France’s Cnc has introduced a series of reforms to boost distribution of arthouse cinema in the country that will roll out over the next two years.

Scroll down for the top 10 arthouse releases in France in 2024

The annual budget for what is known in France as “le cinéma art et essai” has been set at €19m for 2024, up €1m from the previous year.

The increased funding is meant to better reward exhibitors who give what they call “fragile arthouse films a chance” and support the marketing of arthouse titles especially to the younger 15-25 age demographic.

The Cnc is...

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the eight jurors who will be joining jury president Greta Gerwig for the event’s 2024 edition (May 14-25).

They are American actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green, French actor and producer Omar Sy, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, and Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino.

The jury will award the Palme d’Or to one of the 22 films in competition at the closing ceremony on May 25. Anatomy Of A Fall picked up the top prize last year.

A rare flagship indie producer left on the French market, Bruno Nahon’s Paris-based company Unité is preparing to conquer international audiences with “Rematch,” a period psychological thriller chronicling the historical battle between world chess champion Garry Kasparov, and Ibm’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997.

The sprawling show, directed by Yan England (“The Red Band Society”) and co-created with Nahon and André Gulluni (“Sam”), was commissioned by Arte in France and has already been sold by Federation Studios to major outlets around the world, including HBO Europe for Spain, Portugal, the Nordics, Iceland, Baltics, Central Europe, Greece and the Netherlands. Disney+ has bought first-window rights for the U.K. and will air the show in France after the Arte broadcast.

Nahon, who created Unité a decade ago, has been making bold shows and movies exploring social, religious and political aspects of societies, and has often captured the zeitgeist in the process.

France’s César Academy has unveiled its annual Revelations list showcasing 32 emerging acting talents making their mark in the French-speaking cinema world.

The 16 selected actresses include Suzy Bemba for her performance year in Catherine Corsini’s Homecoming. Bemba was also seen in Venice Golden Lion winner Poor Things this year.

The selection also features Rebecca Marder for Corsica-set thriller Grand Expectations; Garance Marillier, for bio-pic Marinette about French female soccer pioneer Marinette Pichon, and Park Ji-min for her award-winning performance in Return To Seoul.

The actor list includes Milo Machado Graner, who plays the visually impaired son in Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Marc Zinga’s for his performance in Belgium’s Oscar entry Omen and Samuel Kircher for Catherine Breillat’s taboo-breaking drama Last Summer. His brother Paul Kircher is also in the selection for The Animal Kingdom.

The talents were selected by a committee of...

Nominees in the categories of discovery of the year, public choice award and the new game music award have been revealed.

Film Fest Gent and The World Soundtrack Academy has unveiled the second and final wave of nominations for the 2023 World Soundtrack Awards, which will take place on October 21 at the Film Fest Gent in Belgium, with Golda, Avatar: The Way Of Water and The Menu among the additional titles represented.

Nominations for discovery of the year, public choice award, Wsa game music award, best original score for a Belgian production and the Sabam Award for best original composition by...

Polish soldier and spy Witold Pilecki is getting the big-screen treatment via an international co-production between the United States and Poland.

Powder Hound Pictures and the Polish Film Institute have teamed up to finance and co-produce what is being titled Enemy Of My Enemy and being described as an epic drama.

Matt King wrote the script that adapts the acclaimed book Ochotnik (“The Volunteer”) by Marco Patricelli.

Jayne-Ann Tenggren, who acted as a producer on the Oscar-winning war drama 1917 and who was a protégé of Sam Mendes, is producing with Elizabeth Stillwell, who acted as an executive producer on 2018 Kristen Stewart period drama Lizzie.

A soldier with the Polish Army in World War II, Pilecki volunteered for a Polish resistance operation that involved infiltrating (and later escaping from) the Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1941, he penned what some say was the first comprehensive intelligence report on Auschwitz and the Holocaust, only...

Exclusive: Powder Hound Pictures and the Polish Film Institute have teamed to finance and co-produce the World War II feature Enemy of My Enemy written by Matt King. The film is based on the book Ochotnik (“The Volunteer”) by Marco Patricelli. Production will shoot in Poland and Italy.

Set during World War II, the story centers on one of the world’s greatest unsung heroes. Captain Witold Pilecki volunteered to be arrested and taken to Auschwitz, where he formed a resistance group and leaked information revealing conditions inside the camp to the Allies. Following his escape when Stalin replaced Hitler, he continued to fight for a free and independent Poland.

1917 producer Jayne-Ann Tenggren will produce along with Elizabeth Stillwell and work with a local production team and Pilecki’s family conducting extensive research for the project.

“I was thrilled to read the script and to be working with the filmmakers,...

Four years after tackling the Oscar-winning World War I drama “1917,” producer Jayne-Ann Tenggren is mounting the World War II epic “Enemy of My Enemy.”

Powder Hound Pictures and the Polish Film Institute are teaming up to finance and co-produce the film, which centers on one of the world’s great unsung heroes, Captain Witold Pilecki. During the Holocaust, the Polish cavalry officer volunteered to be arrested and taken to Auschwitz, where he formed a resistance group and leaked information revealing conditions inside the camp to the Allies. Following his escape from Auschwitz in April 1943, Pilecki continued to fight for a free and independent Poland in the wake of Stalin’s communist takeover of the country.

Matt King (“Boomtown”) wrote the screenplay based on the critically acclaimed book “Ochotnik” (“The Volunteer”) by Italian historian Marco Patricelli. Production will take place in Poland and Italy. Elizabeth Stillwell (“Lizzie”) is producing alongside Tenggren.

John Williams, Nicholas Britell and Taylor Swift are all nominated

John Williams, Nicholas Britell and Taylor Swift are among the first wave of nominees for the World Soundtrack Awards (Wsa) 2023.

The winners will be announced at the 23rd edition of the World Soundtrack Awards on October 21 at the Film Fest Ghent in Belgium, during which the annual celebration of film music is held.

Williams is nominated in the film composer of the year category for his work on The Fabelmans and Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny. The veteran composer is up against Volker Bertelmann who won the Oscar...

Heading to theaters on September 8th, we have a look at the brand-new trailer for The Nun II:

"New Line Cinema brings you the horror thriller “The Nun II,” the next chapter in the story of “The Nun,” the highest grossing entry in the juggernaut $2 billion “The Conjuring” Universe.

1956 – France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.

Taissa Farmiga returns as Sister Irene, joined by Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell and Bonnie Aarons (reprising her role from “The Nun”), surrounded by an ensemble cast of international talent.

Michael Chaves (“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It”) directs, from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing and Akela Cooper, with a story by Cooper, based on characters created by James Wan & Gary Dauberman.

The Safran Company...

Aside from its Palme d’Or for Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” the French cinema world is also celebrating the near-complete recovery of French box office after the pandemic.

Ticket sales are still 11.6 % down on the average levels of 2017 to 2019, but the good news is that the B.O. jumped by 33% with 82.38 million admissions during the first five months of 2023, according to the Cnc (National Film Board).

The upward trend is driven by the spike in anticipated U.S. movies being released — they skyrocketed from 29 in 2022 to 51 in 2023 during the first five months, according to Comscore France. There’s also been a tide of successful French movies, ranging from big-budget, franchise-based movies like Guillaume Canet’s “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom,” Philippe Lacheau’s “Alibi.com 2” and Martin Bourboulon’s “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan,” to original fare like the Omar Sy starrer “Father and Soldier” and François Ozon...

‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ and French-Senegalese war drama ‘Father & Soldier’ provided a boost to French cinemas.

The French box office saw ticket sales hit 15.05 million admissions in January, a 41.3 jump up from the same month in 2022, but still 15.1 down from the 2017-2019 pre-pandemic average, according to figures from state film organisation the Cnc.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) led the month and the film has sold 12.7 million tickets to date since its December 14 release in the territory. It is now the 18th most successful film in French box office history, but a far cry...

‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ and French-Senegalese war drama ‘Father & Soldier’ provided a boost to French cinemas.

The French box office saw ticket sales hit 15.05 million admissions in January, a 41.3 jump up from the same month in 2022, but still 15.1 down from the 2017-2019 pre-pandemic average, according to figures from state film organisation the Cnc.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) led the month and the film has sold 12.7 million tickets to date since its December 14 release in the territory. It is now the 18th most successful film in French box office history, but a far cry...

Omar Sy stars in the World War One drama inspired by real events.

Mathieu Vadepied’s French-Senegalese war drama Father & Soldier (released in France as Tirailleurs), starring and produced by Omar Sy, has become the first film released in 2023 to garner one million admissions in France following its opening by Gaumont on January 4.

The film hit the ground running in its first weekend of release, selling over 456,000 tickets and taking the number two spot at the box office behind Avatar: The Way Of Water, but ahead of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. The momentum continues as the film...

Berlinale Adds Disney Tribute Film, Donna Summer Docs To Line-Up

The Berlinale has added Love to Love You, Donna Summer and 100 Years of Disney Animation – A Shorts Celebration to its 73rd edition line-up running February 16-26. Both titles will screen in the Berlinale Special sidebar. Co-directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano’s the Donna Summer film tells the story of the disco star through unpublished film extracts, home video, photographs, artwork, writings, personal audio and other recording. Academy Award winner and Walt Disney Animation Studios President Clark Spencer fronts the Disney film, sharing his favorite shorts from the studios’ 100 years of filmmaking. In other news, the festival has announced it will pay tribute to French cinematographer Caroline Champetier with its Berlinale Camera 2023 award. She has chosen Anne Fontaine’s The Innocents, on which she did the cinematography, for a screening as part of Berlinale Special program.

‘Avatar 2’ adds 178m in a strong fourth weekend and has become the highest-grossing film released in 2022.

World box office January 6-8 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) 177.6m 1.7bn 132.6m 1.19bn 53 2. M3GAN (Universal) 40.1m 45m 9.9m 14.8m 35 3. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 38.9m 197.4m 25.8m 109.7m 78 4. A Man Called Otto (Sony) 8.2m 12.6m 4m 8.4m 11 5. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) 7m 41.4m 4.6m 21.8m 47 6. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Garre (various) 6.9m 6.9m 6.9m 6.9m 31 7. Better Man (various) 5.8m 28.9m 5.8m 28.9m...

Universal has announced that Lupin‘s Omar Sy will lead John Woo’s reimagining of his 1989 crime drama The Killer for Peacock.

The original film written and directed by Woo watches as the disillusioned assassin Ah Jong (Chow Yun-fat) accepts one last hit, in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to the singer (Sally Yeh) he accidentally blinded. Details as to the reimagining’s plot have not been disclosed. But Woo returns to direct the pic announced earlier this year as one of three Universal originals set to debut on Peacock in 2023. He also serves as its producer.

The screenplay was written by writing partners Matthew Stuecken and Josh Campbell (10 Cloverfield Lane), as well as Eran Creevy and Brian Helgeland. Universal Pictures’ Senior Vice President of Production Development Sara Scott and Creative Development Executive Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project on behalf of the studio.

“Jurassic World Dominion” and “The Intouchables” star Omar Sy has been tapped to lead John Woo’s reimagining of his 1989 film “The Killers” for Universal Pictures.

The crime action thriller followed a top-tier mob assassin named Jeffrey, who decides to retire after he accidentally blinds a nightclub singer who gets caught in the crossfire of one of his hit jobs. Before quitting his beloved profession, he takes one last job to pay for her sight-restoring operation, only to be double-crossed. He then teams up with a rogue police officer to set things straight.

Woo, the auteur director of movies like “Face/Off,” “Red Cliff” and “A Better Tomorrow,” will also produce the reboot. Writing partners Matthew Stuecken and Josh Campbell (“10 Cloverfield Lane”), along with as Eran Creevy (“Welcome to the Punch,” “Collide”) and Brian Helgeland (“42,” “Legend,” “Spenser Confidential”) wrote the screenplay.

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‘Bullet Train’ Expected to Be the...

Gaumont has locked major territory deals on “Father & Soldier,” Mathieu Vadepied’s WWI action-drama about headlined by “Lupin” star Omar Sy. The movie world premiered on opening night of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

“Father & Soldier” has sold to Latin America (Synapse Distribution/Leda Films), Germany and Austria (Weltkino), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain (A Contracorriente), Italy (Minerva), Benelux (Athena), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group), Indonesia (Falcon) and French-speaking Africa (Pathe BC Africa).

Exploring Africa’s forgotten war heroes, the film opens during in 1917, in the French colony of Senegal. Sy stars as Bakary, a father who enlists in the army to stick by Thierno, his 17-year-old son, who was recruited against his will. Together, father and son must fight in the trenches in France.

Vadepied made his directorial debut with 2015’s “Learn by Heart,” which world premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week. Vadepied also worked as the artistic...

Exclusive: Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) will lead cast alongside Being The Ricardos and Arrested Development star Alia Shawkat in Anthony Chen’s (Ilo Ilo) English-language debut Drift.

The film reunites Call Me By Your Name producers Emilie Georges and Peter Spears and exec producer Naima Abed. Spears won the Best Picture Oscar last year for Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland.

Drift follows a young Liberian refugee named Jacqueline (Erivo) who has barely escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. She offers massages to tourists in exchange for one or two euros to battle her hunger, while her daily struggle for survival keeps the memories that haunt her at bay. She meets an unmoored tour guide (Shawkat) and the two become close as they each find hope in the other. Ibrahima Ba, who has a supporting role in Cannes 2022 title Father & Soldier, and Honor Swinton-Byrne (The Souvenir: Parts 1 & 2), are also among cast.

Exclusive: “Things have changed a little bit,” Omar Sy admits about life after Lupin. He laughs. “My parents do know what I do now.”

That’s how the actor and his family like it. Low key. The Frenchman’s move to LA a decade ago was in part driven by a desire for more anonymity. In his home country, Sy is a superstar. In America, picking his kids up from school didn’t need to be a drama. “It’s still different being in LA,” he says, despite his growing fame. “Even if things have changed a bit, there’s still less attention here than it might have been in France. The guy from Lupin is not a big deal in LA.”

In truth, “the guy from Lupin” is becoming a big deal all over the world. Sy was already an established comic in France when The Intouchables took the...

“It takes time for cinema to come into its own.”

Thierry Fremaux, delegate general of the Cannes Film Festival, has defended the lack of diversity in the 2022 lineup, including the near-total absence of Black filmmakers in Official Selection and the relatively few women filmmakers in Competition.

“It takes time for cinema to come into its own,” said Fremaux of the dearth of films by filmmakers from sub-Saharan Africa, at his pre-festival press conference.

He cited Un Certain Regard opener Father & Soldier as an example of a film from the region; the film is a France-Senegal co-production which shot in both countries.