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Paris-based sales agent Luxbox has backed Erige Sehiri’s next feature, “Marie & Jolie.”

Written by Sehiri, Anna Ciennik and Malika Cécile Louati, and produced by Henia Production and Didar Domehri of Maneki Films, the drama explores the quiet Christian communities in the predominantly Muslim metropolis of Tunis. Pathé Afrique and Jour2Fête have boarded as respective Tunisian and French distributors, while production is now underway.

Actors Aïssa Maïga (“Bamako”) and Laetitia Ky join newcomer Deborah Naney as women sharing a house that hides an Evangelical church. Upon taking in a child migrant who survived a shipwreck, each member of this makeshift family must reconsider their place in the house and in society.

“We often hear about people who migrate from Africa to Europe, while 80% of migrants actually migrate within Africa,” says Sehiri. “Among them, some settle in North Africa. Telling their stories opens up new perspectives, another way of looking at the world.

Exclusive: Rustin and A Man In Full star Aml Ameen is leading feature thriller Killing of a Nation, about political unrest and crime in Haiti.

Also starring are Jimmy Jean-Louis (Heroes), Aïssa Maïga (Russian Dolls), O-t Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale), Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break), Ayoola Ayolola (The Chosen), Jairo Ordoñez (Sound of Freedom), Grainger Hines (Dr. Death) and Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things).

Ameen plays Anderson Toussaint, a young American lobbyist for an investment fund in Haiti who becomes entangled in a web of corruption and power struggles after gaining access to President Jovenel Moise’s inner circle. The country’s political woes ultimately lead to the shocking assassination of Moïse and the country descends further into chaos.

Filming wrapped last month in Panama on the under-the-radar English-language project from director Carlos Bolado (Under California) and writer Jimena Gallardo. Olga Segura is producing with Harold Sánchez.

Actress and producer Segura is known for starring in and producing Amazon series Veronica and has produced movies including Johnny Depp starrer Waiting for the Barbarians, and exec-produced Oren Moverman’s The Dinner and Sundance title The Truth About Emanuel. Bolado is a regular director on long-running Mexican telenovela La Reina del Sur.

I May Destroy You, Porter and The Maze Runner actor Ameen most recently starred opposite Jeff Daniels in the Netflix limited series A Man In Full from David E. Kelley, and portrayed Martin Luther King Jr opposite Colman Domingo in Netflix’s Oscar-nominated Rustin from director George C. Wolfe. He is currently working on a sequel to Christmas rom-com Boxing Day, which he co-wrote, starred in and directed.

Ameen is repped by The Artists Partnership, UTA, Link Entertainment, and attorney Dave Feldman.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSCapital.The Palestinian Film Institute and several prominent filmmakers—including Sky Hopinka, Miko Revereza, Maryam Tafakory, Charlie Shackleton, and Basma al-Sharif—have withdrawn from the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in response to the festival’s messaging about the war in Gaza. On the festival’s opening night, a group of activists took to the stage holding a banner that read “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”; on November 10, IDFA published a statement apologizing to patrons who may have been offended by this “hurtful slogan.” On November 11, the Pfi and the advocacy group Workers for Palestine Netherlands announced their withdrawal from IDFA: “As the world’s largest documentary film festival, IDFA holds the responsibility to respond to the plight of journalists and documentarians on the ground in Gaza,...

Exclusive: France TV Distribution has unveiled a raft of deals on Andréa Bescond and Éric Métayer’s intergenerational comedy-drama Big Kids.

The film has sold to Brazil (Imovision), Benelux (Cinéart), Spain (Vercine), Switzerland (Agora Films), Poland (Best Film Co), Baltics (Unlimited Media), Central America (Babilla) and Taiwan (Avjet International Media Co.).

Ad Vitam released the film in France in April, achieving a gross of just under $1million.

Inspired by real-life stories in France, the movie revolves around a group of school children who end up spending their lunch breaks at a nearby nursing home while their school cafeteria is being remodelled.

The caretaker, played by Vincent Macaigne, is not happy to see the school children invade his residents’ territory, and an intergenerational clash seems inevitable.

However, shared interests and a series of comical situations foster new friendships between the elderly residents and their young lunchtime guests.

Global Citizen, the world’s leading international advocacy organization on a mission to end extreme poverty Now, has announced John Boyega, Connie Britton, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, Cyril Dion, Danai Gurira, Diane Kruger, Aïssa Maïga, Norman Reedus and Michelle Yeoh will join ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ on Thursday, June 22, taking place at the historic Champ de Mars in Paris.

The free, ticketed event will provide a platform for calls to action from the world’s leading youth climate activists, including Xiye Bastida, Camille Etienne, Jerome Foster, Brianna Fruean, Helena Gualinga, and Mitzi Jonelle Tan, among others.

‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ will feature performances from Lenny Kravitz, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Jon Batiste and special guests Finneas and Mosimann to drive commitments from world leaders and the private sector to confront the climate crisis head on.

Under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic,...

Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux has signed an open letter in support of Amber Heard, decrying “the vilification” and “ongoing online harassment” of the actress.

Ernaux won the Nobel Prize in Literature in October 2022 for her work charting the lives of women in France from the 1960s onwards, including abortion drama Happening, which formed the basis for Audrey Diwan’s 2021 Venice Golden Lion winner of the same name.

She is among a group of 68 French feminists and cultural figures to have signed the online letter in an initiative coinciding with the first anniversary of the actress’s defeat last June in a highly-mediatized defamation trial brought by ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Further signatories included actresses Ariane Labed and Zita Hanrot as well as actress-director Aïssa Maïga, screenwriter Caroline Deruas Peano (The...

King Shaka is not coming to Showtime after all. The cable channel cancelled the new series as it was nearing the end of production. Those behind the series plan to shop it to other outlets.

Starring Charmaine Bingwa, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, Aïssa Maïga, Thando Dlomo, Tony Kgoroge, Sindi Dlatu, and Bahle Hadebe, King Shaka, formerly known as Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation, revolves around “the Zulu Empire founder Shaka (Babalola) and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of southern Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures.”

Read More…...

“King Shaka” will no longer be moving forward at Showtime, TheWrap has confirmed.

Though production on the series, which follows the sweeping story of the Zulu Kingdom founder and his unlikely rise to power, will not continue, most filming on the epic event series is complete, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap, with the final episode mostly filmed. CBS Studios is set to explore other options for the project’s distribution.

The news marks the latest series to not continue at Showtime as the network prepares to merge with Paramount+. Other impacted projects include “Three Women,” which recently found a new home at Starz, and “Ripley,” which landed at Netflix.

Also Read:

‘Shaka: King of The Zulu Nation’ Drama Series From Antoine Fuqua Ordered at Showtime

Charles Babalola stars as the titular Zulu king in the series, which was originally ordered in 2021, alongside additional cast members Thapelo Mokoenaas, Warren Masemola,...

The Showtime limited series “King Shaka” is no longer moving forward at the premium cabler, Variety has confirmed.

The series tells the story of the titular Zulu king, who will be played by Charles Babalola. According to an individual with knowledge of the production, filming had been mostly completed on the historical epic series and Showtime and producer CBS Studios plan to shop it to other outlets.

This marks the latest completed series to be moved off Showtime as the network prepares to be merged with Paramount+. The drama “Three Women” recently left Showtime only to be picked up by Starz. Likewise, “Ripley” starring Andrew Scott moved to Netflix after originally being ordered at Showtime.

“King Shaka” was originally ordered to series in 2021. Along with Babalola, the cast for the series includes Thapelo Mokoenaas, Warren Masemola, Aïssa Maïga, Thando DIomo, Charmaine Bingwa, and Nkeki Obi-Melekwe.

“King Shaka” is created and...

Exclusive: Showtime has axed King Shaka, its upcoming epic drama series executive produced by Antoine Fuqua, which tells the sweeping story of the Zulu Empire founder.

It marks the latest new series to be canned at the network before it has aired amid a programming overhaul at Showtime, which is being merged with sister streamer Paramount+ and will be renamed as Paramount+ with Showtime.

While King Shaka will not run on Showtime, the premium network is working on multiple other drama projects with diverse storytelling as part of recently announced three main programming lanes, including a project from The Chi showrunner Justin Hillian; Panda, from Fresh Off the Boat’s Eddie Huang; and Quiet in Her Bones, from writer Aminta Goyel.

Showtime also plans to add diversity to the Billions franchise as it is undergoing expansion with spinoffs.

Deadline understands that King Shaka, which is being headlined by Charles Babalola,...

Charmaine Bingwa (“The Good Fight”) and Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (“Tina -The Tina Turner Musical”) have been added to Showtime’s “King Shaka” cast as series regulars, the network announced on Thursday. Tony Kgoroge (“Invictus”), Sindi Dlatu (“The River”) and Bahle Hadebe (“Bone of My Bones”) will guest star in recurring roles.

According to their character descriptions, Bingwa will portray Isisa, a strong and very capable warrior whose loyalty is challenged after receiving a fateful encounter. Obi-Melekwe will play the Locust Queen, a mysterious leader of a migrant tribe of outcasts who gives herself an advantage by tapping into her deep knowledge of the spiritual world.

Kgoroge will guest star as Chief Senzangakhona, the proud leader of the Zulu people who denies Shaka’s birthright; Dlathu as Inyoni, a council leader and midwife; and Hadebe as young Shaka.

The group joins previously announced cast members Charles Babalola as King Shaka; Thapelo Mokoenaas as Gendeyana,...

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Oz) and Mustafa Shakir (Luke Cage) are set as leads opposite Charles Babalola in Showtime’s King Shaka drama series. Additionally, Terry Pheto (Tsotsi) and Lerato Mvelase (Justice Served) will recur in the series executive produced by Antoine Fuqua.

Rooted in actual events, King Shaka tells the story of the Zulu Empire founder Shaka (Babalola) and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures. The outcast son of a Zulu Chief, Shaka is a visionary who is prophesized to become a king like none before him. In ferocious battles that test the body and soul, in alliances that test the bonds of love and friendship, a complex sociological system plays out that renders the human cost front and center, for the victors as well as the vanquished,...

Antoine Fuqua might have been known best for his big screen blockbuster work, but in the past few years, he's made a pretty triumphant transition to streaming. Of course, it took some "adjusting" on the director's part — with the Mark Wahlberg starrer "Infinite" quietly released on Paramount+, and the Jake Gyllenhaal-led thriller "The Guilty" making a similar debut on Netflix — but Fuqua has since found a major groove with television. With producer credits on the celebrated "Mayor of Kingstown" and the recent release of Prime Video series "The Terminal List," Fuqua is enjoying the freedom that long-form entertainment affords.

"I found it to be a really positive thing," Fuqua told /Film's Jack Giroux. The freedom of the new streaming landscape reminds the filmmaker of the risk-taking on display in the '70s. "You got a chance to just come in and try some things and be brave," Fuqua added,...

Charles Babalola (“The Outlaws”) has been cast as Shaka in the highly anticipated new series “King Shaka,” Showtime announced on Thursday.

The epic drama tells the story of one man’s personal journey from a stigmatized childhood to becoming a legendary king. Babalola will join series regulars Aïssa Maïga (“The Fear Index”) as Nandi, Shaka’s devoted mother who will sacrifice everything to fulfill her son’s destiny; and Thando DIomo (“The Woman King”) as Pampatha, a herder who finds her fate forever entwined with Shaka’s.

Also featured among the cast is Thapelo Mokoena (“Bulletproof”), who will guest star as Gendeyana, a Qwabe leader who grows close to Shaka and Nandi; and Warren Masemola (“Queen Sono”) as Magazwa, who provides safe haven to Shaka and Nandi but at a cost.

Production will take place next month in King Shaka’s South African hometown, KwaZulu-Natal (Kzn). The series will be...

Exclusive: The Outlaws star Charles Babalola is set to headline Showtime’s King Shaka, (fka Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation), executive produced by Antoine Fuqua.

Babalola will play the title role in the epic drama series, centered around one man’s personal journey from stigmatized childhood to warrior king, which hails from writers Olu Odebunmi and Tolu Awosika, Propagate, Fuqua Films and CBS Studios. Production kicks off next month in the historic KwaZulu-Natal (Kzn) South Africa province, the birthplace of King Shaka, and will be fully shot in South Africa for a 2023 debut on Showtime.

Also cast as series regulars in King Shaka are Aïssa Maïga (The Fear Index) as Nandi, Shaka’s devoted mother who will sacrifice everything to fulfill her son’s destiny; and Thando Dlomo (The Woman King) as Pampatha, a herder who finds her fate forever entwined with Shaka’s. Thapelo Mokoena (Bulletproof) will guest star as Gendeyana,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Tuesday that it is inviting 397 artists and executives to join the Oscar organizer’s membership ranks. The prospective 2022 class includes 71 Oscar nominees and 15 winners, with 44 of the invitees women, and 37 of the group belongs to underrepresented communities.

See the full list below.

Among this year’s Oscar winners on the list are Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur, and Kotsur’s Coda writer-director Siân Heder, who has been invited into both the Directors and Writers branches. Among those invited into multiple branches, the new member must pick one. There are a total of 17 AMPAS branches, along with 25 who today received members-at-large invitations.

Others on the list include this year’s Oscar Original Song winners Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O’Connell; actors Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Jesse Buckley, Michael Greyeyes, Olga Merediz, Jesse Plemons, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Anya Taylor-Joy; writers Zach Baylin,...

Anya Taylor-Joy, Billie Eilish, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Disney exec Dana Walden are among the 397 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. If all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of Academy members to 10,665, with 9,665 eligible to vote for the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12, 2023.

The 2022 class is 44 women, 37 belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 50 are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners, among the invitees. Some of the big names invited are recent winners Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) and Troy Kotsur (“Coda”), and nominees Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”). Also invited are a slew of global artists and artisans such as actors Robin de Jesús, Olga Merediz...

Oscar winners Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur and Billie Eilish and nominees Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons are among the 397 film professionals invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy announced on Monday.

Invitations were also extended to actors Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Renate Rensve and Anya Taylor-Joy, directors Reinaldo Marcus Green, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Sian Heder and Jonas Poher Rasmussen, writers Zach Baylin, Takamasa Oe and Alex Ross Perry and film critic Leonard Maltin, who was invited to join as a member at large.

Four people were invited by two different branches, and must choose which branch they wish to join. Hamaguchi, Heder and Pawo Choyning Dorji were invited by both the Directors and Writers Branches, while Rasmussen was invited by the Directors Branch and the Documentary Branch.

Also Read:

Marlee Matlin, Jason Reitman and Jason Blum Elected to Oscars Academy...

Click here to read the full article.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 397 members of the global film community to join the organization, it was announced Tuesday.

Among those who will henceforth be able to vote for the Oscar nominations and winners if they accept, as the vast majority of people who have received invites historically have: newly-minted Oscar winners Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (music branch) and Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur (actors); Paramount chief Brian Robbins and Disney general entertainment chief Dana Walden (executives); and film critic Leonard Maltin (members-at-large).

According to an Academy-provided breakdown of the new invitees, 44 percent are women, 37 percent are non-white and 50 percent are non-Americans (54 different countries are represented). If they all accept, the Academy’s overall membership will be 34 percent female, 19 percent non-white and 23 percent non-American.

Seven branches invited more women than men (actors, casting directors, costume designers, documentary,...

In 2021, the Cannes film festival programmed movies from an unprecedented number of women and people of color, more than in any other year. Director Julia Ducournau won the Palme d’Or for her film Titane, becoming only the second woman to do so. This win gave people hope that maybe change was coming from the white, male-dominated festival.

But with the initial reveal of the Cannes lineup last month, it appeared things had gone back to the way they usually were, with women and Poc content largely shut out. Subsequent additions to the slate included five films directed or co-directed by women in Competition for the first time. But is it enough? Change is happening slowly, but the years of exclusion have proven harmful to many filmmakers who exist on the margins, and few established voices seemed willing to speak up. That is until a new wave of women decided...

Africa’s biggest film festival unfolded in Burkina Faso from October 16 to 23.

Finnish-Somali filmmaker Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s The Gravedigger’s Wife scooped the top prize at the 27th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco) in Burkina Faso over the weekend.

The largest film festival in Africa, the biannual event normally takes place end-February, start-March but was pushed to October 16-23 this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its top prize is the $36,000 Golden Stallion of Yennenga (Étalon de Yennenga) award. The prizes are named after legendary warrior princess Yennenga, who is considered the mother...

Virginie Boireaux, the former head of Playtime’s TV sales and acquisitions, has joined forces with Charades’ former chairman Constantin Briest to launch Have A Good One (Hago), a Paris-based international TV development, co-production and sales company.

Hago is rolling out the new banner at Series Mania with a strong first slate, including “I Killed My Husband,” a six-part thriller from former Empreinte Digitale producer Henri Debeurme (“Lazy Company”), and “Cuisine Interne,” a genre-bending crime thriller drama about a French chef involved with shady partners, from Cinetévé (“Parliament”) and 24-25 Films (“Les Promesses”).

“I Killed My Husband,” which Hago is co-producing on top of handling international sales, is being produced by Debeurme’s new banner Next Episode for the French channel 13th Street. Selected at La Rochelle Fiction Festival, the series stars Erika Sainte as a woman who’s been wrongly accused of murdering her husband, and sets off to prove her innocence.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired all U.S. rights to Pan Nalin’s (“Samsara”) India-set tale “Last Film Show” which world premiered at Tribeca last month. The film is represented in international markets by Orange Studio.

The movie follows Samay, a 9-year-old boy living with his family in a remote village in India. One day, he discovers films and is instantly mesmerized. Against his father’s wishes, he returns to the cinema day after day and sets off to become a filmmaker at all costs.

Daniel Marquet, Orange Studio’s head of international sales, said the film has lured distributors around the world.

Deals were closed for Czech Republic (Slovakia Bohemia Motion Picture), Russia/Cis (Capella), Spain (Karma Films), Italy, Germany and Austria (Neuevisionen), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Israel (Red Cape / Nachson), Turkey (Filmarti) and Japan (Shochiku). Orange Studio will handle the release in France.

“‘Last Film Show’ is a love...

Gaumont’s international sales arm will launch four new upcoming titles at Pre-Cannes Screenings next week.

French sales, production and distribution giant Gaumont has unveiled four new projects to introduce to buyers at the Pre-Cannes Screenings.

Shooting has just begun on Ramzi Ben Sliman’s in-house production Neneh Superstar, a ballet school drama starring big-screen debutant Oumy Bruni Garrel, Maïwenn and Aïssa Maïga. Bruni Garrel, who is the daughter of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Louis Garrel, plays a 12-year-old girl who wins a place at the prestigious dance school of the Opéra de Paris. She outshines the other students but...

The Cannes Film Festival has added seven films addressing environmental concerns to its 2021 line-up.

“La Croisade” by actor-director Louis Garrel, stars himself, Laetitia Casta and Joseph Engel. It was co-written by legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière who died last year. The festival describes the film as: “A fiction in which the children take the reins to protect the planet. A tale of anticipation equally urgent, funny and charming. A story about the alienation of adults from the concerns of children who want to save themselves.”

In “Marcher sur l’eau”, filmed in a village in Niger, director Aïssa Maïga follows a little girl who, while waiting for a well to be built, must travel several kilometres for water every day. The film also explores the question of whether access to water co-relates with access to education for girls in Sub-Saharan African countries.

From India, Rahul Jain, director of Sundance-winning documentary “Machines” (2016), returns with “Invisible Demons,...

Six documentaries also selected for the festival’s inaugural environmental strand.

The Cannes Film Festival has revealed the seven titles selected for its first ‘cinema for the climate’ section – part of a new focus by the festival to address environmental issues.

Comprised of one scripted film and six documentaries, the selection is led by comedy The Crusade, by French actor and filmmaker Louis Garrel.

The film revisits the family unit of his 2018 feature A Faithful Man and sees Garrel star opposite Laetitia Casta as a couple who discover their teenage son has been secretly selling the family possessions to fund an ecological project in Africa.

Cannes is going green(er).

For its 74th edition, the Cannes International Film Festival has launched a new stand-alone section focusing on climate change, featuring one scripted drama and six documentaries centered around environmental issues.

Louis Garrel’s feature The Crusade, a drama about children who come together to protect the planet, will have its world premiere in the new section. Garrel also stars in the film, alongside Laetitia Casta and Joseph Engel.

One of the documentaries gracing the new section is Above Water from Aïssa Maïga, which looks at the impact of global warming on Niger, one of the sub-Saharan African countries hardest hit ...

Cannes is going green(er).

For its 74th edition, the Cannes International Film Festival has launched a new stand-alone section focusing on climate change, featuring one scripted drama and six documentaries centered around environmental issues.

Louis Garrel’s feature The Crusade, a drama about children who come together to protect the planet, will have its world premiere in the new section. Garrel also stars in the film, alongside Laetitia Casta and Joseph Engel.

One of the documentaries gracing the new section is Above Water from Aïssa Maïga, which looks at the impact of global warming on Niger, one of the sub-Saharan African countries hardest hit ...

15 projects participated in the online market aimed at finding partners for socially and environmentally-engaged works.

French director Émilie Frèche’s In A Perfect World, about a couple who end up on the wrong side of the law when they help a young illegal migrant, has won the top prize for a fiction film at the debut edition of the French Cinema for Change co-production market.

An initiative of the Paris-based Le Temps Press film festival, the inaugural edition of the co-financing event ran April 7-8, with the aim of finding partners for film, TV and digital projects that raise awareness around environmental and societal issues.

After a year of upheaval, France’s Cesar Awards will host its 46th edition under new leadership on Friday with more diversity and parity within its 4,292-strong membership. Across the administration board and general assembly, however, there’s still a dearth of Black creatives.

More women and visible minorities have joined the ranks of Cesar Awards’ voting members since the arrival of a new president, Veronique Cayla, the former boss of the Franco-German public culture channel Arte France, and vice chair Eric Toledano, the popular co-director of smash-hit “The Intouchables,” in late September.

The annual awards, which are France’s equivalent of the Oscars, reformed its operating model and corporate leadership last year following an industry-wide revolt that led to the resignation of long-time Cesar Academy president Alain Terzian, along with the rest of the 21-member board of governors.

Joining the org just six months ago, Cayla and Toledano were...

Dash Shaw’s animation won the Next Innovator award at Sundance.

The Match Factory has scored further deals on its Sundance hit Cryptozoo. The animated feature by Dash Shaw, which won the US festival’s Next Innovator Award, has gone to Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Films) and Cis (Russian Report), with deals pending in the UK, Australia and Germany.

Magnolia Pictures acquired the US rights following its Sundance debut.

The film is Dash Shaw’s second feature after My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea, which debuted at the 2016 AFI Fest and made its international premiere in Berlin’s Generation 14plus section,...

The film is about the challenges facing black actresses in the global entertainment industry.

Paris-based film company Playtime has boarded sales on French actress Aïssa Maïga and filmmaker Isabelle Simeonie’s documentary Regard Noir, exploring the challenges facing black actresses to break into the entertainment industry worldwide.

The work takes Maïga, whose recent credits include Chiwetel Ejiofor’s The Man Who Harnassed The Wind and French drama Brother, on a journey from her native France to Los Angeles and Brazil, during which she interviewed professionals from across the entertainment world on the subject. Her interviewees include Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay...

French production and sales arm will unveil four new films at the EFM.

France’s Orange Studio will kick off sales this EFM on French director Sophie Boudre’s intergenerational comedy-drama Schoolmates!, the latest production from Paris-based Vendôme Production, the company behind La Famille Bélier and English-language remake Coda.

Based on a true story, popular comedy actress Alice Pol co-stars as a village school headmistress whose school burns down forcing her to move her classroom into a local retirement home. Cohabitation between the children and seniors will not be easy. Jonathan Zaccaï and veteran French pop icon Eddy Mitchell also top the cast.

The cast of this film, which is being produced by Barney Production and co-produced by The Jokers, includes Moussa Mansaly, Mamadou Minté, Aïssa Maïga and Ophélie Bau. The first clapperboard is set to slam in the Paris region on 19 January for Le marchand de sable (lit. “The Sandman”), the directorial feature debut by Steve Achiepo (who turned heads as an actor in Everything Now), which comes on the heels of several short films, such as Le jour de ton jour, À la source and As a Team. Among the cast we find Moussa Mansaly, Mamadou Minté (glimpsed in A Prophet and The Woman in the Fifth), Aïssa Maïga (nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 2007 for The Court, and giving strong performances in titles such as L’écume...

Industry professionals call for greater diversity and inclusion on the big screen.

A group of French actors and directors have published an open letter decrying a lack of diversity on the big screen in France ahead of the troubled 45th César awards ceremony in Paris tonight (February 28).

Some 30 actors and filmmakers with Bame roots, including Aïssa Maïga, Eriq Ebouaney, Sonia Rolland, Edouard Montoute, Jimmy Jean-Louis are supporting the initiative alongside Olivier Assayas, Mathieu Kassovitz, Julien Leclercq and Gabrielle Lazure.

“We want to point out the paradox of a country, France, which names African-American director and producer Spike Lee as the...

The phrase “important film” covers all manner of cinematic sins. If a narrative speaks to a specific issue or disenfranchisement, it can make critique a little complicated. Thankfully, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind plays more like entertainment than education while teaching its viewer something all the same. Written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, adapted from the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, the film’s set in Wimbe, a village in the Southeast African country of Malawi. It concerns the life of a family trying their best to survive both extreme weather and a government that will offer no help.

Young William (Maxwell Simba) has been enrolled in school, his parents (Ejiofor, Aïssa Maïga) determined that their children grow up to be something more than farmers. Sadly, as heavy rains flood nearby crops only to be followed by an endless drought, the tuition cannot be paid. Still, William...

The gang's all here for a movie night! Such was the case for Angelina Jolie and her famous family on Monday night. Of course, it wasn't just any ordinary movie night for the star and her youngsters. The actress moderated a special screening of the Netflix film, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City. The movie is Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor's feature directorial debut and stars him as well as Maxwell Simba, Aïssa Maïga, Lily Banda, Lemogang Tsipa, Philbert Falakeza, Joseph Marcell and Noma Dumezweni.  Ejiofor sat down with Jolie for a Q&A during the event, as did William Kamkwamba, whose memoir the film is based...

"It can work, if you help me." Netflix has unveiled the official trailer for The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, the feature directorial debut of Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. Based on the true story, the film is about a young boy in Malawi who helps his village by building a wind turbine with spare parts after reading about them in a book. Maxwell Simba stars as William Kamkwamba, and the cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Noma Dumezweni, Joseph Marcell, Aïssa Maïga, Lemogang Tsipa, and Lily Banda. This is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this month, and will debut on Netflix in March, so not much long of a wait if you're interested in it. This looks like a wonderfully inspiring, uplifting story of determination and ingenuity. And I really want to see if Ejiofor is as talented of a director as he is an actor. Here's the trailer (+ poster) for...

“It’s not a dream, Papa,” insists young William Kamkwamba, played by newcomer Maxwell Simba in this new trailer for Netflix’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. “I’m not dreaming.”

And indeed he isn’t – and wasn’t. Based on a true story, the film, directed by and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, chronicles the very real hopes and efforts of a 13-year-old William in Malawi as he develops a method – the wind of the title – to bring water to his famine-struck village.

Based on the book of the same title written by Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind marks Ejiofor’s directorial debut (he also wrote the adaptation of the book).

In addition to Ejiofor and Simba, the film features Aïssa Maïga and Lily Banda. Producers are Andrea Calderwood and Gail Egan.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind debuts March 1 on Netflix and in select theaters.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, a BAFTA-winning actor who also earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination in 2012 for Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” is stepping into the director’s chair. For his debut, Ejiofor has chosen “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” a moving tale based on the true story of William Kamkwamba, a young Malawian innovator and engineer who rose to fame in 2007 for building a wind turbine to bring electricity to his family farm during a drought. Ejiofor also stars, delivering the powerhouse performances he does best in the newly released trailer. He stars opposite newcomer Maxwell Simba, as well as Aïssa Maïga and Lily Banda.

The Sundance synopsis reads:

“Young William Kamkwamba (Simba) lives with his family in rural Malawi, where he attends school regularly and shows great aptitude for his studies. Yet after land development and poor weather lead to a meager harvest, famine strikes the village,...

Following the biggest fourth-quarter worldwide subscriber gain ever and some controversy around increased prices in the U.S., Netflix looks to keep its momentum going into 2019.

From Jan. 18 through March, the streaming site will release 10 original films, including action-packed thrillers, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi, quirky comedies, inspirational dramas, an artistic horror movie and a viral documentary.

Subscribers can watch the action flick “Close,” documentary “Fyre” and sci-fi movie “Io,” while “Polar” with Mads Mikkelsen drops next week. February kicks off with the horrific “Velvet Buzzsaw” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and Steven Soderbergh and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “High Flying Bird” comes a week later. Comedies “The Breaker Upperers” and “Paddleton” round out the month. Finally, March brings two films based on true stories, “The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind” and “The Dirt.”

Close (Jan. 18)

Noomi Rapace stars as a counter-terrorist expert in this action thriller inspired by the real life of one...

Netflix has picked up Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the story of a real-life Malawian boy named William Kamkwamba who built a windmill that helped save his village from famine.

The streamer acquired global rights to the film excluding Japan, China and U.K. free TV rights, and plans to launch the film worldwide next year — including in select theaters in the U.S. and U.K.

Ejiofor, the Oscar-nominated star of 12 Years a Slave, also co-stars and wrote the script, adapted from the best-selling book of the same name by Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.

The film follows 13-year-old William Kamkwamba (newcomer Maxwell Simba) who is thrown out of the school he loves when his family can no longer afford the fees. Sneaking back into the school library, he...

The Champs-Élysées Film Festival, created by producer, distributor and exhibitor Sophie Dulac, is a commitment to Parisian audiences for a cinematic trip between France and the USA showcasing the best of French and American independent cinema and highlighting New Orleans.

Six American indies and six French indies will judged for two separate awards and will also receive audience awards. The 2017 Jury consist of talents coming from all kinds of backgrounds and having a strong involvement in French independent cinema : — Lolita Chammah, actress, — Lola Créton, actress, — Vincent Dedienne, actor, humorist and author, — Jérémie Elkaïm, actor, screenwriter and director, — Camélia Jordana, singer and actress, — Gustave Kervern, director and actor — Karidja Touré, actress.

Classic Claude Brasseur back when…

The classic French actor Claude Brasseur will be the Guest of Honor along with the American director Alex Ross Perry and director Jerry Schatzberg. Other guests include directors Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, the French actress Aïssa Maïga.

If one can expect anything from Michel Gondry, it is that along with the whimsy and touch of the bizarre inherent in his work is an element of truth.  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind uses erasure imagery to illustrate the pain of heartbreak. Be Kind Rewind has friendly video store employees creating their own versions of Hollywood hits for their neighborhood.  Gondry's latest film, love story Mood Indigo, however, is utterly drowning in whimsy and lacking any figment of truth.

Debonair and bearded Romain Duris (Populaire, The Beat That My Heart Skipped) stars as Colin, living off family money in a spacious Paris apartment. Audrey Tautou (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement) plays cute Chloe, whom Colin meets at a party. The plot goes something like this: guy meets girl, guy and girl fall in love and marry, flower grows in girl's lung.

There's also a B-plot, involving a friend (Gad Elmaleh,...

In a season where studios are spendings hundreds of millions of dollars on special effects to help tell fantastical stories, once again Michel Gondry is showing Hollywood how it's done. On a much smaller scale, and with far less cash, "Mood Indigo" presents no less an imaginative story, full with no shortage of Gondry-esque touches. And today we have some special items for Gondry fans. Starring Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga and Charlotte Le Bon, "Mood Indigo" is based on the cult novel by Boris Vian and follows the the wealthy bachelor Colin, who falls headlong into a dizzy romance with Chloé. But when she succumbs to an unusual illness, one that causes a flower begins to grow in her lungs, Colin discovers the only cure is to surround her with a never-ending supply of fresh flowers. It's the perfect kind of story for Gondry to tackle,...

Mood Indigo's Audrey Tautou with Michel Gondry at the Tribeca Grand Hotel premiere: "I like the bell. The doorbell that is like an insect." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Michel Gondry had a Tin Drum moment on the red carpet for his Mood Indigo*, starring Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris with Gad Elmaleh, Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga and Charlotte Le Bon. Boris Vian transformed into Günter Grass with a Volker Schlöndorff image stuck in and out of Gondry's head ending up in Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy? An Animated Conversation With Noam Chomsky and out of a faucet in Mood Indigo. Tautou and Duris walked the red carpet in 2013 at The Paris Theatre - she for Claude Miller's Thérèse Desqueyroux and he for Régis Roinsard's Populaire.

Audrey Tautou at Mood Indigo New York premiere: "I was really intrigued by the imagination and phantasy of this universe." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

David Byrne,...

Michel Gondry is something of an enigma in the film world, and one who reportedly found himself in an uncomfortable position during and after The Green Hornet. His latest, Mood Indigo, is hitting in limited release on July 18th, and its the film to see this summer, if you get the chance.

Returning to the wonder of his beginnings (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and taking a lot of notes from the past thirty years of French cinema, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (and, borrows his favorite leading lady), Gondry’s lastest looks like it could easily be one of the year’s best.

Check out the new clip below, which expands on their meeting, which is hinted at in the trailer above.

Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

Mood Indigo Clip – Colin meets Chloé

Eminently inventive Michel Gondry finds inspiration from French novelist Boris Vian’s cult novel to provide the foundation...

Mood Indigo

Directed by Michel Gondry

Written by Michel Gondry and Luc Bossi

France/Belgium, 2013

Adapted from Boris Vian’s cult novel, commonly translated as Froth on the Daydream, Michel Gondry’s latest film is a riotous, whimsical journey with a lot more to say than initially meets the eye. The opening sequence threatens to drown you in a cavalcade of offbeat animation and special effects, including a stop motion eel, an insect-like doorbell, a TV chef who passes ingredients through the screen and a miniature man dressed up like a mouse. Gondry’s indulgence throws down the gauntlet right away – either you’re in or you’re out. Mood Indigo can be bewildering, exasperating, infuriating, but, then again, it can be utterly transportive.

It stars Romain Duris as Colin, a wealthy bachelor who lives in a luxurious Parisian apartment with his cook/lawyer/intellectual guide Nicolas (Omar Sy). He...

Drafthouse Films has snapped up Michel Gondry's "Mood Indigo" for Us distribution. The film, starring Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris, is a love story about a pair of Parisian newlyweds. Here's the official synposis:The whirlwind courtship of Chloe (Audrey Tautou, Amélie, Coco Before Chanel) and Colin (Romain Duris, The Beat My Heart Skipped) is tested when an unusual illness plagues Chloe; a flower begins to grow in her lungs. Adapted from Boris Vian’s novel L’Ecume des jours, the romantic saga was produced by Luc Bossi of Brio Films and also stars Omar Sy (The Intouchables), Aïssa Maïga (Caché) and Gad Elmaleh.A theatrical release is planned for 2014, but no word yet on specifics. "Mood Indigo" played Karlovy Vary and Fantastic Fest in 2013.

Drafthouse Films announced today the acquisition from StudioCanal of Us rights to Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo , his return to the surreal landscape of emotion and imagination. Showcasing Gondry's signature whimsical aesthetics, gorgeous cinematography and colorfully eccentric characters, Mood Indigo is a love story set in a charmingly surreal Paris about two newlyweds, Chloe (Audrey Tautou) and Colin (Romain Duris), whose whirlwind courtship is tested when an unusual illness plagues Chloe; a flower begins to grow in her lungs. Adapted from Boris Vian's novel "L'Ecume des jours," the romantic saga was produced by Luc Bossi of Brio Films and also stars Omar Sy, Aïssa Maïga and Gad Elmaleh. A multi-city traditional theatrical platform release is planned for 2014....