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Thread: Cannes

  1. #61
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    And the noms are...

    Eager to see Parasite. I enjoy Bong's work.

    Oscars: South Korea Selects ‘Parasite’ for International Feature Film Category
    8:39 PM PDT 8/21/2019 by Danny Kim


    Courtesy of TIFF
    'Parasite'

    Bong Joon-ho’s black comedy, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, follows a low-income family working their way into a rich family’s lives as household employees.

    South Korea has selected Bong Joon-ho's Parasite as its entry for the best international feature film category at the 2020 Oscars.

    Parasite won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. The genre-busting black comedy is Bong’s second shot at the Oscars after Mother was selected by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) in 2006, but didn't make the final shortlist.

    The film follows unemployed driver Kim Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), his wife, Choong Sook (Jang Hye-jin), and their college-age children as they struggle financially and aspire to live a rich life. Things look up for the Kim family when the children are hired as a tutor and art therapist to the rich Park family.

    "I believe a director’s job is to reflect the times he or she lives in," says Bong, pictured here on the set of 'Parasite.'

    A richly layered film touching on socioeconomic issues, The Hollywood Reporter's review described Parasite as "generally gripping and finely crafted, standing up well as Bong’s most mature state-of-the-nation statement since Memories of Murder in 2003."

    Parasite sold worldwide via CJ Entertainment and Neon and is scheduled for North America release on Oct. 11 in New York and Los Angeles ahead of the awards seasons.

    Despite its strong homegrown film industry and stellar names such a Lee Chang-Dong (Burning) and Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden), South Korea has never won the international feature film category or made the final shortlist.

    An independent jury led by Kim Young-Jin, programming director at Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) picked Parasite from a short list of eight features to represent Korea in the Oscars race.

    After the successful opening in June, Parasite grossed over $71.3 million domestically and is the first Cannes-winning film that broke 10 million in ticket sales at the Korean box office, a symbolic figure in the country.

    The 92nd Academy Awards will be held Feb. 9, 2020.
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  2. #62
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    Cannes

    Sylvester Stallone Talking With Robert Rodriguez About Bringing ‘Cobra’ Back to Life
    Published 1 week ago on September 16, 2019 By John Squires



    At the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, Sylvester Stallone had announced early plans to revive the 1986 action film Cobra in the form of a “streaming TV series.” Stallone of course played Marion Cobretti in the R-rated movie, a tough-on-crime street cop who must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far reaching plans.

    In a new chat with Fandango while out promoting Rambo: Last Blood (arriving in theaters this Friday!), Stallone informs us that he’s actually developing the project with Robert Rodriguez!

    “I’m talking with Robert Rodriguez right now about Cobra, which looks like that could happen,” Stallone told the site.

    “It’s basically his baby now,” Stallone added, again noting that the idea is to turn Cobra into a TV series rather than bring the character back to life on the big screen.

    Fandango notes that the potential project could very well be for Rodriguez’s El Rey Network, which is merely an educated guess at this point – but probably a pretty good one.
    Just talks now, but y'all know my loyalty to El Rey.

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  3. #63
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    President Spike

    Spike Lee to be first black head of Cannes film festival jury
    Issued on: 14/01/2020 - 05:42
    Modified: 14/01/2020 - 05:41


    Paris (AFP)

    American director Spike Lee was named president of this year's Cannes film festival jury on Tuesday, becoming the first black head of the panel.

    The maker of "Malcolm X" and "Do the Right Thing" is the first person of black African descent to preside at the world's biggest film festival, which is held in May on the French Riviera.

    Lee, 62, said he was "shocked, happy, surprised and proud all at the same time" to make history.

    The Cannes veteran has premiered seven of his films at the festival, with his debut movie "She's Gotta Have It" causing a sensation in 1986 when it won the youth prize at Directors' Fortnight.

    His appointment comes as activists criticised the Oscars on Monday for ignoring actors and directors of colour, with no nominations for the acclaimed performances of Awkwafina in the Chinese-American drama "The Farewell" and Lupita Nyong'o in the horror movie "Us".

    Lee -- who showed his last film "BlacKkKlansman" at Cannes two years ago -- said "my biggest blessings... have happened out of nowhere.

    "I'm honoured to be the first person of the African diaspora (USA) to be named president of the Cannes jury and of a main film festival."

    Lee will also be awarded a Palme d'Or, the festival's top award, for lifetime achievement.

    In a written statement from his home in "Da People's Republic Of Brooklyn, New York", Lee said Cannes had changed his life.

    "To me the Cannes film festival (besides being the most important film festival in the world -- no disrespect to anybody) has had a great impact on my film career.

    "You could easily say Cannes changed the trajectory of who I became in world cinema," he added.

    - Lack of diversity -

    Lee also thanked "the great people of France who have supported my film career throughout four decades. I will always treasure this special relationship."

    Only one Asian, the Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai, has ever led the Cannes jury in its 73-year history.

    French actress Isabelle Adjani, whose father was Algerian, became the first person of African descent to lead the jury in 1997.

    The world's top film festivals have faced fierce criticism for their lack of diversity in recent years.

    Cannes and its rival Venice have faced growing scrutiny, particularly for the lack of female directors in their main competitions, even as they have chosen gender-balanced juries.

    More than 80 actresses and woman filmmakers led by then jury president Cate Blanchett staged a red carpet protest at Cannes for equality in the film industry in 2018.

    Lee was vocal in his support for the women at the time.

    "Spike Lee's perspective is more valuable than ever," festival director Thierry Fremaux said.

    "Cannes is a natural homeland and a global sounding board for those who awaken minds and question our stances and fixed ideas.

    "Lee's flamboyant personality is sure to shake things up," he added.

    Last year the jury was led by "Babel" and "The Revenant" director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the first Mexican and only the second Latin American to preside over the festival.

    The winning film, Korean Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite", has since become a runaway hit, winning the Golden Globe for best foreign film and six Oscar nominations.
    Well played Cannes.

    I neglected to mention that Parasite won the Palme d'or.
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  4. #64
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    Cannes is still on for May 12–23

    Is Cannes Happening Despite Coronavirus? Festival President Says “Oui”
    The festival’s president is “reasonably optimistic” that the Covid-19 epidemic will hit its peak well before Cannes.
    BY YOHANA DESTA
    MARCH 11, 2020


    Pierre Lescure attends the Cannes official selection presentation at UGC Normandie in Paris on April 18, 2019.BY MARC PIASECKI/GETTY.

    The Cannes Film Festival is holding firm in the wake of coronavirus panic, despite the fact that France has one of the largest outbreaks of the disease in Europe—and, as a result, gatherings of more than 1,000 people have officially been banned in the country. Festival president Pierre Lescure told French outlet Le Figaro that Cannes is still going ahead as planned, though he added that if the situation gets worse, he will have no choice but to cancel the glitzy event.

    “We remain reasonably optimistic in the hope that the peak of the epidemic will be reached at the end of March and that we will breathe a little better in April,” he said. Lescure did, however, add this: “But we are not oblivious. If not, we will cancel.”

    The festival, which is set to take place May 12–23, would certainly break the threshold of the 1,000-person ban. An estimated 40,000 attended the 2019 festival, flying into the country from all around the world.

    There have been more than 1,600 reported cases of Covid-19 in France, the third-biggest outbreak in Europe following Italy and Spain. A reported 33 people have died. The outbreak has impacted several sports and entertainment events. Madonna canceled two shows scheduled for Paris this week, while the Louvre, which usually receives over 30,000 visitors per day, was temporarily closed for three days. The museum reopened after taking certain precautionary safety measures, such as limiting direct contact between employees and visitors purchasing tickets.

    In the Le Figaro interview, Lescure said that if Cannes must be canceled, the festival will be able to withstand the financial losses that will occur.

    “The endowment fund that we have set up allows us to face at least one year without revenue,” he said. That puts Cannes in a better position than Austin’s SXSW, which was canceled in the wake of the spreading virus and thus had to lay off one third of its full-time staffers.

    It was previously reported that Cannes did not have insurance, which could cause trouble if the festival were forced to cancel. Lescure cleared that up in the interview, saying that the fest was offered insurance “about 10 days ago, but it was totally disproportionate. We were only offered to cover ourselves up to $2.3 million, while our budget is $36 million. It was really peanuts. The company was clearly playing the bounty hunters, and we of course declined this proposal.”

    As of now, Cannes is slated to carry on as planned. This year’s jury president will be Oscar winner Spike Lee. Lescure also added, once again for good measure, that “we remain optimistic.”
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  5. #65
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    bittersweet

    Oct 27, 2020 5:17pm PT
    In Cannes, a Bittersweet Mini-Festival Salutes the Past and Sets Out a Hopeful New Vision


    By Ben Croll


    Cannes 2020
    AP
    As the lights dimmed in the Grand Theatre Lumiere in Cannes on Tuesday evening, and the opening notes to Camille Saint-Saëns’ “The Carnival of Animals” echoed over the loudspeakers, one could almost imagine themselves back in the normal swing of things.

    In some respects, the opening night of the three-day ‘Special Cannes’ program felt very much like a return to halcyon days. Announced in late September, the mini-festival is intended to honor the Cannes 2020 selection with a showcase of four films that received the prestigious label, as well as the full Cinefondation lineup and a short film competition.

    At Tuesday’s opening screening of Emmanuel Courcol’s crowd-pleasing comedy drama “The Big Hit,” the security measures were more elaborate than ever; the state-of-the-art auditorium was at full capacity; and the screening was prefaced by a typically effusive introduction from Cannes delegate general Thierry Fremaux, among others.

    Only, the 1,000 attendees weren’t exactly back in the good old pre-pandemic days. Security measures dictated that every attendee keep their mask on throughout the film, with each filmgoer seated at least one seat apart from their neighbor on either side. This meant that ‘capacity’ was less than one half of what the 2,300-seat auditorium can otherwise allow.

    If the mood inside the theater was vibrant, Fremaux’s opening remarks were a reminder of the bittersweet circumstances that forced the Cannes Film Festival to claim this pop-up opportunity in the first place.

    “When we returned to this theater, where we had not stepped foot since May 2019, we all felt our hearts pinch,” said Fremaux, referencing the festival’s tough-but-inevitable decision to cancel its physical component this past summer. “[With this event], we wanted to light this screen up anew.”

    Fremaux’s remarks, and those of festival president Pierre Lescure and Cannes mayor David Lisnard, both looked back at the edition that never was, and forward to what the festival might look like in years to come.

    “In May, the [New York Times] wrote an article called ‘What Do We Lose When Cannes Is Canceled,’” Fremaux let out with an impish grin. “The article was so strong that we decided to cancel next year as well, because it seems we get better press when we don’t host a festival than when we do!”

    But in describing the pared-back program, which features the aforementioned “The Big Hit,” along with Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers,” Dea Kulumbegashvili’s San Sebastian winner “Beginning,” and Bruno Podalydès’ “The French Tech,” Fremaux laid out a roadmap for how the festival perceives itself and how it might operate going forward.

    “We have two French films, and two international ones,” Fremaux began. “As well as two films directed by men and two directed by women. [That kind of parity is] something we will apply as much as possible. We will display those convictions.”

    In his remarks, Cannes mayor David Lisnard made the ongoing pandemic a focal point. “This edition incarnates this desire to come out of this stronger [than before], to fight and to overcome,” said Lisnard.

    Highlighting the “particularly draconian” security protocols — which include in-theater air purification, temperature controls and disinfection sprays upon entering the Palais des Festivals — Lisnard made implicit the municipal authority’s goal to see a successful physical iteration of the festival in 2021.

    “This is an exhortation,” said the mayor. “We need to make it understood that culture is a source of economic development, a source of social wealth, and a source of life…It’s a demonstration that we can and we should hold events while assuring the health and safety of all who attend. We will continue to fight to prove that we can do so.”

    And it goes without saying that when the festival makes its long-awaited return in 2021, many of these new measures will be here to stay.

    For the time being, however, attendees will have to cope with the more restrictive measures put in place by the French government in recent weeks. With COVID-19 cases on the rise and showing no signs of slowing within the days to come, national authorities instituted a countrywide 9 p.m. curfew on Oct. 24, and President Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to announce a new lockdown later this week.

    On the ground in Cannes, that means each screening must allow ample time for festivalgoers to get home or back to hotels before the clock strikes nine. When “The Big Hit” came to a close, drawing cheers and applause from the impassioned audience, the film’s cast and crew had just enough time to take the stage for a victory lap.

    At 8:20 p.m., the film’s director and stars stood onstage, enjoying their acclaim. But just five minutes later, Fremaux was urging attendees to file out quickly, reminding them to, “keep your masks on, wash your hands and get home before 9 p.m. to have a bowl of soup.”

    By 8:30 p.m. on the dot, the Grand Theatre Lumiere was empty.
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  6. #66
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    3 a day

    Jul 9, 2021 11:11am PT
    Cannes Has an Average of Three COVID Cases Per Day, But No ‘Cluster,’ Says Festival Official

    By Elsa Keslassy


    Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
    Cannes Film Festival’s general secretary Francois Desrousseaux squashed rumors swirling around the festival about skyrocketing coronavirus cases and told Variety Friday that four days into the festival, there is no Covid-19 cluster at Cannes.

    “Out of several thousand people getting testing here on a daily basis, there are an average of three cases per day,” said Desrousseaux, who hammered out protocols with the festival’s organizers, producers and Cannes regional authorities. Salivary RT-PCR tests have been carried on at a 300 square-meter lab tent adjacent to the Palais des Festivals.

    All unvaccinated guests as well as attendees traveling from the U.S. and countries listed as orange such as the U.K. have had to take tests every two days in order to enter the perimeter of the Palais des Festivals where the Marché des Films and most screenings are taking place.

    Desrousseaux said “Since the start of the festival on Tuesday, there were a maximum of six cases found on a single day.” “If we look at the proportion of cases compared with the number of people tested, we’re well below the national average,” he pointed out.

    Popular on Variety
    Once people are tested positive to Covid-19, they are required to self-isolate immediately and are not allowed inside the perimeter of the the Palais des Festivals where security staff scan QR codes upon all entrances.

    In view of those cases, Cannes’ organizers have now demanded that every festival staffer undergo a test every two days, rather than every five days which is the normal requirement for event employees, said Desrousseaux.

    Cannes’ hands-on and resourceful mayor, David Lisnard, has also deployed Covid-sniffing dogs around the Palais, near the red carpet entrance.

    The festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux and president Pierre Lescure reminded attendees that wearing a mask is mandatory in all indoor venues, following headlines saying that too many people had removed their masks during screenings and didn’t observe enough social distancing, including during the opening night ceremony on Tuesday.

    “Understandably, people were particularly enthusiastic to reunite after such a long time during the first 24 hours, but we are making sure that sanitary rules are now strictly observed by everyone; and have more staff on the ground in charge of enforcing the protocol,” said Desrousseaux. “We have to be fully conscious that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic.”
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  7. #67
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    Revolution of Our Times


    Cannes Screens Bombshell Hong Kong Protest Doc as Late Addition to Official Program

    The festival's inclusion of 'Revolution of Our Times,' a hard-hitting chronicle of police brutality during Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in 2019, is certain attract the ire of China's ruling Communist Party.

    BY PATRICK BRZESKI, ALEX RITMAN
    JULY 15, 2021 5:00AM

    Umbrella-wielding student protestors clash with police on the streets of Hong Kong. DEAR BROS
    The Cannes Film Festival made a bombshell, last-minute addition to its lineup this week, inviting select members of the international press to attend a “confidential” screening of Revolution of Our Times, a gripping, politically powerful documentary initially described only as being “about the protests in Hong Kong.” Until its unveiling in Cannes, the film’s existence was not publicly known.

    Revolution of Our Times has been scheduled to receive just one official special screening in Cannes, at 11 a.m. on Friday. The semi-secretive manner in which the film’s inclusion was announced initially aroused more curiosity in Cannes than its origins and subject matter.

    On late Wednesday, the festival sent an email to the international press stating that a “surprise documentary” had been added to the program. Earlier in the day, however, a small number of film reporters were invited to attend a “confidential” screening in the Palais’ Salle Soixantieme. The Hollywood Reporter‘s correspondent was among the approximately 10 people present at the discreet afternoon showing. The festival requested at the time that no news about the film be released until Thursday afternoon, Cannes time.

    As it turns out, the sensitivity surrounding the film appears warranted. Revolution of Our Times is a forensic and hard-hitting chronicle of the mass street protests that erupted in Hong Kong in the second half of 2019 — protests that were met with a brutal police crackdown, hundreds of arrests of activists and pro-democracy advocates, and the eventual imposition of near-total Chinese Communist Party control over the once-semidemocratic former colony. Thanks to Hong Kong’s expansive new National Security Law, imposed by Beijing in 2020, those involved in the new documentary could be subject to arrest and charges of subversion.
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  8. #68
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    Continued from previous post


    A group of protestors, wearing raincoats to protect against tear gas, march down one of Hong Kong’s main thoroughfares during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. DEAR BROS
    Revolution of Our Times is directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Kiwi Chow, 42, best known as one of the directors who contributed to Hong Kong’s 2015 indie hit Ten Years, a sci-fi dystopian anthology film that gathered five shorts, each exploring different ways that Hong Kong might change under Communist Party rule by the year 2025. Chow’s contribution, titled Self-Immolator, was among the politically starkest of the collection, telling the story of an elderly Hong Kong woman who sets herself on fire in protest after witnessing a Hong Kong pro-independence protestor being brutally beaten by police. The segment was considered extreme at the time of its release, but the reality in Hong Kong quickly caught up with Chow’s vision.

    Revolution of Our Times uses extensive footage taken from the tumultuous events on the ground in Hong Kong in 2019, as well as interviews with a number of the activists involved (mostly done anonymously and with their faces disguised), to chart the growth of the pro-democracy movement. It simultaneously documents the sharp increase in police brutality as Hong Kong became engulfed in deadly street battles, including the 12-day siege of the Polytechnic University in November 2019. In one of the film’s most shocking moments, a body is seen being pushed out of a high-rise window, with Hong Kong authorities accused of kidnapping and murdering several of the movement’s central figures. The film is said to have been put together entirely in secret.

    “Over the past fifty years, Hongkongers have fought for freedom and democracy but have yet to succeed,” reads the synopsis for Revolution of Our Times. “In 2019, the Extradition Bill to China opened Pandora’s box, turning Hong Kong into a battlefield against the Chinese authoritarian rule.”

    Chow, it says, made this documentary to tell the story of the movement, “both with a macro view of its historical context and up close and personal on the front lines.”

    Aside from Chow, the film states that the majority of those involved in the making of Revolution of Our Times — understandably — use pseudonyms in the credits, with the producer going by “Dear Bros.” Ahead of the credits, it declares that Revolution of Our Times was made “By Hongkongers.”

    So far, Cannes organizers have offered no official explanation for the secretive and last-minute nature of Revolution of Our Times‘ addition to the festival program. But sources close to the festival have suggested that precautions were taken to protect the filmmakers.

    Industry attendees also have been quick to surmise that the screening of the film — however discreet — is all but certain to upset China’s ruling Communist Party, and could risk the attendance of Chinese films and filmmakers at future editions of the festival.

    Chow himself offered a statement of appreciation to the festival, writing: “I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Cannes. It is our honor to have the World Premiere of “Revolution of Our Times”, a film documenting the struggle of Hongkongers, at Cannes; and receive great attention. Hong Kong has been losing far more than anyone has expected, this good news will be a comfort to many Hongkongers who live in fear; it also shows that whoever fights for justice and freedom around the world, ARE with us! And Hongkongers are staying strong!”

    Cannes has frequently stood with filmmakers facing political persecution in their home countries, such as Iranian director Jafar Panahi (This Is Not a Film) and Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov’s Flu), both of whom were under house arrest and unable to attend the festival when their films were screened.

    But Hong Kong’s protest movement has found precious few allies over the past two years, as Beijing has leveraged China’s outsize economic clout to attempt to punish any companies or individuals who dare throw their support behind democracy in Hong Kong.

    In October 2019, the NBA — the most popular and profitable U.S. sporting league in China by far — was banned from broadcast in the country for a full year after the Houston Rockets general manager at the time, Daryl Morey, put out a single, seven-word tweet voicing support for Hong Kong’s movement. (“Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”)

    In August that same year, Chinese actress Crystal Liu, star of Disney’s China-set action tentpole Mulan, created an international backlash when she voiced her support for the Hong Kong police force’s crackdown on protestors. The activist movement in Hong Kong called for a boycott of Mulan, but Disney, an ardent supporter of social movements in the U.S., such as Black Lives Matter, remained completely mum on the topic of democracy in Hong Kong. Many analysts pointed out at the time that the entertainment conglomerate would very likely see its multibillion-dollar Shanghai Disneyland theme park shuttered by Beijing if it were to speak out on the issue.

    Hong Kong politics also are believed to have resulted in the 2021 Oscars ceremony being totally blocked from broadcast in mainland China and Hong Kong earlier this year. Broadcasters and regulators never supplied a reason for the mysterious suspension of the awards show in Greater China, but many connected to the industry believe it was intended as retribution for the Academy’s nomination of the Hong Kong protest film Do Not Split in the best short documentary category (past critical comments made by Oscar best director winner Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) about her home country also irked the authorities).

    Beijing has moved with alarming swiftness to crush the Hong Kong movement featured in Revolution of Our Times. The repressive National Security Law put in place in the territory last year has resulted in the arrest of over 100 activists and opposition politicians. The crackdown also has had the intended effect of driving protestors overseas or into a state of self-censorship, as a chill has swept through the city’s creative community and civil society as a whole. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong school curriculum has been rewritten to teach fealty to the Chinese Communist Party, books have been banned, and pro-democracy journalists arrested at their jobs.

    In July, The Apple Daily, a popular Hong Kong newspaper that had allied itself with the pro-democracy cause, was forced to close after its offices were raided by Hong Kong police and five of its editors and executives arrested. The CCP said in a statement that the publication had abused “so-called freedom of the press.” The Apple Daily‘s outspoken founder, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, was arrested last year and remains in prison facing charges of national security offenses that carry a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

    A recent rewriting of the censorship rules governing Hong Kong’s film industry, once a bastion of cinematic vitality — and the home to Bruce Lee, Wong Kar Wai, Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan, Johnnie To and scores more — will ensure that Revolution of Our Times can never be screened freely in the city.
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  9. #69
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    #75

    75th Cannes to feature Cronenberg, Chan-wook and ‘Elvis’
    By The Associated Press
    yesterday

    Festival delegate general Thierry Fremaux, left, and festival president Pierre Lescure attend a press conference to announce the Cannes film festival line up for the upcoming 75th edition, Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Paris. The International Cannes Film Festival will run from May 17 to 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
    PARIS (AP) — Films by David Cronenberg, Park Chan-wook and Kelly Reichardt will vie for the coveted Palme d’Or at a Cannes Film Festival set to unspool against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.

    Cannes film festival artist director Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure announced the lineup to this year’s festival, Cannes’ 75th, in a press conference Thursday in Paris. After canceling the 2020 event and hosting a slightly scaled down 2021 edition, the French Riviera festival is looking to reclaim its pre-pandemic allure with some 35,000 accredited attendees expected next month.

    The 18 films announced in Cannes’ prestigious competition lineup feature new works by several former Palme winners, including Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda (“Broker”), Swedish social satirist Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (“Tori and Lokita”).

    Also in competition: Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” starring Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen; Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” which reunites her with “Wendy and Lucy” star Michelle Williams; Chan-wook’s Korean mystery thriller “Decision to Leave”; and French filmmaker Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon” with Margaret Qualley.

    The 75th anniversary of the French Riviera film extravaganza “is happening in special circumstances: the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, a world that has changed and will keep changing,” Fremaux said.

    The biggest Hollywood splashes expected at Cannes had already been announced, including a screening of “Top Gun: Maverick,” which will be accompanied by a tribute to star Tom Cruise. The “Top Gun” sequel will play out of competition, as will Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.

    Organizers will announce the jury at a later date.

    Cannes’ international village of flag-waving pavilions annually hosts more than 80 countries from around the world. But organizers earlier said no Russian delegations would be welcome at the this year because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian director, Kirill Serebrennikov, who recently fled Russia for Berlin after several years banned from travel, will premiere his latest film, about composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    As usual, most of the directors in the competition are men. Only three of the 18 films competing for the Palme d’Or were directed by women. Last year, Julia Ducournau became only the second woman in Cannes history to win the top prize, for her film “Titane,” the body-horror thriller.

    The festival will open on May 17 with the premiere of the zombie comedy “Final Cut,” by “The Artist” director Michel Hazanvicius. The film had earlier been scheduled to debut in January at the Sundance Film Festival but was pulled when the festival shifted to a virtual edition amid a virus surge.

    Ethan Coen will debut his first feature without his brother, Joel, in the out-of-competition documentary “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind.” Other highlights include George Miller’s first film since 2015′s “Mad Max: Fury Road”: “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” a fantasy romance with Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. And Brett Morgan will premiere “Moonage Daydream,” a David Bowie documentary.

    As has been the case since 2017, no Netflix films are in competition at Cannes. The streamer and the festival have been an impasse due to the country’s rigid windowing rules. Once a film plays in cinemas in France, it can’t stream for 15 months. Earlier this year, though, Netflix signed a three-year agreement with French film guilds to spend a minimum of $45 million financing French and European films to play theatrically in France.

    The Cannes Film Festival runs May 17-28.
    Will there be slapping?






    too soon?
    Gene Ching
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  10. #70
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    Gimme My Money

    ‘Gimme My Money’ Female-Led Kung-Fu Comedy Getting Cannes Market Launch by OMG (EXCLUSIVE)

    By Patrick Frater

    Organic Media Group

    Taiwan- and Los Angeles-based Organic Media Group will launch rights sales in Cannes for “Gimme My Money,” a female-led, kung-fu action comedy.

    The film, which completed principal photography last week in Los Angeles, stars Marci Miller, Raymond J. Barry and veteran Chinese-American actor, James Hong. Hong will receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

    Written and directed by Bill Vigil, “Gimme My Money” is about a tough, mysterious woman who calls on the mob to collect and makes sure that this time, crime is going to pay.

    Production is by OMG and GPS and Silver Streak Entertainment, with Jane Austin’s Hollywood Stuntworks providing the action crew. Austin (“Star Trek: Insurrection,” “Avatar: The Way of Water”) takes producer and stunt coordinator credits alongside producer Shari Hamrick. She led the on-set production and will now oversee post-production to ensure delivery by the third quarter of 2022.

    Other credits go to Jesse Aragon as cinematographer, Jason Stewart as film editor, Morgan Jordan as costume designer, Kelly de la Cerda and Breeanne Marie in make-up.

    The picture is the third to pair OMG with film funding partner GPS’s executive
    Mick S. Grewal, Sr.

    Attending Cannes, sales agent Jay Joyce from Level 33 Entertainment, will be selling OMG’s TV titles mentioned above. OMG principal, Steve Chicorel, will lead foreign and domestic sales for “Gimme My Money.”

    “When Steve and I asked buyers what works best in their market, the answer was smart, fun, wall-to-wall action movies and that’s what we have in ‘Gimme My Money’,” said Grewal.

    “Combining comedy and action in this smart script that Bill Vigil created is going to result in an action-packed crowd-pleaser,” said Austin.
    Threads
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  11. #71
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    Cannes

    May 18, 2022 10:30am PT
    WellGo USA Buys Soi Cheang’s ‘Walled In’ for North American Release
    By Patrick Frater

    Media Asia

    Soi Cheang’s “Twilight of The Warriors: Walled In” has been licensed to WellGo USA for North American release. The deal with Hong Kong’s Media Asia marks a rare advanced-sale of a commercial Cantonese-language movie in a market that has recently been marked by uncertainty.

    The action thriller is a live-action adaptation of the cult manga series “City of Darkness” that is set in the 1980s inside the almost lawless Kowloon Walled City.

    With a stellar cast headlined by Louis Koo (“Election”), Sammo Hung (“Ip Man”) and Richie Jen (“Trivisa”), the film recently completed production and is now in post-production. Media Asia is now planning a release at an unspecified date in 2023.

    “This is our first physical international market since the pandemic. And we are thrilled that things are getting back on track again,” said Frederick Tsui, Media Asia’s GM, head of sales and international co-productions. “The teaser promo that we’re showing in the Cannes Market has also sparked interest from many buyers, with offers already coming in from major territories including France, Germany, Japan, Korea and Singapore.”

    Soi Cheang (aka Cheang Pou-soi) is one of Asia’s top action directors, with credits including the “Monkey King” series, “Limbo,” “SPL II: A Time for Consequences,” “Motorway” and “Accident.”

    The film is produced by equally illustrious John Chong (“Infernal Affairs” series, “Initial D”) and Wilson Yip Wai-Shun (“Ip Man” film series, “Flashpoint”).

    Media Asia, one of Hong Kong’s premier studios, is also using its return to in-person festivals and sales events to give a market screening in Cannes to “Tales From the Occult,” a psycho-horror film jointly directed by Fruit Chan, Fung Chih Chiang and Wesley Hoi.
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  12. #72
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    Cannes

    Cannes: Scott Adkins, Cam Gigandet to Lead Action Thriller ‘Violence of Action’
    Production is eyeing a fall start in New Orleans.
    BY MIA GALUPPO
    Plus Icon

    MAY 19, 2022 11:00PM

    Scott Adkins and Cam Gigandet ANTHONY HARVEY/GETTY IMAGES; LEON BENNETT/WIREIMAGE

    Scott Adkins, a regular at the Cannes film market, will lead action thriller Violence of Action alongside Cam Gigandet.

    The logline for the project reads: “The story of a former SEAL, tormented by a decision he made in Afghanistan, (who) becomes a vigilante in the Big Easy who is brutally taking down a drug gang that is terrorizing his neighborhood.”

    Will Kaufman directs from a screenplay by Josh Ridgway and Chad Law, the latter having previously written Adkins-fronted titles Lights Out and Section Eight. Production is eyeing a fall start in New Orleans.

    Andrew and Isaac Lewis are set to produce the movie with Jon Wroblewski and Christian Sosa. Grandave Capital’s Stanley Preschutti and Ruben Islas are executive producing the project.

    Grandave International is handling worldwide sales out of the 2022 Cannes market. “Scott is bringing his strong acting skills and commerciality to a fun action-packed script, nicely lifted by Cam’s natural talent,” said Tamara Nagahiro, Grandave’s international head of sales. Grandave’s other Cannes market titles this year include Righteous Thieves, which is fronted by Gigandet.

    Adkins is repped by Gersh, the BWH Agency, LINK Entertainment, as well as Goodman Genow. Gigandet is repped by APA, Luber Roklin Entertainment and Vybe Trybe Entertainment.
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  13. #73
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    What'll happen tomorrow for Cannes’ “Ukraine Day” on May 21?

    Cannes: Topless Protester Disrupts ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’ Red Carpet
    The woman was removed after security guards covered her with a coat.

    BY ALEX RITMAN, SCOTT ROXBOROUGH
    MAY 20, 2022 10:34AM

    The protestor had "stop raping us" written in body paint over the Ukrainian national colors of blue and yellow. PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY IMAGES


    A woman has been removed from the Cannes red carpet after making a pro-Ukraine protest.

    The woman stripped off all of her clothes and fell to her knees screaming in front of the assembled photographers, according to eyewitnesses. Security guards were seen rushing over to her and covering her with a coat.

    The woman was wearing body paint in the colors of the Ukrainian flag with “stop raping us” written across her abdomen. She also appeared to have blood red paint over her lower back and legs, with the word “scum” written on her lower back.

    There have been numerous reports of Russian soldiers raping civilians during the invasion of Ukraine.

    The Cannes Film Festival requires multiple security checks to access its famed red carpet and there is heavy security along the carpet itself.

    But this isn’t the first time the security has been breached. In 2014, infamous prankster Vitalii Sediuk slipped past the guards and stuck his head under the dress of America Ferrera during the gala for How to Train Your Dragon 2.

    Tonight’s protest came ahead of the premiere of George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing, starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. The demonstration comes ahead of Cannes’ “Ukraine Day” on May 21, when the festival will hold a series of events aimed at showing solidarity for the country’s battered film industry.

    The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the Cannes Film Festival press office for comment.

    The New York Times‘ Kyle Buchanan posted a short video of the event on Twitter.
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  14. #74
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    Cannes sans Chine

    May 17, 2022 8:00pm PT
    India Takes Over the Cannes Market as Chinese Executives Are Stuck at Home

    By Naman Ramachandran, Patrick Frater

    L'Oreal

    India is the country of honor at the Cannes Film Market and consequently a massive contingent from the country is descending upon the Croisette. Variety understands that some 400 attendees are winging their way from India, and that French embassies across the country were working at capacity to issue visas.

    That stands in contrast with the attendance from other parts of Asia, further East. Attendance of participants from Hong Kong and China is massively down compared with pre-COVID times. Korean companies are back in respectable numbers, with some attending a physical market outside their home country for the first time in over two years. The solid attendance of Korean executives also reflects the selection of Korean films across multiple sections of the festival.

    “I’m very excited to be back in Cannes, it has been three years for us,” said Danny Lee, senior manager at Contents Panda, part of the Next Entertainment World studio. “There are many Korean buyers here too.”

    The government-mandated travel restrictions that persist in Hong Kong (compulsory quarantine is down to a week now, having previously been 21 days, but the government maintains an aggressive approach towards airlines that carry passengers later found to be COVID positive) mean that flight conditions and the ability to return home are simply too uncertain for many.

    That in turn deprives the Cannes Market of executives from what was previously the hub of Asian sales and film finance — even if that role has been somewhat eroded by the increasing maturity of the mainland Chinese film industry and the prominence of the Korean industry.

    Hong Kong companies including Golden Network and Good Move Media are not attending, and will instead attempt to launch films and maintain business relations remotely. Others, including Edko Films and Media Asia, are making the effort and will be present.

    “We have a big-budget film ‘Kowloon Walled City’ to sell. Given how difficult it is currently to pre-sell Asian films, we need to talk to people in person,” said Fred Tsui, GM, head of sales and international co-production at Media Asia.

    China has limited in- and out-bound travel for months, as it seeks to achieve a COVID-zero policy through lockdowns, mass testing and border controls. This week it imposed its most stringent travel restrictions for decades, banning all but essential overseas travel.

    That leaves Cannes without the mainland Chinese companies which, in pre-COVID years, had regularly grabbed headlines. They were not necessarily volume buyers, but were previously involved in large package deals and big-budget co-productions. Other Chinese firms were looking to invest in international IP that could be exploited across multiple media.

    The COVID era, however, has coincided with a more generalized slowdown of the Chinese film market and a politically directed retrenchment towards local content. That makes it difficult to quantify China’s loss to Cannes.

    But, it is perhaps more than symbolic that Wednesday’s Cannes Market opening party, is this year sponsored by India. China had been its sponsor for several years.

    Anurag Thakur, India’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting, will inaugurate the Indian Pavilion in the presence of actor R. Madhavan, whose directorial debut “Rocketry” is premiering at the market; filmmaker Shekhar Kapur; Prasoon Joshi and Vani Tripathi from the Central Board of Film Certification; Grammy-winner Ricky Kej; and a plethora of actors including Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pooja Hegde, Tamannaah Bhatia and Aditi Rao Hydari.

    Bollywood A-lister Akshay Kumar was due to be at the pavilion inauguration, but contracted COVID.

    India will be prominently visible throughout the festival this year. Actor Deepika Padukone is on the jury for the main feature film competition. Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman’s directorial debut, “Le Musk,” is premiering at the market’s Cannes XR program. Indian filmmaker Shaunak Sen’s Sundance grand jury prize winning documentary “All That Breathes” is showing as a special screening. And Indian auteur Satyajit Ray’s “The Adversary” (1970) and Aravindan Govindan’s “The Circus Tent” will be screened at the festival’s Cannes Classics strand.

    TV star Helly Shah will walk the red carpet for L’Oreal and also promote her film debut “Kaya Palat.” Multihyphenate Kamal Haasan will be present to promote his new film “Vikram.” There will be plenty of first looks unveiled, including for Shyam Benegal’s “Mujib: The Making of a Nation,” the biopic of late Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, for which top Bangladeshi star Nusrat Imrose Tisha is expected alongside her filmmaker partner Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. Bangladeshi director/producer Abu Shahed Emon is also due at Cannes. First looks are also being unveiled for Pushan Kripalani’s “Goldfish” and Sandeep Singh’s “Safed.”

    “When you are a country of honor at the world’s largest film market you are on the radar of the Western world — it could be because of your creativity and international appeal, or maybe because of business potential and mass audience reach. We seem to be better-known for the latter,” said Samir Sarkar, who is co-producing Cannes’ La Fabrique project selection “Starfruits” via his Indo-Singaporean outfit Magic Hour Films.

    “As far as our creativity and international appeal goes, it’s time we nurture and support those filmmakers that can take Indian cinema into something more meaningful and successful for world audiences,” Sarkar added.

    From Pakistan, Saim Sadiq’s feature debut “Joyland,” produced, among others, by Indian-origin Apoorva Guru Charan, is premiering at the festival’s Un Certain Regard strand.
    Cannes
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  15. #75
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    Chan & Cannes

    Cannes: Jackie Chan to Star in $50M Action Sequel ‘A Legend’
    Distribution Workshop is launching sales in Cannes on the title, which is directed by Chan's longtime collaborator Stanley Tong ('Rumble in the Bronx').
    BY PATRICK BRZESKI

    MAY 15, 2023 3:00PM

    Jackie Chan arrives at opening ceremony red carpet for the 2023 Beijing International Film Festival at Yanqi Lake International Convention and Exhibition Center on April 21, 2023 in Beijing, China. VCG/GETTY IMAGES

    Jackie Chan has signed on to star in a sequel to his 2005 martial arts fantasy-adventure hit The Myth. Titled A Legend and directed by Chan’s longtime collaborator Stanley Tong (Rumble in the Bronx), the sequel will have a budget of $50 million — large for the Chinese film industry — and co-star Yixing Zhang (Kung Fu Yoga) and Coulee Nazha (Police Story 2013).

    Produced by Bona Film Group, the film makes its market debut in Cannes with Taiwan-based Distribution Workshop handling worldwide sales.

    The sequel sees Chan reprise his role as archaeology expert Professor Chen. The film’s action begins when he notices that the texture on the artifacts discovered by his students during a glacier expedition is strikingly similar to a jade pendant he had seen in his dreams. Suspecting that the pendant is acting as a bridge between the realm of dreams and reality, Professor Chen leads his research team on a journey deep into the Glacier Temple, embarking on a fantastical adventure.

    When it was released back in 2005, The Myth became Hong Kong’s third-highest-grossing film of the year and reached a worldwide total of $120 million. At 69 years old, Chan is showing absolutely no signs of winding down his legendary movie career. His most recent release, action drama Ride On, was offered to buyers at the Berlin film market in February and subsequently earned over $30 million in China and about $5 million from other international territories.
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