Screen Cannes Day 2

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WORLD PREMIERE MAY 14TH (SAT) 22:00 GRAND THEATRE LUMIERE

@ RIVIERA E19

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Fin Août Productions presents

PIERRE DELADONCHAMPS

A KID GABRIEL ARCAND

CATHERINE DE LÉAN

A FILM BY PHILIPPE LIORET

MARKET PREMIERE TOMORROW 9.30am OLYMPIA 3 MARKET SCREENING © Sébastien Raymond

MONDAY 16th

3.30pm

OLYMPIA 3

WORLD SALES IN CANNES::

MARKET SCREENING

- - LÉRINS - BOOTH L23

Camille Neel: c.neel@le-pacte.com • Nathalie Jeung: n.jeung@le-pacte.com • Alice Lesort: a.lesort@le-pacte.com

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Memento powers up Trier’s Thelma

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US distributor Kino Lorber is launching a theatrical distribution label, Silk Road Cinema, dedicated to award-winning arthouse films from India, Pakistan and the rest of South Asia.

Kino Lorber is partnering with New York and Mumbai-based independent director-producer Shrihari Sathe to curate the collection and collaborate on distribution strategy.

Silk Road Cinema will release around six titles a year throughout North America, in theatres and

NEWS Homecoming

REVIEW Café Society Woody Allen’s opener in the “high altitudes” of his recent successes » Page 18

FEATURES Buzz titles The hot projects from Japan » Page 26

SCREENINGS What to see at the festival and in the market today » Page 64

Café Society stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Blake Lively with the film’s director Woody Allen on the red carpet for Cannes’ opening night film, which plays here out of competition

Driver set to saddle up for Gilliam’s Quixote

BY GEOFFREY MACNAB

Terry Gilliam’s long-gestating project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote looks set to shoot in the autumn with a hot new star — Adam Driver.

Fresh from Star Wars blockbuster The Force Awakens, Driver could bring fresh life to the film that has been in the pipeline for nearly 20 years. The role was origi-

Kino takes Silk Road to US

BY LIZ SHACKLETON

Japan hot titles, page 26

Gaumont boards Valérie Lemercier’s comedy » Page 2

Hubert Boesl

BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW

Memento Films International (MFI) has boarded sales on Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s supernatural thriller Thelma about a young woman unaware she possesses frightening powers.

After his English-language Louder Than Bombs, which played here in Competition last year, Trier has returned home for the Norwegian-language thriller, which is due to shoot in Oslo this autumn.

Thomas Robsahm at Oslo-based Motlys, who is lead producing, said the film will be “Trier’s most visually ambitious project to date, with striking VFX”.

Co-producers are Alexandre Mallet-Guy of Memento Films Production in France, Mikkel Jersin at Denmark’s Snowglobe and Mattias Nohrborg at Sweden’s B-Reel.

Trier will work with his usual team of co-writer Eskil Vogt, director of photography Jakob Ihre and editor Olivier Bugge Coutté.

Paris-based MFI is kicking off sales in Cannes. Casting is underway in Oslo, and the film is expected to be ready for spring 2017. Norwegian distributor SF Norge is planning a Halloween 2017 release. The $4.8m film was also supported by Eurimages, the Norwegian Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen Film Fund and Media.

TODAY

across all other platforms including DVD and VoD, starting with five titles acquired by Sathe and Alan McAlex’s 3 Monkeys.

These include Afia Nathaniel’s Dukhtar, Geetu Mohandas’s Liar’s Dice, Sathe’s 1,000 Rupee Note, Avinash Arun’s Berlinale winner Killa and Aamir Bashir’s Harud.

Sathe will be actively seeking new South Asian titles at Cannes with the Kino Lorber team.

Kino Lorber’s Wendy Lidell, who will oversee Silk Road’s theatrical releases, will also be in Cannes.

nally intended for Johnny Depp.

The part of Quixote, first played by Jean Rochefort when Gilliam mounted an ill-fated production in 1998, will be taken on by Gilliam’s fellow Monty Python member, Michael Palin.

The project, recently revived by Gilliam with veteran Portuguese producer Paulo Branco’s Alfama Films, is shaping up to shoot this

autumn. Driver and Palin would replace another high-profile duo who were lined up for the roles: rising star Jack O’Connell and veteran John Hurt.

Driver may be in Cannes later this week as he stars in Jim Jarmusch’s Competition film, Paterson. Full details of Gilliam’s Don Quixote project are expected to be confirmed later in the market.

Coixet plans to open Bookshop Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson are to star in writer-director Isabel Coixet drama The Bookshop, which is readying to shoot in August.

Set in a small town in 1959 England, The Bookshop charts the story of a woman (Mortimer) who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop — a decision that becomes a political minefield.

London-based Celsius Entertainment is cooking up deals

in Cannes on the period project, which has pre-sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Australia and New Zealand (Transmission), Greece (Odeon), airlines (Jaguar Distribution) and Turkey (Filmarti).

Producers are Joan Bas and Jaume Banacolocha from Diagonal and Adolfo Blanco from A Contracorriente.

Executive producers are Manuel Monzon, Albert Sagales and Fernando Riera.

Andreas Wiseman

Bergman’s Saving Neta goes West

BY ANDREAS WISEMAN

WestEnd has boarded world sales rights to Nir Bergman drama Saving Neta. The Israeli feature, in post-production, tells the stories of four women whose lives change after their brief encounter with a man called Neta.

The film is written by Eran Bar Gil and Bergman, the film-maker behind Berlinale award-winner Broken Wings, critically acclaimed TV drama In Treatment and Yona.

Benny Avni stars alongside Neta Riskin in a cast that also includes Rotem Abuhab, Irit Kaplan and Naama Arlaky.

Producers are Tami Leon, Avraham Pirchi and Chilik Michaeli (Big Bad Wolves) and executive producer is Rina Schneur.

Crew includes DoP Lutz Reitemeier (Wadjda) and composer Asher Goldschmidt (White God).

Bergman said: “At some time in our lives we’ve all made a wrong turn which brought about a sudden change. This is Neta’s story. His life suddenly got out of control and he’s searching for the right path again.”

Saving Neta

News

Papillon flies into Cannes Red Granite International’s Danny Dimbort and Christian Mercuri have begun sales here on Papillon starring Charlie Hunnam.

The film is styled as a contemporary and gritty re-telling of Franklin J Schaffner’s 1973 classic starring Steve McQueen as a petty criminal sent to the notorious Devil’s Island penal colony in French Guiana after he is convicted of murder.

Danish director Michael Noer is lining up to start production in the US this summer from a script

by Aaron Guzikowski. CAA represents US rights. Riza Aziz, Joey McFarland, Ram Bergman and Roger Corbi produce, while Dimbort and Mercuri are among executive producers with David Koplan, Yan Fischer-Romanovsky, Joshua D Mauer, Terence Chang and Martin Hellstern.

Jeremy Kay

Lot rises with Sun project

By Wendy Mitchell

Danish writer/director Kasper Barfoed (Summer Of ’92) and producer Michel Schonnemann are launching their production company The Lot by developing a feature film based on Danish journalist Puk Damsgaard’s bestseller Under A Crying Sun. The autobiography is about the relationship between Danish journalist Damsgaard and her local fixer Nour during the start of the Syrian war.

The shoot for the $3m feature is planned for February 2017 in Turkey and Morocco. Casting has started in Denmark and Los Angeles, and the Danish Film Institute is supporting development.

Barfoed said: “It’s a book that made me not just understand the war in Syria, but also feel it.”

Barfoed and producer Schonnemann jointly own The Lot. Schonnemann (Bridgend) also works under the Schonne Film label, which has recently shot Nikolaj Peyk’s comedy Undercover.

Gaumont prepares for Lemercier Homecoming

By Melanie Goodfellow

Gaumont has launched sales on Valérie Lemercier’s comedy Homecoming, about a middleaged woman who has to move back in with her parents.

It marks a fifth time in the director’s chair for popular French actress Lemercier after comedies including Palais Royal! and The Ultimate Accessory.

Lemercier also stars as the central character in Homecoming, who has to contend with her overbearing parents while rebuilding her life. Edouard Weil’s Rectangle Productions is producing the film, which began shooting April 20 for delivery in the second half of 2017.

Gaumont has also taken on sales of Serge Hazanavicius’ To

Homecoming

The Top starring box-office draw Kev Adams as a champion snowboarder with aspirations of taking on Mount Everest.

Ju l i e G a y e t a n d Na d i a Turincev’s Paris-based Rouge International is producing.

Adams’ My Family and India’s

Reliance Entertainment are on board as co-producers. UGC will release the film in France.

Also on Gaumont’s slate is Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache comedy C’est La Vie, produced by Paris-based Quad, which will be ready in the first half of 2017.

Suspects races on to Interchange

By Liz Shackleton

Paris-based Reel Suspects has picked up international rights to Malaysian director Dain Iskandar Said’s Interchange, the follow-up to his 2011 Toronto title Bunohan: Return To Murder.

Produced by Malaysia’s Apparat, the film revolves around a

series of macabre murders. The cast is headed by Indonesian stars Nicholas Saputra and Prisia Nasution, along with leading Malaysian actors Shaheizy Sam and Iedil Putra.

XYZ Films is representing the film for North American sales.

GSC Movies handles theatrical

distribution in Malaysia with the release slated for later this year.

The film is financed by Sonneratia Capital, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation and Seeing Eye Films with support from the National Film Development Board Malaysia and Indonesian co-producer Cinesurya.

Ferrari doc revs up Producers Kevin Loader (The Lady In The Van) and Julia TaylorStanley (Coriolanus) have joined forces with Embankment Films to tell the story behind the iconic Ferrari motor-racing team of the late 1950s.

Ferrari: Race To Immortality, which is in production, will chart the story of one of the greatest decades in motor-racing history.

It centres on ambitious Enzo Ferrari, whose drivers pushed themselves to the limit with sometimes fatal consequences.

The film will use recreation, firsthand accounts and archive material to tell the story of Ferrari’s La Scuderia team.

Sports film director Daryl Goodrich, whose Olympic Games launch film Make Britain Proud played a role in London’s successful 2012 bid, will direct.

The film is being produced in association with Piccadilly Pictures, Maggie Monteith of Dignity Film Finance and Norman Merry of Lipsync.

Taylor-Stanley described Goodrich as “a highly visual director and master storyteller,” and anticipated “a visceral and emotionally engaging film”.

Embankment handles world sales.

Andreas Wiseman

Film Factory hits The Bar

WTFilms unleashes ‘smart’ PET

By Jeremy Kay

By MELANIE GOODFELLOW

Film Factory has picked up worldwide sales rights to Alex de la Iglesia’s prestige thriller The Bar (El Bar) and is touting it to buyers on the Croisette.

Pokeepsie Films, Nadie Es Perfecto and Atresmedia Cine produce the film from de la Iglesia, who wrote the screenplay with Jorge Guerricaechevarria (Cell 211).

The action takes place at a watering hole one morning where a regular leaves the establishment and is shot dead. When a customer who attempts to help him is also killed, the clientele hole up inside, wondering not just what is going on, but where the killer is located.

Blanca Suarez, who starred in de la Iglesia’s 2015 comedy My

Paris-based genre specialist WTFilms has taken world sales on Spanish director Carles Torrens’ psychological thriller PET, starring Dominic Monaghan as a creepy loner who goes to extreme lengths to woo the object of his obsession, played by Ksenia Solo.

Based on a Jeremy Slater script, whose credits include the upcoming TV take on The Exorcist and the Fantastic Four reboot, the USset thriller premiered at SXSW in the Midnight section in March.

PET is Torrens’ second feature following Apartment 143.

The film was produced by Revolver Picture Company and Spain’s Magic Lantern. WTFilms is selling all territories apart from North America, which is handled

2 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

The Bar

Big Night and Pedro Almodovar’s I’m So Excited!, leads a cast that includes regulars Mario Casas, Jaime Ordonez, Terele Pavez and Carmen Machi. The Bar marks Film Factory’s third collaboration with the director after My Big Night and Witching & Bitching.

Film Factory managing director Vicente Canales described The Bar as “funny and frenetic”.

PET

by UTA Independent Film Group and Paradigm Talent Agency.

“PET is a very smart and twisty thriller, which keeps surprising you,” said WTFilms co-chief Gregory Chambet, teasing “a terrific ending”. “Without spoiling too much, it’s easy to say I haven’t seen such an interesting female character since Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct,” he added.

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News

Bodrov joins Knuckledust Mongol director Sergei Bodrov is to serve as executive producer and consultant on UK actionthriller Knuckledust.

A UK-France co-production from Featuristic Films and The Project, the English-language whodunnit is set in a hyperrealistic version of underground London. Casting is underway and writer-director James Kermack (Hi-Lo Joe) is due to shoot in early 2017.

Bodrov is also working on his sequel to Oscar-nominated Mongol. It will be a US-ChinaGermany co-production.

Featuristic and The Project will be in Cannes to finalise representation for their next feature The Sonata.

Andreas Wiseman

Lightning strikes for Epstein

Films Boutique and Caracol flock to Guerra

By JEREMY KAY

Ciro Guerra’s upcoming Birds Of A Passage (Pajaros De Verano), the follow-up to last year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight triumph and Oscar submission Embrace Of The Serpent, has secured a sales agent and key investor.

Films Boutique will begin talks with international buyers in Cannes this week as it emerged that Colombia’s Caracol Television has invested in the project — as it did on Embrace Of The Serpent under its initiative to support features — and taken TV rights.

Producers Cristina Gallego of Ciudad Lunar and Katrin Pors of Blond Indian Films have lined up principal photography for early 2017 in northern Colombia.

Maria Camila Arias and Embrace Of The Serpent coscreenwriter Jacques Toulemonde wrote the script from an original

Sister Of Mine

idea by Gallego about an arid region where a rare rainstorm in the 1970s causes devastation.

Meanwhile, Gallego reported that Sister Of Mine (Demonios Tus

Ojos), the third film by Pedro Aguilera, starring Ivana Baquero and Julio Perillan, is in final stages of post. Gallego produces with Pedro Aguilera and Antonello Novellino.

By Jeremy Kay

Mathilde Epstein has been promoted to head of sales at Lightning Entertainment. Previously vice-president of international sales, Epstein has served at the Santa Monica-based company for more than 10 years.

She arrives in Cannes with a slate that includes sci-fi romance The Summerland Project, action title Showdown In Manila, sci-fi adventure Synkhole and drugcartel thriller Powder And Gold.

Prior to Lightning, Epstein worked at Hannibal Pictures.

Edko Films latched on for Someone To Talk To

By Liz Shackleton

Hong Kong’s Edko Films is launching sales on Someone To Talk To, an adaptation of Liu Zhenyun’s award-winning novel One Sentence Worth Ten Thousand, produced by Bill Kong.

The novel, which won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2008, revolves around a divorcee and her married younger brother, and deals with loneliness and aliena-

4 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

tion in contemporary Chinese society. The adaptation marks the feature debut of award-winning shorts film-maker Liu Yulin, who is adapting her father’s work. Liu’s Door God (2014) won a silver medal at the 41st Student Academy Awards and was selected by Cannes.

“I was very impressed by Liu’s first short film and hoped to find the right material for us to work

together,” said Kay. “That’s when she suggested adapting this extraordinary novel by her father.

This film will mark the beginning of her promising career.”

Someone To Talk To , which is in post-production, stars Mao Hai, Li Quan, Fan Wei and Qi Xi. Liu Zhenyun’s novels Cell Phone and Back To 1942 have also been adapted into features, both by Chinese director Feng Xiaogang.

Piketty book gets doc treatment Thomas Piketty’s New York Times bestseller Capital In The 21st Century is to be made into a feature documentary, as a New Zealand/France co-production with the author on board as a consultant.

Justin Pemberton (The Golden Hour) will direct the film with Matthew Metcalfe (The Dead Lands) on board as producer.

General Film Corporation will produce. Upside Distribution handles world sales. Transmission Films will release in Australia and New Zealand. Production is due to get underway in August.

Like the book, which has sold more than 3 million copies, the film will explore how capitalism affects the world today; the forces that govern everything from house prices in Auckland to economic upheavals on Wall Street. Presented without a narrator, the story will reveal itself through interviews, popculture references, original footage and news excerpts.

Paris School of Economics professor Piketty told Screen: “It can make a beautiful film, because the story in the book is very visual. It is the story of inequality within nations and between nations since the Industrial Revolution, and the story of political fights and cultural representations of inequality.”

Andreas Wiseman

www.screendaily.com

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www.arriworldsales.de 06.05.16 13:07

News

Handmaiden serves Benelux

Visit locks down Maze

Veltri to head Magnolia sales

By Geoffrey Macnab

By Jeremy Kay

By Jeremy Kay

Benelux distribution outfit Cineart has taken rights to Competition entry The Handmaiden (Agassi), directed by Park Chan-wook.

Cineart has previously released films by the South Korean auteur, including Oldboy. The new film, set in the 1930s, is adapted from Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith.

Ryan Kampe’s Visit Films is handling Cannes sales on prisonbreak thriller Maze and has struck a deal with NonStop Entertainment for Scandinavia.

A UK deal is understood to be in the works on the true story of the 1983 escape by 38 prisoners from HMP Maze high-security prison in Northern Ireland. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor stars as the chief architect of the break-out. Barry Ward plays a prison warden.

Visit will show footage from the production, shooting in the Repub-

Scott Veltri has been promoted to head of worldwide sales for Magnolia International and replaces Christina Rogers, who is departing to pursue other opportunities.

Veltri previously served as vicepresident of international sales at the company, and worked closely with Rogers over the last three years to increase the profile of the division.

Veltri sold titles such as Sean Baker’s Tangerine and documentaries including Steve James’ Life Itself, Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack, Albert Maysles’ Iris and Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon’s Best Of Enemies.

The Magnolia sales slate features Sundance horror film The Eyes Of My Mother, and a slew of Park City documentary titles that includes Werner Herzog’s Lo And Behold: Reveries Of The Connected World, Tickled and The Lovers And The Despot.

France hears The Wailing Seoul-based sales company Finecut has sold Na Hong Jin’s out of competition title The Wailing to Metropolitan Filmexport for France, Frenchspeaking Benelux and Switzerland. The film has gone to China (Infotainment Media) and North America (Well Go USA).

Liz Shackleton

Maze

lic of Ireland and Sweden. Stephen Burke directs from his screenplay, while Jane Doolan of Mammoth Films and Brendan J Byrne of Cyprus Avenue Films produce. The

film is financed by the Irish Film Board, Film Väst, RTE and BAI. “Stephen’s story has a historical and political weight that can’t be ignored,” said Kampe.

The Match Factory orders Coffee And Cigarettes

By Geoffrey Macnab

The Match Factory has added Jim Jarmusch’s classic Coffee And Cigarettes (2003) to its library as the cult director heads to Cannes with two titles in official selection.

The Match Factory’s Jarmusch

8 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

collection already includes Permanent Vacation (1980), Stranger Than Paradise (1984) and Down

By Law (1986). Coffee And Cigarettes consists of a series of short films shot over a period of almost 20 years, featuring an eclectic cast

including Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett.

Jarmusch’s Paterson, starring Adam Driver, screens in Competition, and Gimme Danger, about Iggy and The Stooges, is receiving a Midnight Screening.

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News

Raven goes over the top Raven Banner arrives in Cannes with First World War horror Trench 11 with Rossif Sutherland (Hyena Road) attached to star.

The Toronto-based sales team will begin pre-sales here on the project from director Leo Scherman about an Allied plan to send a shellshocked tunneller into a bunker where the Germans have lost control of a biological weapon.

Tyler Levine produces and Martin Katz and Walter Gasparovic serve as executive producers alongside Phyllis Laing through her Buffalo Gal Pictures genre label Insidious Pictures.

Jeremy Kay

Other Angle takes Attal’s #TheJews

By Melanie Goodfellow

Paris-based Other Angle Pictures has taken on international sales of Yvan Attal’s daring tragicomic portmanteau film #TheJews, which explores antisemitism and the clichés surrounding the Jewish people.

The film — produced by Oscar winner Thomas Langmann (The Artist) — was born out of IsraeliFrench actor and director Attal’s sense of persecution amid a growing antisemitism and the response from his friends and family that he was overreacting.

“Yvan tackles several clichés surrounding the Jews from, ‘They’re everywhere’, to, ‘They killed Jesus Christ’

Gaga falls for Drowning Love

By Liz Shackleton

Japan’s Gaga Corp is launching sales on U-ki Yamato’s Drowning Love, an adaptation of popular manga Oboreru Kaifu, created by female manga artist George Asakura.

Starring Nana Komatsu and Masaki Suda, the film revolves around a successful Tokyo teenage model

who moves to the countryside and falls in love with a member of a prominent family of Shinto priests.

Gaga, which is ramping up local production, is also launching sales on romantic drama Itazura Na Kiss: The Movie, directed by Minoru Mizoguchi, and stop-motion animation Chieri And Cherry.

Sassy Girl sequel charms Asia

By JEAN NOH #TheJews

in a series of sketches — each of them tragicomic in tone,” said Other Angle chief Olivier Albou.

Attal has pulled together an ensemble cast including wife Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dany Boon, Benoit Poelvoorde, Francois Damiens,

Gilles Lellouche, Grégory Gadebois, Denis Podalydes and Valérie Bonneton.

“It is a controversial topic but it is also a timely one,” said Albou of the film, which is due to be released in France on June 1 by Wild Bunch Distribution.

Mirovision has sold KoreaChina co-production My New Sassy Girl to a slew of territories including Hong Kong and Macau (Edko), the Philippines (Pioneer), Thailand (Hollywood Thailand), Malaysia (Clover Films) and Vietnam (BHD).

The sequel to romantic comedy My Sassy Girl

(2001) — which swept through Asia with star Gianna Jun — My New Sassy Girl features Cha Tae-hyun from the original opposite Victoria, a Chinese member of K-pop band f(x).

Directed by Joh Keunshik, the film is a co-production between Korea’s Shincine and China’s Beijing Skywheel Media.

Golden Scene picks Weeds

By Liz Shackleton

Hong Kong-based Golden Scene has picked up international rights to Chan Chi Fat’s Weeds On Fire, which recently premiered at Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Inspired by the true story of Hong Kong’s first teenage baseball team, the film revolves around two childhood friends coming of age in the new towns of 1980s Hong Kong.

Produced by renowned

scriptwriter Chan Hing Kai and cinematographer O Sing Pui, the film is the inaugural production of the First Feature Film Initiative, backed by CreateHK to support first-time feature directors in Hong Kong.

New People plots project to TIFF lauds mark Russian Revolution Hosoda

By Geoffrey Macnab

A portmanteau film is being planned to mark the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, involving some of the most talented young directors in the country. The film, titled 20:17 and produced by New People Film Company, is also set to include contributions from established international film-makers.

Four stories are initially being prepared. The Fuel by Mikhail Arkhipov is the story of a self-taught blacksmith trying to save his village from starvation in 1918.

10 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Arms And Palms Of October

by Arseny Zanin will use the montage methods of legendary Russian film-maker Sergei Eisenstein. The Georgian by Nika Barabash and Andreas Konstandakes will tell the story of a petty thief, who looks like a young Stalin. Lenin by Denish Shibaev is set in Donbass in the present day and follows eccentrics who restore old Soviet monuments.

Producer Mila Rozanova is in Cannes introducing the project to potential backers.

It is likely to be a European co-production.

and Iwai

Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF, October 25-November 3) will be celebrating the work of Japanese film-makers Mamoru Hosoda and Shunji Iwai.

Hosoda’s work will be the subject of TIFF’s Animation Focus, while Iwai has been selected as the Director In Focus in the festival’s Japan Now section. TIFF will be screening all of Hosoda’s major films.

Liz Shackleton

www.screendaily.com

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C-FILMS AND LA SIALA ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT LITTLE MOUNTAIN BOY BASED ON THE BOOK A BELL FOR URSLI BY SELINA CHÖNZ AND ALOIS CARIGIET A FILM BY XAVIER KOLLER JONAS HARTMANN MARCUS SIGNER TONIA MARIA ZINDEL LEONARDO NIGRO MARTIN RAPOLD SARAH SOPHIA MEYER JULIA JEKER LAURIN MICHAEL WRITTEN BY XAVIER KOLLER AND STEFAN JÄGER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY FELIX VON MURALT PRODUCTION DESIGN FRANK BOLLINGER COSTUME MONIKA SCHMID MAKEUP MARC HOLLENSTEIN MUSIC MARTIN TILLMAN EDITOR GION-RETO KILLIAS SOUND RAOUL GRASS CASTING CORINNA GLAUS AND RUTH HIRSCHFELD LINE PRODUCER ROLAND STEBLER IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH SRF SCHWEIZER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN, SRG SSR, RTR, TELECLUB WITH THE SUPPORT OF BUNDESAMT FÜR KULTUR, ZÜRCHER FILMSTIFTUNG, SUISSIMAGE, KANTON GRAUBÜNDEN PRODUCED BY PETER REICHENBACH AND P.C. FUETER – C-FILMS, DITTI BÜRGIN-BROOK LA SIALA ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTED BY XAVIER KOLLER STARRING

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Diary Edited by Tom Grater

tom.grater@screendaily.com

How Mohamed Diab’s cast suffered for their art in the Cairo-set Clash

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The man with a van

Actors have long been prepared to suffer for their art but Egyptian star Nelly Karim got more pain than she bargained for when she joined the cast of Mohamed Diab’s post-revolution drama Clash, which opens Un Certain Regard tonight.

Set during violent demonstrations in Cairo at the end of Muslim Brotherhood-backed president Mohamed Morsi’s reign in 2013, the film follows 25 protesters, from opposing camps, who find themselves locked up in the same police van over the course of a day. The film features several arrest and fight scenes.

“Nelly got a rock in the face. It was a fake rock but it was heavy and really hurt,” says Diab. “To convince her to get back in the van, I gathered a pile of fake rocks, and told her to pick one and throw it at my face. She did and then got back in the van.”

The shoot also took a mental

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In conversation with...

Alain Guiraudie (Staying Vertical, Competition)

Alain Guiraudie

Mohamed Diab on the van set of Clash

toll on the cast, being cooped up in an 8 sq metre space for the best part of 26 days. “We shot the film in a real van using a small Alexa Mini,” says Diab. “One of the hardest things was that every single shot has 25 people. Even if an actor had only six lines in the

whole film, he had to be there from the first day of the shoot until the end.

“A few of the cast went to therapy,” adds the director. “But the hardship paid off and is what makes the film seem so real.”

Melanie Goodfellow

Ivory keeps his End up

Tag your #Cannes2016 pictures, anecdotes and gossip #CannesChatter to feature on this page

French film-maker Alain Guiraudie makes his debut in Competition with Staying Vertical. Noted for his LGBT-themed oeuvre, the director won the Un Certain Regard best director prize in 2013 for Stranger By The Lake. He talks to Screen International about entering the big leagues.

Was it easier to make Staying Vertical after the success of Stranger By The Lake?

Yes, it was much easier. Staying Vertical was financed very quickly.

It’s the biggest budget that I have worked with, although it wasn’t an enormous budget — around €3m [$3.4m].

The plot involves a film-maker on the hunt for wolves. Is this self-reflective in the manner of Federico Fellini?

The character being a film-maker is not really a focus of the film. It’s

It is now raining so heavily in #Cannes that apparently the film festival is going to be held indoors this year

very far from 8 ½. Wolves are a big problem in France. They have returned in numbers and people are hunting them to protect livestock. But it’s also an animal that is symbolic, an animal that creates fear and is very intelligent.

Many of your films have featured LGBT themes. Is that the case with Staying Vertical?

I think it’s very different. Staying Vertical is more queer than my last film. It’s not more homosexual, it’s more queer.

I hope to win the Queer Palme again with this film!

What do you see as the difference between the two?

Queer is for me something that gathers all the different sexualities, all the points of view on sexuality that are a little bit different.

Kaleem Aftab

Peter Bradshaw @PeterBradshaw1

Congratulations to @FIPRESCI on its 70th anniversary @Festival_Cannes. It started in 1946 with a critics jury presided over by Dilys Powell Critical Divide @CriticalDivide

Covering #Cannes2016 will be no day at the beach — but press kit makes a dandy beach bag. And it comes in colours!

Peter Howell @peterhowellfilm

James Ivory and Emma Thompson on the set of Howards End

At the age of 87, James Ivory remains remarkably busy. He will be in Cannes for the screening of Cohen Media’s restored version of the 1992 Merchant Ivory classic Howards End. He has also written the script for Luca Guadagnino’s new project, Call Me By Your Name, which has just started shooting, and is plotting a return to directing with a film version of

14 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Shakespeare’s Richard II, set to star Tom Hiddleston.

“I don’t want to dilly-dally too long,” Ivory says of the project, which is still at the financing stage. “I am not getting younger.”

As for Cannes, Ivory seems glad to be back at the festival, although he admits, “I hate having to put on a tuxedo.”

Geoffrey Macnab

Damien Bonnard, India Hair and Raphaël Thierry in Staying Vertical

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a Noble Intention A FILM BY JORAM LÜRSEN

Reviews

» Café Society p18 » Captain Fantastic p20

Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com

Café Society Reviewed by Jonathan Romney Visiting a romanticised past has sometimes served Woody Allen well (The Purple Rose Of Cairo, Midnight In Paris), sometimes rather badly (the recent Magic In The Moonlight). But the glitter of the 1930s American beau monde rubs off handsomely in Café Society, a bittersweet comedy of manners that sees Allen pushing the boat out stylistically and in narrative ambition, even as he treads familiar ground.

Sumptuous visual execution plus a top-rate ensemble cast should place this in the high altitudes of Allen’s recent commercial successes, especially in France where it opens simultaneously with its launch of Cannes’ official selection.

Essentially a tale of individuals losing their illusions as they find their way to worldly success, Café Society opens at a Los Angeles poolside party in the house of powerful, name-dropping Hollywood agent Phil Stern (Steve Carell).

Allen’s own voice-over narrates a constant zigzag between Los Angeles and New York, where we meet the Dorfmans, the working-class Jewish family of Phil’s sister Rose (Jeannie Berlin).

Rose’s son Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) soon arrives in Los Angeles looking for new avenues and, after a false start, is given a mailroom job by his uncle Phil, who also introduces him to his secretary Vonnie (Kristen Stewart). She is a down-to-earth soul, unimpressed by Hollywood pretensions, and Bobby instantly falls for her. But an irony that might strike some as just too darn neat stands in the way of their happi-

18 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Out of Competition US. 2016. 96mins Director/screenplay Woody Allen Production company Gravier Productions, Perdido Productions International sales FilmNation Entertainment info@wearefilmnation.com Producers Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Edward Walson Cinematography Vittorio Storaro Production design Santo Loquasto Main cast Jeannie Berlin, Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively, Parker Posey, Kristen Stewart, Jeannie Berlin, Corey Stoll, Ken Stott, Sari Lennick

ness, and Bobby flies back home. There he reinvents himself as the front-of-house charmer at the chic Manhattan nightclub run by his brother Ben (Corey Stoll), a gangster who has built his empire on sudden death (“If you ask nicely, people will listen,” he says, dumping a business associate into a cement pit).

There is little here that is truly surprising, although what could have been deeply mechanical in the development of Bobby’s path actually works out with a ring of classical ironic logic. In recent years, Allen has often seemed stifled by the vignette-style concision of his anecdotes (as in last year’s philosophical trifle Irrational Man). Here he opts for a more expansive narrative scale, spinning his story out over a year and zig-zagging between different sets of characters and sub-plots that build up teasingly.

Another ace is the film’s visual grace. Where some of Allen’s more sumptuous recent films such as Vicky Cristina Barcelona have erred on the side of picture-postcard kitsch, here he works for the first time with star DoP Vittorio Storaro to enlivening effect. Working with Santo Loquasto’s richly realised production design, Storaro provides a range of colour schemes for different settings, from the expected ’30s sepia of the Bronx to the vibrant aquatic blues of the opening pool scene. What is different for an Allen movie is the mobility of the camerawork, which opens up space and gives a sense of the way that enclosed worlds of superficial glamour can both dazzle and oppress their inhabitants.

There is, however, a certain amount of Allenby-rote here, and some lapses of tone: a meeting between Bobby and a gauche novice prostitute feels awkward and misplaced, not least because Eisenberg’s acting seems somewhat stagy (he gets more into his stride later). There are also flashes of familiar philosophical kvetching, graced with a drizzle of sharp one-liners (“Live every day as if it’s your last, and some day you’ll be right”). But where the ethical agonising was massively over-literal in Irrational Man, here it is effectively internalised in the drama itself.

Allenites will notice an unusual note of selfhomage in a Manhattan-referencing shot of Brooklyn Bridge. Jewish themes are also very much to the fore, with an eye to a streak of antisemitism in American life. “It’s true what they say,” Bobby’s new WASP squeeze (a silky Blake Lively) says to him — fondly, but even so — “you people are pushy.”

Acting-wise, this is one of Allen’s best ensembles for a while, the cast including Ken Stott and Sari Lennick as Bobby’s parents from the Bronx, and Carell on terrific form as a man of power wrestling with his emotional vulnerabilities. At moments, Eisenberg is simply too fullon nervy but, overall, he is highly affecting as a would-be idealist only too open to the corruptions of success. And although Stewart does not seem entirely of the film’s period — at the start, she seems like a ’50s boho free spirit before her time — nevertheless, she continues to mature as a very subtle performer, unfolding layer after layer of secrets and changes.

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FESTIVAL DI CANNES

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In Competition

In Competition

Cannes Classics

I, Daniel Blake

Loving

A Journey Through French Cinema

by Ken Loach

by Jeff Nichols

by Bertrand Tavernier

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www.differentcreativity.com DESIGN:

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DIFFERENT CREATIVITY

DIFFERENT CREATIVITY

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Being 17 H United States of Love H I, Daniel Blake Loving H How to talk to Girls at Parties H Denial A Journey through French Cinema H Through the Wall The Big Sick H Viceroy’s House H Happy End

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REviews

Captain Fantastic Reviewed by David D’Arcy The Cash family may be the most unusual you have ever met. Living deep in the forest of the American Pacific Northwest, patriarch Ben (Viggo Mortensen) trains his six young children to survive in the wilderness, all the while teaching them about Noam Chomsky, Dostoyevsky and Bach. By day, they hunt deer with only a knife and climb the sheer cliffs; by the campfire at night, they read high-level physics and play music.

Like the family at its centre, Captain Fantastic is an odd bird, sometimes endearing, sometimes unbelievable. There are enough hooks to make a big commercial play for the movie in the marketplace, including Mortensen’s magnetic lead performance, an array of likeable young actors, a few choice laugh lines, and a couple of comedic set-pieces on a road trip. But despite some obvious points of comparisons with Little Miss Sunshine, Captain Fantastic does not deliver fully as either a full-on crowd-pleaser or a critical darling. But on the back of its Un Certain Regard showing here, the film should have a good shot internationally, where its good-humoured anti-Americanism may go down well.

After a lively intro to Ben and his kids, the story kicks into gear when Ben learns his wife has killed herself in a psychiatric hospital and her conservative parents are intent on holding a traditional Christian funeral. Viewing this as an affront to the family’s progressive ways and his wife’s Buddhist beliefs, Ben sets out across the country with his kids on an old school bus to rescue her body.

On the road, the family’s quirks, resistance to societal norms and cleverness come to the fore in several funny sequences, but a lot of the script strains credibility or does not completely cohere. For one, Ben’s unwavering commitment to living off the grid and possibly endangering his kids in the process can sometimes be hard to bear. Yet, later in the film, it is equally implausible to suggest that he would so quickly give up on everything he has fought so hard for. And what is Ben’s ideology, anyway? Communist? Maoist? Libertarian socialist?

For viewers enthralled by the charisma of Mortensen’s mountain-man-cum-anarchist and his family’s anti-establishment ways, such complaints may be mere quibbles, but they add up. And at a full two hours, it takes a long time for writer-director Matt Ross to resolve his main character’s arc and contradictions.

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09/05/2016 17:04

un certain regard US. 2015. 120mins Director/screenplay Matt Ross Production companies Electric City Entertainment, ShivHans Pictures International sales eOne Features, www. entertainmentone.com Producers Lynette Howell Taylor, Jamie Patricof, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson Editor Joseph Krings Production designer Russell Barnes Cinematography Stéphane Fontaine Main cast Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, George MacKay, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn, Ann Dowd

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TERRITORY FOCUS RUSSIA

Klim Shipenko’s space drama Salyut 7 will be released next year

The chill zone

What is the state of play in the Russian film industry two years on from the Cannes success of Leviathan? Martin Blaney reports

T

he Russian film industry has seen a plethora of challenges in the two years since Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan premiered in Competition at Cannes. Russia’s military presence in Ukraine, the subsequent economic sanctions and the ensuing recession mean the country’s media is under a great deal of pressure to project a positive view of Russia and Russian history to its own population and the outside world. The emphasis for filmmakers looking for state financing is firmly on the production of national stories for the local market.

International producers hoping to work with Russian partners are feeling the effects of this policy and compare it to a return to the Communist era.

“The projects I am offered as a foreign producer interested in Russian co-production are small arthouse films without any political element in them,” says Finnish producer Ilkka Matila of Matila Röhr Productions. Previously, he has worked with Russian partners on projects including Fyodor Bondarchuk’s Afghanistan war drama The 9th Company and animation feature Quest For A Heart.

“The stories distance themselves from the contemporary world and take place in a fantasy one,” he adds. “This reminds me of the Soviet times.”

Independent Russian producers confirm this emphasis. “Last year, there was a focus on the Second World War [or the Great Patriotic War, as it is known in Russia] and pro-

22 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

jects relevant to that era received more attention,” says Fyodor Druzin of Veles Film.

In the current climate, it feels less likely that an anti-establishment film such as Leviathan would be made. Produced by Alexander Rodnyansky’s AR Films, Zvyagintsev’s title received $560,000 (RUB37m) of its $3.3m (RUB220m) budget from Russia’s Ministry of Culture thanks to the public pitching procedure introduced by the ministry in 2012. Released by 20th Century Fox CIS and A Company in February 2015 on ‘Capitalism is still 638 prints, Leviathan was seen by around 350,000 Russian cinema-goers and made practised in a $1.3m at the box office. wild, raw form in Producer Rodnyansky, a member of this Russia. Money year’s Camera d’Or jury in Cannes, is preparing a new — unnamed — project with Zvydoesn’t trickle agintsev to shoot later this year. down from the Several films are now in production to be top. It cascades’ ready for next year’s centenary celebrations of the 1917 October Revolution. There are Johnny O’Reilly, director also many projects in the pipeline that celebrate moments in Russian or Soviet history.

These include Alexei Uchitel’s big-budget costume drama Mathilde, about a love affair between Tsar Nicholas and a ballerina, Aleksandr Kott’s Union Of Salvation,, about the founding of the 19thcentury Decembrists political secret society, Klim Shipenko’s Johnny O’Reilly’s Moscow Never Sleeps was released last autumn space drama

Salyut 7 and Anton Megerdichev’s Road To The Top (Dvizhenie Verkh), about the legendary basketball match between the USSR and US at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Tie-ups with China According to St Petersburg-based producer Sergey Selyanov, who serves as chairman of the board of the Russian Producers Association, the state authorities are now more interested in encouraging co-operation with China after recent big-budget Russian titles such as Metro, Stalingrad and animations The Snow Queen 2 and Wolves And Sheep were distributed there successfully.

“There is no interest in European co-production from the government,” observes Selyanov.

Indeed, the initiatives for film academies and co-development funds with France, Germany and Italy, which initially were trumpeted widely, have been allowed to fizzle out on the Russians’ part. But the territory has remained committed to membership of the pan-European Eurimages co-production fund, which it joined in March 2011. Last year the Strasbourg-based fund backed four majority Russian feature projects: Andrei Konchalovsky’s The Paradise, Aleksey German Jr’s Dovlatov, Ivan Tverdovsky’s Zoology and Ivan Bolotnikov’s Kharms, as well as a minority co-production on Georgian director Nino Zhvania’s Parade Parade.

“After seeing Corrections Class in »

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TERRITORY FOCUS RUSSIA

Mathilde

Karlovy Vary in 2014, I said to [director] Ivan [Tverdovsky] that I would be interested in co-producing his next film,” recalls French producer Guillaume de Seille of Arizona Films, whose distribution arm subsequently released Corrections Class in French cinemas “to establish Ivan’s name with our audiences and make it easier for his second film”.

This time last year in Cannes, de Seille signed a co-production deal with Natalia Mokritskaya’s New People Film Company (with Berlin-based Movie Brats as a third partner to handle post-production and VFX), and shooting began on Tverdovsky’s second feature Zoology last November.

Leonid Demchenko, Russia’s national representative at Eurimages, points out his country is also expanding the network of cinemas showing European films in their programmes with the support of Eurimages. “We have nine theatres in the Europa Cinemas chain all over the country from Kaliningrad to Irkutsk, and two new cinemas set to join in 2016.”

“Language has been a problem in the past for co-productions,” observes Atlantic Film’s Katia Filippova, producer of Kott’s awardwinning Insight and one of only two Russian members of the ACE producers network.

“But there is a new generation coming through, which is more open and wants to work on co-productions.”

Filippova had Czech and Georgian partners on board her production of Georgy Paradzhanov’s 2012 drama Everybody’s Gone and will now be seeking to structure as a co-production The Man Who Surprised Everybody, the next project by Intimate Parts co-directors Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov.

However, as Matila points out, “the biggest difficulty for Russian-West co-productions is the weak rouble. The Western services have become 50% more expensive

24 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

than before the crisis. So, economically, it is not possible to think of buying services in currencies other than the rouble.”

According to Moscow-based Irish filmmaker Johnny O’Reilly, whose second feature Moscow Never Sleeps was released in Russian cinemas last autumn, raising private finance is still easier in Russia than in the rest of Europe or the US, despite the recession. O’Reilly accessed private equity financing from a group of Moscow-based investors to combine with Eurimages and Irish Film Board funding for Moscow Never Sleeps.

“Capitalism is still practised in a wild, raw form in Russia,” he says. “Money doesn’t trickle down from the top. It cascades.”

Distribution and exhibition The rapid devaluation of the Russian rouble over the past two years has spelt the end for a number of small and medium-sized Russian distributors, with companies including Exponenta being one of the few survivors.

Moscow-based German producer Simone Baumann, whose credits include Under The Sun, notes the difficult economic situation has meant cinemas prefer to show blockbusters rather than arthouse films.

Passenger Film’s Liza Antonova, the producer of Aleksandr Mindadze’s My Good Hans,, a co-production with Germany and the UK, argues the large Russian distributors do not show any interest in auteur cinema.

There are calls for these distributors to plough back revenues from commercial projects into independent cinema as well as films by young film-makers and children’s films.

My Good Hans was released on 47 prints and has taken around

‘It is cheaper to shoot in Russia than the cheapest of the Eastern European countries’ Fyodor Druzin, Veles Film

The Crew (Ekipazh)

$15,000 (RUB1m) in its first six weeks in cinemas. Kott’s Insight was released on only four prints last year.

While the market share for Russian productions dipped slightly last year to 17.3% from 2014’s 18.7% and overall admissions slipped 1.1% to 174.1 million, the Russian exhibition market is still expanding. According to forecasts by Nevafilm Research, the number of cinema screens in Russia will increase by 13% to 4,495 by the end of the year — thanks in large part to the special $37.8m (RUB2.5bn) subsidy programme launched under the auspices of 2016’s Year of Russian Cinema. There are plans to establish more than 500 new cinemas in small towns with populations of less than 100,000.

Nevafilm suggests admissions will rise this year to 185 million thanks to strong US fare such as Kung-Fu Panda 3, Dr Strange and the latest film in the Star Wars franchise, as well as local hopefuls such as airplane drama The Crew (Ekipazh) and historical films Viking and Duelyant. Whether the new crop of state-funded cinemas will provide additional screening opportunities for smaller arthouse titles remains to be seen.

Producers do see a possible silver lining to Russia’s current economic woes. “It is cheaper to shoot in Russia than the cheapest of the Eastern European countries, even when one considers the tax incentives they provide,” says Druzin. “This is particularly true regarding post-production, where international outsourcing is becoming more and more common.

“Russian crews now have as much experience as their colleagues in Eastern Europe but are noticeably cheaper. We hope this will create more interest in Russia and shooting here, and help reintegrate Russia back into s the international industry.” ■

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Hot Projects Japan

The jewels from Japan From international festival favourites to strong genre projects, there is a wealth of Japanese product on offer this year to international buyers. Liz Shackleton reports

Official Selection

After The Storm Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda Selected for Un Certain Regard, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film follows a prize-winning author turned private detective attempting to re-establish a bond with his young son. Hiroshi Abe (Still Walking) plays the burnt-out detective, while Yoko Maki (Like Father, Like Son) plays his ex-wife, Kilin Kiki (An) his mother and Taiyo Yoshizawa (Strayer’s Chronicle) the son. A Cannes regular, Kore-eda’s previous film, Our Little Sister, premiered in Competition in 2015 and was sold to Sony Pictures Classics for North America. After The Storm is scheduled for Japanese release on May 21.

Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016

Contacts Olivier Barbier, Wild Bunch obarbier@wildbunch.eu; Haruko Watanabe, Gaga watanabh@gaga.co.jp

obarbier@wildbunch.eu

In The Market

Harmonium

2016 Fuji Television Network — Bandai Visual — Aoi Pro. Inc — Gaga Corporation. All rights reserved

Dir Koji Fukada Also premiering in Un Certain Regard, the sixth film from Japan’s Koji Fukada is the story of Toshio, who hires an old acquaintance who has just been released from prison to help him in his small workshop in a country village. Kanji Furutachi and Tadanobu Asano head the cast of the film, which was co-produced by France’s Commes Des Cinemas and Japan’s Nagoya Broadcasting Network (NBN). Commes Des Cinemas also produced Naomi Kawase’s An and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Journey To The Shore, also starring Asano, which both premiered in Cannes last year. Fukada’s previous work includes Rohmer-esque Au Revoir l’Ete (2013) and Sayonara (2015), which featured a real-life robot in one of the lead roles.

Contact MK2 intlsales@mk2.com

Momotaro, Sacred Sailors Dir Mitsuyo Seo Screening in Cannes Classics after being fully restored by Shochiku, Mit-

26 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016 Dirs Isao Yukisada (Japan), Brillante Mendoza (Philippines), Sotho Kulikar (Cambodia)

winning Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit is co-produced with Japan’s Studio Ghibli and a consortium of French companies including Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions.

Screening here in Un Certain Regard the story — which is told entirely without dialogue — revolves around a man marooned on a desert island who tries desperately to escape, until one day he encounters a strange turtle that will change his life. Dudok de Wit won an Academy Award for best animated short film in 2001 for Father And Daughter.

Japan Foundation Asia Centre and Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) are collaborating on this omnibus film that aims to increase creative collaboration between Japan and other Asian countries by presenting three different perspectives on Asian society and culture. The three directors — Japan’s Isao Yukisada, the Philippines’ Brillante Mendoza and Cambodia’s Sotho Kulikar — have each directed a story about an Asian person living within Asia but outside their home country. The cast includes Lou Veloso (Trap), who stars in Mendoza’s portion, and Japanese actors Masatoshi Nagase (Mystery Train) and Masaya Kato (Brother), who star in Yukisada and Kulikar’s short films. The film will premiere in October’s TIFF before travelling to other film festivals.

Contact Olivier Barbier, Wild Bunch obarbier@wildbunch.eu

Contact Azusa Kenjo, UniJapan azusa.kenjo@tiff-jp.net

After The Storm

suyo Seo’s 1945 propaganda movie is one of the first animated features ever made in Japan. It was a big influence on seminal animators including Osamu Tezuka. Funded by Japan’s Ministry of the Navy, the film draws from local fairy-tales about the fictional character of Momotaro and his band of animal followers, who depict the exploits of the Imperial Navy.

Contact Shion Komatsu, Shochiku shion_komatsu@shochiku.co.jp

The Red Turtle Dir Michael Dudok de Wit The first feature by Academy Award-

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»

Hot Projects Japan

Death Note 2016

includes Hideaki Ito (Lesson Of The Evil) and Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin series), while Miike regular Shun Oguri stars as a mad scientist. Warner Bros Japan heads the production committee for the film, which was released in Japan on April 29.

Gaga has international rights outside of Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.

Dir Shinsuke Sato Starring Masahiro Higashide and Sosuke Ikematsu, the latest instalment in the internationally popular Death Note franchise continues the themes of the first two films with a different director and new stars. Released back-to-back in 2006, the first two films were about a student who discovers he can kill people by writing their names in a special notebook and the detective who risks his life to stop him. The films were followed by a spinoff, Hideo Nakata’s L: Change The World, in 2008. In the latest instalment, produced by Warner Bros Japan and Nippon TV, there are six deadly notebooks and a computer virus wreaking havoc across the world. Directed by Shinsuke Sato, whose credits include the Gantz franchise, Death Note 2016 is scheduled for Japanese release on October 29.

Contact Haruko Watanabe, Gaga watanabh@gaga.co.jp

The Top Secret: Murder In Mind Dir Keishi Otomo

Your Name

this theatrical project that celebrates 45 years of the genre. All the film-makers have been given the same budget to shoot their film, referencing the classic soft-core Roman Porno films of the 1970s and ’80s, which launched the careers of many acclaimed directors. Now in production, the series is scheduled for theatrical release this autumn, while SKY PerfectTV will broadcast an R-15 modified version later in the year.

Contact Naoko Satoh, Nippon TV satohn.stf@ntv.co.jp

Itazura Na Kiss — The Movie Dir Minoru Mizoguchi Rising stars Kanta Sato (High & Low) and Reina Visa (Corpse Party) are starring in the first ever big-screen adaptation of bestselling manga Itazura Na Kiss, which is being co-produced by Gaga Corp, Asia Pictures Entertainment and LDH. The story follows a young female student who is miserably rejected by her high-school crush, but ends up living with his family when her own family’s house collapses. The original comic has sold more than 35 million copies and been adapted into live-action TV series in Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand, along with an animation series and stage play.

Contact Haruko Watanabe, Gaga watanabh@gaga.co.jp

My Uncle Yu Sasuga, Kenichi Tachibana/Shueisha, 2016 Terraformers Film Partners

Dir Nobuhiro Yamashita Nobuhiro Yamashita has become one of Japan’s most highly acclaimed young directors due to the subtlety and off-beat humour of films such as Linda Linda Linda (2005), Tamako In Moratorium (2013) and La La La At Rock Bottom (2015). His latest comedy drama revolves around a young boy who is told to write about a family member for his homework. He decides to shadow his uncle, a laid-back part-time lecturer of philosophy who follows a beautiful young woman to Hawaii, with the curious nephew coming along for the ride.

Ryuhei Matsuda (The Great Passage) plays the uncle with child actor Riku

28 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Terraformers

Ohnishi as the pesky kid. Japanese release is scheduled for autumn 2016.

Contact Daichi Yashiki, Toei dai_yashiki@toei.co.jp

Rage Dir Lee Sang-il A stellar ensemble cast which includes Ken Watanabe, Mirai Moriyama, Kenichi Matsuyama, Go Ayano, Aoi Miyazaki and Satoshi Tsumabuki has been put together for this suspense drama. Based on a novel by Shuichi Yoshida, Rage is about three couples who develop suspicions about the people around them, following a brutal double murder in a Tokyo suburb. Now in post-production, the film is scheduled for Japanese release in September. Lee Sang-il’s credits include Hula Girls, Unforgiven and Villain.

Contact Yasuke Kikuchi, Toho y_kikuchi@toho.co.jp

Roman Porno Reboot Dirs Akihiko Shiota, Kazuya Shiraishi, Sion Sono, Hideo Nakata, Isao Yukisada Five leading Japanese film-makers are each directing a 70-80 minute feature in the Nikkatsu ‘Roman Porno’ format for

Contact Emico Kawai, Nikkatsu kawai@nikkatsu.co.jp

Seto And Utsumi Dir Tatsushi Omori Two of Japan’s hottest young actors, Sosuke Ikematsu and Masaki Suda, star in this drama directed by Tatsushi Omori, whose credits include 2013’s award-winning The Ravine Of Goodbye. Based on Kazuya Konomoto’s bestselling manga, the film follows two Osaka high-school buddies dissecting life, love and other topics via word games and witty banter when they meet by the river after school.

The Ravine Of Goodbye won awards including best actress at the Asian Film Awards and the special jury prize at Moscow International Film Festival.

Contact Fumiko Nagata, Free Stone Productions fumiko.nagata@freestone.jp

Terraformers Dir Takashi Miike Takashi Miike’s sci-fi action film is based on a bestselling manga about a motley crew of social misfits who are sent to Mars to eradicate the cockroaches that had been shipped there to make the planet’s atmosphere habitable. But they arrive to discover the roaches have evolved into giant creatures that mercilessly attack the humans. The unsuspecting crew

Shochiku’s big-budget sci-fi thriller revolves around a police unit that solves cold cases by scanning the brains of dead people in order to visualise memories from their lifetimes. Masaki Okada and Toma Ikuta play cops who scan a man executed for murdering his family, only to discover his missing daughter committed the crime. Director Keishi Otomo is known for his big-budget manga adaptations including the Rurouni Kenshin franchise. The film is scheduled for Japanese release on August 6.

Contact Shion Komatsu, Shochiku shion_komatsu@shochiku.co.jp

When They Knit Seriously (working title) Dir Naoko Ogigami One of the most prominent film-makers of Japan’s female new wave, Naoko Ogigami tackles subjects including transgenderism and dementia in her latest feature, but with her usual light touch and whimsical style. In production, the film follows an 11-year-old girl who goes to live with an uncle and his transgender girlfriend after her mother disappears. Ogigami’s credits include Kamome Diner (2006), Megane Glasses (2007) and Rent-a-Cat (2012). Megane Glasses won the Manfred Salzgeber Award at Berlin in 2008.

Contact Emico Kawai, Nikkatsu kawai@nikkatsu.co.jp

Your Name Dir Makoto Shinkai Makoto Shinkai, who has been hailed as a new Miyazaki after films such as The Garden Of Words (2013), teams with animation director Masashi Ando (Spirited Away) and character designer Masayoshi Tanaka (Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day) on this highly anticipated animated feature. The story revolves around a village girl and Tokyo high-school boy who swap bodies when they are sleeping. Japanese release has been scheduled for August 26.

Contact Yasuke Kikuchi, Toho s y_kikuchi@toho.co.jp n

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SCREENING

Meet us at

Palais 01 STAND 23.01

S a t 14 th 09:30Mon

RIVIERA1

16th 17:30- OLYMPIA9

| Japan Booth

contact_en@geki-cine.jp

© 2015 B.B.F.P

© 2016 RVW FP

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Shunji Iwai’s A Bride For Rip Van Winkle

Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy And The Beast

Time to connect

This year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (Oct 25-Nov 3) will look to build on its success in supporting talent from Asia and fostering valuable links with the international film community

B

ack for its 29th edition, Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is stepping up to the next level in its drive to support talent from Asia and foster valuable links with the global film community. In addition to hosting the third part of its Crosscut Asia series, this year’s festival (October 25-November 3) will feature the premiere of the Asian Three-Fold Mirror omnibus film project. The project is part of its initiative with the Japan Foundation Asia Center to promote collaboration among the region’s film-makers.

The directors of the film — the festival’s first co-production — are the Philippines’ Brillante Mendoza, Cambodia’s Sotho Kulikar and Japan’s Isao Yukisada. “The key word that we’re placing importance on at Tokyo International Film Festival is networking,” says TIFF director-general Yasushi Shiina, now in his fourth year at the helm. “This year we have the world premiere of the Asian Three-Fold Mirror inter-

30 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

national co-production project and we’ll also have a lot of proven producers from all over Asia gathering at planned events, so we want to emphasise networking.”

Underscoring Tokyo’s global links, Mendoza is also in Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with his film Ma’ Rosa.

Another Tokyo repeater appearing on the Croisette is Koji Fukada (see sidebar). Fukada’s Sayonara screened last year in Tokyo’s main Competition, where Brazilian director Roberto Berliner took the Tokyo Grand Prix with Nise: The Heart Of Madness. Other Tokyo competition sections are its Asian Future and Japanese Cinema Splash.

Under Shiina’s watch, Tokyo has rapidly expanded its programme, helping to boost total participants at events of the festival and TIFFCOM content market to a record 240,000 last year. It has added screening locations, launched special events such as its performance and screening at the historic Kabukiza Theatre and increased the number

of out-of-competition sections. Its animation programmes in particular have drawn attention as the festival taps into Japan’s traditional strength in anime. Last year the festival held the special sidebar The World Of Gundam, screening the entire robot anime series. In 2014, the works of director Hideaki Anno, co-director of the upcoming Godzilla Resurgence, were featured.

‘Japan’s film industry needs to look overseas in order to expand its business’ Yasushi Shiina, TIFF

Sections and spotlights This year’s animation section will spotlight the works of Mamoru Hosoda, who is sometimes referred to as the next Hayao Miyazaki following the 2013 retirement of the animation maestro. Known for Summer Wars (2009) and Wolf Children (2012), the director’s The Boy And The Beast was a big hit last year in Japan, becoming the number one domestic film at the local box office. France’s Gaumont is handling international sales outside Asia for The Boy And The Beast, the first Japanese film handled by the company.

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Japanese director Koji Fukada is one of the most familiar faces at Tokyo International Film Festival. His comedy Hospitalité won the prize for best picture in the Japanese Eyes section in 2010, and his dramas Au Revoir l’Ete (2013) and Sayonara (2015) both screened in the main Competition section. This year, Fukada is competing at Cannes Film Festival for the first time, with his latest feature Harmonium (Fuchi Ni Tatsu) screening in Un Certain Regard. Harmonium tells the story of Toshio, the owner of a village workshop, whose family life is upturned when he tries to help an old friend by hiring him on his release from jail.

How did this film come about?

Koji Fukada I wrote the synopsis nine years ago and then put it aside. Then

in 2014 I met the producer Kazumasa Yonemitsu and with his passionate approach suddenly the project began to move. I can’t really remember

Asian Three-Fold Mirror directors Isao Yukisada, Sotho Kulikar and Brillante Mendoza

‘We wanted to introduce Mamoru Hosoda’s work to a larger audience’ Cécile Gaget, Gaumont

“Hosoda-san has had a fanbase in France for a long time; he is definitely seen as a very sensitive artist,” says Cécile Gaget, head of international production and distribution at Gaumont. Gaget says she and others at the company were fans of Hosoda’s previous works and became excited about taking on The Boy And The Beast after reading the script.

“We had a deep wish to upscale Hosodasan’s work in France and internationally, to introduce his work to a larger audience and put him in the hands of mainstream international distributors,” she says. TIFF’s special focus will follow Hosoda’s career and spotlight his attributes as an auteur.

Another section, launched last year, is Japan Now, which features recent Japanese films that are ineligible for the Competition section because they have already premiered overseas or been released theatrically in Japan. The festival was keen to screen films that are representative of current Japanese cinema but that the media or buyers coming from overseas were not able to watch in the past. “Japan Now has been very well received. People in the film indus-

try, the foreign press and audiences in general not only get to watch iconic films but also have the chance to hear directly from the directors and actors at their Q&A sessions,” Shiina says.

This year’s Director in Focus in the Japan Now section will be Love Letter director Shunji Iwai. After a long hiatus in the US during which he was mostly producing and writing, Iwai returned to live-action feature film-making this year with A Bride For Rip Van Winkle, his first since Hana & Alice in 2004. Iwai has many fans among film-makers, including Quentin Tarantino. “There’s a Japanese movie, All About Lily Chou-Chou, by a terrific director, Shunji Iwai,” Tarantino once told Entertainment Weekly in an interview. “He has my career in Japan — he did a movie called Swallowtail Butterfly that was to Japan what Pulp Fiction was to America.”

A Bride For Rip Van Winkle is also notable for opening in some overseas markets such as Taiwan and Hong Kong before hitting cinemas in Japan. “Japan’s film industry is oriented towards the domestic market, but going forward it needs to look overseas in order to expand its business,” Shiina says.

The festival’s affiliated market, TIFFCOM, will be held in the Odaiba area on Tokyo Bay from October 25-27. That means all three days will overlap with the festival, up from one in 2015. Last year was the fourth year TIFFCOM was held under the umbrella of the Japan Content Showcase marketplace for music, film, TV and animation, and notched a record-high attendance of 24,236 visitors with 6,663 business meetings. The total amount of deals came to nearly $53m during the three-day market.

HOW TO ENTER The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival will be held October 25 to November 3. The festival is accepting Competition section submissions until July 8.

For details visit the official TIFF will spotlight iconic directors Mamoru Hosoda (left) and Shunji Iwai website www.tiff-jp.net

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Un Certain Regard title Harmonium

what the impetus was at the time but it was meant to be a story with suspicion and curiosity towards a family at its core.

What challenges did you face during the production?

In Japan it’s difficult to get an original film made; I was lucky to have a progressive cast for Harmonium so I could make an art film with commercial potential. Production time was limited ahead of Cannes but with support from the excellent crews in Japan and France we didn’t have problems.

You have had many films premiere at Tokyo

Screening at Tokyo International Film Festival means being noticed by journalists from other countries and getting the opportunity to participate in a lot of other international film festivals. Thanks to this experience, I think it has been so valuable from both a domestic and overseas point of view.

How does it feel getting into Cannes?

It was one of my goals so it’s an unbelievable feeling. But I’m not going to get caught up in everything. I’m going to continue making my own films like I’ve always done.

What does a Cannes berth mean in Japan?

It is very significant. First of all, in order for an art film like Harmonium to have commercial potential, it’s an enormous help. In addition, it serves as a guarantee of quality for people who haven’t seen the film yet. On the other hand, there remains a tendency to see being selected for film festivals including Cannes as a marketing tool. But I believe film festivals are a foothold for the continuous creation of artists and I will aim to take advantage of this opportunity through my work.

Koji Fukada

May 12, 2016 Screen International at Cannes 31

©2016 Fuchi Ni Tatsu Film Partners & Comme Des Cinemas

Q&A KOJI FUKADA

IN FOCUS UK PRIVATE FINANCIERS

Adventure capital Investor confidence in the UK film industry is growing thanks to the country’s embedded tax credit and the efforts of an increasing number of dynamic private financiers. By Geoffrey Macnab

Eye In The Sky

O

ne sight unlikely to be seen in Cannes this year is that of the UK’s private film financiers throwing lavish parties on huge yachts. The newish breed of the country’s financiers will be at the festival in their usual sizeable numbers but are a sober, serious group these days.

“The [Cannes] market’s tone has changed,” suggests Motion Picture Capital CEO Leon Clarance. “It is much more business-like than it used to be.”

Guillaume de Chalendar, global head of media finance for Bank Leumi, agrees.

“There is less of the froth we’ve seen in the past, which means Cannes is a better place to do business,” he says.

Even though institutional investors remain comparatively rare, the UK’s private film-finance sector is in a far healthier state than in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.

“When we started Fyzz in 2010, most of the banks, if not all of them, had withdrawn from the financing landscape,” says Robert Jones, co-managing director of producer-financier The Fyzz Facility.

“Over the intervening period we have seen a lot come back in, not so much [in the UK] but certainly globally.”

There is no doubt the negative publicity and high-profile legal cases surrounding tax-based partnerships from the UK’s sale-and-leaseback era of the late 1990s and early 2000s impacted on investor confidence. In the UK press in recent months, there have been a string of grim

32 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

The Infiltrator

stories about investors (many of them footballers and celebrities) in old film-taxbased partnerships now facing huge tax bills. Eclipse Film Partners 35, promoted

by Future Capital Partners, and Ingenious Film Partners have both been the subjects of lengthy legal battles with HM Revenue & Customs, while the Little Wings Films case saw several executives charged with film tax relief fraud last year. Nonetheless, confidence is returning.

“The smart investors are able to differentiate between a scheme structured to deliver a tax advantage that is incidentally based around film and a genuine investment proposition that makes sense.

They understand there is risk,” says Ivan Mactaggart of Trademark Films. »

Mark Rylance and director Peter Kosminsky on the set of Wolf Hall

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In Focus UK private financiers

‘We have a pretty safe ­situation now, with no “funny money”’ Paul Brett, Prescience

“We have a pretty safe and secure s­ ituation now where there are no loopholes and there’s no ‘funny money’ around,” says Paul Brett of production and financing outfit Prescience, whose recently launched subsidiary Ignition Media Finance is now established as a leading international pre-production financier. Like several other well-established financiers, Prescience has been venturing into television drama as well as film. Its TV credits include the BBC’s Bafta-nominated Wolf Hall and Richard Eyre’s The Dresser.

Additionally, the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) are now established tax-relief vehicles through which private individuals can invest in film. Companies such as Ingenious Media, Motion Picture Capital and Goldfinch Entertainment have raised significant amounts of money through EIS for UK films.

Significantly, the UK film tax credit is bedded in firmly and financiers are happy to lend against it, and UK producers are now able to access private equity from some heavyweight new players. These include New Sparta Films and Switzerland-based Silver Reel, which has become an important player in UK and international film financing and has backed projects including Gavin Hood’s Eye In The Sky. Another significant new player is Riverstone Pictures, the outfit set up by Deepak Nayar and Nik Bower in 2014.

Backed by Reliance Entertainment and Ingenious Media, Riverstone’s early credits include Genius and Sleepless Night.

And regardless of the tax benefits, there are high-net-worth individuals interested in the sector. “That remains,” confirms Elisa Alvares, head of media finance at Bank Leumi, one of the most active banks in UK film financing. It has provided debt financing for a slate of films produced by Miriam Segal’s Good Films, including The Infiltrator starring Bryan Cranston.

But the high-end television sector and its voracious appetite for above-the-line talent is putting pressure on independent film-makers, and budgets are subsequently rising. As below-the-line costs decrease thanks to digital technology, it is costing more to access top-level actors.

“To make a $5m film, you need a $10m s cast,” as one financier notes. n

34 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Selected UK private financiers Set up in 2010 by Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones, The Fyzz Facility has been involved in more than 100 films. Two of its most recent investments have been in Martin Scorsese’s Silence and Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River.

The company’s financing is ROBERT JONES largely debt financing against pre-sales contracts or tax credit lending. “Sometimes we do bridge financing to get the film to the starting gate while the main financing is being closed,” Jones explains. “We’re very much led by the market.”

He is clear about what Fyzz does not do. “We are not EISor SEIS-based. There is no tax wraparound in what we do.

We have a pool of private investors who we have found and educated in the process and the way we work, and the kind of financing we do,” says Jones.

“We are not an equity financier. Our investors are people who look for a competitive rate of return and are not so interested in the ownership of the film at the other end. Our length of loan is typically 12 months or less. For an investor who is returns-driven and wants to keep their money working and revolving, working with us means they get their money back and can reinvest in the next project.”

The FYZZ Facility

New Sparta Films is the finance, development and production company set up by UK economist and entrepreneur Jerome Booth and business development specialist Nicki Hattingh in 2013.

It has backed projects such as Brimstone, Tale Of Tales and Nicki Hattingh Miss You Already, fully financing the latter. Its sister company is Icon Film Distribution, also owned by Booth, although the two companies keep their activities separate. New Sparta Films also has a production division headed by Christopher Simon; Sheryl Crown is head of development.

“We are City people with a passion for film,” says managing director Hattingh. “What I thought we could do really well was work in a very ethical way — a collaborative and fair way.”

Hattingh and Booth are the company’s sole shareholders and the only ones with the power to give the greenlight to projects. “It is very uncomplicated,” says Hattingh. “For me, it was debunking a myth about how complicated films need to be. We only have one source of finance. I can draw down finance as and when I need to. Jerome has agreed a sevenyear film plan.”

They are creative people with a plan to finance three to four projects a year. “We have to love a project,” she says.

“Only then will we look at its commercial potential.”

New Sparta Films

MOTION PICTURE CAPITAL

LEON CLARANCE

Motion Picture Capital, which is wholly owned by Reliance Entertainment, has recently backed Automatik Entertainment’s Come And Find Me, starring Aaron Paul and Annabelle Wallis; Sophie Brooks’ New York-set romantic comedy The Boy Downstairs, starring Zosia Mamet; Xavier Gens’

horror thriller The Crucifixion; Lennart Ruff’s sci-fi adventure The Titan; and Mark Palansky’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptation The Jester.

The company uses EIS and SEIS schemes regularly. “EIS is still a successful vehicle as far as we’re concerned,” says chief executive Leon Clarance. “There is a lot more due diligence done than may have previously been the case.

Investors and their advisors are, more generally, better educated and better informed. We spend a lot of time contributing to that process.”

Motion Picture Capital recently launched a development SEIS fund and is currently identifying the first group of projects to develop, with a view to moving into production.

Premiere Picture has financed and co-produced more than 80 UK and international feature film and documentary productions. Fiction features tend to be budgeted from $1m to $40m, while documentaries are budgeted from $150,000. Recent investments JASON GARRETT include Terry Jones’ comedy Absolutely Anything, starring Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale, and Ella Lemhagen’s All Roads Lead To Rome, with Sarah Jessica Parker.

The company recently launched UK distribution company Bulldog Films, which has a library of some 18 titles. It also has an EIS product that has so far put money into five films.

“We have never been busier,” says Jason Garrett, who arranges film completions for Premiere Picture. “We have done one or two studio films but most of it is your solid, vanilla independent film where we ask for real recoupments.

Our investors invariably get real returns. We put our clients into as many films as possible to spread the risk.

“We allocate funds to a film and then we will pay when the producers have the rest of the funds, he continues.

“Because we don’t pay until they are fully financed, we can get involved very early.”

PREMIERE PICTURE

Ingenious was founded in 1998 by chief executive Patrick McKenna, and has financed a range of films, from James Cameron’s Avatar and Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi to Matthew Warchus’s Pride, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette and John Crowley’s Martin Smith Brooklyn.

It has also produced and financed some 600 hours of television programming, including The Honourable Woman, The Fall and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, all for the BBC. Such wide-ranging single-project and slate investments give the company a competitive edge, suggests Martin Smith, a special adviser for Ingenious.

“We have a reputation for being reliable, commercially savvy and exceptionally well networked on both sides of the Atlantic,” he says.

Shelley Media and Greenlight Media are both EIS funds run by Ingenious. Over the past five years Shelley Media has raised nearly $440m (£300m) for film and TV production.

INGENIOUS MEDIA

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ANALYSIS VIVENDI

Slack Bay

Canal Plus’ big challenge What do the cutbacks and restructuring at French media giant Vivendi mean for its film and TV arms, Studiocanal and Canal Plus, two of European film-making’s biggest backers? By Melanie Goodfellow

C

annes regulars may notice a few changes on the Croisette and around the Palais du Cinéma this year. Gone is the Canal Plus patio VIP lounge — a favourite portside haunt of stars and industry top dogs — as is the set of its popular chat show Le Grand Journal from the beach of the Hotel Martinez. French payTV channel Canal Plus, the festival’s official broadcast partner for more than 20 years, has scaled back its presence in the face of escalating losses and falling viewing figures for the festival editions of Le Grand Journal.

The annual Canal Plus party has also been cancelled.

It is the latest in a series of changes instigated by billionaire Vincent Bolloré, the biggest shareholder of Canal Plus’ parent media conglomerate Vivendi, as he attempts to restructure the channel.

“Cannes is lovely in May — the sea, blue sky, patio and the olives. So when you say, ‘Rather than 469 of you, just 50 will go,’ you’re not popular,” Bolloré told shareholders at Vivendi’s AGM in April. Actual coverage of the festival is set to remain intact and will comprise the opening and closing ceremonies, daily reports and the programming of several Cannes titles from the 2014 and 2015 editions, led by the pay-TV premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road.

But once France’s undisputed pay-TV king, Canal Plus has lost more than one million

36 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

subscribers since 2012, according to the presentation at the AGM, amid increased competition for sports rights from players such as Qatari-backed sports channel beIN, Patrick Drahi’s Altice Group and Discovery. It is also feeling the impact of the rise of streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Tough-talking businessman Bolloré went so far as to tell shareholders at the AGM the group could not continue to prop up the channel indefinitely.

Canal Plus is vital to the French film industry and its closure would have seismic consequences. Under state obligations, the channel invests 12.5% of its turnover in the pre-acquisition of French and European feature films. According to France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC), Canal Plus invested $173m (¤169.4m) in 113 majority French productions in 2015, which is 48.5% of the films the state body approved last year. It invested a further $10.5m (¤9m) in 15 minority productions.

From 2006 to 2015, Canal Plus supported 58.4% of approved French productions. Prebuys premiering in Cannes include Bruno Dumont’s Slack Bay, Alain Guiraudie’s Staying Vertical and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, all in Competition, and Stéphanie Di Giusto’s The Dancer, premiering in Un Certain Regard.

“If [Canal Plus] were to stop financing, there would be an explosion of films made for under $1.2m (¤1m),” says Slack Bay producer

‘Cinema is key, which is why we want to increase, not reduce, our investments in France’ Didier Lupfer, Canal Plus and Studiocanal

Jean Bréhat of Paris-based 3B Productions.

He is sanguine about what that would mean.

“We’re always worried when there are changes at organisations that finance cinema but we must adapt to the changing market.”

However, few believe Bolloré would ever close Canal Plus. Some suggest his comments were a lobbying tactic aimed at French regulators, who are examining a five-year deal between Canal Plus and beIN, under which Canal Plus would exclusively distribute its sports content. It is a key part of Bolloré’s strategy to win back subscribers.

“I don’t think they’ll shut it down. It’s a national institution, more than Sky is in the UK, because its roots are as a premium channel rather than as a pay-TV operator,” says Conor O’Shea, head of media sector research at Paris-based European financial services company Kepler Cheuvreux.

O’Shea suggests Bolloré’s commitment to the creation of audiovisual content out of France and Europe goes beyond pure business thinking. “He’s a patriot. He doesn’t want his grandchildren growing up just on US fiction.”

Importance of cinema Speaking to Screen International on the eve of Cannes, Didier Lupfer, director of cinema for Canal Plus and CEO of Studiocanal, reaffirmed the importance of cinema within the Vivendi fold, both locally and internationally. “Canal Plus has two original big pillars, »

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ANALYSIS VIVENDI

VIVENDI’S KEY ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES

A European Netflix?

MUSIC

● UNIVERSAL

MUSIC GROUP

CONTENT (FILM & TV)

VIDEO GAMES

● STUDIOCANAL

● UBISOFT

● GUILTY

● GAMESLOFT

PARTY

● SUNNYMARCH ● MARS

DISTRIBUTION

● CANAL PLUS

(FRANCE) ● CANAL PLUS

TV

(AFRIQUE)

FILMS

●K

PLUS (SINGAPORE)

● BANIJAY

● CANALPLAY

● CREATION

● MEDIASET

ORIGINALE (CANAL PLUS) ● STUDIO

● NC

PREMIUM

PLUS (POLAND)

● RADIONOMY

PLUS

● TANDEM

● DAILYMOTION

● RED

● WATCHEVER

● SAM

● FNAC ● TELEFONICA ● TELECOM

consisting of cinema and sport, as well as a third pillar that’s grown in importance over the past 15 years, that of fiction [TV] series,” says Lupfer.

“Canal Plus has an extremely active role in the production and financing of cinema in France. We are the biggest contributor ahead of the distributors, exhibitors, free-toair and other pay-TV channels. We cover 20% to 30% of the budget of the films we invest in and it is a role that we want to maintain.

“The message from Vincent Bolloré was that we need to find solutions to reduce the channel’s losses and reverse the trend of falling subscribers,” he continues. “We need to bolster our content in all three pillars, which is why the alliance with beIN is so important, as is the development of new original fiction series. Cinema is also key, which is why we want to increase, not reduce, our investments in France.”

Recent high-end dramas backed by Canal Plus under its Création Originale label include Black Baron, directed by Ziad Doueiri, costume drama Versailles, cult series The Returned and Paolo Sorrentino’s upcoming eight-episode series The Young Pope, a coproduction with Sky and HBO. Lupfer notes the group is also experimenting with new forms of distribution, most notably myCANAL, a potentially game-

38 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

ITALIA

The Canal Plus Groupe — parent group of Canal Plus and Studiocanal — is one of three key pillars of the Vivendi empire alongside the Universal Music Group and eventsand-venues unit Vivendi Village. Vincent Bolloré is Vivendi’s biggest shareholder with a 14.5% stake and wants to create synergies between these three poles to create a pan-European business group focusing on production and distribution of content, with a strong European bias. He wants to create a company capable of taking on the US giants of Netflix and Amazon.

Since Bolloré took the reins two years ago, the group has acquired a number of companies across the region. Vivendi has taken a 26.2% stake in European TV production giant Banijay Group and aggressively upped its shares in games companies Gameloft and Ubisoft, although neither entity is keen to enter the Vivendi fold wholesale.

On the distribution front, the group took a 30% stake in French film distributor Mars Films earlier this year, adding to its existing distribution activities in France, the UK and Germany. In what could be a major game-changer, Vivendi recently acquired Italian pay-TV channel Mediaset Premium, as well as upping its ownership of Telecom Italia to 24.9% as part of a move to expand its reach into the southern European territories of Italy and Spain.

On the digital front, Vivendi acquired 80% of French online video site Dailymotion in June 2015 and is the owner of the German SVoD platform Watchever.

changing catch-up platform revolving around Canal Plus content and available only to subscribers.

‘If Canal Plus were to stop financing, there would be an explosion of films under $1.2m’ Jean Bréhat, 3B Productions (Below) Paddington, a $260m global success for Studiocanal

Europe’s biggest studio Cinema remains a key pillar of the internationally focused Studiocanal’s activities.

Describing Studiocanal as “Vivendi’s content factory for cinema, TV and new formats”, Lupfer notes features accounted for 60% of its $696m (¤600m) turnover in 2015, against approximately 20% for TV. In stark contrast to Canal Plus, the film and high-end TV producer and distributor is the star of the Canal Plus Groupe and a source of pride at Vivendi. That is thanks to international hits such as Paddington, Shaun The Sheep and The Imitation Game, as well as directordriven works such as Nicole Garcia’s From The Land Of The Moon, which is premiering here in Competition.

“We produce films locally in France, the UK and Germany, the three European territories where we also have distribution operations, as well as internationally to make films with appeal to a global European audience,” says Lupfer. The focus is resolutely European.

“Our aim is to increasingly focus on European talents whether they’re from the UK, the Nordics, like Tomas Alfredson, or Italy, like Luca Guadagnino.

“We have thousands of years of history behind us [in Europe] and a multicultural

population,” he continues. “When we mix this past and diversity, you get interesting stories, which can create IPs with appeal in Europe.”

Upcoming productions on the Studiocanal slate include Jaume Collet-Serra’s thriller The Commuter, staring Liam Neeson, Jose Padilha’s hijacking drama Entebbe and Paddington 2, which will start shooting in September.

Upcoming local productions include Mike Newell’s Guernsey, starring Rosamund Pike, in the UK and, for France, Alibi.Com, the latest comedy from Philippe Lacheau, co-creator and star of the Babysitting franchise.

Recent German productions include Heidi, which travelled well beyond its home market.

Lupfer confirms Studiocanal is also keen to increase its involvement in TV, following investments in a trio of independent companies: Benedict Cumberbatch’s SunnyMarch TV, Atlantis producer Urban Myth Films and Spain’s Bambu Producciones. These join existing TV units RED and Guilty Party in the UK, Scandinavia’s SAM and Germany’s Tandem. RED and SAM are also developing short format series for new Vivendi unit Studio Plus, for smartphones and tablets.

“We’re not looking to reduce investment in cinema, we want to reinforce it,” says Lupfer.

“The plan is instead to grow turnover rather than eat into cinema investment. Ideally we’d like to grow turnover from $696m (¤600m) s to $928m (¤800m).” ■

www.screendaily.com

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W

hen Universal Pictures releases The Snowman on 13 October, 2017, fans of Jo Nesbo’s hugely popular novel will be thrilled to see loner detective Harry Hole sitting in Restaurant Schroder. Nesbo picked out this Oslo café, established in 1925, as Hole’s hangout in his bestselling book series, and thanks to the new Norwegian tax incentive, it is just one of the novel’s many authentic locations that were used during the film’s Oslo-based shoot.

The project is produced by the UK’s Working Title Films, and has gone through several iterations over the past five years. The producers had originally assumed shooting in Norway would be cost-prohibitive. “We had already decided we were going to shoot most of the film in Sweden and then some in London. And maybe two weeks in Oslo,” says Robyn Slovo, one of the film’s producers.

Everything changed in 2015 when the Norwegian government confirmed plans to introduce Scandinavia’s first national incentive as of January 1, 2016. The production became the first project to tap into the scheme, which is administered by the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI).

“There is absolutely no way we could have made it here without the incentive,” says Slovo, which works as a rebate of up to 25% of the costs of qualifying spend in Norway. It will offer The Snowman an estimated rebate of $4.9m (NOK40.5m) — the bulk of the scheme’s 2016 total funding of $5.4m (NOK45m).

Stine Helgeland, executive director of promotion and international relations at NFI, says The Snowman was the perfect first approval because of its cultural fit and international potential. “It’s based on a Norwegian book and the whole narrative takes place in Norway,” she says.

Indeed, the Norwegians bent over backwards to help the production, partly because author Nesbo is a national icon. “[The Norwegians] were excited this film was being made in the right place by the right people,” says The Snowman’s supervising location manager Camilla Stephenson. “Especially in Oslo, but also other places, the doors were open for us.

We achieved things that could have otherwise taken years of preparation. I’ve never been anywhere that was so welcoming.”

The Snowman shot for 10 weeks from mid-January, entirely in Norway. Sweden’s Tomas Alfredson directs the film, which stars Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson and Charlotte Gainsbourg in the story of Harry Hole hunting for a sadistic serial killer with the help of a female detective who has a personal connection to the case.

The Snowman is seen as something of

40 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

In from the cold

Tomas Alfredson’s UK-US production The Snowman is the first international film to access Norway’s new tax incentive. Wendy Mitchell reports

The Snowman crew waits for the cloud to clear on top of Mount Ulriken, Bergen

‘There is absolutely no way we could have made it in Norway without the incentive’ Robyn Slovo, producer

a test case, not only for the incentive’s mechanisms but also to see whether Norway’s workforce and infrastructure could rise to the challenge of making a film of this scale. All signs are positive.

Director Tomas Alfredson and star Michael Fassbender

The local touch

Slovo says tapping into the incentive has not been complicated by red tape. And “there has been quite a lot of personal interface, it’s not acres of faceless bureaucracy”, she says.

Stephenson says true collaboration was encouraged, and a common language and similar sense of humour helped. “It was a big co-operation needing Norwegian knowledge,” she says.

The team was impressed by the crews and found the right people for its 120-strong staff, compared with a typical Norwegian indie film unit of 30.

With unionised crews in Norway only cleared to work certain hours, the budget had to be adjusted to include overtime.

Slovo admits there were some learning

curves involving transport and catering services for such a large-scale production but the right groove was found.

Keeping warm

The production was in Oslo for more than half its shoot. Nearly all of that was on location — for a small amount of studio work, a refrigerated warehouse was transformed into an appropriately frigid set. In the capital, they were able to negotiate to shoot in City Hall, at Oslo Central Station and at the famous Holmenkollen Park Hotel.

Other key parts of the shoot were in Bergen, on the south-west coast, and the stunning rural wintry landscape of Rjukan in Telemark.

Stephenson explains her biggest hurdles were “working out logistics in tricky locations, such a creating roads through snow or thinking how we were going to keep everybody warm, or helicoptering in equipment in containers to a rocky island near Bergen”.

Slovo acknowledges that given its challenging locations such as the icy lakes and snowy mountains, The Snowman was always going to be a “tough film to make” no matter where it was shot.

“When people think of Norway you think of stereotypes — mountains, fjords and snow,” says Stephenson. “The reality is quite different, there are cities, towns and villages. We are giving a full snaps shot of Norway.” ■

www.screendaily.com

Jack English

PRODUCTION REPORT THE SNOWMAN

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4/21/16 3:45 PM

PROFILES BY Martin Blaney, Elisabet Cabeza, Melanie Goodfellow, Jeremy Kay, Geoffrey Macnab, Wendy Mitchell, Gabriele Niola, Liz Shackleton, Fiona Williams, Andreas Wiseman

AGENTS

Screen International meets the next generation of agents who are repping talent across multiple platforms

S

ince 2012, Screen International has been selecting its annual Future Leaders list and presenting it around Cannes Film Festival. It’s one of the most popular features we publish, shining a spotlight on the rising stars of the international film business, and each new list is always eagerly anticipated. Up until now, our Future Leaders have always been the up-and-coming names rising through the ranks in sales, acquisitions, distribution and producing.

This year we decided to shake things up a bit and, for the first time, we are proud to present our first Future Leaders — Agents.

Scouring the globe, we have identified 43 young agents who represent actors, writers, directors, heads of department and/or work in the financing/packaging side of the business. What unites our selection is that they all have an eye on the international opportunities for their clients, not just their local markets.

42 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

While agents play an established role in the US and UK industries in particular, other countries are quickly catching on as the need and desire to cast internationally becomes ever more important — and as international co-productions grow in number.

There is a voracious appetite for new talent out there, and you only need to look at a global smash such as Game Of Thrones to understand that today’s talented unknowns are tomorrow’s bankable stars. Producers and sales companies working in a rapidly evolving industry might need to find a hot actor or an exciting director from the Balkans, China or Brazil in a way they didn’t five years ago.

As ever with Future Leaders, our Class of 2016 are the agents we believe will be (or already are) representing some of the most exciting and dynamic global-facing talent for years to come. Get to know them now.

Matt Mueller, editor »

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NORTH AMERICA: BITTER HARVEST will have a full theatrical release, backed by a major P&A spend, building from a minimum 200 screen platform.

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FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Roxana Adle

UK

Independent Talent Group roxanaadle@independenttalent.com Clients include Mike Newell, Jonathan Teplitzky, Per Fly, Wayne Blair, Anurag Kashyap, Eva Husson, Orlando von Einsiedel

Roxana Adle can thank her dentist for her start in the film business. “I had just graduated and was desperate to find a job in film when my dentist told me he had a client [Duncan Heath] who was a big-deal agent. When Duncan had his next appointment I accosted him in the waiting room and basically stalked him until he gave me a job. Let’s just say the first week was interesting, but I’m still here,” she laughs.

French and Farsi-speaking Adle was Heath’s assistant before establishing herself as one of the UK’s most impressive young agents in her own right. “Generally, if their name is difficult to pronounce, that’s my type,” says Adle of her impressive client list. It includes Gangs Of Wasseypur writer-director-producer Anurag Kashyap, and established Danish writer-director Per Fly, as well as emerging voices such as Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) writer-director Eva Husson, Borkur Sigthorsson, who is due to direct Icelandic crime thriller Mules, Virunga director Orlando von Einsiedel and Neither Heaven Nor Earth writer-director Clément Cogitore.

Matilda Boström

SWEDEN

Agentfirman matilda@agentfirman.com

Clients include Ronnie Sandahl, Michael Nyqvist, Matias Varela, Josephine Bornebusch, Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein

Matilda Boström studied law at Uppsala University and worked at the Writers Guild of Sweden for four years before starting at Sweden’s Agentfirman in May 2013. She is the legal adviser for the agency as well as an agent/manager.

She says becoming an agent was “a stroke of luck… I landed an internship at the Writers Guild by winning a game of ‘paper, rock, scissors’ over a classmate, which led to a job as a legal adviser at the Writers Guild, which in turn led me to meet the wonderful ladies who run Agentfirman.”

Those colleagues — Annika Kilden, Jenny Planthaber and Aleksandra Mandic — make a big difference to her work, as all four are based in the same room in their Stockholm office, “combining skill and sharing all clients. They get the best from each of us.”

Boström says it is interesting to see the international attention now paid to Scandinavian talents — her client Michael Nyqvist has appeared in high-profile action films including Mission: Impos-

sible — Ghost Protocol and John Wick for instance.

She finds Swedish actors, writers and directors “talented, hard working, well prepared, curious and open”.

Boström is keen to work with all kinds of creative clients. “That’s a thing I really like about my job. Working with people of all ages as well as combining scriptwriters, directors and actors.” It is that variation of the talents and the work that she loves the most. “It’s never dull.”

Andrea Brabin

ICELAND

Eskimo/Brabin Management andrea@eskimo.is

Clients To be announced — Brabin Management launches this month

Andrea Brabin was a model for more than 11 years before starting a successful casting agency in 1998. That company bought model agency Eskimo in 2000 and operates under that banner today.

Now Brabin is taking the next step with the launch of Brabin Management this month. It will be Iceland’s first agency/talent management company.

Brabin has worked on the Icelandic casting for many large international features that have come to the country, including Thor: The Dark World, Noah and Oblivion. She has also collaborated with local features all the way back to 2000’s seminal 101 Reykjavik.

44 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Silke Bacher

GERMANY

Homebase info@agenturhomebase.de

Clients include Burhan Qurbani, Lennart Ruff, Marco Kreuzpaintner, Anna Brüggemann, Richard Kropf

“It was a conscious decision not to represent actors,” says Silke Bacher of Berlin-based Homebase, the agency that handles 17 writers, 15 directors and, most recently, two editors. “For us, the people behind the camera are the stars.”

Bacher points to her experience as a film and TV producer as crucial preparation for her work as an agent. “I got a real insight into what’s important in development and how essential it is for both sides — producers and talent — to have a strong agency partner,” she explains. “In the beginning, we were known as the agency for up-and-coming German independent talent but we’ve become broader and more commercial. For example, we succeeded in placing three of our writers in the first TV series by international VoD platforms developed out of Germany.”

In addition, Bacher reps the Student Oscar winner Lennart Ruff, who started work on his feature debut, The Titan, in the US this year.

“It is important for me that, as a boutique agency, our focus is not on growing too much, but more about keeping close contact to each single artist,” she says.

Bacher notes that one of her daily challenges is to motivate the artists during the long development process. “We all know how tough the film industry is but we mustn’t forget sensitive artists make up its backbone,” Bacher says. “They constantly need to reveal their inner souls in order to deliver their best work and my job as an agent is to provide a safe place for them to do that.”

“Casting directors that I worked with on various projects around the world started calling me to ask for Icelandic agents and I started helping them out and taking the jobs,” she says.

“I’d known for a while that this service was needed in Iceland.”

She plans to work mostly with young up-and-coming talents on the agency side, although as a casting expert she does of course “recommend local talent that fit each request to casting directors around the world”.

Brabin says Iceland boasts “a high level of educated and experienced actors of all ages. Due to how small the country is, it’s easy to get to know people on all levels of the business, and therefore fairly easy to get experience in films.

“The high level of acting education in Iceland is a great foundation and most actors have a lot of experience in the theatre as well.” »

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@ CANNES 2016 Cannes office: Palais 01, 19.06

Contact: Julian Chiu / +852 9739 8628 / chiujulian@edkofilm.com.hk

MARKET SCREENING TODAY May 12 (Thu) / 15:30 / Palais B May 15 (Sun) / 13:30 / Palais B

THE BODYGUARD GENRE ACTION DIRECTOR SAMMO HUNG (Ip Man 2, Rise of the Legend) CAST SAMMO HUNG, ANDY LAU (Infernal Affairs, Detective Dee)

A retired bodyguard settles down in a small town on the Russia-China border. He befriends a young girl whose life is threatened when her father falls in with the local crime world. When the girl and her father disappear, the bodyguard sets out on a ruthless trail to take down the mob and rescue the girl.

MARKET SCREENING May 13 (Fri) / 15:30 / Palais B

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CM

MY

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KEEPER OF DARKNESS GENRE HORROR DIRECTOR NICK CHEUNG (Unbeatable, The White Storm) CAST NICK CHEUNG, AMBER KUO (Au Revoir Taipei), SHI XING YU (Kung Fu Jungle)

Streetwise exorcist Fat becomes an overnight sensation when his extraordinary exorcism is recorded and gone viral, which catches not only a lot of attention from the media, but also the underworld.

CMY

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COMPLETED

BOOK OF LOVE GENRE ROMANCE DIRECTOR XUE XIAOLU (Finding Mr. Right, Ocean Heaven) CAST TANG WEI (Lust Caution), WU XIUBO (The Four)

After setting box office record as the highest-grossing Chinese romantic comedy 3 years ago, the creative team and cast of FINDING MR. RIGHT return to the big screen with an entirely new tale about destiny and chance encounter in the contemporary world, spanning across three continents.

IN POST-PRODUCTION

COLD WAR 2 GENRE ACTION DIRECTOR LONGMAN LEUNG, SUNNY LUK (Cold War, Helios) CAST CHOW YUN FAT (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) AARON KWOK (The Monkey King) TONY LEUNG KA FAI (Bodyguards and Assassins) EDDIE PENG YUYAN (Rise of the Legend)

The follow-up to the highest-grossing HK film of 2012, the story continues as the conspirator behind the disappeared police vehicle is behind bar. But the true motive remains unclear, until the resurface of a retired police chief who unveils an unprecedented scheme to corrupt the police force.

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Steven Brown

US

ICM Partners sbrown@icmpartners.com

Clients include Ruth Negga, Sarah Wayne Callies, Nick Blood

A journalism graduate from Syracuse University, Steven Brown worked as a film trade reporter before his manager brother made a few useful introductions. “I met a number of talent agents who turned me on to the job, though I know my brother was already hoping I’d go into representation,” says Brown.

“I started in the mailroom at WMA in 2006.”

Brown casts a wide net for clients, drifting towards nurturing those who excite him. More often than not, recommendations come from “a colleague, manager, attorney or foreign representative that I’ve developed a working relationship with”. To gain a foothold with potential clients, he “reads endlessly” in order to be part of creative conversations. He also represents talent from film and TV. “Clients’ careers are multi-dimensional these days, so their agents should be as well.”

Brown insists on being choosy. “I try to make decisions from the perspective of expanding the diversity and quality of my clientele, rather than gaining market share,” he says. “I love storytelling — it’s a big reason I got into the agency business, and seeing the final product of a client’s hard work energises me.”

Gianni Chiffi

ITALY

Volver Consulenze Artistiche giannivolver@gmail.com Clients include Leonardo Pazzagli, Thony, Matilda De Angelis, Simona Tabasco

A casting director originally suggested Gianni Chiffi do an internship in a talent agency and the young Italian has never looked back. Now he considers castings among the best places to scout for new talents.

“Though word of mouth remains the fundamental way to get to know possible new clients,” he adds.

Together with his business partner Consuelo De Andreis, Chiffi handles 40 leading Italian actors at his Rome-based agency. “Trusting your agent is the rule for a good career,” he points out. “We are a team and we have to work like one.” Chiffi has a great enthusiasm for the job and looks for talents who share the same force of will.

In his view, this strength is what is needed to take on as many auditions as possible. “What I tell my actors is to always go there and try,” he says. “They need to transform themselves every time.”

Chiffi loves those moments in the crowd when, after a successful premiere, everybody is clapping one of his actors, and they exchange glances. “That little moment of empathy reminds me that everything is as it should be, as I hoped it would be. They need to be on the red carpet, not me.”

46 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Peter Dodd

US

UTA steinl@unitedtalent.com

Clients include David Mackenzie, Frank John Hughes, Alexis Wilkinson, Kasra Farahani

Peter Dodd studied comparative religion and government at Harvard, but a long-time desire to be in entertainment informed his decision to join the university’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals troupe. He eventually found his way to the UTA training programme in 2009.

Dodd has built up his stable with the help of a close group of intimates. “I have a small network of colleagues, managers and executives who I consider tastemakers. They share great material with me on a regular basis, and I take their recommendations seriously. I also watch a lot of Netflix.”

Dodd likes to tell clients to keep making content. “That way the talent is the master of their own destiny and not at the whim of the system.

It’s also critical to be open to new possibilities.”

There is no room for cynicism or lethargy.

“The biggest challenge is when an executive, buyer or producer doesn’t share the enthusiasm you share about a client,” says Dodd. “We, as agents, get invested in our clients and our ambitions are closely tied to theirs.”

Chen Jiaying, Yang Siwei

Easy Entertainment

CHINA

dumeng@easy-ent.com Clients include Chen Shu, Mark Chao, Ma Yili, Song Jia, Zhang Yuqi, Zhu Yawen, Han Yan, Han Yi, Lee Jun, Yang Qing, Qin Haiyan, Zha Muchun, Zhang Ji

Based in Beijing, Easy Entertainment is one of the first local agencies in China to handle directors and screenwriters in addition to actors. The company was launched two years ago by four young industry figures: Yang Siwei, former marketing chief at Fan Bingbing Studio; Lu Yao, former director of operations at We Pictures; Chen Jie, who has worked at both CAA and Edko Films in Beijing; and Chen Jiaying, formerly vice-president at Shiba Media Agency.

With an innovative style combining elements of Western and Chinese talent management, the company has managed to build up an impressive roster in a short period of time. It includes stars Mark Chao and Zhang Yuqi, and up-and-coming director Yang Qing, who recently scored a hit with heist caper Chongqing Hot Pot. Co-founder Yang says the company has a collaborative approach, with a team of around 10 people working with each client, and encourages staff to specialise in areas such as film and TV drama production, marketing and cross-promotion. The company also focuses on market segmentation for clients. “We select only one client among each actor type or age range and help them become the most competitive within their target market,” she explains.

The company also packages and co-produces film and TV projects for its clients, such as Chongqing Hot Pot and 2015 hit Go Away Mr Tumor. The next steps include setting up subsidiaries to produce and market the projects it generates for clients.

Although the company has grown rapidly, Yang says there are still not enough training opportunities for new talent in China. “As a result, we’ve had to construct a system ranging from discovery of talent through to education and the building of lasting partnerships.” »

Chen Jie, Lu Yao

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MARKET SCREENINGS THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS - INVITATION ONLY OLYMPIA 2 / THURS 12 MAY / 14:00 OLYMPIA 9 / SAT 14 MAY / 15:30 OLYMPIA 1 / SUN 15 MAY / 12:00

47 METERS DOWN - INVITATION ONLY ARCADES 1 / FRI 13 MAY / 15:30 ARCADES 2 / SUN 15 MAY / 14:00

JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT’S LAST WORD OLYMPIA 3 / MON 16 MAY / 13:30

WHITNEY HOUSTON (WORKING TITLE) Director: KEVIN MACDONALD Genre: FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

An honest and revealing portrait of a unique talent, who had the voice of an angel onstage, but offstage was torn apart by her demons. Made with full access to her collaborators and her extraordinary body of work, WHITNEY HOUSTON will reassess the life and legacy of one of music’s biggest stars.

47 METERS DOWN

Director: JOHANNES ROBERTS Genre: THRILLER Cast: MANDY MOORE, CLAIRE HOLT, MATTHEW MODINE A cage diving expedition goes catastrophically wrong when two divers are trapped and must ascend through 47 meters of shark-infested waters to get back to the surface.

MARADONA

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

Director: COLM MCCARTHY Genre: SCI-FI / THRILLER Cast: GEMMA ARTERTON, PADDY CONSIDINE, GLENN CLOSE, SENNIA NANUA

Based on the best-selling novel by Mike Carey. A heart-stopping, original Sci-Fi thriller, about hope, humanity and a young girl who wants to save the world.

JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT’S LAST WORD

Director: SIMON RUMLEY Genre: SUPERNATURAL HORROR Cast: MIKE DOYLE, ERIN CUMMINGS, SEAN PATRICK FLANERY After a man is wrongly convicted and executed for murder, the people responsible for his fate begin dying unexpectedly. Can juror Adam Redman put an end to the curse before it’s too late?

GHOST STORIES

Director: ASIF KAPADIA Genre: FEATURE DOCUMENTARY From the Academy Award and multi BAFTA-winning team behind Amy and Senna. A wild and irreverent look at one of the world’s most iconic sportsmen, both on and off the pitch, during his infamous time in Naples.

Directors: JEREMY DYSON, ANDY NYMAN Genre: SUPERNATURAL THRILLER Cast: ANDY NYMAN, MARTIN FREEMAN, GEORGE MACKAY Professor Phillip Goodman has his rationality tested when he investigates three paranormal episodes, each more terrifying than the last. Goodman’s carefully maintained rational world starts to dissolve around him – a trick of the mind or are darker forces at work?

STOCKHOLM

THE PLAGUE

A small-time bank robbery spirals out of control when an amateur criminal falls in love with one of his hostages and calls on a manipulative self-help guru to assist with the negotiations.

A dangerous species of spider that was previously contained has been released. Now millions of innocent people provide the ideal breeding ground for a terrifying arachnid invasion.

GATEWAY 6

THE CALL UP

Director: JOHANNES ROBERTS Genre: THRILLER / HORROR Cast: TBC

Director: MATT SPICER Genre: OFFBEAT ROMANTIC COMEDY Cast: EMORY COHEN, MAIKA MONROE

Director: TANEL TOOM Genre: SCI-FI / THRILLER Cast: RHYS IFANS, ED SKREIN, SOFIA BOUTELLA, JÜRGEN PROCHNOW

In a post-apocalyptic world, four soldiers man the last bastion - an outpost in a sea-covered continent - awaiting a relief crew or the enemy, whichever comes first.

Altitude Film Sales | In Cannes Residence Grand Hotel Entrance le Dauphin, 2nd Floor 45 Blvd. de la Croisette T: +33 49 36 89 986

Director: CHARLES BARKER Genre: SCI-FI / ACTION Cast: MAX DEACON, MORFYDD CLARK, ALI COOK A group of online gamers are invited to trial a state-of-the-art virtual reality video game. But things take a turn for the sinister when these masters of the shoot ‘em up discover they will literally be fighting for their lives.

Altitude Film Sales | In London 34 Foubert’s Place, London W1F 7PX T: +44 207 478 7612 info@altitudefilment.com www.altitudefilment.com

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Alessia Fanzon

ITALY

Stefano Chiappi Management alessia@stefanochiappimanagement.com Clients include Francesca Chillemi, Giorgio Colangeli, Massimo Venier

Fascinated by the world of cinema since she was a child, talent agent Alessia Fanzon first became involved in the business through hanging out on film sets. The talents she now manages are among the most exciting young actors in Italy. “I don’t like to call them clients. They’re people,” she says.

She says finding actors is straightforward: “You just hang around acting schools and theatres, looking for passion and resolution.”

Putting them on the right path is at the core of her job.

Working in an agency that handles close to 100 actors, screenwriters and directors, Fanzon considers knowing her talents’ peculiarities and best qualities is a key requirement of her work. “Discovering their characteristics is the best way to help them in their career.”

Fanzon loves that her job allows her to work with creative, interesting people. “This is my place,” she smiles. “Years from now, I would like to be doing exactly what I’m doing at the moment but with a bag full of experience.”

Sally Fayez

EGYPT

Creative Arab Talent (CAT) sally@alkarma.com Clients include Amina Khalil, Nahed El Sebai, Saba Mubarak

Cairo-based Sally Fayez is a rarity in the Middle East, a region that is only just waking up to the concept of a talent agent. She is one of four young agents working for fledgling talent agency Creative Arab Talent (CAT), which was launched by veteran producer Amr Koura in April 2105.

“I’m not sure why the talent representation business does not really exist in the region. It is quite odd; there are thousands and thousands of talents but no agencies to represent them,” she says.

Fayez first met Koura while working as a producer at his company Alkarma Edutainment on shows such as Alam Simsim, the Egyptian version of Sesame Street, and horror series Doors Of Fear, headlined by Egyptian star Amr Waked. Until now she has focused mainly on Egyptian talent, with clients including emerging actor Amina Khalil as well as Nahed El Sebai, who was in Cannes in 2012 as one of the co-stars of Yousry Nasrallah’s After The Battle.

This scope looks set to widen. She also represents the popular Jordanian actor Saba Mubarak and CAT is in the process of opening an office in Dubai to cast its net even wider in the region.

Fayez says introducing the concept of a talent agency to the Middle East is a challenge on a number of fronts. “You have to gain the confidence and trust of both the talent and the content providers,” she reveals. “We had a lot of resistance from producers when we started. We overcame that and we now have very good and mutually beneficial relationships with most production companies. We are creating a business from scratch. We depend on our common sense and we learn from the international agencies. It is a learning process and our talent are co-operative and understanding. From every new job we learn something new.”

Anila Gajevic

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

Zona Talent Agency anila@zonatalents.ba

Clients include Miraj Grbic, Goran Navojec

A former cultural journalist in Bosnia writing film and theatre reviews, Anila Gajevic knew many of the best actors in the Balkan region.

“Some of them were my friends and I thought there was a lot of potential here,” she says. In 2008 Gajevic left her job to launch the Sarajevo-based Zona agency.

Her intentions were simple: she was convinced there was a wealth of acting talent in the Balkans, untapped by international film-makers. “I wanted to see if there was a possibility for people abroad to see them and hire them,” she says.

48 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Ruth Franco

SPAIN

Ruth Franco Management info@ruthfranco.com Clients include Natalia de Molina, Lucia Jimenez, Maria Molins, Miquel Fernandez, Benito Zambrano

From molecular biology to talent management.

That’s quite the move for Ruth Franco, who had realised laboratory work was not her thing soon after finishing her studies. Instead, she started exploring the contacts she had made with film and theatre people from her days working in a Madrid bar. She went on to work for various PRs before setting up her own company two years ago.

Ruth Franco Management now handles a wide range of actors and directors. They include rising star Natalia de Molina, the youngest actor to have won two consecutive Goyas (for David Trueba’s Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed and for Juan Miguel del Castillo’s Food And Shelter). It is not all about awards though. “I tell my actors this is one of the toughest and yet most beautiful jobs there is,” she says. “The best thing that can happen to them is to be able to enjoy it and earn a living all through their working life.”

One of the things Franco likes most about her job is to discover new talent. People get in touch with her through word of mouth, but Franco makes sure to pay close attention to new names in theatre and short films, and she watches all the clips that actors send to her office. “To gather information about the industry is essential; so is knowing who is right for which part,” she says.

Her first clients, including the well-known Miraj Grbic, were from Sarajevo but word about the agency soon spread across the region. “All the other actors, they heard something was going on in Sarajevo,” she says.

Croatian actor Goran Navojec (Our Everyday Life) was an early recruit. Gabjevic also reps Serbian, Turkish, Kosovan, Romanian and Italian actors. She is always on the lookout for young talent.

“I am interested in meeting new actors, like students in academies,” she says, citing Bosnian actress Maja Juric as a newcomer catching the attention of international casting directors.

Gajevic focuses on giving her clients international opportunities in Europe and the US, as there are relatively few films made in the Balkans and actors need to look further afield to build their careers. One exception is Danis Tanovic’s Berlinale title Death In Sarajevo, for which much of the cast was repped by Zona. »

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FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Radhika Gopal Tulsea

INDIA

radhika@tulsea.com

Clients include Kanu Behl, Anjali Menon, Akshat Verma, Dylan Mohan Gray, Abi Varghese

Radhika Gopal is an agent at Mumbai and Los Angeles-based Tulsea, the only management company in India focusing on writers and directors. Local producers laud the company for its work with young talents, developing their careers and ensuring they get paid and respected.

After working at advertising agency Ogilvy Mumbai, Gopal met Tulsea founders Datta Dave and Chaitanya Hegde two years ago and, after hearing their plans, was keen to join the team. Due to the relationships she and her colleagues have established with studios and other platforms, the opportunities they generate for clients are unmatched in the Indian entertainment sector. “Across television, films and the evolving digital landscape, we’ve enabled several unprecedented partnerships and compensation models,” Gopal says. “India doesn’t have WGA minimums like Hollywood,” she adds. “We are in the nascent stages of creating compensation frameworks so have to partner with stakeholders across the value chain and learn together.”

Gopal focuses on clients who are interested in the digital space and says she finds talent through word of mouth, recommendations and incoming material submissions: “We’re careful about the way we expand our roster, re-evaluating at regular interviews and balancing established names with promising, emerging talent.” The company has expanded to include producers, cinematographers, musicians, editors and actors. Gopal also handles actor Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate Films, which works with indie film-makers such as Navdeep Singh and Akshat Verma.

Laura Gonzalez

SPAIN

Calabuch laura@calabuch.com

Clients include Natalia Tena, Nerea Camacho, David Leon, David Verdaguer, Carlos Marques-Marcet

Laura Gonzalez has been interested in film for as long as she can remember. She learned the ropes of talent management at one of Spain’s leading agencies, Kuranda, responsible for the discovery of Penelope Cruz and many more. Five years ago, Gonzalez left to strike out on her own and founded Calabuch.

Her list of clients includes international names such as UK-born, Spain-based actor David Leon (Vera), Xavier Lafitte (Yves Saint Laurent) and Natalia Tena (Game Of Thrones). Tena starred in the Spanish hit Long Distance and it was through her that Calabuch signed co-star David Verdaguer and director Carlos Marques-Marcet.

Calabuch’s goals include opening up to the international market and nurturing associations with agencies such as the UK’s Curtis Brown. Two of Gonzalez’s actors are already working internationally: Nerea Camacho, discovered in Javier Fesser’s Camino, has just completed an eight-month shoot of Colombian series The White Slave, while Marta Milans has appeared in Shame and The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby, and recently shot the pilot for ABC’s The Death Of Sofia Valdez.

“The only way I can work is knowing I have my client’s full trust,” Gonzalez says. “They know they can ring me any time, that I am available to help them and that I know them well enough to help find them the right kind of job. When that happens, it’s the best reward a talent agent can hope for.”

To her clients she advises hard work and to be prepared to tackle the opportunities that come their way. The secret to ensuring a successful career is to work hard: studying, be it acting or English for potential international shoots, is always better than “waiting by the phone to see if it rings”.

Gonzalez also notes the importance of physical work, from investing in time at the gym to taking up yoga if less muscle and a more supple body is required.

And, above all, she advises patience. “It’s a basic ingredient in an actor’s career,” she says. “That and understanding you always have to be ready. You never know when or where opportunity knocks.”

50 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Mark Hartogsohn Gersh Agency

US

mhartogsohn@gershla.com

Clients include Alonso Ruizpalacios, Jeppe Ronde, Jared Cowie, Andy Cox, Beata Gardeler

Literary agent Mark Hartogsohn started his career working as a script supervisor at ABC News’ Good Morning America and earned a Daytime Emmy for his contribution to the network’s 2008 presidential election coverage.

After working in development for various independent film producers in New York, Hartogsohn moved to Los Angeles to join Gersh, first as an assistant in the television literary department and production department. He discovers film-makers at festivals, showcases and special screenings, and lands writers by attending pitch events and by reading material recommended to him by “tasteful managers, producers and colleagues”, as he puts it, as early as possible.

Hartogsohn dedicates himself to a relatively small pool of clients to maximise his strengths, which include a passionate attention to great storytelling. “I’ve worked in most facets of media, am a news junkie and an avid reader,” he says. “The goal is to tell a great story and I work hard to support clients to create new ideas and compelling characters.”

In return he likes to see dedication to the art from those he works with. “Keep creating,” he says. “Surround yourself with supportive smart people and maintain a positive attitude.”

Vanessa Henneman The Henneman Agency

NETHERLANDS

vanessa@hennemanagency.nl

Clients include David Verbeek, Johanna ter Steege, Abbey Hoes

“I fell in love with an actor,” says Vanessa Henneman of her journey to become an agent. She had studied law and film, excellent grounding for her new work, when she began to represent her boyfriend. “I said, ‘I know a little bit about contracts and I know a bit about movies. Let me do it.’”

The Henneman Agency now has 150 clients, including actors, writers, directors, composers and a ballerina. There is a staff of nine, including former IFFR Cinemart co-ordinator Jacobine van der Vloed. Initially, Henneman represented only actors.

One of the reasons for taking on writers and directors was to become involved in projects at an earlier stage. “It frustrated me that I was always at the end of the whole process,” she says. Now, she is beginning to package projects.

The agency represents primarily Dutch-speaking talent. Last year, however, Henneman was one of the founding partners of the European Talent Network. This involves Team Players from Denmark and Spielkind from Germany, alongside The Henneman Agency. The idea is to provide a single point of contact for US film-makers looking to harness European talent.

Henneman advises her clients to think about where they want to be in five years’ time. “All the decisions that come along the way, we mirror towards that focus — does it fit the masterplan?” So, if an actor wants to work abroad, the agency will pursue a different strategy than if an actor wants to concentrate on his or her own local territory; appearing in an arthouse movie that may play in Cannes or Toronto will give the talent far more exposure internationally than starring in a local blockbuster.

» www.screendaily.com

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Anna Hlalele

SOUTH AFRICA

Canvas CAM anna@canvascam.co.za

Clients include Thembisa Mdoda, Thuso Mbedu, Oros Mampofu, Natasha Thahane, Altovise Lawrence, Lwazi Mvusi, Arthur Zitha

After graduating from Witwatersrand University in 2013 with a degree in dramatic arts, Anna Hlalele caught the film bug following an internship at South African production company DV8. It inspired her to start her own talent agency.

“I have a love for business and a love for acting, and I decided, along with my business partner Vinesh Duckworth, to merge the two,” she says. “Had I pursued acting as a career, I knew what I would want in an agent.” She is especially keen to help talents at the start of their career and is bullish on South African talents and their creative potential.

“South Africa has such a rich history — we have so many stories to tell. We are a diverse nation with scars from the past.

We are currently in a complicated state but we also have such hope for the future. We are using the platforms we are presented with to tell authentic stories.”

One day, she would like to see Johannesburg-based Canvas CAM open more branches across South Africa as the industry there grows.

Hlalele says it feels like global attention is turning to Africa. “I am seeing opportunities to work on international productions. They come here to cast and a host of international productions are being filmed on our shores. We have the opportunity to present our films in festivals all over the world too.

That said, I still feel like many haven’t fully seen what Africa has to offer in terms of talent.”

Charlie Jennings

US

CAA mdavy@caa.com

Clients include Ben Mendelsohn, Kit Harington, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophie Turner

Sophie Holden

UK

Curtis Brown sophie.holden@curtisbrown.co.uk

Clients include Harry Melling, Lara Rossi, Brian Vernel, Fionn Whitehead

Having trained as an actor Sophie Holden has a keen understanding of what makes her clients tick. “I have always loved actors, my husband is an actor, and I was intrigued to know how a successful career in acting was built,” she says. “I started working at Curtis Brown as an intern and knew the minute I started I had found my perfect job.”

She began to build her own list two years ago following five years under agent Grant Parsons. “Most of my clients have come through recommendations from casting directors, producers and other clients of mine,” Holden says. “I’m a big fan of drama schools and watch as many of the graduation shows as I can.”

Holden is making a name for herself by pulling off some significant coups, none more so than the buzz created by the news newcomer Fionn Whitehead will have a major role alongside Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy in Christopher Nolan’s historical drama Dunkirk.

It was not the first high-wire act Holden has completed. “One of the first solo deals I had to do as an agent was trying to make a major feature film and a big BBC drama work alongside each other [for a client],” she recalls. “They had identical dates and filmed in different parts of the country. It took me two months of negotiating but was well worth it in the end when we made both jobs work.”

Further Holden clients include Brian Vernel, who has had a recurring role in BBC2 series The Last Kingdom, and NBC’s Crossing Lines star Lara Rossi.

52 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

“It’s not always about the size of the role but really what an actor can do with it,” says Charlie Jennings, who likes to drill deep to help talent create meaningful work that stands out. “It’s wildly important to read everything so that, as an agent, I am able to pinpoint the less obvious role in which a client can score.”

Relationships, attention to detail and a positive outlook are crucial to Jennings, a former personal assistant and Tribeca Film Festival volunteer, who trained under CAA partner Kevin Huvane.

“I love discovering talent, whether it is in a film on the festival circuit, a play or on TV. I also track roles in films where an actor or actress can score. There is so much great material out there that you have to be watching everything to see new talent.”

It is a job, Jennings maintains, where it is essential to keep up with the latest changes in a dynamic industry. “Agents today and tomorrow need to be able to advise their clients not only in their film and TV career but in all facets ranging from endorsements, digital, social media and whatever new platform will be around five years from now.”

Kathrin Kruschke

GERMANY

Crush Agency me@crush.de

Clients include Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht, Anna von Berg, Samir Fuchs, Lore Richter

“It has been more a case of my clients finding me rather than the other way round,” says Kathrin Kruschke, of the creation of her Berlinbased Crush Agency at the beginning of the year. “A lot of contacts function by word of mouth because my clients are great multipliers for me,” she explains.

“I also go to film festivals and industry events that showcase new talents to make discoveries.

“I love creating an ensemble feeling with my agency and my relationship to the clients,” adds Kruschke, whose background working in film and TV production serves her well in her new career as an agent.

“I am more interested in people than Excel tables, that’s why I want to keep the number of clients to a manageable size of around 35. My job as an agent involves a very intense working relationship with each of my clients.”

She enjoys working with actors to develop their individual careers and realise their different ambitions.

“Everybody has their own specific idea of where they see themselves in their film career as well as how they want to develop in the future,” she says.

Kruschke encourages her clients to develop an understanding of how the film business functions and to attend industry events. She will often be at their side. “I support them wherever I can, whether it is accompanying them on the red carpet, briefing them about their relationship with the press, or having some smalltalk at the ready.” »

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Jessica Torres

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Florent Lamy FRANCE Elevate Artist Management florent@elevate-artistmanagement.com Clients include Chloe Pirrie, Martina Garcia, Djimon Hounsou, Sebastian Roché, Freddie Highmore

Florent Lamy launched Paris-based company Elevate Artist Management three years ago having started in the industry as a press attaché. The company now represents some 30 international actors who want to work in France or Europe. It also reps bilingual French talents with international aspirations.

Lamy hit on the idea for the agency while working for French press agency Kinéma Film, which handles press for Metropolitan Export, one of the top distributors of US features in France. “I saw the US model of a talent having a press agent, talent agent and a manager,” he says. “I could see there was a lot of US and UK talents eager to work in France but the problem was that there aren’t many links between US and UK agents and those in France.”

He has recently helped place French-UK actor Sebastian Roché in The Young Pope and Colombian actress Martina Garcia in the second season of Narcos.

“The rise of big-budget international drama such as The Young Pope has opened a lot of opportunities for talent wanting to work internationally,” Lamy says.

Gabriel Mena US Paradigm gmena@ paradigmagency.com

Clients include Ciro Guerra, Alejandro Brugues, Emiliano Rocha Minter, Oscar Jaenada, Luis Gerardo Mendez, Lorenza Izzo

“Perseverance will allow great stories to be told. Trust in your own lunacy.” So says Gabriel Mena, the former head of a fund in Spain and a member of producerfinancier Hispafilms, who flexed his producer muscles on the likes of Sundance 2008 selection Mancora and Andy Garcia’s City Island.

In 2013, Mena become an agent closely involved in representing talent from the Latin American market.

His clients include Ciro Guerra, director of Colombia’s foreign-language Oscar submission Embrace Of The Serpent. He travels to the region and attends as many festivals as he can to familiarise himself with the best of the new generation of talent. “I operate with a hands-on, thoughtful approach that offers the client not only a service but a collaborator in the expansion of their business,” he says.

When asked what he most enjoys about his job, he says: “Positioning myself and Paradigm at the forefront of the Hispanic market both in the US and in Latin America.” In the next five years, Mena plans to steer himself into a leadership position at Paradigm “so the company can continue to forge itself as the premier alternative agency in the industry — focused on a client-first mentality”.

54 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Camille McCurry

UK

United Agents cmccurry@unitedagents.co.uk

Clients include David Wnendt, Kornel Mundruczo, Paddy Breathnach, Grimur Hakonarson, Mark Herman, Hong Khaou

Law graduate Camille McCurry handles an eye-catching list of emerging European voices, including Wetlands and Look Who’s Back writer-director David Wnendt, White God writer-director Kornel Mundruczo (co-repped with Natasha Galloway), Rams writer-director Grimur Hakonarson and Lilting writer-director Hong Khaou.

McCurry came to agenting via work as an assistant at US record label Astralwerks and as a legal executive for Sony. After a couple of years bedding in at United, she had the opportunity to start building a film and TV list under veteran agent Tim Corrie.

“The film-makers I represent range in genre and style but what they have in common is an original vision,” she says. “I’m drawn to auteur voices, a special quality that has a universal impact. I know it when I see it.”

McCurry has around 35 writers and directors on her books, clients who regularly scoop awards at Cannes, Sundance and Locarno.

Anthony Mestriner

UK

Casarotto Ramsay & Associates anthony@casarotto.co.uk

Clients include Brandon Cronenberg, Jonas Akerlund, Adam Randall, Otto Bathurst

The life of a talent agent can be a lonely place at times with agents operating in a ferociously competitive sector, but literary specialist Anthony Mestriner is someone who underlines the importance of teamwork.

“I try to pitch myself as part of a bigger agency that works collaboratively,” he says. “While I have my taste and strategy in certain circumstances, I can draw on a lot of experience to help make good decisions.”

Mestriner started out as assistant to Casarotto founder Jenne Casarotto and covered another agent’s maternity leave before assuming his own impressive roster. Among his most recognised clients are Swedish music videos director Jonas Akerlund, rising UK director Adam Randall (whose second film iBoy, starring Maisie Williams and Bill Milner, is in post-production) and Antiviral director Brandon Cronenberg.

The London-based executive also handles a slew of prolific TV directors who have worked on hit series such as Downton Abbey, Peaky Blinders, Deutschland 83 and Doctor Who. Building and sustaining careers at the top level is often the biggest challenge, explains Mestriner, who advises clients “to find their voice and be resilient”.

“It can take a very long time for things to happen so it’s very easy to get frustrated or lose confidence.” The same applies to agents, he acknowledges. “The industry is growing and changing at a speed that is tough to keep up with as things become more global and film and television merge. You have to be ahead of the curve. The volume of information to process is immense when taking into account the number of projects everyone is trying to push through.”

Colin Moy

NEW ZEALAND

colinmjmoy@gmail.com

Clients To be announced in June

New Zealand insiders credit Colin Moy with being instrumental in upping the profile of Kiwi newcomer Beulah Koale. There is a lot of buzz building around Koale, who has gone from shorts and local TV movies to join Miles Teller, Haley Bennett and Amy Schumer on the US set of Thank You For Your Service. Produced

by DreamWorks, the drama, which covers the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is the highly anticipated directorial debut of Oscar-nominated writer Jason Hall (American Sniper). Moy represented Koale at Red11 Management until very recently, when Moy left the company to branch out on his own. (He spoke to Screen during a three-month non-compete sabbatical.)

Moy was working as an actor when the offer to become an agent came out of the blue. “I wasn’t sure being an agent was something I wanted to do and, as a result, I tentatively agreed to a three-month trial. Once it was over I felt that not only was I up for the challenge of being an agent, I was excited by it.”

Having worked as an actor (Deathgasm, In My Father’s Den, Vertical Limit), Moy has an acute understanding of the peaks and troughs of a career in performing. “In New Zealand, the biggest challenge to anyone in the industry is the lack of opportunity,” he says. “It’s hard for actors to stay positive, confident and off the poverty line when the work just isn’t there. The challenge for me as an agent is to support them through these periods.” »

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ALWAYS SHINE

Director: Sophia Takal (Green) Cast: Mackenzie Davis (Halt and Catch Fire, The Martian), Caitlin FitzGerald (Masters of Sex) Two actresses embark on a road trip to Big Sur to mend their damaged friendship, but jealousy begins to open old wounds in this twisted thriller about obsession, fame, and femininity.

“Unsettling, unshakable (...) reveals Takal as a remarkably assured filmmaker.” – Vanity Fair WINNER

NARRATIVE COMPETITION

“Echoes of De Palma, Lynch, and Bergman, though it simultaneously maintains a presence all its own.” – Indiewire

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: DIRECTION

MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL 2016

FROM NOWHERE

MARKET SCREENINGS: May 13 / 13:30 / Lerins 2 May 15 / 12:00 / Riviera 1 Director: Matthew Newton (Three Blind Mice) Cast: Julianne Nicholson (August: Osage County, Black Mass), Denis O’Hare (Dallas Buyers Club) Nearing their high school graduation, three undocumented Bronx teenagers navigate the difficulties of adolescence while living with the threat of being discovered by the authorities and their friends.

“Urgent and relevant (...) [McCree] impressively evinces charismatic screen presence and implosive intensity.” – Variety MARKET SCREENINGS: TODAY / 9:30 / Riviera 2 May 16 / 17:30 / Lerins 4

CLAIRE IN MOTION

Directors: Lisa Robinson, Annie J. Howell (Small, Beautifully Moving Parts) Cast: Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad), Anna Margaret Hollyman (White Reindeer) When Claire’s search for her missing husband leads her to an alluring and manipulative graduate student, she uncovers a world of secrets that threatens to shatter her family. “[With] powerful performances from its ensemble of actors, the movie is a gentle tour-de-force.”

– Vanity Fair “A profound and engrossing character study riddled with the subtle undertones of a psychological thriller.” – Smells Like Screen Spirit MARKET SCREENING: May 14 / 15:30 / Lerins 2

MAZE

STAGE: POST-PRODUCTION Director: Stephen Burke (Happy Ever Afters) Producers: Jane Doolan, Brendan J. Byrne Cast: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Love/Hate), Barry Ward (Jimmy’s Hall), Martin McCann (The Survivalist) Based on the true story of the 1983 mass break-out of 38 prisoners from the HMP Maze high security prison, Maze is a gripping prison break film that follows the relationship between two men on opposite sides of the prison bars.

EST. DELIVERY: Q1 2017

MORRIS FROM AMERICA

Director: Chad Hartigan (This Is Martin Bonner) Cast: Craig Robinson (This Is the End)

SUNTAN

Director: Argyris Papadimitropoulos (Wasted Youth) Cast: Makis Papadimitriou (Chevalier, L)

When a black teen moves to Germany with his single father, he must deal with culture shock and his infatuation with a rebellious girl, all while dreaming of becoming a hip hop star.

On a hedonistic Greek island, a doctor becomes obsessed with a young tourist when she lets him tag along with her group of hard-partying friends.

“Irresistibly sweet.” – Entertainment Weekly

US Distributor: A24

MY REVOLUTION

“Confident, unflinching filmmaking.”

– Screen International

MARKET SCREENINGS: TODAY / 11:30 / Lerins 4 May 15 / 9:30 / Lerins 2

US Distributor: Strand Releasing

Director: Ramzi Ben Sliman Cast: Lubna Azabal (Incendies), Samir Guesmi (Camille Rewinds, The Returned)

ANOTHER COUNTRY

While trying to impress his crush, a FrenchTunisian teenager accidentally becomes the face of the Arab Spring in Paris.

French Distributor: Memento

MARKET SCREENING: May 14 / 13:30 / Lerins 2 Director: Molly Reynolds (Twelve Canoes) Producers: Rolf de Heer (Charlie’s Country, Ten Canoes), Molly Reynolds, Peter Djigirr Narrator: David Gulpilil (Walkabout, Crocodile Dundee, Charlie’s Country)

“A fun and fresh take on France’s Arab diaspora.” – The Hollywood Reporter

The great Australian Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil tells the tale about when his people’s way of life was interrupted by ours.

MARKET SCREENING: May 16 / 13:30 / Lerins 4

FESTIVAL SCREENING: May 13 / 19:30 / Le Raimu

Ryan Kampe rk@visitfilms.com +1 646 548 4700

SALES: Lorna-Lee Sagebiel lls@visitfilms.com +1 646 421 4574

ACQUISITIONS: Ania Trzebiatowska at@visitfilms.com +1 323 360 7277

FESTIVALS: Joe Yanick jy@visitfilms.com +1 440 479 9879

CANNES OFFICE Lerins L4 +1 347 662 9577

www.visitfilms.com info@visitfilms.com

Alamy

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Jackie Chan is repped

by CAA internationally

Marnie Podos

WHY IT’S DIFFERENT IN ASIA

T

alent management in Asia is handled very differently to the world of agents in North America and Europe. Neither East nor South Asian film industries have a culture of talent agents procuring or packaging work for their clients and charging a percentage of their earnings. Instead, most national film industries have talent management companies, which have a full team working with the bigger talents, overseeing all aspects of their careers, from film, TV and endorsement deals to managing their day-to-day affairs. Generally, newer talent works for the management, rather than the other way round.

East Asia’s biggest talent stables include South Korea’s IHQ, KeyEast, JYP Entertainment and SM Entertainment; Japan’s Amuse, HoriPro and K Dash Group; China’s Huayi Brothers and Fundamental Management; and Media Asia’s Rich & Famous and Emperor Entertainment Group in Hong Kong.

Bigger Asian names tend to have separate representation through US agencies for their international projects: CAA handles Jackie Chan; WME reps Priyanka Chopra and South Korean directors Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho; and UTA handles Li Bingbing and Mark Chao.

Mainland China’s talent industry has been going through rapid changes. Increasingly, the bigger stars are leaving management stables to form their own companies, such as Fan Bingbing Studio, which is in the process of being bought out

by Zhejiang Talent Television & Film.

Marie Prouzet FRANCE Talentbox m.prouzet@talentbox.fr Clients include Nabiha Akkari, Lou Chauvain, Vincent Tirel

Marie Prouzet is the newest recruit at Talentbox, the Paris-based agency created by former Studiocanal France CEO Camille Trumer in 2011, following his acquisition of talent and publicity agencies CinéArt

56 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

US talent agency giant CAA launched in China in 2008, introducing the Western model, which involves handling directors and writers in addition to stars. Some smaller outfits have emerged in recent years, such as Easy Entertainment (see page 46), which also deploy this model.

Despite continuing attempts to get Sino-US coproductions off the ground, English-speaking actors are still scarce in China and even big-name Chinese-speaking talent is in short supply due to the boom in local film and TV production.

In South Asia, stars in the Hindi-speaking film industry historically had personal ‘secretaries’ managing their affairs and acting as gatekeepers, but as Bollywood has become more corporatised, talent management companies have also emerged in Mumbai. The most established include Percept Talent Management, GloboSport and Reshma Shetty’s Matrix. Bollywood stars also like to take control of their own careers. Bigger names such as Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar have all set up their own production companies and tend to board projects as investors and coproducers rather than just actors.

In 2012, CAA also launched in Mumbai in partnership with local agency Kwan, which was founded in 2009 by former GloboSport executive Anirban Das Blah and producer Madhu Mantena.

Datta Dave and Chaitanya Hegde’s Tulsea (see page 50) is one of the rare local shops that focuses on the careers of Indian writers and directors.

Liz Shackleton

and Moteur!. Prouzet was studying political science when she caught the agenting bug through a chance internship at a talent agency. On completing her studies, she took the classic route of working as an assistant to a number of top French agents including Annabel Karouby, Christel Grossenbacher and MarieLaure Munich.

“I worked for five agents over a period of five years.

It taught me a lot. I saw a lot of different working methods and also got to work with a huge and varied range of talents,” says Prouzet.

Today, she represents more than 20 young talents including rising actor Lou Chauvain — who is soon to be seen in Diasteme’s The Summer Of All My Parents

UK

United Agents mpodos@unitedagents.co.uk

Clients include Nikolaj Arcel, Rory Stewart Kinnear, Levan Akin

“I love original voices,” says literary agent Marnie Podos, who came to agenting via a PhD in English and jobs as a runner and at a production company. “I’m attracted to a variety of styles, but the bottom line for me is great storytelling that balances aesthetic credibility with commercial instincts.

“As an expat [she was born in the US], I’m naturally drawn to talent that could work on both sides of the pond. I also look for clients who radiate energy in a room, it’s such a big part of the job.”

The Danish film-maker and screenwriter Nikolaj Arcel, co-repped with UA’s Natasha Galloway, is one of the jewels in Podos’s crown. Arcel has been writing and directing features since 2002 and gained international attention with his 2009 script for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. This was followed by the Danishlanguage A Royal Affair, which he wrote and directed; the film was nominated for the best foreign-language Oscar in 2012. The US-based Arcel has been courted by Hollywood ever since and is now shooting his Englishlanguage debut, the Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower, which stars Idris Elba.

Also on the books is a stable of emerging writers including Lynne Ramsay’s regular collaborator Rory Stewart Kinnear; In Blood And Sand co-writer Daniel Dale; playwright Chris Urch, who is writing the untitled Alexander McQueen biopic; Ed Whitworth, whose credits include long-gestating features Reykjavik and Powell; and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, whose script The Good Nurse is creating buzz in the UK. “I like having a strong conversion rate,” says Podos.

“You sell your clients most effectively when you believe in what you’re selling.”

— and web-star Vincent Tirel, a member of The Golden Moustache web collective and co-director of the web feature Les Dissociés.

“I like people with a theatrical training. It gives them a solid foundation and produces actors with a strong repertoire of skills,” says Prouzet. “I’ve also got a handful of web talents, who are very popular in France.

“Finding talents is relatively easy. You just need to take the time and go out and meet them. What’s really hard is that when you work with young talents, you’re often starting from zero. You’ve got to get them known and convince people to meet them and that can take time.” »

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CANNES 2016

CONTENT in Cannes: 6 rue Florian, 3rd floor (off the Rue du Commandant André)

IN PRODUCTION

SCREENINGS YOUTH IN OREGON

PISTORIUS

Director: Vaughan Sivell Synopsis: PISTORIUS is ‘Senna’ meets ‘Making a Murderer’, a riveting true-crime feature documentary about the rise and dramatic fall of an Olympic sports icon.

Director: Joel David Moore Cast: Frank Langella, Billy Crudup , Christina Applegate, Mary Kay Place, Josh Lucas Quote: “Langella delivers one of the great performances of his career.” - Indiewire PREMIERE MARKET SCREENING Fri 13 May at 13.30, Olympia 9

DON’T KNOCK TWICE

Director: Caradog James Cast: Katee Sackhoff, Lucy Boyton, Nick Moran Synopsis: ‘Candy Man’ meets ‘The Ring’ in this psychologically terrifying, twisted urban legend that will have you clinging to the edge of your seat for dear life.

IN PRE PRODUCTION

PREMIERE MARKET SCREENING Sat 14 May at 18.00, Olympia 8

THE WORKER

Director: Dan Bradley Cast: Michael Peña Synopsis: THE WORKER is ‘Taken’ meets ‘Bourne’ chocked full of spectacular gun fights, car chases and lethal hand-to-hand combat, from Director Dan Bradley arguably, the finest 2nd Unit Director and Stunt Coordinator in the world.

THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Director: Bill Purple Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Maisie Williams, Jessica Biel, Paul Reiser, Mary Steenburgen Quote: “Funny, touching. Entertaining and emotional, the result is a crowd pleaser.” - The Upcoming PREMIERE MARKET SCREENINGS Thurs 12 May at 12.00, Olympia 4 Fri 13 May at 15.30, Olympia 9

THE VAULT (AKA ‘THE TRUST’)

Director: Dan Bush Synopsis: ‘The Town’ meets ‘The Shining’ in THE VAULT - an actionpacked supernatural heist thriller, filled with tension, frights, and mind-bending horror.

NALEDI: A BABY ELEPHANT’S TALE

Director: Ben Bowie, Geoff Luck Synopsis: The heartwarming, emotional true story of Naledi - a baby elephant - and her journey from birth through early childhood, caught live on camera in stunning, intimate detail.

CALLAS & ONASSIS

Director: Niki Caro (The Zookeeper’s Wife) Cast: Noomi Rapace Synopsis: ‘La Vie en Rose’ meets ‘The English Patient’ in the romantic, mesmerizing tale about the life and great loves of opera superstar Maria Callas.

LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS

Director: Leif Tilden Cast: Billy Crudup, Graham Rogers, Liana Liberato, Stefanie Scott, Tim Roth Synopsis: LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS is ‘Good Will Hunting’ meets ‘Field of Dreams,’ an inspiring, emotional, and heartwarming story of love, loss, and a life affirming re-awakening of the spirit.

PREMIERE MARKET SCREENINGS Thurs 12 May at 17.30, Olympia 7 Sun 15 May at 11.30, Olympia 6

GOLDEN YEARS

IN POST PRODUCTION MANOLO: The Boy Who Made Shoes For Lizards

Director: Michael Roberts Featuring: Manolo Blahnik, Anna Wintour, Rihanna, Andre Leon Talley, Paloma Picasso, Candace Bushnell, Naomi Campbell, Iman, Rupert Everett Synopsis: MANOLO: The Boy Who Made Shoes For Lizards is an in-depth portrait of the man who is regarded as a genius by some of the most revered figures in fashion; a behind-the-scenes peek into his world; and a must see for any person who has ever looked longingly at a pair of his shoes - famously known on a first name basis as ‘Manolos’.

HIGHER POWER

Director: Matthew Santoro Cast: Ron Eldard, Colm Feore, Austin Stowell Synopsis: From Lorenzo di Bonaventura, producer of the ‘Transformers’ franchise, ‘Salt,’ and the ‘G.I. Joe’ franchise, comes an astonishing new Sci-Fi movie. With mind blowing special effects, and a compelling new character, HIGHER POWER is ‘X-Men’ meets ‘Chronicle’ - the story of a true everyman who risks his life to save his daughter and ends up with powers beyond his wildest imagination.

London Office 19 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BG, UK Tel: +44 20 7851 6500

Director: John Miller Cast: Bernard Hill, Alun Armstrong, Una Stubbs, Phil Davis Quote: “‘Breaking Bad’ meets ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’” - The Hollywood Reporter PREMIERE MARKET SCREENING Sun 15 May at 16.00, Olympia 8

COMPLETED 2016

CARNAGE PARK

Director: Mickey Keating Cast: Ashley Bell, Pat Healy, Alan Ruck Synopsis: Content’s killer Sundance Midnight run of ‘The Pact’, ‘The Nightmare’ and ‘Bound to Vengeance’ continues with CARNAGE PARK, a terrifying new film inspired by a true story, and directed by fan-favorite horror director of ‘Pod’ and ‘Darling’, Mickey Keating.

TOO LATE

Director: Dennis Hauck Cast: John Hawkes, Crystal Reed, Dichen Lachman, Natalie Zea Quotes: “Inventive, ambitious, clever, and shockingly elegant. Mindblowing cinematography. Nothing short of amazing.” - Aint it Cool “Daring. Super-stylized. Hawkes is fascinating.”

- The Hollywood Reporter

Sales Jamie Carmichael, President • Harry White, Head of Sales • Kevin Adege, Senior Sales Manager Marketing & PR Judith Baugin, Head of International Marketing • Sophie Roche, Marketing Manager Production Legal Tom Butterfield, Head of Production Libby D’Arcy, VP of Business Affairs

www.contentmediacorp.com

Los Angeles Office 225 Arizona Ave Suite #250 Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA Tel: +1 310 576 1059

credits not contractual

Cannes 2016 Slate Advert ContentMediaFINAL.indd 1

09/05/2016 13:33

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Meyash Prabhu US WME mprabhu@ wmeentertainment.com

Clients include Robert Eggers, Martin Zandvliet, F Javier Gutierrez, Timur Bekmambetov, Pippa Bianco

Meyash Prabhu believes strongly in being first out of the gate and, once out, staying attuned to standout qualities that will define potential clients.

“With the level of information exchange, it’s rare that you come across a great film in a festival that nobody is talking about and the artist is unrepresented,” says Prabhu. “[To do so] requires working extra hard to listen to that podcast, or watch that proofof-concept short online that nobody has seen yet.”

By going the extra mile Prabhu has come to represent the likes of The Witch director Robert Eggers, Martin Zandvliet, the Danish writer-director of Land Of Mine, and F Javier Gutierrez, whose Rings remake is due out later this year. Championing distinct voices and staying positive, tenacious and entrepreneurial through inevitable setbacks is key.

“There are so many platforms the artist can express themselves through, the most important criteria becomes a uniqueness and clarity of perspective. In addition to seeing as many movies and reading as many scripts as possible, storytellers can come in the forms of a designer, playwright, blogger or podcaster.”

Anna Rozalska POLAND Match & Spark ✆ +48 600 302 202 Clients include Lukasz Zal, Monika Lenczewska

Anna Rozalska describes herself as a manager as well as an agent. She set up Poland-based company Match & Spark last autumn together with business partner Tarik Hachoud. “It’s a young generation of film-makers who have big potential to work internationally,” Rozalska says of her initial list of 20 or so clients. It includes writers, directors, production designers and cinematographers, among them Lukasz Zal, DoP on the Oscar-winning Ida, and Monika Lenczewska, DoP on Fabrice Du Welz’s Message From The King.

Rozalska began to think about establishing Match & Spark last year after steadicam operator Adam Mendry approached her. At the time, she had also been helping her friend Zal go to Los Angeles and meet with US agents. “He came back and said, ‘Anna, you’ve been dealing with everything as a friend, maybe you should consider being my agent.’”

Rozalska was previously in charge of the production and development department at Alvernia Studios.

“After being responsible for international production, I was looking for a way to use all the contacts I’d built over the years,” she says. The aim at Match & Spark is to work with film-makers, writers and technicians who want to “grow internationally”.

58 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Trine Ryaa

DENMARK

All That Management trine@allthatmanagement.dk Clients include Sidse Babett Knudsen, Nicolaj Kopernikus, Carsten Bjornlund (all shared with All That CEO/founder Anette Vendelbo)

After working in theatre for more than a decade, Trine Ryaa started working with Anette Vendelbo’s Copenhagen-based All That Management with small, part-time projects in 2007. She joined the agency full time three years ago and now serves as an agent in her own right as well as assisting Vendelbo in working with top Danish clients including Borgen and The Duke Of Burgundy star Sidse Babett Knudsen. Ryaa is interested in discovering rising talents and “to be able to present a wider range of age and talent to the casters, producers and directors”. She adds: “I love to see them grow and see how they deal with the challenges given to them, casting by casting.”

Watching Vendelbo closely over the years has been hugely valuable for her. Ryaa has learnt from “seeing her negotiate and watching her close important deals, taking it to the limit, but in fairness without being pushy”.

Of her own skills, Ryaa notes: “I always try to see the possibilities within the person before me, without promising gold at the end of the rainbow.” But when that gold comes, that’s the best part of her job. “Calling a client to say they got the dream job, that’s the greatest part.”

Jaya Saha

INDIA

CAA Kwan jayanti@caakwan.com

Clients include Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin, Shraddha Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Mahesh Babu, Radhika Apte, Kriti Kharbanda, Deeksha Seth

Based in Mumbai, Jaya Saha is talent head at CAA Kwan, which handles actors, musicians, directors, writers and sportspeople. She is praised by local producers for her work with actors such as Kalki Koechlin, Radhika Apte and Sushant Singh Rajput, who have become stars in India’s fast-growing indie film-making sector, as well as mainstream stars including Deepika Padukone and Shraddha Kapoor.

When Saha graduated from college eight years ago, professional talent management did not really exist in India. But sports management had just started to emerge and she took a job at GloboSport, one of the first professional agencies. “A friend recommended this career to me. It sounded interesting and I took the plunge,” Saha says. When Anirban Das Blah left GloboSport in 2009 to set up Kwan, she followed.

Saha says she finds new talent through producers, directors, casting directors and other industry professionals and works with her clients to create a sustainable brand image. “You have to adapt to what is being consumed by the audience and be ahead of the curve.”

Andreas Schlieter

GERMANY

Gipfelsturmer Talent Agency kontakt@agentur-gipfelstuermer.de

Clients include Toini Ruhnke, Tom Bottcher, Salah Massoud, Delio Malär, Michaela Spanle

The idea of launching his own talent agency was born when Andreas Schlieter ran the in-house extras and bit-player agency for Hamburgbased production company Network Movie. “I saw how much fun it can be to work with young talents,” he says. “I love the fact the job is so diversified. As an agent, you need many skills to do a great job. You are CEO, PR agent, best friend and caring dad in one person. And it really makes me happy to see when one of my clients is successful.”

One way to find new clients is to keep an eye on the talent coming out of the local acting schools. Schlieter’s work as a stills photographer for the youth wing of Hamburg’s Deutsches Schauspielhaus theatre has also served him well. Sometimes, though, it is pure chance that leads to him to a gem.

“I was in the U-bahn one evening and noticed a young man with huge charisma and a really extraordinary and memorable voice,” he says. “It turned out that he’d just moved to Hamburg from Switzerland to study acting — and Delio Malär is now one of my busiest talents.”

Representing 15 actors, Schlieter sees himself as “a personal manager who knows exactly what’s going on in his talents’ lives and careers”. He points out that at the beginning of an actor’s career, the talent and the agent both have to work hard at gaining recognition. “You get that through a great showreel and really good portraits,” he explains. “You have to make the casting directors curious to cast the talents without being too pushy.”

» www.screendaily.com

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Solco Schuit

US

WME sschuit@wmeentertainment.com Clients include Babak Anvari, Otto Bathurst, Zach Dean, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Justin Simien

Like many good agents, Solco Schuit started out in the mailroom. Once he got on his first desk, he says he never looked back and the literary agent has wasted little time assembling a stable of emerging talent. He recently signed Iranian director Babak Anvari, whose genre feature Under The Shadow was one of the most talked about films in Sundance this year.

Further clients include Justin Simien, the writerdirector of Dear White People, Peaky Blinders director

Daphné Thavaud

Pedro Tourinho

Clients include Nathalie Odzierejko, Raphael Descraques, Julien Josselin, Norman Thavaud

Daphné Thavaud belongs to a new generation of agents scoping out and representing top online talent.

Often referred to as ‘the YouTubers agent’ in France, Thavaud represents many of France’s top web stars, including her younger brother Norman Thavaud, whose channel Norman Fait Des Videos (Norman Makes Videos) has 7.3 million subscribers.

Thavaud trained in theatre production and segued into the talent business via film and TV production.

“I was always drawn to performers, so becoming a talent agent was a natural progression,” says Thavaud, who set up Vacarme four years ago. “I didn’t plan to focus on web talent but my brother’s YouTube activities were taking off so I had direct access.” It was a baptism of fire as the young agent got to grips with the emerging economic model revolving around branding and sponsorship deals on the web, which has transformed many of her clients into millionaires.

Thavaud does not confine herself to the web. Further clients include emerging actor Paul Scarfoglio, who will debut on the big screen this year in David Moreau’s Seuls and Christian Duguay’s A Bag Of Marbles. In 2015, Thavaud accepted an offer from top talent agent Bertrand de Labbey to join Artmedia, one of France’s biggest agencies, and de Labbey has become an important mentor for Thavaud.

“I got to the point where I needed to grow my knowledge of a profession that I’d learnt all alone. I had other offers from producers and agents but somehow they didn’t gel. Bertrand, however, is extraordinary and it was the right move,” she explains.

De Labbey stepped down as head of Artmedia earlier this year to focus on its sister agency Voyez Mon Agent (VMA). In a sign of her commitment to the veteran agent, Thavaud says her client list will be integrated into VMA in the coming months.

60 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

BRAZIL

NoPlanB contato@noplanb.ag

FRANCE Vacarme By Artmedia daphne.thavaud@ vacarme-by-artmedia.com

Otto Bathurst, who is now preparing to direct Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx and Eve Hewson in Robin Hood: Origins for Lionsgate, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, now writing the new take on Tomb Raider as well as Transformers 5. Schuit gladly accepts referrals to develop his roster, although he strives to apply the right kind of energy.

“Sometimes it can be a challenge to stop yourself from getting in that rhythm of just responding to e-mails and returning phone calls instead of proactively strategising,” he says.

A team player, he likes to spend time with colleagues and clients, whom he says “are the heart and soul of WME”.

That bustling milieu appears to be the one Schuit has set his sights on for the foreseeable future: “The course Ari [Emanuel] and Patrick [Whitesell] have set this company on will put WME in a unique position in five years and I’m extremely excited to be a part of that.”

Clients include Bruno Mazzeo, Fabricio Boliveira, Chay Suede, Fabiula Nascimento, Marco Pigossi

In 2009, Pedro Tourinho was living in Los Angeles on UCLA’s entertainment studies programme when he decided to open his own talent agency in Rio de Janeiro, adopting the same business model as the US industry. In Brazil, the talent market is still very small, since most actors, film-makers and writers are solely represented by managers.

“My goal is to help my clients achieve all their artistic and commercial potential, without a plan B,” says Tourinho of the philosophy — and name — of his company. “Nothing is more rewarding then developing a career strategy and a plan and to see the results.”

Tourinho has always been involved in the entertainment industry, working initially in advertising and branded content, as a TV director and marketing director for networks such as Record and Globo in Brazil.

Becoming a talent agent was a natural step.

While a manager handles public relations and business matters, as a talent agent Tourinho see himself as someone who will bring the best opportunities to his clients and help them to make the best decisions.

“A manager doesn’t do multi-platform career planning,” says Tourinho of the difference. Today NoPlanB handles 25 clients, including Bruno Mazzeo, the star of three local hit comedies.

“I don’t look for clients. I prefer to let them know my work through the success and work of my clients.

They end up looking for me,” he says. “I like to work with proactive clients, most of them are busy actors in the industry. I represent people such as Thiago Soares, a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet in London, and Nego do Borel, the Brazilian funk and pop star.” Tourinho hopes to see the Brazilian talent sector develop and expand. “We need more agencies such as NoPlanB and more players from other markets. My growth is totally linked to the development of our talent industry.”

Ali Trustman

US

CAA mdavy@caa.com

Clients include Emmy Rossum, Julianne Hough, Sofia Boutella, Zoe Saldana, James Franco

Ali Trustman’s broad education at CAA has put her in good stead when it comes to fighting for clients and developing their appeal across platforms. She started at CAA in 2009 as an assistant in the film finance and sales group, where she learned the nuts and bolts of assembling a project.

“I make sure to go to as many film festivals and watch as many movies at those festivals as I can,” says Trustman, who managed to see 40 fea-

tures at Sundance this year. “I find a lot of the talent I work with from that space.”

She has also had a stint in the literary department, giving Trustman what she describes as a “360-degree background” and enabling her to be creative when generating opportunities for her clients.

“I also care a tremendous amount about representing women and feel a responsibility to make sure we are putting out truthful representations of women that excite actresses and audiences,” she says. “Whether that is the Joy Mangano story [Joy] or supporting the reimagining of The Mummy as a woman, I want to be in the middle of that conversation.” »

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A c q ui si t ion s , Di s t r i b u t ion & C on s ult i ng

AT CANNES

FUTURE LEADERS AGENTS

Molly Wansell

UK

42 mollywansell@42mp.com

Clients include Stacy Martin, Miles Jupp, Hera Hilmar, Coral Amiga

“Ever since I was a child my parents said I should try becoming an agent,” says 42’s Molly Wansell. After a brief stint working at an academic institution, she joined the ranks at UK agency Tavistock Wood and worked there for six years before joining the nascent 42 in late 2014.

“An agent-client relationship is more co-dependent than a marriage so you need to make sure you really understand the person you want to work with — and believe they have talent of course,” she says. “All my clients are different and have different skills but if you put them all

Jonathan Weinstein

in a room together they would get on. I like to refer to them as my team.”

Her clients includes UK comedy actor Miles Jupp of BBC series Rev and Radio 4 comedy show The News Quiz and rising star Stacy Martin, the model-turned-actress whose credits include Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, Brady Corbet’s The Childhood Of A Leader, Nicolas Saada’s Taj Mahal and Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales.

Among the emerging talents on Wansell’s roster are Icelandic actress Hera Hilmar, who stars in local box-office smash Life In A Fish Bowl and alongside Baltasar Kormakur in the directoractor’s upcoming The Oath (she also has a recurring role in Starz TV fantasy drama Da Vinci’s Demons); and Rome actress Coral Amiga, who recently wrapped thriller Kill The Czar opposite James Franco. Former Screen Star of Tomorrow Rose Wicksteed is among Wansell’s casting agent clients.

US

UTA steinl@unitedtalent.com

Clients include Nicholas Braun, Joanne Froggatt, Tony Hale, Amber Tamblyn

After graduating from Brandeis University with a degree in politics and English literature, Weinstein moved from the east coast to Los Angeles and joined the UTA agent training programme in 2007. “Since my first day, I have prided myself in doing the job the best I could, never saying no, and always trusting my instinct and taste,” says Weinstein, who made agent in 2012. Trawling though festivals such as Sundance and Toronto enables him to hear about the most in-demand actors, writers and directors. And working with a broad range of talent allows him to improve his own performance.

Similarly, in these competitive times, Weinstein expects an open-mindedness from his clients once he has secured them an audition or a foot in the door. He tells them: “Only take a job for the right reasons, to make sure it’s a character he or she really wants to play and will be excited about showing up for every day on set.

“I’m not the one who’s going to be living and breathing the character, and the reasons I might think the job or the character are worthwhile can be wholly different from theirs.”

Once an offer comes in, the rewarding part of Weinstein’s job kicks in. “There is no greater feeling than calling a client to tell them they got the part they’ve worked so hard for and wanted so badly.”

Ashley Zhang

CHINA

CAA (Beijing) ashley.zhang@caa.com

Clients include John Woo, Pang Ho Cheung, Wu Bai, John H Lee, Lu Chuan, Wendy Li, Yuan Yuan, Yan Geling

An agent in CAA’s Beijing office, Ashley Zhang works with writers such as Yuan Yuan (Go Away Mr Tumor), emerging directors including Wu Bai (The Old Cinderella) and established film-makers including Pang Ho Cheung (Love In The Buff) and John H Lee (Operation Chromite). She also works with her CAA colleagues in the US repping international talents such as John Woo. Zhang joined CAA after studying at Beijing Film Academy and London School of Economics, first working as an assistant to Jonah Greenberg, then being promoted to agent after two years. She has become the leading agent in China working with bilingual writers, such as novelist-screenwriter Yan Geling (Coming Home) and screenwriter Wendy Li (Bridge Forever).

“Many of my clients are bilingual and understand both local and Western audiences’ culture and tastes,” says Zhang. “Others are local talent who have already delivered a successful or popular movie or TV series or young film-makers with great potential. I’m also very active in helping our US clients work in China or in co-productions.”

Zhang says she finds clients through recommendations of colleagues, former schoolmates and industry friends. “I also pay close attention to high-quality short films and young filmmakers whose work is shown at film festivals.”

She says one of the biggest challenges of her job is bridging the US and Chinese film industries. “They’re in different phases of development, so the demands and expectations of financiers and audiences, rules of the game and business strategies are dissimilar. But my CAA colleagues in the US are as committed as my colleagues in Beijing to creating opportunities for Chis nese clients in the global marketplace.” ■

62 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Camilla Young UK Curtis Brown camilla.young@ curtisbrown.co.uk Clients include Brock Norman Brock, Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel, Geir Henning Hopland (all co-repped with Nick Marston)

Young started out as assistant to Curtis Brown agent and Cuba Pictures CEO Nick Marston for two years, before being promoted to co-agent Marston’s stellar list and to build her own.

Bronson co-writer Brock Norman Brock is among Young’s biggest names while up-andcoming writing duo Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel are two of the UK’s hottest new writing talents. The duo’s 2016 Jesse Owens biopic Race has prompted a flood of interest from Hollywood and they have projects in the works with Doug Liman, Christopher McQuarrie, Catherine Hardwicke and Stephen Hopkins.

Another client, Norwegian director Geir Henning Hopland, has directed multiple episodes of Netflix crime drama Lilyhammer and gone on to direct the pilot and first four episodes of hit Norwegian TV series Acquitted.

“I work within a great department in a fantastic agency,” says Young. “We share information, have access to exciting material and I like to introduce clients to each other so they can develop work together.

“I love the fact that no day is the same and I’m constantly meeting new people. Also when you have a part to play in your client getting their dream job, it makes all the hard work worth it.”

Among her career highlights so far is working on the screen-rights deal to Matt Haig ’s children’s book A Boy Called Christmas, which was sold to Studiocanal and Blueprint Pictures.

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C O H E N M E D I A G R O U P C O H E N F I L M C O L L E C T I O N

A N D P R E S E N T

A MERCHANT IVORY PRODUCTION

HOWARDS END

Howards End Director: James Ivory Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson

World Premiere - New 4K Restoration Official Festival Screening: Thursday, May 12 · 8:30pm · Buñuel Theatre

Marché Screening: Priority Badges Only Friday, May 13 · 5:30pm · Palais J

25

TAHRY

ERS ANNIV

50TH

RY ERSA ANNIV

King of Hearts (Le Roi de Cœur) Director: Philippe de Broca Starring: Alan Bates & Genevieve Bujold

World Premiere - 4K Restoration Official Festival Screening: Friday, May 13 · 9:30pm · Cinéma de la Plage

Marché Screening: Priority Badges Only Thursday, May 12 · 9:30am · Olympia 9

25TH

RY ERSA ANNIV

Daughters of the Dust

50TH

RY ERSA ANNIV

Director: Julie Dash

World Premiere - 2K Restoration

DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST cohenmedia.net

International Sales: Liz Mackiewicz, SVP International Distribution +1 310 567 9337 · lmackiewicz@cohenmedia.net Cannes Office: Riviera - Marina Club – H6

Screenings Edited by Paul Lindsell

Jury grid, page 96

paullindsell@gmail.com » Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration

14:45

FestivaL

LADY KILLER / LOVER-BOY

and press

(France) 92mins. Dir: Jean Gremillon. Cast: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Rene Lefevre.

Lucien Bourrache, a good looking non-commissioned officer in the Spahis regiment, is used to charming many women. He meets Madeleine Courtois in Cannes. She is beautiful and lives in luxury. He lends her a large amount of money, which she loses gambling. Then she drops him. But Lucien is now in love. Once demobilised, he goes to Paris to find her again. But he’s not so sexy to Madeleine without his uniform.

08:30 IN BED WITH VICTORIA See box, right

STAYING VERTICAL

(France) 100mins.

Dir: Alain Guiraudie.

Cast: Damien Bonnard, India Hair, Raphael Thierry, Laure Calamy.

Film-maker Leo is in the south of France. During a scouting excursion he is seduced by Marie, a free-spirited and dynamic shepherdess. Nine months later she gives birth to their child. Suffering from postnatal depression and with no faith in Leo, who comes and goes without warning, Marie abandons both of them. Leo finds himself alone with a baby. It is not easy but deep down he loves it. Through a series of unexpected and unusual encounters, struggling to find inspiration for his next film, Leo will do whatever it takes to stay standing.

Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere Press, ticket required

08:45 FAI BEI SOGNI

(Italy) 134mins.

Dir: Marco Bellocchio.

Cast: Valerio Mastandrea, Berenice Bejo, Guido Caprino, Nicolo Cabras, Dario Dal Pero, Barbara Ronchi.

Massimo’s idyllic childhood was shattered by the mysterious death of his mother. As he prepares to sell his parents’ apartment, he is haunted by his traumatic past.

Compassionate doctor Elisa could help tormented Massimo open up and confront his wounds.

Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette

11:00

Festival & Press 08:30 IN BED WITH VICTORIA

(France) 99mins.

Dir: Justine Triet.

Cast: Virginie Efira, Vincent Lacoste, Melvil Poupaud, Laurent Poitrenaux.

Victoria is a beautiful Lively, Parker Posey, Kristen Stewart, Corey Stoll, Ken Stott.

The story of a young man who comes out to Los Angeles in the 1930s to try to make good in the movie business, falls in love and returns to New York heartbroken.

Out of Competition Salle Du Soixantieme

CLASH

(Egypt) 97mins. Dir: Mohamed Diab. Cast: Ahmed Malek, Tarek Abdel Aziz, Nelly Karim.

Explores the confrontations between pro- and antiMuslim Brotherhood demonstrators that emerged following the removal of president Mohamed Morsi from power on July 3, 2013.

Un Certain Regard Theatre Claude Debussy Press

CAFE SOCIETY

(US) 96mins. Dir: Woody Allen. Cast: Jeannie Berlin, Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake

THE LAST RESORT

(Italy) 135mins. Dir: Thanos Anastopoulos, Davide Del Degan.

64 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

hi-tech global markets.

Parisian criminal lawyer in her late 30s.

Sex addict, workaholic, totally self-centered…

But everything is about the change. An hilarious and tender comedy.

Out of Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere Press, ticket required

11:30 ALBUM

Revolves around a very popular beach in Trieste, in the northeast of Italy, where a wall still separates men from women. A film about boundaries, identities and discrimination.

(Turkey) 104mins. Dir: Mehmet Can Mertoglu.

Cast: Sebnem Bozoklu, Murat Kilic, Muttalip Mujdeci, Mufit Kayacan, Zuhal Gencer Erkaya.

A couple in their late 30s set out to prepare a fake photo album of a pseudo pregnancy in order to prove their biological ties to the baby they are planning to adopt.

Special Screenings Salle Bazin Press

Critics’ Week Miramar

Critics’ Week Miramar

MONEY MONSTER

(US) 100mins. Dir: Jodie Foster. Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Caitriona Balfe, Giancarlo Esposito.

In a real-time, high-stakes thriller, financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor who has lost everything forcefully takes over their studio. During a tense standoff broadcast to millions on live TV, Lee and Patty must work furiously against the clock to unravel the mystery behind a conspiracy at the heart of today’s fast-paced,

12:15 SOUTH AFRICA FACTORY

(South Africa) 72mins.

Dir: Zee Ntuli, Isabelle Mayor, Zamo Mkhwanazi, Alejandro, Sheetal Magan, Martin Morgenfeld, Samantha Nell, Michael Wahrman.

A selection of shorts from South Africa opens the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar.

Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette

12:30 MASCULIN FEMININ

(France) 106mins.

Dir: Jean-Luc Godard.

Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marlene Jobert, Chantal Goya, Brigitte Bardot.

As his girlfriend tries to

advance her pop singing career, disillusioned Paul protests about the Vietnam War. A portrait of “the children of Marx and Coca-Cola”, the generation of the late 1960s with its contradictory responses to sex, politics and culture and consumer society.

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

14:00 PERSONAL AFFAIRS

(Israel) 90mins.

Dir: Maha Haj. In Nazareth, an old couple live wearily to the rhythm of the daily routine. On the other side of the border, in Ramallah, their son Tarek wishes to remain an eternal bachelor, their daughter is about to give birth while her husband lands a movie role and the grandmother loses her head. Between check-points and dreams, frivolity and politics, some want to leave, others want to stay but all have personal affairs to resolve.

Un Certain Regard Theatre Claude Debussy Press

14:30 IN BED WITH VICTORIA

(France) 99mins. Dir: Justine Triet. Cast: Virginie Efira, Vincent Lacoste, Melvil Poupaud, Laurent Poitrenaux.

Critics’ Week Miramar

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

15:30 SIERANEVADA

(Romania) 175mins.

Dir: Cristi Puiu.

Cast: Mimi Branescu, Judith State, Tatiana Iekel.

Larry, a neurologist at the top of his career, and his wife, are attending a family meal in Bucharest to commemorate the death of his father, who died 40 days earlier. All the guests are waiting for the priest’s arrival. In the meantime, they argue about the events of 9/11. Larry tries to calm the debate but opinions are so divided not even the priest’s flying visit succeeds in reconciling the two camps. Just when things seem to be settling down, the arrival of an uninvited guest throws the commemoration into turmoil, which deteriorates into a settling of old scores.

Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere Ticket required

16:30 I, DANIEL BLAKE

(UK) 97mins. Dir: Ken Loach. Cast: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires.

Daniel Blake (59) has worked as a joiner for most of his life in Newcastle.

Now, for the first time, he needs help from the State. » www.screendaily.com

Screen_Toro.indd 1

4/5/16 18:22

Screenings

Rock music drama screening in memory of the musician Prince, who died last month.

Cinema on the Beach Plage Mace

22:00 I, DANIEL BLAKE

(UK) 97mins. Dir: Ken Loach. Cast: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires.

Competition Salle Bazin Press

PERSONAL AFFAIRS

(Israel) 90mins.

Dir: Maha Haj. Un Certain Regard Theatre Claude Debussy Press

22:30 Festival & Press 19:00 FAI BEI SOGNI

(Italy) 134mins.

Dir: Marco Bellocchio.

Cast: Valerio Mastandrea, Berenice Bejo, Guido Caprino, Nicolo’ Cabras, Dario Dal Pero, Barbara Ronchi.

Massimo’s idyllic childhood was shattered

19:45

by the mysterious death of his mother. As he prepares to sell his parents’ apartment, he is haunted by his traumatic past. Compassionate doctor Elisa could help tormented Massimo open up and confront his wounds.

Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette

CLASH

(Egypt) 97mins. Dir: Mohamed Diab. Cast: Ahmed Malek, Tarek Abdel Aziz, Nelly Karim.

Un Certain Regard Theatre Claude Debussy

(Italy) 135mins. Dir: Thanos Anastopoulos, Davide Del Degan.

Special Screenings Salle Du Soixantieme Press

He crosses paths with single mother Katie and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan. Katie’s only chance to escape a one-room, hostel for the homeless in London is to accept a flat in a city she doesn’t know, some 300 miles away. Daniel and Katie find themselves caught on the barbed wire of welfare bureaucracy as played out against the rhetoric of “striver and skiver” in modern-day Britain.

Competition Theatre Claude Debussy Press

16:45

de Volanges, the latest victim of their debauchery, becomes the battleground for these two masters of romantic intrigue.

20:00

(Turkey) 104mins.

Dir: Mehmet Can Mertoglu. Cast: Sebnem Bozoklu, Murat Kilic, Muttalip Mujdeci, Mufit Kayacan, Zuhal Gencer Erkaya.

Critics’ Week Miramar

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

17:00 ALBUM

19:00

VALMONT

FAI BEI SOGNI

(France) 140mins.

Dir: Milos Forman.

Cast: Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly.

No-one can resist the seductive schemes of the Marquise de Merteuil and Viscount de Valmont.

Bound together by their plotting and secrets, they hold court over the sitting rooms and boudoirs of the aristocracy. Young Cecile

See box, above

19:30 MONEY MONSTER

(US) 100mins. Dir: Jodie Foster. Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Caitriona Balfe, Giancarlo Esposito.

Out of Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere Ticket required

66 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

BASMATI BLUES

(US) 120mins. Ambi Distribution. Dir: Dan Baron. Cast: Brie Larson, Donald Sutherland, Scott Bakula.

A brilliant scientist is plucked out of the company lab and sent to India to sell the genetically modified rice she created — which she doesn’t realise will destroy the farmers she thinks she’s helping.

Palais J

(Italy) 118mins. Rai Com. Dir: Gabriele Mainetti. Cast: Claudio Santamaria, Luca Marinelli, Ilenia Pastorelli, Stefano Ambrogi, Maurizio Tesei, Francesco Formichetti, Daniele Trombetti.

Enzo, an ex-con from the poor outskirts of Rome, puts his newfound superpowers to use furthering his career as a delinquent, a fact which makes the local crime bosses far from happy.

When he falls in love with

Competition Grand Theatre Lumiere Ticket required

(France) 90mins.

Alfama Films. Dir: Wim Wenders. Cast: Reda Kateb, Sophie Semin, Jens Harzer.

A beautiful summer day. A garden. A terrace. A woman and a man under the trees, with a soft summer wind.

In the distance, on the vast plain, the silhouette of Paris. A conversation begins: questions and answers between the woman and the man.

Arcades 1 By invitation only

(Turkey) 104mins. Dir: Mehmet Can Mertoglu.

Cast: Sebnem Bozoklu, Murat Kilic, Muttalip Mujdeci, Mufit Kayacan, Zuhal Gencer Erkaya.

(France) 100mins. Dir: Alain Guiraudie. Cast: Damien Bonnard, India Hair, Raphael Thierry, Laure Calamy.

09:30 THE BEAUTIFUL DAYS OF ARANJUEZ

09:15

THEY CALL ME JEEG

Critics’ Week Miramar

Lerins 4

BLACKWAY See box, below

CIEN ANOS DE PERDON

(Spain) 96mins. Film Factory Entertainment.

Dir: Daniel Calparsoro.

Cast: Luis Tosar, Rodrigo De La Serna, Raul Arevalo, Jose Coronado.

A rainy morning. Six armed men in disguise attack a bank in Valencia.

What seems like an easy, cut-and-dry heist quickly goes awry and nothing ends up going as planned. Mistrust

HOWARDS END

(UK) 140mins. Dir: James Ivory. Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, James Wilby, Samuel West.

One of Merchant Ivory’s undisputed masterpieces.

This adaptation of EM Forster’s classic 1910 novel is a saga of class relations and changing times in Edwardian England.

Cannes Classics Salle Bunuel

screenings

ALBUM

STAYING VERTICAL THE LAST RESORT

Market

Alessia, Enzo will learn the value of helping others.

IN BED WITH VICTORIA

(France) 99mins. Dir: Justine Triet. Cast: Virginie Efira, Vincent Lacoste, Melvil Poupaud, Laurent Poitrenaux.

Critics’ Week Miramar

21:30 PURPLE RAIN

(US) 111mins. Dir: Albert Magnoli. Cast: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day.

Market 09:30 BLACKWAY

(US) 90mins. Electric Entertainment.

Dir: Daniel Alfredson. Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles, Ray Liotta.

A desperate young woman enlists the

help of a hardened ex-logger — the only man in town brave enough to help her take a stand against her sociopathic stalker, an ex-policeman turned violent crime lord.

Palais H

»

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20th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 11-27 November, 2016 2 international competition programmes eligible for worldwide feature films.

3 independent sub-festivals for animation, short films and children's and youth films.

Various non-competitive programmes.

250+ films from up to 80 different countries.

Submissions are already open!

11 - 27 NOV 2016 blacknightsfilmfestival.com

17 - 24 NOV 2016 industrytallinn.com

Screenings

the road where she only feels safe as a man. Nina wrestles with how to tell her wife of nearly 40 years. And Amy prepares for surgery while trying to mother her younger roommates in a group home.

Doc Corner

Dir: Antonio Chavarrias.

Cast: Alfonso Herrera, Hannah Murray.

A frenetically intriguing historical thriller about the Spanish man who assasinated Trotsky.

Palais I By invitation only

10:00 64 SIX-FOUR

SAM

Market 09:30 MONOLITH

(Italy) 83mins. True Colours. Dir: Ivan Silvestrini. Cast: Katrina Bowden, Damon Dayoub, Brandon Jones, Jason Hayden.

Sandra is driving through the night in the desert in her new car: the Monolith — the safest SUV ever. She’s trying to get to Los Angeles to reach her husband, jealousy is killing her and she wants to find out if he’s cheating on her. Her two-year-old child, David,

KID WITNESS

is in his child seat playing with her smartphone.

Distracted, Sandra runs over a deer and stops to check the damage. While outside, David pushes the remote control of the car from the smartphone screen and Monolith locks down, leaving Sandra outside and David trapped inside. The night in the desert is dangerous and the day is so hot that the car is turning into an oven. Sandra doesn’t have much time to save her son.

(US) 94mins.

Bleiberg Entertainment.

Dir: Kevin Kaufman.

Cast: Susan Sarandon, Ripley Sobo, Lev Gorn.

Ten-year-old Olivia witnesses a kidnapping and teams up with Detective Dottie Wheel to solve the crime.

Palais B

Olympia 9

Gray 4

KING OF HEARTS

(France) 102mins. Cohen Media Group. Dir: Philippe De Broca. Cast: Alan Bates, Genevieve Bujold.

THE MASTER CLEANSE

and confrontations ensue between the two leaders of the group. But what exactly were the assailants looking for?

Gray 2

FOREVER

(South Africa) 101mins.

Princ Films. Dir: Jaco Smit. Cast: Ivan Botha, Donnalee Roberts, Kelsey Egan, Andre Jacobs.

Childhood friends Nina and Hugo chose different paths in life. Years later, Hugo returns to his hometown. Unbeknown to him it is the day before Nina’s wedding. Events on the wedding day throw them back together and they embark on a new adventure.

Palais D

FROM NOWHERE

(US) 89mins. Visit Films.

Dir: Matthew Newton.

Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Denis O’Hare, J Mallory McCree.

Nearing their high school graduation, three undocumented Bronx teenagers navigate the difficulties of adolescence while living with the threat of being discovered by the authorities and their friends.

Riviera 2

HAPPY FAMILY PROMO (3D)

(Germany) 90mins.

Timeless Films. Dir: Holger Tappe. Cast: Emily Watson, Jason Isaacs, Nick Frost, Jessica Brown Findlay, Celia Imrie, Catherine Tate.

An animated, actionpacked, family adventure starring the Wishbone family, who despite the title, are far from happy.

Arcades 3

68 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

(US) 100mins. Xyz Films. Dir: Bobby Miller.

Cast: Johnny Galecki, Anjelica Huston, Oliver Platt, Anna Friel.

After living with heartbreak for several years, Paul decides to restart his life, joining a spiritual retreat designed to cleanse negative toxins from his body. But things take a turn when Paul and the other participants discover that the cleanse releases something far greater than everyday toxins and traumatic experiences.

Dir: Jessica Dimmock, Christopher Lamarca.

Set against the hypermasculine culture of Pacific northwest logging towns, ‘The Pearl’ sensitively follows four middle-aged transgender women as they struggle to find recognition, refuge and love. Krystal and Jodie were brothers who kept their identities secret from one another for years until an explosive argument culminated in cathartic confessions.

After attending a training camp, Krystal wholeheartedly embraces life as a woman while Jodie continues to struggle with a career on

(US) 90mins. Vision Films. Dir: Nicholas Brooks. Cast: Natalie Knepp, Morgan Fairchild, Stacy Keach, Sean Kleier, Tom Pelphrey, James McCaffrey, Brock Harris, Sarah Scott.

A New York city alpha male is serendipitously transformed into a beautiful women, and must confront his misogynistic ways.

Palais F

USS INDIANAPOLIS: MEN OF COURAGE

(US) 119mins. Hannibal Classics. Dir: Mario Van Peebles. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Tom Sizemore, Brian Presley, Thomas Jane, Matt Lanter, Cody Walker.

The incredible true story of the worst naval disaster in US history brought to the screen for the first time.

Palais K By invitation only

09:45 THE CHOSEN

(Spain) 120mins.

Filmax International.

(Japan) 234mins. Tbs (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television).

Dir: Zeze Takahisa.

Cast: Sato Koichi, Go Ayano, Nana Eikura, Yui Natsukawa, Naoto Ogata, Masataka Kubota, Kentaro Sakaguchi, Kippei Shiina, Kenichi Takitoh, Eiji Okuda.

A former detective, now working in the police PR department, finds echoes of an unsolved kidnappingmurder case from 1989 resurface in a new case in 2002.

Palais G

FILMS DISTRIBUTION PROMO REEL

(France) 36mins. Films Distribution.

Riviera 1

I AM YOUR FATHER

(Spain) 82mins. Cinema Republic. Dir: Toni Bestard, Marcos Cabota.

Cast: David Prowse, Marcos Cabota.

David Prowse is the actor who played Darth Vader in the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy. During shooting

Olympia 7

MONOLITH See box, above

Market 09:30

THE PATRIARCH

THE PATRIARCH

See box, right

(New Zealand) 103mins. Wild Bunch.

Dir: Lee Tamahori. Cast: Temuera Morrison, Akuhata Keefe, Nancy

THE PEARL

Brunning, Jim Moriarty.

A tale of family rivalry and reconciliation, set against the stunning backdrop of rural New Zealand in the 1960s.

Olympia 6 Press allowed

(US) 97mins. Cinephil.

»

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MARKET PREMIERE Design : www.emmaboutboul.com - Photo : © Pascal Chantier

TODAY - 3.30pm - ARCADES 1 SAT 14 th - 3.30pm - ARCADES 3 WORLD SALES in Cannes :

LÉRINS – Booth L23

Camille Neel: c.neel@le-pacte.com - Nathalie Jeung: n.jeung@le-pacte.com - Alice Lesort : a.lesort@le-pacte.com

Screenings

10:30 DANCE TO DEATH

(Russia) 90mins. Planeta Inform Film Distribution.

Dir: Andrey Volgin. Cast: Ivan Zhvakin.

A deadly dance tournament is held in a city following a nuclear apocalypse. Energy is extracted from the loser for the city to survive. A young guy from the street is forced to take part in the tournament and falls in love with girl who volunteered to participate in the battle. Will they survive or will the arena take their lives?

Lerins 2

11:30 A JOURNEY THROUGH FRENCH CINEMA

Market 11:30 BOBBY

(UK) 94mins.

Kaleidoscope Film Distribution. Dir: Ron Scalpello. Cast: Pele, Paul Gascoigne, Franz Beckenbauer, Russell Brand, David Beckham, of the last sequence where the mask of the icon villian was removed, Prowse was replaced with another actor. This fact marked his life for ever.

Palais E

THE ICEBREAKER

(Russia) 100mins.

Planeta Inform Film Distribution. Dir: Nikolay Khomeriki.

Cast: Petr Fedorov, Sergey Puskepalis, Anna Mikhalkova.

Based on a true story.

Antarctic, 1985. The icebreaker Gromov is trapped in the ice trying to dodge a giant iceberg.

For 133 days in cold and ringing silence the crew try to find a way out.

Lerins 2

Ray Winstone.

Laced with triumph and tragedy in equal measure, this is the incredible inside story of global footballing icon and World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore.

Palais H

THE LAST FIVE DAYS OF A DIRECTOR

(China) 88mins. Beijing Pisces Culture Media Co. Dir: Yao Zhang. Cast: Ke Shu. Black comedy in which a director rises during the last five days of a revolution.

Gray 5

THE NEST OF THE TURTLEDOVE

(Ukraine) 110mins.

Insightmedia Producing Center. Dir: Taras Tkachenko. Cast: Rymma Zyubina, Vitaliy Linetskiy, Mauro Chipriani, Lina Bernardi, Nataliya Vasko, Mykola Boklan.

A Ukrainian woman comes back to her native village leaving her working life in Italy behind.

THE LAND OF THE ENLIGHTENED

Gray 3

(Belgium) 87mins. Films Boutique. Dir: Pieter-Jan De Pue. A group of Kuchi children wage their own mini-wars in the daily madness of life in Afghanistan.

LOST IN THE PACIFIC

Lerins 3

(Malaysia) 90mins.

Darclight Films. Dir: Vincent Zhou. Cast: Brandon Routh, Russell Wong, Kitty Zhang.

A story centred around a group of elite passengers

70 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

on board an inaugural luxury, transoceanic flight that turns into a disaster.

Lerins 1

PATHE INTERNATIONAL PROMO REEL

90mins. Pathe International (Fr).

Olympia 5 By invitation only

RICHARD LINKLATER: DREAM IS DESTINY

(US) 93mins. Dogwoof.

Dir: Louis Black, Karen Bernstein.

A feature documentary on the life and work of filmmaker Richard Linklater.

Directed by Louis Black (founder of SXSW), this is an unusual look at a fiercely independent style of filmmaking that arose from Austin, Texas in the 1980s and 1990s and how Linklater’s films sparked a low-budget movement in the US and around the world.

Damien Molony, Sofia Boutella.

While on a covert mission, two cold-blooded mercenaries form an unlikely bond as they race across the desert in the dead of night. When their violent and desperate world implodes, past atrocities come to the surface threatening to tear each of them apart.

Olympia 1

TRUSTNORDISK PROMO REEL

90mins. Trustnordisk.

Olympia 2 By invitation only

(France) 198mins.

Gaumont. Dir: Bertrand Tavernier.

Arcades 1

BETWEEN SEA AND LAND

(Colombia) 98mins.

Global Screen. Dir: Carlos Del Castillo. Cast: Manolo Cruz, Vicky Hernandez, Viviana Serna.

Twenty eight-year-old Alberto lives on a swampy marsh adjacent to the Caribbean Sea, which he dreams of one day visiting.

But Alberto is afflicted with a neurological disorder that confines him

to his bed, and his mother, Rosa, lovingly takes care of him.

Palais J

BOBBY See pic, left

FATIMA

(France) 79mins.

Pyramide International.

Dir: Philippe Faucon.

Cast: Soria Zeroual, Zita Hanrot.

Fatima lives on her own with two daughters to support: 15-year-old Souad, a teenager in revolt; and 18-year-old Nesrine, who is starting medical school. Fatima speaks French poorly and is constantly frustrated by her daily interactions with her daughters. Her pride and joy, they are also a source of worry. To ensure the best possible future for them, she works odd hours as a cleaning woman.

One day, she suffers a fall on the stairs. On leave, Fatima begins to write to her daughters in Arabic about the things she has never been able to express in French.

Riviera 2

FROG KINGDOM: SUB-ZERO MISSION See box, below

MAQUINARIA PANAMERICANA

(Mexico) 86mins.

Palais C

THE TICKET

(US) 100mins. The Solution Entertainment Group. Dir: Ido Fluk.

Cast: Dan Stevens, Malin Akerman, Oliver Platt.

A blind man who regains his sight tries to take full advantage of his new lease of life, but risks losing everything along the way.

Olympia 8

Market 11:30 FROG KINGDOM: SUB-ZERO MISSION

TIGER RAID

(UK) 91mins. Bankside Films. Dir: Simon Dixon.

Cast: Brian Gleeson,

(China) 87mins. Golden Network Asia. Dir: Fei Peng.

As panic engulfs the kingdom, Frog

Princess, her runaway groom Rain and his Frog Warriors must locate the kingdom’s missing protector, the mysterious Crystal Frog.

Lerins 2

»

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Screen_Tiger.indd 1

4/5/16 18:21

Screenings

Luxbox. Dir: Joaquin Del Paso. Cast: Javier Zaragoza, Ramiro Orozco, Irene Ramirez, Edmundo Mosqueira.

On a Friday morning, the employees at Panamerican Machinery Inc are already winding down for the weekend when an unexpected turn of events shakes their peaceful monotony.

capitalist outlaws – she finds that they are her only hope of destroying her former employers… and staying alive.

Gray 5

ROBERT DOISNEAU: THROUGH THE LENS

(France) 83mins.

Jour2Fete. Dir: Jan Vazak.

Featuring previously unissued photographs and video, as well as interviews with friends and partners, ‘Doisneau: Through The Lens’ tells how the kid from the poor suburbs turned superstar photographer. It draws an intimate portrait of his life and work.

Gray 2

MORRIS FROM AMERICA

(US) 89mins. Visit Films. Dir: Chad Hartigan. Cast: Markees Christmas, Craig Robinson, Carla Juri, Lina Keller, Jakub Gierszal, Levin Henning.

When a black teen moves to Germany with his single father, he must deal with the culture shock and his infatuation with a rebellious girl, all while dreaming of becoming a hip hop star.

Lerins 4

MYSTIC GAME

(Russia) 90mins. Red Sea Media. Dir: Artyom Aksenenko. Cast: Alexander Petrov, Siana Pozharskaya, Kirill Kozakov.

Alex is a charming young adventurer who is dragged into the struggle of two powerful wizards. As a result of this battle, his beloved Tanya is cursed. To save himself and Tanya, Alex is forced to find a way out of this dangerous mystic game.

Gray 4

NAKOM

(Ghana) 90mins. Wide.

Dir: Kelly Daniela Norris, Tw Pittman. Cast: Jacob Ayanaba, Grace Ayariga, Justina Kulidu.

About a young man at the crossroads between tradition and ambition.

Palais D

ONE FATAL WEEKEND

(UK) 94mins.

Multivisionnaire Pictures.

Dir: Peter Nicholson.

Cast: Callun Blue, David Hayman, Rebecca Night, Gemma-Leah Devereux.

Two best friends on a holiday trip meet a handsome guy whose damaged past leads them into a psychological

Palais I

SAINT AMOUR

Market 12:00 THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

(US) 107mins.

Content Media Corporation. Dir: Bill Purple. Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Maisie Williams, Jessica Biel, Orlando Jones,

journey of deceit, betrayal and a fight for survival.

Palais F

OZZY

(Spain) 90mins. Sc Films International.

Dir: Alberto Rodriguez.

Cast: Benjamin Nathan, Stephen Hughes, Jonathan Mellor, Frank Robledano, James Shaw.

Ozzy is placed in a luxury kennel while his family head on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan. Unbeknown to the family and Ozzy, the luxury kennel is a front for an evil toy sweatshop empire. No dog has ever left this place, but Ozzy and his newfound friends must devise a hilarious escape plan.

Arcades 3

PERFECT STRANGERS

(Italy) 97mins. True Colours. Dir: Paolo Genovese. Cast: Giuseppe Battiston, Anna Foglietta, Marco Giallini, Edoardo Leo, Valerio Mastandrea.

Seven long-time friends

72 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Paul Reiser, Mary Steenburgen, Bryan Batt.

An emotional, funny and life-affirming story of how a widower’s life is given new meaning thanks to a friendship with a most unusual young drifter.

Olympia 4

get together for a dinner.

When they decide to share with each other the content of every text message, email and phone call they receive, many secrets are revealed and the equilibrium trembles.

Boo. Cast: Rahman Fir, Su Wan Hanafi, Ahmad Mastura, Boon Pin Koh, Nickson Cheng, Crispian Chan, Gerald Chew.

Aiman, a correctional officer, is transferred to the territory’s top prison. He strikes up a friendship with Rahim, who is revealed to be the chief executioner of the prison and one of the world’s most prolific.

Can Aiman overcome his conscience and his past to become the executioner’s apprentice?

Olympia 5

CALIFORNIA

(US) 84mins. Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing. Dir: Susan Glatzer. Cast: Evita Arce, Emelie Decavita, Rebecka Decavita.

Gives the audience an insider’s view into the current swing dance culture, while shedding light on issues facing modern American society.

(Brazil) 88mins. Films Boutique. Dir: Marina Person. Cast: Clara Gallo, Caio Blat, Caio Horowicz, Livia Gijon, Leticia Fagnani, Giovani Gallo.

1984. Estela is going through the convoluted stage of adolescence. Sex, love, friendship… everything seems so complicated. Her uncle, Carlos, is her hero, and the trip to California to visit him is her biggest dream. But everything falls apart when he comes back to Brazil looking skinny, weak and sick. Between crisis and discoveries, Estela has to face a reality that will change forever her way of seeing the world.

Palais E

Lerins 3

APPRENTICE

THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Palais B

TSUKIJI WONDERLAND

(Japan) Shochiku Co. Dir: Endo Naotaro.

Doc Corner

12:00 ALIVE AND KICKING

(Singapore) 96mins.

Luxbox. Dir: Junfeng

See box, above

THE LAND

(US) 104mins. Film Constellation. Dir: Steven Caple Jr. Cast: Jorge Lendeborg Jr, Erykah Badu, Michael Kenneth Williams, Noises Arias, Rafi Gavron, Ezri Walker, Machine Gun Kelly Colson Baker, Linda Emond, Kim Coates.

Four teenage boys devote their summer to escaping the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, by pursuing a dream life of professional skateboarding. But when they get caught in the web of a local gang’s queenpin, their motley brotherhood is tested, threatening to make this summer their last.

Riviera 1

ONE STEP

(South Korea) 95mins.

Finecut Co. Dir: Juhn Jai-hong. Cast: Sandara Park, Han Jae-Seok, Cho Dong-In. Music drama in which a girl, who has lost her memory, hears sounds in colours.

Lerins 1

REDISTRIBUTORS

(UK) 82mins. Princ Films. Dir: Adrian Tanner.

Cast: Alexandra Evans, Alastair Mackenzie.

A contemporary thriller charting the plight of a PR girl on the run from the military corporation where she works. Forced to seek refuge among anti-

(France) 101mins. Le Pacte. Dir: Gustave Kervern, Benoit Delepine.

Cast: Gerard Depardieu, Benoit Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste, Celine Sallette.

Every year Bruno, a disheartened cattle breeder, attends the Paris Agricultural Show. This year, his father Jean joins him: he wants to finally win the competition with their bull Nabucodonosor and convince Bruno to take over the family farm.

Every year, Bruno makes a tour of all the wine stands, without setting foot outside the show’s premises and without ever finishing his wine route. This year, his father suggests they finish the real one.

Accompanied by Mike, a young, quirky taxi driver, they set off in the direction of France’s major wine regions. Together, they are going to discover not only the wine routes but also the road that leads back to love.

Olympia 8

SLASH

(US) 100mins. Reel Suspects. Dir: Clay Liford. Cast: Michael Johnston, Hannah Marks, Michael Ian Black, Missi Pyle, Jessie Ennis, Peter Vack.

Neil, an introverted, high school freshman who loves stories, meets the older Julia, who pushes him to publish them.

Arcades 2

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E D I W D L R O W 6 1 I 0 2 S VM E W N O N R Y R A C A O C R I M P S N TO O C G N I N E E R C S FRIDAY MAY 13th 20:00

G SCREENIN IN GRAY 3

J4 SUITEITE B1 RIVIEIFR TAAPAVILION SU

E R E I M E R P D L WOR

DING: ES ATTEN E XECUTIV , PRESIDENT M ELIS ANDRE RELIS@VMIWORLDWIDE.CO AR E IV T U C E ES E X FILS, SAJDL@VMIWORLDWIDE.COM U A E B . .D J

Screenings

LILY LANE

evacuate the city.

(Hungary) 91mins. Films Boutique. Dir: Bence Fliegauf. Cast: Angela Stefanovics, Balint Sotonyi, Miklos B. Szekely.

When Rebeka and her young son, Danny, are together, they throw themselves into a world of stories and secrets.

After the death of her mother, Rebeka decides to track down her estranged father. She takes Danny to places she knew as a child, inventing stories as a way of relating her dark recollections of childhood to him.

While her memories start turning into demons, Rebeka and Danny carry on their dreamy journey regardless.

Palais H

Palais B

CENTRAL PARTNERSHIP LINE-UP

LOBANOVSKYI FOREVER

Market 13:30 LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

(Ireland) 94mins.

Protagonist Pictures.

Dir: Whitt Stillman.

Cast: Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Xavier Samuel.

TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN — TV SERIES

(Australia) 110mins.

Annapurna International (Panorama Media).

Dir: Brendan Maher.

Gray 3

WEINER

(US) 96mins. Dogwoof.

Dir: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg.

With unprecedented access to his family and his campaign team, ‘Weiner’ documents the dramatic and painfully funny political meltdown of Anthony Weiner, a New York mayoral candidate.

Palais C

13:15 CANOLA

(South Korea) 116mins.

Mirovision. Dir: Chang.

Cast: Youn Yuh-Jung, Kim Ko-Eun, Choi MinHo. Gae-chun, known as the legendary queen of female divers in a town on Jeju Island, and her granddaughter Hae-ji live peacefully, looking after each other. One day, Gae-chun loses her beloved only granddaughter by accident.

Palais F By invitation only

Whit Stillman’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s early novella ‘Lady Susan’ delivers an exquisite comedy of match-making and heartbreak.

Olympia 3

CROMO

(Argentina) 120mins.

Pyramide International.

Dir: Lucia Puenzo, Nicolas Puenzo, Pablo Fendrik. Cast: German Palacios, Guillermo Pfening, Emilia Attias, Malena Sanchez.

On a mission to expose environmental crimes in the rural areas of Northern Argentina, idealistic scientist Valentina travels to the swamp town of Corrientes to test the local water supply. Relying on remote support from her student Nina, who’s analysing the data from her potentially contaminated samples, Valentina embarks on a quest into the dangerous Ibera wetlands.

Meanwhile, Valentina’s husband Diego and his research partner Simon are on an expedition of their own at the South Pole, but their work is interrupted by the news that something’s gone wrong for Valentina. As they rush to the wetlands, hoping they are not too late to keep her safe, evidence of an ecological cover-up comes to light — as does the truth about a

74 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

love triangle that threatens to break the bond of trust between Diego and Simon.

Riviera 2

13:30 6.9 ON THE RICHTER SCALE

(Romania) 110mins.

Premium Films. Dir: Nae Caranfil. Cast: Teo Corban.

A humble Romanian actor in his 40s, hardly surviving between a complicated part in a musical, a depressed wife, an obsession with an imminent, devastating earthquake, becomes the victim of his manipulative father.

Palais J By invitation only

ALBA

(Mexico) 90mins.

Mexican Film Institute (Imcine). Dir: Ana Cristina Barragan.

Cast: Macarena Arias.

Alba is 11 years old. She has learned how to deal with her mother’s illness.

She usually helps her go to the bathroom, she combs her hair and she has even learned how to play silently in order to let her rest during the day.

100mins. Central Partnership Sales House.

Lerins 4

The Fixer

(US) 102mins. Mongrel International. Dir: Ian Olds. Cast: James Franco, Rachel Brosnahan, Melissa Leo. After being exiled from Afghanistan, a former war journalist settles in a small town in northern California and takes a job with a local newspaper, where he becomes embroiled in a local mystery.

Olympia 7

Kaleidoscope Film Distribution. Dir: James Erskine. Cast: Mark Webber, Andre Lotterer, Sebastien Buemi, Jann Mardenborough, Darren Turner, David Cheng, Ho-Pin Tung.

Presented in blistering 4K 3D, this is the inside story of Le Mans 2015 – the drama, the adrenalin, the tears and the tragedy – as iconic names and famous marques contest the most famous of motor races.

Lerins 2

SND GROUPE M6 PROMO SCREENING

50mins. Snd — Groupe M6.

Olympia 6 Priority badges only

TAKE ME HOME

(Ukraine) 92mins. Das Boot Production. Dir: Anton Azarov. Cast: Oleg Blokhin, Jozsef Szabo, Michel Platini, Carlo Anchelotti, Igor Surkis, Jacques Ferrand, Serhiy Rebrov, Leonid Kravchuk, Bernard Bernard Lyons.

A documentary film about the great Ukrainian football coach.

Doc Corner

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP See box, above left

(Thailand) 94mins.

M Pictures Co. Dir: Kongkiat Khomsiri. Cast: Mario Maurer, Nopachai Chaiyanam, Wannarot Sonthichai.

After losing his memory in an accident, Tan tries to find his identity.

Eventually, he finds something that leads him back to his home sweet home. There, he has a twin sister who is living with a widower and his children.

The more he knows them, the more he learns to fear of their secrets.

Gray 2

LE MANS 3D – RACING IS EVERYTHING

TORO

(UK) 90mins.

See box, below

Gray 4

BEFORE THE FALL

(Cambodia) 98mins.

California Pictures. Dir: Ian White. Cast: Ian Virgo, Antonis Greco, Nicolas Berthery, Pauline Cammal.

Two men fight for the love of a local woman as the capitol of Cambodia braces for collapse after remaining US troops

Market 13:30 TORO

(Spain) 100mins. Film Factory Entertainment. Dir: Kike Maillo.

Cast: Mario Casas, Luis Tosar,

Ingrid Garcia Jonsson.

A former con man must go back to his old habits to save his older brother and niece from his ex-boss and mentor.

Olympia 9

»

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SCREENING: THURSDAY, MAY 12TH | 11:30AM | GRAY 4

Screenings

Sennia Nanua.

When the base guarding Melanie is overrun by Hungries, she escapes with the teacher who loves her, the soldier who would kill her and the scientist who would dissect her. Bound to each other as survivors on a life-raft, can the group recognise Melanie as the cure for the human race?

hopes to seduce Clotilde by inviting the burgeoning actress to the island of La Reunion’s The Love Film Festival. Unfortunately, he has missed the submission deadline and his film will not be considered unless he can convince the festival organisers to show it.

Olympia 2 By invitation only

SAND STORM

Palais G

See box, below

THE INDIAN POSTMAN

Market 14:00 The Tenth Man (EL REY DEL ONCE)

(Argentina) 80mins. Filmsharks International. Dir: Daniel Burman. Cast: Alan Sabbagh, Julieta Zylberberg.

Ari, who has built a successful career in New York, thinks he has left his past behind. But his distant father Usher,

who runs a Jewish aid foundation in El Once, the close-knit old Jewish neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, summons him back to his native city. What ensues is a comedy of errors, of missed and found people and connections, and a rumination on the extent to which we ever really leave behind our past.

for anyone who plays it.

(Czech Republic) 103mins. Wide.

Dir: Petr Vaclav.

Cast: Karel Roden, Lenka Vlasakova, Miroslav Hanus.

No man is an island.

Palais C

14:00 BEYOND THE GATES

(US) 86mins. Jinga Films. Dir: Jackson Stewart. Cast: Sara Malakul Lane, Brea Grant, Barbara Crampton, Justin Wellborn, Chase Williamson.

Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father’s video store to liquidate the property and sell off his assets. As they dig through the store, they find a VCR board game dubbed ‘Beyond The Gates’ that holds a connection to their father’s disappearance and deadly consequences

(Romania) 60mins.

Romanian Film Centre.

Dir: Serban Georgescu.

One village, 1,000 tractors, 100,000 tons of cabbages and potatoes each year — which are hardly sold and eventually destroyed. Is there any way out?

Palais E

COME AND FIND ME

(US) 109mins. Goldcrest Films International.

Dir: Zack Whedon.

Cast: Aaron Paul, Annabelle Wallis.

Follows the character of David who must track down his missing girlfriend after he realises she is not who she is pretending to be.

Olympia 4

THE CONFESSIONS

(Italy) 100mins. True

76 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Gray 3

FRIENDS FOREVER — A PIG’S TALE

(Germany) Studiocanal.

Dir: Theresa Strozyk, Tony Loeser.

Gray 5

Olympia 5

(France) 89mins. Les Films Elementaires. Dir: Jacques Richard. Cast: Bernard Menez, JeanClaude Dreyfus, Jackie Berroyer, Bruno Putzulu, Margot Valle, Jeanne Goupil, Geraldine Danon.

Ulysse, a young director,

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

The Tenth Man (EL REY DEL ONCE)

(UK) 105mins. Altitude Film Sales. Dir: Colm McCarthy. Cast: Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine, Glenn Close,

See box, above left

ELIMINATORS CABBAGE, POTATOES AND OTHER DEMONS

simultaneously trying to keep his daughter out of the deadly clutches of her grandfather.

Gray 1

Lerins 3

WE ARE NEVER ALONE

Palais D

Colours. Dir: Roberto Ando. Cast: Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil, Lambert Wilson, Connie Nielsen, Pierfrancesco Favino, Marie-Josee Croze, Moritz Bleibtreu.

A luxury hotel. A group of politicians about to approve a lethal plan. A monk.

A suicidal economist. A confession. A film about secrets, about power.

(US) 95mins. Voltage Pictures. Dir: James Nunn. Cast: Scott Adkins, Wade Barrett.

Martin Parker, a highly trained former DEA agent, is hiding in the witness protection programme in London with his young daughter, Carly. His world is turned upside down when a group of thugs break into his home looking for hidden contraband. Parker is forced to kill the intruders, which exposes his true identity to the criminal underworld, including mob boss Chris Cooper, who is Parker’s archenemy as well as his ex-father-in-law. Cooper sends his top assassin, Bishop, to kill Parker, while Cooper tracks down Parker’s daughter.

Parker, now on the run, must defeat Bishop while

94mins. Devenky Films.

Dir: Ramesh Reddy Tummala.

The story of a South Indian postman who becomes drawn towards the cause of social justice and equality while distributing the death letters of those killed in 1969-72 Telangana revolution in which around 400 people called telanganites were killed brutally in a shooting by racist police in the state of Telangana in southern India.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

SHEEP AND WOLVES

(Russia) 80mins. Wizart.

Dir: Maxim Volkov. Cast: Tom Felton, Ruby Rose, China Anne McClain.

Whoever you are, always be yourself.

Palais I

STRATTON

(UK) 95mins. Gfm Films. Dir: Simon West.

Cast: Dominic Cooper, Gemma Chan, Austin Stowell, Tyler Hoechlin, Connie Nielson, Sir Derek Jacobi, Jake Fairbrother.

Crash! Two men in scuba gear hit a deserted beach.

The cliffs are the next challenge. At the top we breathe and see Stratton, an SBS operative for MI5, specifically chosen for this toughest of missions and Marty, his American counterpart.

They scope the target — a laboratory complex

Market 14:00 SAND STORM

(Israel) 87mins. Beta Cinema.

Dir: Elite Zexer. Cast: Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal-Asfour, Haitham Omari,

Khadija Alakel, Jalal Masarwa.

When their entire lives are shattered, two Bedouin women struggle to change the unchangeable rules.

Palais K

»

www.screendaily.com

Screenings

FILMS FROM ISRAEL CANNES 2016

UN CERTAIN REGARD PERSONAL AFFAIRS (OMOR SHAKHSIYA)

Director: Maha Haj Producer: Baher Agbariya Production Company: Majdal Films World Sales: Films Boutique E-mail: simon@filmsboutique.com Web: http://filmsboutique.com THU MAY 12 14:00 DEBUSSY THEATRE (PRESS) MARKET SCREENINGS: THU MAY 12 22:00 DEBUSSY THEATRE (WORLD PREMIERE) SAT MAY 14 13:30 PALAIS D FRI MAY 13 16:15 BAZIN THEATRE (PUBLIC) MON MAY 16 12:00 LERINS 3

BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS AND HILLS (ME’EVER LAHARIM VE HAGVAOT)

Director: Eran Kolirin Producers: Eilon Ratzkovsly, Yochanan Kredo, Yossi Uzrad, Lisa Shiloach, Guy Jacoel Co-Producers: Diana Elbaum, Sebastien Delloye, Francois Touwaide, Michael Weber, Viola Fuegen Production Companies: July August Productions, Entre Chien et Loup, Match Factory Productions World Sales: The Match Factory E-mail: info@matchfactory.de Web: www.the-match-factory.com SUN MAY 15 14:00 SUN MAY 15 22:00 MON MAY 16 16:45 MARKET SCREENINGS: MON MAY 16 15:30 WED MAY 18 16:00 THU MAY 19 11:30

DEBUSSY THEATRE (WORLD PREMIERE) DEBUSSY THEATRE (PUBLIC) BAZIN THEATRE (PUBLIC) ARCADES 1 OLYMPIA 5 PALAIS

CRITIC’S WEEK ONE WEEK AND A DAY (SAVUA VE YOM)

Director: Asaph Polonsky Producers: Saar Yogev & Naomi Levari Production Company: Black Sheep Film Productions Ltd. World Sales: New Europe Film Sales, Jan Naszewski E-mail: jan@neweuropefilmsales.com SUN SUN SUN MON MON TUE TUE

MAY 15 MAY 15 MAY 15 MAY 16 MAY 16 MAY 17 MAY 17

11:30 17:00 22:30 08:30 16:00 14:00 20:30

ESPACE MIRAMAR - OFFICIAL MARKET SCREENINGS: ESPACE MIRAMAR - PRESS, INDUSTRY & PUBLIC MON MAY 16 18:00 ESPACE MIRAMAR - PRESS, INDUSTRY & PUBLIC ESPACE MIRAMAR - PRESS, INDUSTRY & PUBLIC STUDIO 13 - PUBLIC THEATRE LA LICORNE - PUBLIC CINEMA VALBONNE - PUBLIC

OLYMPIA 5

FROM A DIARY OF A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER (MEYOMANO SHEL TZALAM HATUNOT) Director: Nadav Lapid Producer: Talia Kleinhendler, Osnat Handelsman Keren Production company: Pie Films Contact: Osnat Handelsman Keren E-mail: osnat@piefilms.co.il FRI MAY 13 19:30 WED MAY 18 15:00

ESPACE MIRAMAR (OFFICIAL) ESPACE MIRAMAR

DIRECTORS’ FORTHNIGHT DAUGHTER OF THE BRIDE

Director: Tamar Rudoy Production & Contact: daughterofthebridefilm@gmail.com / tamarudoy@gmail.com FRI MAY 20 12:00 SAT MAY 21 16:00

THEATRE CROISETTE (OFFICIAL) STUDIO 13

CINEFONDATION ANNA

Director: Or Sinai Producer: Leah Tonic Production: The Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School Co-production: Cinephil - Distribution & Co Productions World Sales: Cinephil - Distribution & Co Productions E-mail: ori@cinephil.co.il Web: www.cinephil.co.il FRI MAY 20 11:00

THEATRE BUÑUEL (PROGRAMME 4)

MARKET SCREENINGS JUNCTION 48

in Iran manufacturing biochemical weapons.

Stratton and Marty make it into the lab with the help of their comms expert back at base, Aggy. As they scope the lab, they can see that the refrigerated cabinets are there, but they’re empty.

Someone was expecting them. Getting out of there is very different to getting in; Stratton and Marty are literally fighting for their lives.

Arcades 2

WELCOME HOME

(Belgium) 86mins. Be For Films. Dir: Philippe De Pierpont. Cast: Arthur Buyssens, Martin Nissen.

This is the story of two childhood friends – Lucas (a 16-year-old highschooler) and Bert (a mechanic’s apprentice) — who flee the suffocating fish bowl that their killjoy families’ lives have become.

Lucas, still quite immature, finds a “big brother” in Bert, a guide who is going to take him straight to the brink of catastrophe.

Their escape leads them to vacant houses whose occupants have left on vacation. But very quickly, boredom resurfaces and the

freewheeling sense of being on an adventure evades them. Should they return to the fold or keep moving on? Their drifting logic compels them to blindly forge ahead.

for five sold-out weeks of spectacular lunches and dinners with specially created menus.

Riviera 1

See box, below

15:15

Olympia 6

THE BODYGUARD

CYANIDE

MY MOTHER’S WOUND

(Turkey) 120mins.

Montecristo International.

Dir: Ozan Aciktan. Cast: Bora Akkas, Belcim Bilgin, Meryem Uzerli, Ozan Guven.

A gripping tale of family, love and identity as Salih searches for a trail of hope among war-torn lives.

Gray 4

(Iran) 90mins. Farabi Cinema Foundation.

Dir: Behrouz Shoaibi.

Cast: Mehdi Hashemi, Haniyeh Tavasoli, Babak Hamidian, Hamed Komeili.

At the end of the long silence, Amir and Homa find each other only tohave to face a simple choice: cyanide or survival.

Palais H

15:30 ANTS ON A SHRIMP

THE EXILE

(Netherlands) 88mins.

Fortissimo Films. Dir: Maurice Dekkers. Cast: Rene Redzepi, Lars Williams, Rosio Sanchez, Thomas Frebel, Dan Giusti, Kim Mikkola.

Tokyo — January 2015: The world’s number one restaurant, the Copenhagen-based NOMA and its renowned chefowner Rene Redzepi, relocate the restaurant and its entire staff to the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo

(Spain) 87mins. Cinema Republic. Dir: Arturo Ruiz. Cast: Joan Carles Suau, Eric Frances, Monika Kowalska.

Two Spanish soldiers are guarding an outpost during wartime and discover a polish woman, hurt and unconscious.

They nurse her back to health and must decide if they should turn her in to their commanders or keep her hidden.

Palais D

Director: Udi Aloni Producers: David Silber, Lawrence Inglee, Stefan Arndt, Udi ALoni Co-Producers: Moshe Edery, Leon Edery Production: Metro Communications, X-Filme Creative Pool, Blackbird, Dig The Movie, United King Films World Sales: The Match Factory E-mail: info@matchfactory.de Web: www.the-match-factory.com FRI. MAY 13 20:00

PALAIS J

TIKKUN

Director: Avishai Sivan Producers: Ronen Bental, Avishai Sivan, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery Production: Plan B Productions, The mouth Agape, United King Films World Sales: Bleiberg Entertainment E-mail: info@bleibergent.com Web: www.bleibergent.com WED MAY 11 17:30 SAT MAY 14 18:00

PALAIS H GRAY 5

THE SETTLERS

Director: Shimon Dotan Producers: Estelle Fialon, Jonathan Aroch, Paul Cadieux, Shimon Dotan Co-producers: ARTE France, yesDocu, NDR, BR, HR Production: Les Films du Poisson, Talisma Productions, Filmoption International World Sales: Cinephil– Distribution E-mail: ori@cinephil.co.il Web: www.cinephil.co.il WED MAY 11 13:30

DOC CORNER

SANDSTORM

Director: Elite Zexer Producers: Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg Executive Producers: Rami Yehoshua, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery, Ygal Mograbi Production: 2Team Productions World Sales: Beta Cinema E-mail: beta@betacinema.com Web: www.betacinema.com THU MAY 12 14:00

PALAIS K

BETWEEN WORLDS (BAIN HAOLAMOT)

Director: Miya Hatav Producers: Haggai Arad, Elad Peleg Production Company: Daroma Productions World Sales: Intramovies E-mail: marco.fusco@intramovies.com / Web: www.intramovies.com SUN MAY 15 15:30

PALAIS H

Market 15:30 THE BODYGUARD

ISRAEL FILM FUND TEL: +972-3-562-8180, FAX: +972-3-562-5992 INFO@FILMFUND.CO.IL / WWW.FILMFUND.ORG.IL THE YEHOSHUA RABINOVIC H FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS CINEMA PROJECT / INFO@CINEMAPROJECT.ORG.IL TEL: +972-3-525-5020 / FAX: +972-3-525-5130 / WWW.CINEMAPROJECT.ORG.IL Ministry of Culture

and Sport

(Hong Kong/China) 99mins. Edko Films. Dir: Sammo Hung. Cast: Sammo Hung, Andy Lau. Follows a retired bodyguard who has settled in the dark and unknown corner of the world where China, Russia and North Korea meet. Suffering from the

beginnings of dementia, the bodyguard is befriended by a young girl whose life is threatened when her father falls in with the local crime world. When the girl and her father disappear, the bodyguard must call upon his longforgotten skills to save the life of his young friend.

Palais B

»

78 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

www.screendaily.com

Screenings

FIGHT VALLEY

Market 15:30 FINDING ALTAMIRA

(Spain) 94mins. Myriad Pictures.

Dir: Hugh Hudson. Cast: Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Pierre Niney.

Set in 1879, the story of an at-first

celebrated amateur archaeologist and his daughter who discover early cave art in Cantabria, Spain, only for the Catholic Church, scientists and other powerful forces to attack them.

Olympia 9

(US) 85mins. Breaking Glass Pictures. Dir: Rob Hawk. Cast: Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, Cris Cyborg, Susie Celek, Erin O’Brien.

When Tory Coro turns up dead, the neighbourhood turns silent. Rumour has it she became yet another victim of the small town known as Fight Valley.

Tory’s sister Windsor moves to town to begin her own investigation of her sister’s mysterious death after weeks of progress by the police. She’s quick to learn that Tory fought for money to make ends meet.

If Windsor is going to find out the truth about Tory, she’s going to have to fight her way in. “Jabs” swore she would never throw a punch in the Valley again. Jabs now finds herself training Windsor to survive the painful, unexpected path she’s about to take. Every corner. Every alley. Every

doorway. She must follow the last footsteps of her sister in order to come face to face with Tory’s killer.

Palais F

FINDING ALTAMIRA See box, left

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

(Slovenia) 88mins. Cat & Docs. Dir: Ziga Virc.

The Cold War, the space race and NASA’s Moon landing are landmark events that defined an era.

But they are also fodder for conspiracy theories. This intriguing docu-drama explores the myth of the secret multi-billion-dollar deal behind America’s purchase of Yugoslavia’s clandestine space programme.

Doc Corner

KIKI

(US) 100mins. Films Boutique. Dir: Sara Jordeno.

Twenty five years after ‘Paris Is Burning’, we dive back into the fierce world of voguing battles in New York’s Kiki scene, where competition between Houses demands leadership, painstaking practise and performances on point. A film collaboration between Kiki gatekeeper Twiggy Pucci Garcon and Swedish filmmaker Sara Jordeno, we’re granted exclusive access into this high-stakes world, where tough competitions act as a gateway into the daily lives of LGBTQ youth of colour in New York.

The new generation of ballroom youth use the motto: “Not about us without us”. Twiggy and Sara’s insider-outsider approach to their stories breathes fresh life into the representation of a marginalised community who demand visibility and real political power.

Lerins 4

»

80 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

www.screendaily.com

Screenings

FROM NOWHERE

Director: Matthew Newton (Three Blind Mice) Cast: Julianne Nicholson (Black Mass), Denis O’Hare (Dallas Buyers Club)

Nearing their high school graduation, three undocumented Bronx teenagers navigate the difficulties of adolescence while living with the threat of being discovered by the authorities and their friends.

“Urgent and relevant (...)

[McCree] impressively evinces charismatic screen presence and implosive intensity.” – Variety MARKET SCREENINGS: TODAY / 9:30 / Riviera 2 May 16 / 17:30 / Lerins 4

MORRIS FROM AMERICA

Market 15:30 OPEN AT NIGHT

(France) 94mins. Le Pacte.

Dir: Edouard Baer. Cast: Audrey Tautou, Edouard Baer.

Who is Luigi, the dashing theatre director who acts more like a ship’s captain? He runs one of the most prestigious theatres in Paris but tonight, on the eve of the opening of the new play ‘The Woman and the Monkey’, he is a bit lost. The team fusses, the rehearsal turns to disaster and the Grand Master Dazai,

LETTERS FROM WAR

(Portugal) 105mins. The Match Factory. Dir: Ivo M Ferreira. Cast: Miguel Nunes, Margarida VilaNova, Ricardo Pereira, Joao Pedro Vaz. Based on the letters of world-famous Portuguese writer Antonio Lobo Antunes to his wife, ‘Letters From War’ tells the story of a young doctor being drafted into the army in 1971, and transferred into one of the worst zones of the colonial war – the east of Angola.

Director: Chad Hartigan (This Is Martin Bonner) Cast: Craig Robinson (This Is the End), Carla Juri (Wetlands)

When a black teen moves to Germany with his single father, he must deal with culture shock and his infatuation with a rebellious girl, all while dreaming of becoming a hip hop star.

“Irresistibly sweet. ”

– Entertainment Weekly

“Christmas (a terrific discovery) and Robinson strike so many wonderfully varied notes.”– Variety “[A] big-hearted coming-ofage tale.” – New York Post MARKET SCREENINGS: TODAY / 11:30 / Lerins 4 May 15 / 9:30 / Lerins 2 CANNES OFFICE Lerins L4 +1 347 662 9577

82 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

www.visitfilms.com info@visitfilms.com

a great Japanese director, threatens to cancel everything if he cannot have a real monkey on stage immediately. Luigi accepts the challenge and goes off to find the damn animal. On this crazy search he is accompanied by Faeza, a young, overconfident and uptight trainee. She will discover Luigi’s Paris, colourful and flamboyant, and learn that when all the problems are coming at once, you have to give priority to the one you find most amusing.

Arcades 1

Premium Films.

Dir: Kevin Meul.

During a campsite holiday in Spain with his family, Benjamin falls hopelessly in love with a local girl. Being both outsiders, they are strongly attracted to each other. She finally shares her secret with him: she needs to find the man who raped her. Troubles begin.

Dir: Eric D. Howell. Cast: Emilia Clarke, Marton Csokas, Caterina Murino.

A young nurse comes to the aid of a boy haunted by malevolent forces in massive stone manor in the Italian countryside.

Gray 2 By invitation only

(US) 80mins. Red Bull Media House. Dir: Rush Sturges. Cast: Rafa Ortiz, Rush Sturges, Evan Garcia, Gerd Serrasolses.

Rafa Ortiz and a crew of professional kayakers chase a dream — to ride the Niagara Falls. But unforeseen challenges put the goal in question.

OPEN AT NIGHT See box, above

SUGAR MOUNTAIN

Arcades 3 By invitation only

16:00 CHASING NIAGARA

(France) 90mins. Doc & Film International. Dir: Emilie Deleuze. Cast: Lea Magnien, Raphaelle Doyle, Patricia Mazuy, Philippe Duquesne, Alex Lutz.

Some would say Aurore lives a boring life. But when you are a 13-yearold girl, life takes on the appearance of a merry psychodrama.

(US) 104mins. Film Mode Entertainment.

Dir: Richard Gray. Cast: Jason Momoa, Cary Elwes, Anna Hutchison, Melora Walters, Drew Roy, Haley Webb.

Two brothers, down on their luck, fake their disappearance in the Alaskan wilderness so they’ll have a great survival story to sell, but the hoax turns out to be more real than they planned.

Riviera 2

Lerins 2

MY FIRST HIGHWAY

VOICE FROM THE STONE

(US) 88mins. Taylor & Dodge. Dir: James B. Cox. Cast: Andy Allo, Amy Aquino, Josh Banday, Molly Burnett.

When hackers unleash a devastating artificial intelligence on the Internet, the only solution may be to reboot the world.

(Belgium) 82mins.

(Italy) 106mins. 13 Films.

Gray 5

Olympia 7

MISS IMPOSSIBLE

Palais C

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Proudly Presents

MAY 12 ..16:00 ......PALAIS E MAY 17 ....13:30 ........PALAIS D

COME SEE US @ RESIDENCE LES ARCADES, 4TH FLOOR, 32 COMMANDANT ANDRÉ STREET xiao88@attraction.ca | M: +1 514 758 0055 | www.attractiondistribution.ca

Screenings

EXCLUSIVE CANNES OFFER

DISTRACTION BABIES

HAVENHURST

MANHATTAN UNDYING

(Japan) 108mins.

Shochiku Co. Dir: Tetsuya Mariko. Cast: Yuya Yagira, Masaki Suda, Nana Komatsu.

See box, below

(US) 92mins. Bleiberg Entertainment. Dir: Babak Payami. Cast: Luke Grimes, Sarah Roemer, Christopher Jacot, Daniel Kash.

A mysterious woman seeks out a famed reclusive artist to paint her portrait.

Their relationship quickly escalates, as does a police investigation into a series of grisly crimes that seemly point back to her.

(France) Wild Bunch.

Dir: Raymond Depardon.

Legendary film-makerphotographer Raymond Depardon delivers a unique picture of France today. Tender, moving, powerful – a film that will reveal the country’s intimate side.

(US) 83mins. Mpi Media Group. Dir: Martin Owen. Cast: Kara Tointon, Isabelle Allen, Elliot James Langridge, Helene Wilson, Elizabeth Morris.

A psychological scifi thriller set in Los Angeles. Children’s skulls are thin. Despite the controversy over mobile phone radiation, step into the near future and the full dangers are still not yet disclosed, or commercially ignored.

Irrespective, in order to avoid further slippage down the international educational league tables, the government declares its intention to equip all children with augmented reality glasses, following a pilot study. Trials suggest that being permanently “plugged in’ from an early age can significantly enhance performance and IQ. Certain high-flying children are selected, who adore being always online.

The potential benefits appear to be enormous, but there’s a catch: the electro-magnetism of the high-power batteries permanently adjacent to a child’s brain start to cause unusual effects.

Olympia 2 Press allowed

Olympia 5

Palais G

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Berlin 2016

• Annual showcases: Future Leaders and Stars of Tomorrow • Special supplements including World of Locations, and guides for all the key international film markets and festivals

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■ Argent

(US) 93mins. Archstone Distribution. Dir: Mike Mendez. Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Kristina Klebe.

An ancient evil is unleashed in a small Alaskan town leaving a trail of death and destruction as it passes from host to host. The only hope of survival lies with a grizzled demon hunter who has faced this terror before. Together with a reluctant FBI agent, he has to figure out how to destroy a demon with the ability to possess its killer.

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FINECUT PROMO REEL

60mins. Finecut Co. Lerins 1

FRANCE

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LET’S BE EVIL

Gray 3

MR FROG

(Netherlands) 82mins.

Attraction Distribution.

Dir: Anna Van Der Heide. Cast: Jeroen Spitzenberger, Yenthe Bos, Paul Kooij.

The story of an ordinary schoolteacher who has an extraordinary secret: from time to time, he changes into a frog. Luckily one of his pupils loves amphibians and she will do everything to protect him.

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PRIVATE SCREENINGS — EUROPA CORP 1

34mins. Europacorp.

Olympia 4

WE CAN BE HEROES

(France) 98mins. Mk2 Films. Dir: Sophie Reine.

Cast: Gustave Kervern, Camille Cottin, Heloise Dugas, Fanie Zanini, Franck Gastambide.

Essential festival daily editions and awards season coverage • Festival dailies for Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, Jerusalem, Zurich, Busan, Dubai, AFM, Hong Kong FILMART, Rotterdam & Film Bazaar • On-the-pulse coverage of key international deals

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Market 16:00 HAVENHURST

(US) 85mins. Cinema Management Group. Dir: Andrew C Erin.

Cast: Julie Benz, Fionnula Flanagan,

Belle Shouse.

A troubled young woman takes up residence in a gothic apartment building where she must confront a terrifying evil.

Lerins 3

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84 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

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Screenings

two years leading into a prestigious exhibition for Rose at the Tate Britain, and their 55 years of marriage. The film is a meditation about love and what it means to be an artist, as life unfolds for these octogenarian career painters.

Palais F

VIRTUAL REVOLUTION

Market 17:30 PET

(US) 90mins. Wtfilms.

Dir: Carles Torrens.

Cast: Dominic Monaghan.

Seth becomes obsessed

Denis struggles to raise his boisterous daughters Janine and Mercredi on his own while holding down two jobs. Everything goes sour when Denis forgets Mercredi one too many times at the school gates. Severine, a cheerful social worker, is appointed to scrutinise the family’s daily lives.

Palais I Priority badges only

16:40 FINECUT PROMO REEL

60mins. Finecut Co. Lerins 1

17:20 FINECUT PROMO REEL

60mins. Finecut Co. Lerins 1

17:30 BLOSSOMING INTO A FAMILY

(Japan) 126mins. Gold View Co. Cast: Hitomi Sato, Miho Nakanishi, Mantaro Koichi, Yoshiko Miyazaki.

Palais D

THE CREW

(Russia) 125mins. Central Partnership Sales House.

Dir: Nikolay Lebedev.

Cast: Danila Kozlovsky, Vladimir Mashkov.

A story about bravery,

EXTORTION

with Holly, leading him to hold her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works.

But soon the victim turns tables on her assailant.

Gray 2

self-sacrifice and human dignity put on trial by the merciless power of nature. A young pilot is fired from the military air force after disobeying an absurd order. He gets a job as a co-pilot with a civil airline. Being brutally honest and direct, he is not on best terms with his new colleagues. During a flight to Asia his crew receives a distress message from a volcanic island and makes a decision to attempt a rescue mission. Will it be a success? Will they survive the disaster? They have a single chance to find that out: by being a team and sticking up for one another.

Riviera 2

DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS

(US) 73mins. Cinephil.

Dir: Juan Mejia Botero, Jake Kheel.

The investigation of a Dominican park ranger’s murder by a Haitian charcoal producer reveals the complex, growing conflict between the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the battle for natural resources.

Doc Corner

86 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

(US) 110mins. 13 Films.

Dir: Phil Volken. Cast: Eion Bailey, Barkhad Abdi, Danny Glover.

A doctor desperately tries to save his wife and their five-year-old son after their vacation in the Bahamas takes an unexpected turn.

Arcades 3 By invitation only

HEARTSTRINGS

(France) 89mins.

Gaumont. Dir: Michel Boujenah. Cast: Alix Vaillot, Jean-Stan Du Pac, Charles Berling, Pascal Elbe.

Twelve-year-old Marie, a good student and a promising violonist, has a secret: she suffers from a degenerative eye disease.

Even if she is still able to see well enough to live a fairly normal life, she knows that eventually she will have to live in the dark. Of course, her parents know it too, and worry terribly about their daughter’s future.

Recently, though, their daughter won’t discuss it with them, they sense that her state has deteriorated.

In the middle of the school year, they announce that they’re going to take her out of school and board her at an institute for the blind. Marie, however, has other plans. At the end of the year she fully intends to sit the entrance exam for a prestigious music school. Going to the institute would blow her chances. As a result,

Marie decides to hide the acceleration of her disease from her parents and school, but she knows she can’t do it alone. Having noticed that Victor, the class dunce, has a crush on her, she uses the pretext of helping him with his homework to get him to help her. Little by little, at first unbeknown to him and later willingly, Victor becomes Marie’s eyes.

MOTHER

Arcades 1

Olympia 3

LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS

PALI ROAD

(US) 105mins. Content Media Corporation. Dir: Leif Tilden. Cast: Billy Crudup, Graham Rogers, Liana Liberato, Stefanie Scott, Tim Roth.

We all have those memories. Indelible, perfect memories that make you glow with happiness. Like the way the sun shone off her hair the morning you met her; or the sound of your best friend’s laughter after an inside joke; or your coach’s inspiring speech; or daydreaming with the love of your life about your future together.

(US) 95mins. Arclight Films. Dir: Jonathan Lim. Cast: Jackson Rathbone, Michelle Chen, Sung Kang.

A young doctor wakes up from a car accident and discovers she is married to another man and living a life she can’t remember.

Her search for the truth to her past life will lead her to question everyone around her and her entire existence.

(Estonia) 89mins. Film Sales Company. Dir: Kadri Kousaar. Cast: Tiina Malberg, Andres Tabun, Andres Noormets, Siim Maaten, Jaan Pehk, Jaak Prints, Rea Lest.

A thrilleresque story about rash decisions made in the name of dreams that will have haunting consequences for some time to come.

(France) 100mins.

Eagle Films. Dir: GuyRoger Duvert. Cast: Mike Dopud, Jane Badler, Jochen Hagele, Maximilien Poullein, Kaya Blocksage.

Paris 2047. Most of the population spend all their time online, connected into virtual worlds, and don’t care any more about reality. A shadow agent, Nash, working for one of the multinational companies behind these virtual worlds, is tracking down terrorists who threaten the system.

Palais J

THE WAITING

(US) 98mins. Film Mode Entertainment.

Dir: Kasra Farahani.

Cast: James Caan, Logan Miller, Keir Gilchrist.

A pair of high school kids try to trick a neighbour into thinking a house is haunted.

Lerins 2

WE ARE PREGNANT

PET

(Spain) 103mins.

Outsider Pictures. Dir: Juana Macias. Cast: Paco Leon, Alexandra Jimenez.

It seems simple: an egg + sperm = one embryo. But if your sperms are “few, vague and abnormal” and your woman is almost menopausal at age 37, things start to get complicated.

See box, above

Gray 4

Lerins 4

Olympia 7

The Ploy

WRONG ELEMENTS

MINA’S OPTION

118mins. Rai Com.

(Iran) 100mins. Farabi Cinema Foundation.

Dir: Kamal Tabrizi.

Cast: Milad Keymaram, Mina Sadati, Shahrokh Foroutanian, Shayesteh Irani, Siamak Safari.

Doubt, suspicion and finally cheating leads the romantic life of Mehran and Mina to a fatal path…

Palais B

(France) 133mins. Le Pacte. Dir: Jonathan Littell.

Uganda, 1989. A young Acholi rebel guided by spirits, Joseph Kony, forms a new rebel movement against the government: the LRA, The Lord’s Resistance Army. An “army” that grew by abducting teenagers – more than 60,000 over 25 years – of which fewer »

Palais H

ROSE & ROY

(UK) 97mins. New World Cinemas. Dir: Adolfo Doring.

A documentary about British painters Rose Wylie and Roy Oxlade as they reflect on their past and present. This intimate portrait captures the

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E D I W D L R O W 6 1 I 0 2 S VM E N Y N A D CA O ING T N E E R SC

T C E F R E P THE WEAPON THURSDAY h t 2 1 Y A M 20:00

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J4 SUITE

IN GRAY 3

A RIVIER

E R E I M E R P D L WOR

DING: ES ATTEN E XECUTIV , PRESIDENT M ELIS ANDRE RELIS@VMIWORLDWIDE.CO AR E IV T U C E ES E X FILS, SAJDL@VMIWORLDWIDE.COM U A E B . .D J

Screenings

isolated in the middle of a huge forest, a place both beautiful and troubling.

The boys grow uneasy. As for the father, he seems happy, at one with the environment. Cut off from the outside world, he can finally breathe again.

And the more time that passes, the less he appears to want to return to civilisation.

Olympia 2 Priority badges only

MY GRANDMOTHER FANNY KAPLAN

105mins. Foundation Of Citizens “Molodist”.

Dir: Alena Demyanenko.

Gray 3

Market 18:00 A DOUBLE LIFE

(Japan) 126mins.

Kadokawa Corporation.

Dir: Yoshiyuki Kishi.

Cast: Mugi Kadowaki, Hiroki Hasegawa, Masaki Suda, Lily Franky.

Tama is an ordinary grad student who lives with her boyfriend. She is getting ready to write her master’s thesis. Her

professor suggests she tries “philosophical tailing”, where she follows a stranger and makes a recording of their every move. Tama feels hesitant but one day spots Ishizaka, with a beautiful wife and daughter. Tama starts tailing Ishizaka and becomes obsessed with her target.

Morgan Watkins, Scott Chambers.

About optimistic 15-yearold Richard and his restless and abusive older brother. When Richard falls for 17-year-old Annabel, the relationship between the brothers is stretched to breaking point, family secrets are revealed and life for Richard starts to finally change direction.

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DO RE MI FA

than half came out of the bush alive. Geofrey, Nighty and Michael were among these youths, abducted at 12 or 13. Today, in their efforts to rebuild their lives and go back to normality, they revisit the places that marked their stolen childhood. At the same time, victims and murderers, witnesses and perpetrators of horrific acts that they did not fully understand, they are forever the wrong elements that society struggles to accept. Meanwhile, in the immensity of the Central African jungle, the Ugandan army still continues to hunt the last scattered LRA rebels. But Joseph Kony is still out there, on the run.

Laage, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza, Vincent Macaigne.

Poland, 1945. Mathilde, a young French Red Cross doctor, is on a mission to help the war survivors.

When a nun seeks her help, she is brought to a convent where several pregnant sisters are hiding, unable to concile their faith with their pregnancy. Mathilde becomes their only hope.

Riviera 1

BEING 17 See box, right

BLOOD ROAD

A DOUBLE LIFE

(Vietnam) 90mins.

Red Bull Media House.

Dir: Nicholas Schrunk.

Cast: Rebecca Rusch.

The epic journey of Rebecca Rusch, cycling the Ho Chi Minh Trail through modern Vietnam.

See box, above

Gray 1 By invitation only

AGNUS DEI

CHICKEN

(France) 115mins. Films Distribution. Dir: Anne Fontaine. Cast: Lou De

(UK) 86mins. Mirovision.

Dir: Joe Stephenson.

Cast: Yasmin Paige,

Olympia 6

18:00

88 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

(Malta) 140mins.

Dragonfly Films. Dir: Chris Zarb. Cast: Paul Flanagan, Irene Christ, Sean O’Neil, Marc Cabourdin.

An ensemble set in Malta that focuses on four characters: Bozo, a children’s party clown who is a closet pedophile; Claudia, a stage actress who is paralysed with feelings of insignificance and is driven to do the extreme; Kyle, a family man with a deaf son who finds it increasingly difficult to cope with challenges at home and at work; and DJ Trim, a talk radio show presenter suffering from an anxiety disorder who advocates for the rights of illegal immigrants and becomes the target of unwanted attention from a threatening caller.

Gray 5

INTO THE FOREST

SATISFACTION 1720

(France) Wild Bunch.

Dir: Gilles Marchand.

Cast: Jeremie Elkaim, Timothe Vom Dorp, Theo Van De Voorde, Sophie Quinton, Mireille Perrier.

Tom and Benjamin travel to Stockholm to spend the summer with their father, whom they have barely seen since he divorced their mother. Tom, in particular, knows next to nothing about this strange, solitary man who never seems to sleep. When he suggests they spend a few days at his cabin in the country, the boys are delighted But the cabin is totally

(Denmark) 93mins.

Picture Tree International. Dir: Henrik Ruben Genz.

Cast: Jakob Oftebro, Martin Buch, Natalie Madueno, Kenneth M. Christensen, David Dencik, Bjorn Kjellman, Martin Greis.

The Great Northern War is over, and ViceAdmiral Tordenskjold, hero of the victorious Danish-Norwegian fleet, has no clue what to do with his life. His valet, Kold, persuades him to go on a vacation, arguing that now is the time to

(South Korea) 160mins.

Finecut Co.

Palais I

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY 3D

(US) Studiocanal. Dir: James Cameron. Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong.

Olympia 1

TIGER, BLOOD IN MOUTH

(Argentina) 97mins. Film Factory Entertainment.

Dir: Hernan Belon. Cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eva De Dominici, Erica Banchi, Osmar Nunez.

A high-octane, sex-fuelled boxing drama. ‘Tiger’ plunges the audience into the world of boxing through an ardent love story of sex and selfimprovement.

Lerins 3

Market 18:00 BEING 17

FINECUT PRIVATE SCREENING

marry and settle down.

The trip turns into a fun and freewheeling road trip through Denmark and northern Germany.

Women swoon at the sight of the attractive young man – he is a 1720s version of a modern day rock star. Dark clouds gradually appear on the horizon, however, and in Hanover, the increasingly alarmed Tordenskiold is forced into a suspicious duel by a former Swedish arch-enemy seemingly bent on revenge.

(France) 116mins. Elle Driver.

Dir: Andre Techine. Cast: Sandrine Kiberlain, Kacey Mottet-Klein, Corentin Fila.

In high school, Damien is constantly bullied by Tom. But to help his parents out, Damien’s mother offers to take Tom in. Forced to live together, the boys’ hatred for each other starts to change.

Arcades 2

»

Lerins 1

www.screendaily.com

Written and Directed by Rezan YesilbaĹ&#x;

In Development

Project in Development 90 min.

Germany / Turkey

Writer and Director Kaan MĂźjdeci

Production Coloured Giraffes

Contact nazli.kilerci@gmail.com (Coloured Giraffes)

Screenings

UN NUOVO GIORNO

(Italy) 109mins. Poker Entertainment. Dir: Stefano Calvagna.

Cast: Luca Filippi, Niccolo Calvagna, Sveva Cardinale.

The life of Giulio, a boy who never felt in the right body. At the age of 27, he decides to undergo surgery and to take a trip to Bangkok, to change his gender and become physically and physiologically a woman.

That path will bring Giulio to re-evaluate the relationships with his family, his partner and his friends and to start a new life, finally in the perfect body, forgetting all the abuses suffered.

Palais K

Market 18:00 WHITE ISLAND

(UK) 90mins.

Independent. Dir: Benjamin Turner. Cast: Lyndon Ogbourne, Joel Dommett, Billy Boyd, Billy Zane.

VALLEY INN

Ex-DJ Connor is making his way in London, but is forced back to Ibiza to rescue his best friend Dex from the seductive danger of the White Island.

Olympia 8

labourers at a sawmill in the mountains in southern Chile. Solitude and sadness drive Miguel to migrate to the city and start over. Due to the instability in his work and his monotonous existence, Luis will try to change his life, but destiny intervenes.

Palais F

TRAIN TO BUSAN

(South Korea) 118mins.

Contents Panda. Dir: Yeon Sang-Ho. Cast: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-Mi, Ma DongSeok, Kim Su-An. Life-or-death struggles on a KTX train to Busan.

Olympia 4

WE’LL BE ALRIGHT

(France) 77mins. Wide House. Dir: Alexander Kuznetsov.

In Siberia, Russia, Alexander Kuznetsov follows Yulia and Katia, who went from an orphanage to a neuropsychiatric institution.

‘We’ll Be Alright’ is their path to freedom.

and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.

Olympia 3

THE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS

(France) 76mins.

Acid. Dir: Sebastien Laudenbach. Cast: Anais Demoustier, Jeremie Elkaim, Philippe Laudenbach, Olivier Broche, Francoise Lebrun, Sacha Bourdo, Elina Lowensohn.

A family, the Devil, a prince, a goddess: a girl without hands faces her destiny.

Arcades 1

Palais E

HIGANJIMA (ORIGINAL TITLE)

WHITE ISLAND

100mins. Shochiku Co. Dir: Takeshi Watanabe.

See box, above

Palais H

20:00 THE EYES OF MY MOTHER

(US) 76mins. Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing. Dir: Nicolas Pesce. Cast: Diana Agostini, Olivia Bond, Will Brill.

A young, lonely woman is consumed by her deepest

EL ORIGEN DEL CIELO

(Chile) 86mins. The Open Reel. Dir: David Belmar. Cast: Nelson Venegas, Andres Eliquitay, Carolina Sade, Hector Aguilar, Anibal Barrera, Nuri Cid. Luis, a family man, and Miguel, his older son, are

90 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

THE PERFECT WEAPON

(US) Vmi Worldwide.

Dir: Titus Paar. Cast: Steven Seagal.

In the not too distant future, an elite assassin fails to terminate his target and finds himself on the run from the totalitarian state’s secret government organisation that employs him.

Gray 3

20:30 A NOBLE INTENTION

(Netherlands) 115mins.

Dutch Features Global Entertainment. Dir: Joram Lursen. Cast: Gijs Van Scholten Aschat, Jacob Derwig, Rifka Lodeizen.

1888. A luthier – Vedder – has to step aside when his home opposite the recently completed Central Station in Amsterdam must yield for the planned Victoria Hotel. His cousin Anij, pharmacist in the Northern provinces of the Netherlands, has got into a fix after illegal medical practices and is looking for a way out.

Arcades 3

A QUIET PASSION

HUMAN

(UK) 124mins. Double Dutch International (Ddi).

Dir: Terence Davies. Cast: Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine, Emma Bell.

Based on the life and work of the great poet Emily Dickinson. She wrote a poem a day, but only a fraction of her output was published throughout her lifetime. She was extremely shy, but with a wry, lively sense of humour and loved to laugh or to be made to laugh. Her friendships were intense but it was within the family that she found her greatest happiness. Her life is one of quiet dignity.

The poetry magnificent. All the terror and beauty of the world distilled down to the quintessence of meaning and expression. She is quite simply one of the world’s greatest poets.

(France) 143mins.

Goodplanet Foundation.

Dir: Yann ArthusBertrand.

A politically engaged work which allows us to embrace the human condition and to reflect on the meaning of our existence.

Palais I

THE VISITORS: BASTILLE DAY

GOD’S OWN PEOPLE

(India) 80mins.

Eleeanora Images. Dir: Nilamadhab Panda, Shankhajeet Dey. A tree is felled to make new idols for the Hindu God Jagannath worshipped in Odisha, India. A group of temple servants conduct the ritual with joyous abandonment. But for the lady of the household who nurtured the tree, it’s a moment of loss, longing, devotion and faith.

(France) 109mins.

Gaumont. Dir: JeanMarie Poire. Cast: Christian Clavier, Jean Reno, Franck Dubosc, Ary Abittan, Karin Viard, Alex Lutz, Sylvie Testud, Marie-Anne Chazel.

After 20 years and 20 million admissions in France… Godefroy the Hardy and his loyal Jacquasse the Crass are back, in the middle of the French Revolution.

Gray 5

Arcades 2

Olympia 8

ROCCO

(France) Wild Bunch.

Dir: Thierry Demaiziere, Alban Teurlai. Cast: Rocco Siffredi, John Stagliano, Mark Spiegler, James Deen.

A behind-the-scenes account of the porn world and its stars as they’ve never been seen before — and the no-holds-barred portrait of a true giant.

Olympia 2 Priority badges only

110mins. Medallion Releasing.

Palais G

21:30 STAYING VERTICAL

(France) 100mins.

Wild Bunch. Dir: Alain Guiraudie. Cast: Damien Bonnard, India Hair, Raphael Thierry, Laure Calamy.

Film-maker Leo is in the south of France. During a scouting excursion he is seduced by Marie, a free-spirited and dynamic shepherdess. Nine months later she gives birth to their child. Suffering from post-natal depression and with no faith in Leo, who comes and goes without warning, Marie abandons both of them. Leo finds himself alone with a baby.

It is not easy but deep down he loves it. Through a series of unexpected and unusual encounters, struggling to find inspiration for his next film, Leo will do whatever it takes to stay standing.

Olympia 1

22:30 THE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS

(France) 76mins.

Acid. Dir: Sebastien Laudenbach. Cast: Anais Demoustier, Jeremie Elkaim, Philippe Laudenbach, Olivier Broche, Francoise Lebrun, Sacha Bourdo, Elina Lowensohn.

Arcades 2

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T I F F. N E T/ I N D U S T R Y

Good

average

★★★

screen international

Anton Dolin Afisha, Russia

Excellent

Tim Robey and Robbie Collin The Daily Telegraph, UK

Nick James Sight & Sound, UK

Justin Chang Los Angeles Times, US

Stephanie Zacharek Time, US

Manohla Dargis The New York Times, US

Jan Schulz-Ojala Der Tagesspiegel, Germany

Julien Gester AND Didier Peron Libération, France

★★★★

Kong Rithdee The Bangkok Post, Thailand

Fabio Ferzetti Il Messaggero, Italy

The Screen jury at Cannes

Michel Ciment Positif, France Culture, France

Jury Grid

★★ Average ★ Poor

✖ Bad

Screen office Majestic Barriere, 1st floor, Suites Joy and Alexandre, 10 Boulevard De La Croisette, 06400 Cannes E-mail: firstname.lastname@ screendaily.com (unless stated)

Sieranevada (Rom-Fr) Cristi Puiu

The latest ★★ film from★★ Puiu, whose The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu put new★★ Romanian ★★ ★★Un Certain ★★ Regard ★★ prize-winner ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ cinema the map,★★ is about★★ a neurologist a family showdown the death★★ of his father. ★★ on★★ ★★ facing ★★ ★★ ★★in Bucharest ★★ following ★★ ★★

Staying Vertical (Fr) Alain Guiraudie

The director of Stranger tells the story film-maker who embarks an affair★★ with a shepherdess in ★★ ★★ ★★ By The ★★Lake ★★ ★★ of a ★★ ★★ ★★ on★★ ★★ the south of France★★ and is left to care ★★ for their newborn child in the wilderness she abandons ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★when★★ ★★ him. ★★

Slack Bay (Fr-Ger) Bruno Dumont

Dumont Juliette Binoche★★ for an offbeat on northern Coast in 1910, ★★ reunites ★★ with ★★ ★★ ★★ comedy ★★ set★★ ★★France’s ★★Opal ★★ ★★ in a tale that of holidaymakers.

Fabrice★★ Luchini and Bruni Tedeschi ★★pits locals ★★ against ★★a snooty ★★family★★ ★★ ★★ ★★Valeria ★★ ★★ co-star. ★★

I, Daniel Blake (UK) Ken Loach

The veteran British★★ director returns a record★★ 13th Competition berth with of an injured ★★ ★★ ★★ for ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★this tale ★★ ★★ carpenter ★★ and a single up in the bureaucratic the UK’s welfare★★ system. ★★ ★★ mother ★★who are ★★caught ★★ ★★ ★★ nightmare ★★ of ★★ ★★ ★★

Reviews editor and chief film critic Fionnuala Halligan (finn.halligan@ screendaily.com)

Toni Erdmann (Ger-Aust) Maren Ade

An in-depth character study★★ about a music Peter Simonischek) who tries to ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ teacher ★★ (veteran ★★ Austrian ★★ theatre ★★actor★★ ★★ ★★ correct over-serious career-focused a barrage of jokes. ★★ the★★ ★★ nature ★★of his★★ ★★ daughter ★★ (Sandra ★★ Hüller) ★★ with★★ ★★ ★★

Head of news and chief reporter Andreas Wiseman

The Handmaiden (S Kor) Park Chan-wook

An adaptation novel ★★ Fingersmith , Park’s film relocates erotic drama Victorian London to ★★ ★★of Sarah ★★Waters’ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ the★★ ★★ from ★★ ★★ Korea Japan in ★★ the 1930s, for the ★★ story of a★★ Japanese heiress★★ who falls★★ in love with thief. ★★ and★★ ★★ ★★ ★★a female ★★petty★★

American Honey (UK-US) Andrea Arnold

Texas-born newcomer Lane stars alongside LaBeouf ★★ and Riley★★ Keough ★★ in the British ★★ ★★ ★★Sasha★★ ★★ ★★Shia ★★ ★★director’s ★★ tale of a gang Midwest selling magazine subscriptions day and partying ★★of teens ★★who travel ★★ across ★★the US★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ by ★★ ★★ hard ★★by night.

From The Land Of The Moon (Fr) Nicole Garcia

Garcia’s of Milena★★ Agus’s novel, years in the a woman★★ in a loveless ★★ adaptation ★★ ★★ ★★ following ★★ 20★★ ★★life of★★ ★★marriage ★★ who falls for another★★ man in the Second★★ World War. Cotillard and Louis star. ★★ ★★ ★★aftermath ★★ of the ★★ ★★Marion ★★ ★★ ★★Garrel★★

Paterson (US) Jim Jarmusch

Bus driver★★ Paterson★★ (Adam Driver) his daily route, writing notebook and ★★ ★★ follows ★★ a simple ★★ routine, ★★driving ★★ ★★ ★★ poetry ★★ in a★★ drinking single beer in a bar.

By contrast Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), ever-changing ★★ a ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ his loving ★★ wife, ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★lives an ★★ ★★ life.

Advertising and publishing

Loving (US-UK) Jeff Nichols

A★★ civil-rights drama★★ based on★★ the true★★ story of ★★ an interracial Negga★★ and Joel★★ Edgerton — ★★ ★★couple — played ★★by Ruth ★★ who 1958 for ★★ breaking ★★ state laws by getting married.

Shannon co-stars. ★★were jailed ★★ in Virginia ★★ in ★★ ★★ ★★Michael ★★ ★★ ★★

Senior sales manager Scott Benfold +44 7765 257 260

Aquarius (Bra-Fr) Kleber Mendonca Filho

Sonia stars in★★ the Brazilian debut, the tale of★★ a 65-year-old ★★ Braga ★★ ★★ director’s ★★ Competition ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ widow ★★who ponders ★★ the past engages★★ in a war★★ of attrition with developers who want to throw her out★★ of her home. ★★as she★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★

Julieta (Sp) Pedro Almodovar

A★★ story of loss three short

by Canadian Alice Munro, woman (played ★★and grief ★★adapted ★★from★★ ★★stories★★ ★★ writer ★★ ★★ following ★★ a ★★ at★★ different★★ ages by★★ Adriana Ugarte Emma★★ Suarez) on the verge overwhelmed her mysterious ★★ and ★★ ★★ ★★of being ★★ ★★ by ★★ ★★ past.

Personal Shopper (Fr) Olivier Assayas

The French★★ director★★ reteams★★ with Kristen in Clouds Maria in★★ 2014, for★★ his fourth ★★ ★★Stewart, ★★who also ★★starred ★★ ★★Of Sils★★ appearance in Competition set in Paris’s ★★ ★★ ★★ with ★★this ghost ★★ story ★★ ★★ fashion ★★ underworld. ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★

Ma’ Rosa (Phil) Brillante Mendoza

Filipino highlight★★ the plight★★ of those★★ living on★★ the margins his fifth film ★★ auteur ★★Mendoza ★★ continues ★★ to★★ ★★of society ★★ with★★ to★★ screen at Cannes, the tale★★ of a poor★★ mother-of-four Manila who the side to make ends ★★ ★★ ★★ in★★ ★★sells drugs ★★ on ★★ ★★ ★★meet.

The Unknown Girl (Bel-Fr) Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

The tenth ★★ feature from brothers,★★ who have★★ been Competition fixtures★★ since Rosetta the Palme ★★ ★★the Dardenne ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ won ★★ d’Or stars Adele changed★★ by the death young girl near her practice. ★★in 1999, ★★ ★★ Haenel ★★as a doctor ★★ whose ★★life is★★ ★★ of a★★ ★★ ★★

Graduation (Rom-Fr) Cristian Mungiu

The winner★★ of the 2007 d’Or for★★ 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days returns with a family ★★ ★★Palme ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ drama ★★focusing ★★on a small-town doctor and student★★ daughter,★★ who is assaulted just before an important ★★ ★★ ★★his psychology ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ exam. ★★

It’s Only The End Of The World (Can-Fr) Xavier Dolan

The 27-year-old third Competition a drama ★★ about a terminally ill writer★★ returning to ★★ ★★ director ★★ is back ★★with his ★★ ★★ ★★entry,★★ ★★ ★★ his family after Seydoux,★★ Gaspard★★ Ulliel and★★ Vincent★★ Cassel star. ★★ ★★ a 12-year ★★ absence. ★★ Marion ★★Cotillard, ★★ Léa★★ ★★

The Last Face (US) Sean Penn

The director of an international for a relief aid doctor Bardem) in war-torn ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★aid agency ★★ (Charlize ★★ Theron) ★★ falls★★ ★★ ★★(Javier ★★ ★★ Liberia finds their relationship as a result of their★★ differing★★ views on★★ how to solve crisis. ★★ but★★ ★★ ★★ under ★★strain★★ ★★ ★★ the ★★

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Fanning stars as★★ a teenage ingenue trying to crack Los Jena Malone ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★Angeles’ ★★cutthroat ★★modelling ★★ scene, ★★while ★★ The Neon Demon (Fr-US-Den) Elle Nicolas Winding Refn plays takes her under her in an exploration the city’s vicious★★ obsession with beauty. ★★the make-up ★★ artist ★★ who★★ ★★ ★★wing, ★★ ★★ of★★ ★★ ★★

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Elle (Fr-Ger-Bel) Paul Verhoeven

Verhoeven’s psychological first Competition entry since Basic Instinct 1992, sees Isabelle Huppert star ★★ ★★ thriller, ★★ his★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ in★★ ★★ ★★ as★★ a videogame company who is★★ attacked★★ by an intruder her home★★ and vows to track★★ down the assailant. ★★ boss ★★ ★★ at ★★ ★★ ★★

The Salesman (Iran-Fr) Asghar Farhadi

Forced of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighbouring building, ★★ Emad and★★ Rana move ★★ out★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★into a new flat in the centre Tehran. An incident★★ linked to the previous change★★ the young couple’s life. ★★ ★★ of ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ tenant ★★will dramatically ★★ ★★ ★★

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96 Screen International at Cannes May 12, 2016

Editorial +33 4 9706 8458 Editor Matt Mueller US editor Jeremy Kay (jeremykay67@gmail. com) Managing editor and news editor Michael Rosser

Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray

Reporters Melanie Goodfellow (melanie. goodfellow@btinternet.com), Tom Grater, Geoffrey Macnab (geoffrey@ macnab.demon.co.uk), Liz Shackleton (lizshackleton@gmail.com) Sub-editors Sam Andrews, Paul Lindsell, Adam Richmond, Richard Young Group art editor Peter Gingell Screenings Kelly Gibbens, Ben Sillis Publishing director Nadia Romdhani +44 7540 100 315

International account managers Ingrid Hammond +44 7880 584 182 (ingridhammond@mac.com) Pierre-Louis Manes +44 7768 237 487 Gunter Zerbich +44 7540 100 254 VP business development, North America Nigel Daly +1 213 447 5120 (nigeldalymail@gmail.com) Sales and business development executive, North America Nikki Tilmouth (nikki. screeninternational@gmail.com) Production manager Jonathon Cooke +44 7584 335 148 (jonathon.cooke@mb-insight.com) Production assistant Neil Sinclair +44 7826 942 693 (neil.sinclair@mb-insight.com) Festival and events manager Mai Thornley +44 7753 300 909 (mai.thornley@mb-insight.com) Events co-ordinator Sophie Moar (sophie.moar@ mb-insight.com) +44 7834 902 528 Managing director, publishing and events Alison Pitchford Chief executive, MBI Conor Dignam Printer Riccobono Imprimeur ZA Les Ferrieres, 83490 Le Muy Screen International, London Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ Subscription enquiries Tel +44 1604 828 706 help@subscribe.screendaily.com

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