Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to rising Belgian filmmaker Laura Wandel’s critically acclaimed feature debut “Playground” (“Un Monde”) which opened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and won the Fipresci award. Paris-based Indie Sales represents the film in international markets.
Tackling the timely issue of school bullying, “Playground” went on to play at the San Sebastian and the BFI film festivals. The heart-wrenching film follows 7-year-old Nora (Maya Vanderbeque) and her older brother Abel (Günter Duret) going back to school. When Nora witnesses Abel being bullied by other kids, she rushes to protect him by warning their father, but Abel forces her to remain silent. Caught in a conflict of loyalty, Nora will ultimately try to find her place, torn between children’s and adult’s worlds.
“The film is utterly unique — what Laura has accomplished with these children is an incredible feat of filmmaking,” said Michael Rosenberg,...
Tackling the timely issue of school bullying, “Playground” went on to play at the San Sebastian and the BFI film festivals. The heart-wrenching film follows 7-year-old Nora (Maya Vanderbeque) and her older brother Abel (Günter Duret) going back to school. When Nora witnesses Abel being bullied by other kids, she rushes to protect him by warning their father, but Abel forces her to remain silent. Caught in a conflict of loyalty, Nora will ultimately try to find her place, torn between children’s and adult’s worlds.
“The film is utterly unique — what Laura has accomplished with these children is an incredible feat of filmmaking,” said Michael Rosenberg,...
- 10/14/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
China’s Pingyao International Film Festival got under way on Tuesday with the gala screening of Zhang Lu’s new drama film “Yanagawa.” The festival will unspool Oct. 12-19 with a familiar package of competition screenings a work in progress section, a film lab, a project market and a tribute section dedicated to Tsui Hark.
Organizers announced an ambitious twelve-title competition section (“Crouching Tigers”) for first second and third films from around the world.
These include: “Amparo,” directed by Simón Mesa Soto; “As Far As I Can Walk,” directed by Strahinja Banovic; “Feathers,” directed by Omar El Zohairy; “Mama, I’m Home” directed by Vladimir Bitokov (Russia); “Pedro” directed by Natesh Hegde (India); “Playground” (Un Monde) directed by Laura Wandel (Belgium); “Prayers for the Stolen” (Noche de Fuego) directed by Tatiana Huezo; “Rehana” (Rehana Maryam Noor) directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “The Tale of King Crab” (Re Granchio) directed by...
Organizers announced an ambitious twelve-title competition section (“Crouching Tigers”) for first second and third films from around the world.
These include: “Amparo,” directed by Simón Mesa Soto; “As Far As I Can Walk,” directed by Strahinja Banovic; “Feathers,” directed by Omar El Zohairy; “Mama, I’m Home” directed by Vladimir Bitokov (Russia); “Pedro” directed by Natesh Hegde (India); “Playground” (Un Monde) directed by Laura Wandel (Belgium); “Prayers for the Stolen” (Noche de Fuego) directed by Tatiana Huezo; “Rehana” (Rehana Maryam Noor) directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “The Tale of King Crab” (Re Granchio) directed by...
- 10/13/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Festival, which opens today, also annouced its Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons competition sections.
This year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (Octobner 12-19) will open with Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu’s Yanagawa and close with Xu Lei’s The Great Director.
Starring Ni Ni, Zhang Luyi and Xin Baiqing, Yanagawa revolves around two brothers who travel to Japan in search of the woman they both loved in their youth. The film, which is receiving its world premiere at Busan in the Icons section, is produced by Midnight Blur Films and sold internationally by Hishow Entertainment. The Great Director is described...
This year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (Octobner 12-19) will open with Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu’s Yanagawa and close with Xu Lei’s The Great Director.
Starring Ni Ni, Zhang Luyi and Xin Baiqing, Yanagawa revolves around two brothers who travel to Japan in search of the woman they both loved in their youth. The film, which is receiving its world premiere at Busan in the Icons section, is produced by Midnight Blur Films and sold internationally by Hishow Entertainment. The Great Director is described...
- 10/12/2021
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Indie Sales has scored a flurry of deals on Bruno Dumont’s “France,” with Lea Seydoux, which world premiered in competition at Cannes and played at Toronto.
Dumont’s eleventh feature film, “France” stars Seydoux as France, a glamorous TV star journalist juggling a primetime news show and a chaotic family life. Her frantic high-profile world is suddenly turned upside down after a traffic accident that causes her to injure a pedestrian. Blanche Gardin and Benjamin Biolay also star in the film.
Indie Sales closed deals for Canada (K Films), China (Dddream), ex-Yugoslavia (McF), Germany (Mfa), Greece (Weird Wave), Italy (Academy 2), Portugal (Leopardo), Russia and Cis countries (Exponenta), South Korea (M&m International), Switzerland (Adok) and Benelux (Paradiso).
The movie was previously acquired by Kino Lorber for the U.S. and English-speaking Canada. Several territories are still available, notably Spain.
“France” was released in France by Arp Selection on Aug.
Dumont’s eleventh feature film, “France” stars Seydoux as France, a glamorous TV star journalist juggling a primetime news show and a chaotic family life. Her frantic high-profile world is suddenly turned upside down after a traffic accident that causes her to injure a pedestrian. Blanche Gardin and Benjamin Biolay also star in the film.
Indie Sales closed deals for Canada (K Films), China (Dddream), ex-Yugoslavia (McF), Germany (Mfa), Greece (Weird Wave), Italy (Academy 2), Portugal (Leopardo), Russia and Cis countries (Exponenta), South Korea (M&m International), Switzerland (Adok) and Benelux (Paradiso).
The movie was previously acquired by Kino Lorber for the U.S. and English-speaking Canada. Several territories are still available, notably Spain.
“France” was released in France by Arp Selection on Aug.
- 9/17/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The 65 British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival has unveiled its full program and the headline galas include several films that have been gaining fame recently.
Among the galas are Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” with Kristen Stewart; Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” with Benedict Cumberbatch; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “King Richard,” with Will Smith; and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” featuring a host of stars including Timothée Chalamet, Tilda Swinton and Léa Seydoux.
The galas also include Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Eva Husson’s “Mothering Sunday,” Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir: Part II” and Sarah Smith and Jean Philippe-Vine’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong.”
Special presentations include Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria,” Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District,...
Among the galas are Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” with Kristen Stewart; Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” with Benedict Cumberbatch; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “King Richard,” with Will Smith; and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” featuring a host of stars including Timothée Chalamet, Tilda Swinton and Léa Seydoux.
The galas also include Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Eva Husson’s “Mothering Sunday,” Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir: Part II” and Sarah Smith and Jean Philippe-Vine’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong.”
Special presentations include Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria,” Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District,...
- 9/7/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Busan Planning Physical Edition
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival is eyeing a physical edition this year, the event has confirmed to Deadline. Despite worsening Covid cases in many Asian nations, including Korea where authorities are reportedly eyeing increased restrictions, organizers of Busan said it did not expect issues with holding an in-person event. Recent Korean festivals including Jeonju and Bifan have successfully been staged and by the time Busan arrives – it runs October 6-15 this year – it is expected that 70% of the Korean population will have received at least their first dose of the vaccine.
Zurich Gala Premieres
Zurich Film Festival has confirmed eight titles that will screen as Gala Premieres at this year’s fest, including two world premieres, namely Florian Gallenberger’s It’s Just A Phase, Honey and Andreas Schmied’s Chasing The Line. Also screening are Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Yvan Attal’s Les Choses Humaines,...
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival is eyeing a physical edition this year, the event has confirmed to Deadline. Despite worsening Covid cases in many Asian nations, including Korea where authorities are reportedly eyeing increased restrictions, organizers of Busan said it did not expect issues with holding an in-person event. Recent Korean festivals including Jeonju and Bifan have successfully been staged and by the time Busan arrives – it runs October 6-15 this year – it is expected that 70% of the Korean population will have received at least their first dose of the vaccine.
Zurich Gala Premieres
Zurich Film Festival has confirmed eight titles that will screen as Gala Premieres at this year’s fest, including two world premieres, namely Florian Gallenberger’s It’s Just A Phase, Honey and Andreas Schmied’s Chasing The Line. Also screening are Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Yvan Attal’s Les Choses Humaines,...
- 8/19/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The strand features titles from Cannes, Berlin and Venice.
Features by Joanna Hogg, Radu Jude and Gaspar Noé are among those set to compete for the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera award at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival (September 17-25).
The strand, for films of any kind of style or length, includes 13 features and five shorts, with two world premieres.
The selection includes several titles from this year’s Cannes film festival: Kirill Serebrennikov’s Competition title Petrov’s Flu; Kira Kovalenko’s Un Certain Regard winner Unclenching The Fists; Laura Wandel’s Playground (also Un Certain Regard); Gasper Noe’s Vortex, which...
Features by Joanna Hogg, Radu Jude and Gaspar Noé are among those set to compete for the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera award at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival (September 17-25).
The strand, for films of any kind of style or length, includes 13 features and five shorts, with two world premieres.
The selection includes several titles from this year’s Cannes film festival: Kirill Serebrennikov’s Competition title Petrov’s Flu; Kira Kovalenko’s Un Certain Regard winner Unclenching The Fists; Laura Wandel’s Playground (also Un Certain Regard); Gasper Noe’s Vortex, which...
- 8/19/2021
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The award, chosen from across festival sections, will have a dedicated jury.
Thirteen debut features directed by women will be eligible for a new award at this month’s Sarajevo Film Festival (August 13-20).
The festival is debuting the ‘Special Award for Promoting Gender Equality’, which is open to all directorial debuts directed by women playing at the festival, across all sections.
Titles in the running for the award from the Kinoscope strand include Laura Wandel’s Playground, which debuted in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last month; and Prano Bailey-Bond’s UK horror Censor.
Seven of the 13 titles are in the feature compeittion programme,...
Thirteen debut features directed by women will be eligible for a new award at this month’s Sarajevo Film Festival (August 13-20).
The festival is debuting the ‘Special Award for Promoting Gender Equality’, which is open to all directorial debuts directed by women playing at the festival, across all sections.
Titles in the running for the award from the Kinoscope strand include Laura Wandel’s Playground, which debuted in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last month; and Prano Bailey-Bond’s UK horror Censor.
Seven of the 13 titles are in the feature compeittion programme,...
- 8/11/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Titles from Cannes, Sundance among the international selection.
Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane and Prano Bailey-Bond’s horror Censor are among 17 titles selected for the Kinoscope programme of the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival (August 13-20).
The selection is comprised of international titles, and is split into three strands. Kinoscope Real titles will debut each day at noon; Kinoscope, for crossover arthouse films which will premiere in early evening; and Kinoscope Surreal consists of late-night screenings of genre films.
The six titles in the Kinoscope strand include Laura Wandel’s Belgian drama Playground, which premiered in Un Certain...
Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane and Prano Bailey-Bond’s horror Censor are among 17 titles selected for the Kinoscope programme of the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival (August 13-20).
The selection is comprised of international titles, and is split into three strands. Kinoscope Real titles will debut each day at noon; Kinoscope, for crossover arthouse films which will premiere in early evening; and Kinoscope Surreal consists of late-night screenings of genre films.
The six titles in the Kinoscope strand include Laura Wandel’s Belgian drama Playground, which premiered in Un Certain...
- 8/2/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Director Laura Wandel’s Foreign Bodies played in the short film section of Official Selection in 2014.
Paris-based Indie Sales has boarded sales on Belgian director Laura Wandel’s feature debut Playground, which has been selected to screen in Cannes in Un Certain Regard next month.
As well as the Un Certain Regard prize, the drama will also be in the running for Cannes’ Caméra d’Or, open to all first features across the Official Selection and parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.
Playground is about a seven year-old girl and her older brother who start at a new...
Paris-based Indie Sales has boarded sales on Belgian director Laura Wandel’s feature debut Playground, which has been selected to screen in Cannes in Un Certain Regard next month.
As well as the Un Certain Regard prize, the drama will also be in the running for Cannes’ Caméra d’Or, open to all first features across the Official Selection and parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.
Playground is about a seven year-old girl and her older brother who start at a new...
- 6/3/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
In some respects, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars and his bandmates were already prepared for the many creative pivots the Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated.
In the last three years pre-pandemic, the group has established what Mars describes as an “archiving system” from any in-person recording sessions for its 2017 album “Ti Amo” and forthcoming follow-up so that each member can complete any remaining work remotely. Even before the Zoom boom, the process helped Mars established a good virtual workflow with his bandmates.
“It’s something we’re really proud of and we’re constantly improving because we are far from each other: I live in New York City, one lives in Rome, two are in Paris,” Mars says. “Whenever we meet, we record everything we do together so we have enough to work on when we separate.”
One of the last projects Phoenix was able to mostly complete pre-lockdown was the band...
In the last three years pre-pandemic, the group has established what Mars describes as an “archiving system” from any in-person recording sessions for its 2017 album “Ti Amo” and forthcoming follow-up so that each member can complete any remaining work remotely. Even before the Zoom boom, the process helped Mars established a good virtual workflow with his bandmates.
“It’s something we’re really proud of and we’re constantly improving because we are far from each other: I live in New York City, one lives in Rome, two are in Paris,” Mars says. “Whenever we meet, we record everything we do together so we have enough to work on when we separate.”
One of the last projects Phoenix was able to mostly complete pre-lockdown was the band...
- 10/7/2020
- by Andrew Hampp
- Variety Film + TV
ViacomCBS Networks UK’s director of programs Ben Frow has said the British TV industry is “inherently snobbish” and should care less about what people’s backgrounds are and more about their talent.
Frow admitted that he has “got a big chip on my shoulder” about a lack of inclusivity in the business, revealing at the Edinburgh TV Festival today that he was “floored” by a snobbish remark made by a rival a few years ago about his education.
“I was at Edinburgh a few years ago and a competitor of mine said to me, as I was about to walk out on stage for a debate: ‘You know for someone who hasn’t got a degree you’ve done very well to be up on this stage with us.’
“It actually floored me. I could get a bit tearful about it. I can’t believe you’d make a...
Frow admitted that he has “got a big chip on my shoulder” about a lack of inclusivity in the business, revealing at the Edinburgh TV Festival today that he was “floored” by a snobbish remark made by a rival a few years ago about his education.
“I was at Edinburgh a few years ago and a competitor of mine said to me, as I was about to walk out on stage for a debate: ‘You know for someone who hasn’t got a degree you’ve done very well to be up on this stage with us.’
“It actually floored me. I could get a bit tearful about it. I can’t believe you’d make a...
- 8/25/2020
- by Tara Conlan
- Deadline Film + TV
British drama All Creatures Great and Small is on the verge of a second season after exec producer Colin Callender revealed that he was in talks with UK network Channel 5 and PBS.
This comes after Ben Frow, who runs content at the ViacomCBS-owned UK broadcaster said last year that he wanted to commission a second season even before the first aired.
Callender was speaking at PBS’ virtual TCA press tour. He shared that the team behind the James Herriot-inspired series have been discussing a sophomore season.
“We are in discussions with Channel 5 in England and Masterpiece,” said Callender. “We are developing season two right now. So there’s every intention and hope that this will be a returning series and hopefully everyone will fall in love with the characters and want to run and run. Certainly that was our ambition from the outset.”
The series, which begins...
This comes after Ben Frow, who runs content at the ViacomCBS-owned UK broadcaster said last year that he wanted to commission a second season even before the first aired.
Callender was speaking at PBS’ virtual TCA press tour. He shared that the team behind the James Herriot-inspired series have been discussing a sophomore season.
“We are in discussions with Channel 5 in England and Masterpiece,” said Callender. “We are developing season two right now. So there’s every intention and hope that this will be a returning series and hopefully everyone will fall in love with the characters and want to run and run. Certainly that was our ambition from the outset.”
The series, which begins...
- 7/29/2020
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Colin Callender’s Playground has acquired the television rights to award-winning documentary The Dog to develop as a drama series.
Directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, The Dog tells the extraordinary back-story of the late John Wojtowicz, the bank robber whose antics inspired Al Pacino’s character in Sidney Lumet’s 1975 classic Dog Day Afternoon.
An official selection at the SXSW Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, The Dog was lauded by critics upon its release in 2013.
In the film, a Brooklyn bank robbery on a hot August afternoon turns into a hostage crisis and media frenzy, when the mastermind behind the heist proclaims, “I’m Gay” and admits he needs the money for his bride’s gender reassignment surgery.
In the documentary, Berg and Keraudren offer a more complicated portrait of Wojtowicz, artfully chronicling his multiples lives as a Catholic mama’s boy,...
Directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, The Dog tells the extraordinary back-story of the late John Wojtowicz, the bank robber whose antics inspired Al Pacino’s character in Sidney Lumet’s 1975 classic Dog Day Afternoon.
An official selection at the SXSW Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, The Dog was lauded by critics upon its release in 2013.
In the film, a Brooklyn bank robbery on a hot August afternoon turns into a hostage crisis and media frenzy, when the mastermind behind the heist proclaims, “I’m Gay” and admits he needs the money for his bride’s gender reassignment surgery.
In the documentary, Berg and Keraudren offer a more complicated portrait of Wojtowicz, artfully chronicling his multiples lives as a Catholic mama’s boy,...
- 7/21/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Story centres on woman in her thirties forced to reevaluate her life.
Playground, Colin Callender’s New York- and London-based production company, has secured screen rights to UK author and Bifa winner Emma Jane Unsworth’s new novel Adults and is partnering with Us television studio Wiip to develop a TV version.
Unsworth is attached to adapt the novel which was published in the UK in January and is set for a Us launch next month.
Adults centres on a woman in her thirties who has lost touch with herself and is forced to reevaluate her life.
Unsworth adapted her first novel,...
Playground, Colin Callender’s New York- and London-based production company, has secured screen rights to UK author and Bifa winner Emma Jane Unsworth’s new novel Adults and is partnering with Us television studio Wiip to develop a TV version.
Unsworth is attached to adapt the novel which was published in the UK in January and is set for a Us launch next month.
Adults centres on a woman in her thirties who has lost touch with herself and is forced to reevaluate her life.
Unsworth adapted her first novel,...
- 4/28/2020
- by 31¦John Hazelton¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Charlotte Hope (Game of Thrones) has been tapped to star in Starz’s The Spanish Princess, the third installment following The White Princess and The White Queen, based on Philippa Gregory’s bestselling books. Starz also rounded out the cast as production begins on the limited series.
The Spanish Princess, from All3 Media’s New Pictures and Playground, the latest chapter in the dynastic saga of Tudor England, is described as a powerful, epic story that not only returns the audience to the world of royal court intrigue as seen uniquely through the perspective of the women, but also sheds light on a previously untold corner of history – the lives of people of color, living and working in 16th century London.
Hope has been cast in the titular role as Catherine of Aragon, alongside Stephanie Levi-John as her lady-in-waiting and confidante, Lina de Cardonnes.
Promised in marriage...
The Spanish Princess, from All3 Media’s New Pictures and Playground, the latest chapter in the dynastic saga of Tudor England, is described as a powerful, epic story that not only returns the audience to the world of royal court intrigue as seen uniquely through the perspective of the women, but also sheds light on a previously untold corner of history – the lives of people of color, living and working in 16th century London.
Hope has been cast in the titular role as Catherine of Aragon, alongside Stephanie Levi-John as her lady-in-waiting and confidante, Lina de Cardonnes.
Promised in marriage...
- 5/17/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Charlotte Hope will star in Starz’s “The Spanish Princess,” which is the cabler’s follow-up to “The White Queen” and “The White Princess,” Variety has learned.
Hope takes on the titular role, Catherine of Aragon, who is promised in marriage to the future King of England Prince Arthur (played by Angus Imrie). Catherine is described as “the source of curiosity, resentment and suspicion among her new family.” When Prince Arthur dies shortly after their wedding, Catherine finds her future as Queen in question and at the mercy of a divided Tudor court under the threat of enemies both abroad and closer to home.
Returning to the world of Tudor royal court intrigue, the story unfolds from the point of view of the women, which works to shed a light on a previously untold corner of history — including the lives of people of color that lived and worked in 16th century London.
Hope takes on the titular role, Catherine of Aragon, who is promised in marriage to the future King of England Prince Arthur (played by Angus Imrie). Catherine is described as “the source of curiosity, resentment and suspicion among her new family.” When Prince Arthur dies shortly after their wedding, Catherine finds her future as Queen in question and at the mercy of a divided Tudor court under the threat of enemies both abroad and closer to home.
Returning to the world of Tudor royal court intrigue, the story unfolds from the point of view of the women, which works to shed a light on a previously untold corner of history — including the lives of people of color that lived and worked in 16th century London.
- 5/17/2018
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
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