 50 premiere screenings of select French movies ahead of their theatrical release in key territories, including the U.S. and the U.K. Other countries involved in the initiative include Argentina, the Baltic States, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
“This is a unique occasion to (re)invigorate the collective experience of watching movies, on a global scale,” said Elstner, who worked closely with Gilles Renouard, the co-managing director of UniFrance,...
The event aims at shining a light on some of France’s latest productions whose release plans were disrupted due to the pandemic.
Spanning over 30 countries, the International French Cinema Fest is being organized in partnership with distributors and exhibitors around the world who will host 50 premiere screenings of select French movies ahead of their theatrical release in key territories, including the U.S. and the U.K. Other countries involved in the initiative include Argentina, the Baltic States, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
“This is a unique occasion to (re)invigorate the collective experience of watching movies, on a global scale,” said Elstner, who worked closely with Gilles Renouard, the co-managing director of UniFrance,...
- 7/14/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
There’s something off about Mama Weed. On a more superfluous level, there’s the translation from La daronne—the original French title and the street name its protagonist comes to earn, itself an informal term for “mother”—to the title and nickname used in its United States release. Textually, problems emerge from the myriad supporting characters, virtually all of whom play like narrative props. The script seems uninterested in its conflict; the filmmaking lacks the style to glue its pieces together. That shines a light on, and strands, our title character.
She’s Patience (Isabelle Huppert), an Arabic-fluent French translator working for the police’s narcotics unit. At first, she’s humble: a woman proficient in her professional life but underpaid, a widow and mother to two daughters (Iris Bry and Rebecca Marder). She’s behind on her rent and hopes to afford her own mother (Liliane Rovère) better...
She’s Patience (Isabelle Huppert), an Arabic-fluent French translator working for the police’s narcotics unit. At first, she’s humble: a woman proficient in her professional life but underpaid, a widow and mother to two daughters (Iris Bry and Rebecca Marder). She’s behind on her rent and hopes to afford her own mother (Liliane Rovère) better...
- 7/14/2021
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
Mama Weed (La daronne) Brainstorm Media/Music Box Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Jean-Paul Salomé Writer: Hannelore Cayre, Hannelore C;ayre, Jean-Paul Salomé, based on Hannelore Cayre’s novel “The Godmother” Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Hippolyte Giradot, Farida Ouchani, Liliane Rovère, Iris Bry Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/10/21 Opens: […]
The post Mama Weed Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Mama Weed Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 7/11/2021
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Muriel Sauzay, Pathe Intl.’s former head, and Agnès Mentré, Wild Bunch’s former acquisition topper, have launched Maremako, a Paris-based banner banner with a special interest in adaptations and remakes.
The company’s first slate includes an English-language remake of “Stalk” with Endeavor Content, in association with Drake’s DreamCrew and Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Prods.; and “French Love,” a anthology series with Noemie Saglio (Netflix’s “The Hook Up Plan”) showrunning and Richard Grandpierre’s Eskwad producing. “Stalk” follows a teenage hacker who gets hazed in his freshman year at a prestigious engineering school and sets off to take his revenge by cyber-stalking his tormentors.
“French Love,” meanwhile, will be based on the highly popular Elle magazine weekly column “C’est mon histoire” (It’s My Story). The column, which boasts one of the highest readerships of French women’s magazine segments on love stories in France,...
The company’s first slate includes an English-language remake of “Stalk” with Endeavor Content, in association with Drake’s DreamCrew and Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Prods.; and “French Love,” a anthology series with Noemie Saglio (Netflix’s “The Hook Up Plan”) showrunning and Richard Grandpierre’s Eskwad producing. “Stalk” follows a teenage hacker who gets hazed in his freshman year at a prestigious engineering school and sets off to take his revenge by cyber-stalking his tormentors.
“French Love,” meanwhile, will be based on the highly popular Elle magazine weekly column “C’est mon histoire” (It’s My Story). The column, which boasts one of the highest readerships of French women’s magazine segments on love stories in France,...
- 7/8/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
After offering up our picks for the best films of the first half of the year, we enter the second half with a strong release slate. Arriving this July is a stellar set of documentaries, a few promising wide releases, new films from some of the century’s most prolific directors, and much more. Check out my picks below.
15. Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Before an eventual Criterion release, Janus Films will bow the debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri, which recently played at Berlinale, New Directors/New Films, and more. David Katz said in his review, “Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven and Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express have been directly cited by the filmmakers as inspirations for Eyimofe, and I would also mention Amores Perros for its interleaving structure and top-to-bottom dissection of a megalopolis, teeming with...
15. Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Before an eventual Criterion release, Janus Films will bow the debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri, which recently played at Berlinale, New Directors/New Films, and more. David Katz said in his review, “Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven and Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express have been directly cited by the filmmakers as inspirations for Eyimofe, and I would also mention Amores Perros for its interleaving structure and top-to-bottom dissection of a megalopolis, teeming with...
- 7/1/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Isabelle Huppert is a living legend in the world of film. There’s no denying that. And judging by the footage seen in the trailer for “Mama Weed,” it appears she’s having more fun than ever before in the new crime film.
Read More: The Best Film Performances Of The Decade [2010s]
“Mama Weed” stars Huppert as a translater for the Paris police. And while on duty, she discovers a drug dealer has been apprehended but the police weren’t able to find his stash of weed.
Continue reading ‘Mama Weed’ Trailer: Isabelle Huppert Is An Unlikely Drug Kingpin In Jean-Paul Salomé’s Crime Film at The Playlist.
Read More: The Best Film Performances Of The Decade [2010s]
“Mama Weed” stars Huppert as a translater for the Paris police. And while on duty, she discovers a drug dealer has been apprehended but the police weren’t able to find his stash of weed.
Continue reading ‘Mama Weed’ Trailer: Isabelle Huppert Is An Unlikely Drug Kingpin In Jean-Paul Salomé’s Crime Film at The Playlist.
- 6/28/2021
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Legendary actress Isabelle Huppert is partaking in quite a bit of fun for a new French crime comedy. Mama Weed, directed by Jean-Paul Salomé, finds the star playing a French-Arabic translator for the Paris police anti-narcotics unit who gets caught up in the drug game to pay for the mounting bills to take care of her aging mother. Opening last fall in France to a successful box office, the film has been picked up by Music Box Films for a U.S. theatrical release on July 16, followed by a VOD release from Brainstorm Media on July 23rd. Ahead of the debut, we’re pleased to exclusively premiere the U.S. trailer.
Based on “The Godmother,” the acclaimed novel by Hannelore Cayre, and nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay César Award, Huppert plays Patience Portefeux, a translator for the Paris police by day, looking in on her aging mother in the evenings.
Based on “The Godmother,” the acclaimed novel by Hannelore Cayre, and nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay César Award, Huppert plays Patience Portefeux, a translator for the Paris police by day, looking in on her aging mother in the evenings.
- 6/8/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Music Box Films and Brainstorm Media have acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Mama Weed,” Jean-Paul Salomé’s crime comedy starring Isabelle Huppert.
Sold by France’s Le Pacte, the movie stars Huppert as Patience Portefeux, a French-Arabic translator for the Paris drug police who stumbles into a massive store of marijuana and becomes a savvy wholesale pusher no one ever saw coming.
Music Box Films will release the film in theaters July 16, with Brainstorm Media handling the digital and home entertainment releases, slated for July 23.
The deal was negotiated by Brainstorm’s Michelle Shwarzstein, head of distribution, and Le Pacte’s Camille Neel, head of international sales, with Music Box Films’ head of acquisitions Brian Andreotti.
“Isabelle Huppert gives a delightfully unexpected performance in this hidden gem of a film that we are thrilled to share,” said Shwarzstein. “We are also very excited to continue our great track record...
Sold by France’s Le Pacte, the movie stars Huppert as Patience Portefeux, a French-Arabic translator for the Paris drug police who stumbles into a massive store of marijuana and becomes a savvy wholesale pusher no one ever saw coming.
Music Box Films will release the film in theaters July 16, with Brainstorm Media handling the digital and home entertainment releases, slated for July 23.
The deal was negotiated by Brainstorm’s Michelle Shwarzstein, head of distribution, and Le Pacte’s Camille Neel, head of international sales, with Music Box Films’ head of acquisitions Brian Andreotti.
“Isabelle Huppert gives a delightfully unexpected performance in this hidden gem of a film that we are thrilled to share,” said Shwarzstein. “We are also very excited to continue our great track record...
- 6/2/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.