A French court has acquitted filmmaker Roman Polanski of defamation charges brought by British actor Charlotte Lewis, who’d claimed that he raped her when she was a child, the New York Times has reported.
Lewis, now 56, had accused the now 90-year-old filmmaker of sexually assaulting her when she was 16, during a casting session at his Paris home. The French court was not ruling on that accusation. Instead, it was dealing with a 2019 interview with French magazine Paris Match in which Polanski had dismissed Lewis’ accusation of being a “heinous lie.” The court ruled on whether Polanski had overstepped the bounds of free speech by dismissing her account of the alleged events.
The trial kicked off in March, when the Franco-Polish filmmaker was sued by Lewis, who claimed he defamed her in the interview. Lewis first came forward with her allegations against Polanski in 2010.
During her defamation case testimony, Lewis,...
Lewis, now 56, had accused the now 90-year-old filmmaker of sexually assaulting her when she was 16, during a casting session at his Paris home. The French court was not ruling on that accusation. Instead, it was dealing with a 2019 interview with French magazine Paris Match in which Polanski had dismissed Lewis’ accusation of being a “heinous lie.” The court ruled on whether Polanski had overstepped the bounds of free speech by dismissing her account of the alleged events.
The trial kicked off in March, when the Franco-Polish filmmaker was sued by Lewis, who claimed he defamed her in the interview. Lewis first came forward with her allegations against Polanski in 2010.
During her defamation case testimony, Lewis,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
“Pet Shop Days,” the directorial debut from Hollywood scion Olmo Schnabel, has been acquired by Utopia for theatrical distribution in North America.
A Venice Film Festival premiere that just lit up SXSW, the provocative coming-of-age film stars stars Jack Irv, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard and Emmanuelle Seigner. Martin Scorsese, Jeremy O. Harris and Michel Franco (“New Order”) all serve as executive producers.
Bernal (Netflix’s “House of Flowers”) stars as Alejandro, the son of a Mexican crime lord on the run from his past in New York City. There he meets Jack (Irv), a 20-something living with his wealthy parents Francis (Dafoe) and Diana (Seigner) while working in a pet shop. In a haze of drugs and sex, Alejandro seduces Jack and drags him into the city’s criminal underbelly.
Shot on 35mm film by Hunter Zimny, the film generated buzz out of Venice for its daring lead performances.
A Venice Film Festival premiere that just lit up SXSW, the provocative coming-of-age film stars stars Jack Irv, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard and Emmanuelle Seigner. Martin Scorsese, Jeremy O. Harris and Michel Franco (“New Order”) all serve as executive producers.
Bernal (Netflix’s “House of Flowers”) stars as Alejandro, the son of a Mexican crime lord on the run from his past in New York City. There he meets Jack (Irv), a 20-something living with his wealthy parents Francis (Dafoe) and Diana (Seigner) while working in a pet shop. In a haze of drugs and sex, Alejandro seduces Jack and drags him into the city’s criminal underbelly.
Shot on 35mm film by Hunter Zimny, the film generated buzz out of Venice for its daring lead performances.
- 3/14/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
A defamation trial against controversial director Roman Polanski is underway in Paris.
The 90-year-old Franco-Polish filmmaker is being sued by British actor Charlotte Lewis, who is claiming he defamed her by calling her sexual assault allegations against him a “heinous lie” in a 2019 interview with Paris Match magazine.
Lewis first came forward with her allegations against Polanski in 2010, alleging that the director had sexually assaulted her in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old. Lewis said she had traveled to Paris for a casting call, and she later appeared in Polanski’s 1986 movie “Pirates.”
Polanski has been accused of sexual assault by several women, beginning in 1977 when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting 13-year-old Samantha Gailey. He entered a plea bargain and plead guilty to one charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, later fleeing the U.S. and continuing his career in Europe. He remains a fugitive from the U.
The 90-year-old Franco-Polish filmmaker is being sued by British actor Charlotte Lewis, who is claiming he defamed her by calling her sexual assault allegations against him a “heinous lie” in a 2019 interview with Paris Match magazine.
Lewis first came forward with her allegations against Polanski in 2010, alleging that the director had sexually assaulted her in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old. Lewis said she had traveled to Paris for a casting call, and she later appeared in Polanski’s 1986 movie “Pirates.”
Polanski has been accused of sexual assault by several women, beginning in 1977 when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting 13-year-old Samantha Gailey. He entered a plea bargain and plead guilty to one charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, later fleeing the U.S. and continuing his career in Europe. He remains a fugitive from the U.
- 3/5/2024
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Arturo Pérez-Reverte's supernatural mystery novel, "The Club Dumas," makes for an intriguing, labyrinthine read. Set in a universe where antiquarian booksellers are aplenty, the novel follows Lucas Corso, who is hired to authenticate a manuscript by Alexandre Dumas. Corso is soon led down an increasingly dangerous, absurd path that causes him to flit around the world in search of an elusive truth lost to humanity, specifically, the gates to hell.
Roman Polanski's take on Pérez-Reverte's work culminates in the atmospherically tense "The Ninth Gate," which follows the basic beats of the novel except for its open-ended conclusion. "The Club Dumas" also ends on an interpretative note, but the novel's merit lies in reinforcing its literary-heavy references in a meaningful manner, while the film takes a more loose stance in deepening its convoluted mythos. Almost nothing is explained for clarity, as the film assumes that its religio-mythical metaphors speak for themselves.
Roman Polanski's take on Pérez-Reverte's work culminates in the atmospherically tense "The Ninth Gate," which follows the basic beats of the novel except for its open-ended conclusion. "The Club Dumas" also ends on an interpretative note, but the novel's merit lies in reinforcing its literary-heavy references in a meaningful manner, while the film takes a more loose stance in deepening its convoluted mythos. Almost nothing is explained for clarity, as the film assumes that its religio-mythical metaphors speak for themselves.
- 12/11/2023
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
Chicago – The director debut is the flourishing element of any film festival, and the Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) has always been a nurturing place for the latest cinema talent. “Pet Shop Days” is the debut of director and co-writer Olmo Schnabel, and screened at the 59th Ciff. The film continues on the fest circuit, as its currently at the Montclair (New Jersey) Film Festival.
When Alejandro (Dario Yazbek Bernal) flees Mexico after an impulsive act of violence, he lands in New York City on a mission to live life on his own terms. After befriending Jack (Jack Irv), who spends his days and nights getting high and sleeping with whomever he wants, the pair embark down a rabbit hole of vice, coming together and breaking apart … with a magnetic and obsessive attraction that will change their lives forever. Like an impulsive Butch and Sundance, the journey of the duo leads to an inevitable destination.
When Alejandro (Dario Yazbek Bernal) flees Mexico after an impulsive act of violence, he lands in New York City on a mission to live life on his own terms. After befriending Jack (Jack Irv), who spends his days and nights getting high and sleeping with whomever he wants, the pair embark down a rabbit hole of vice, coming together and breaking apart … with a magnetic and obsessive attraction that will change their lives forever. Like an impulsive Butch and Sundance, the journey of the duo leads to an inevitable destination.
- 10/28/2023
- by [email protected] (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
There is a grand tradition of messy but glorious films about couples who bring out the crazy in one another and end up doing all manner of bad stuff. Sadly, Pet Shop Days, a directorial debut for writer-producer Olmo Schnabel (son of Julian Schnabel), is just messy and never glorious.
Even with the built-in advantage of Willem Dafoe and Emmanuelle Seigner taking major roles (neither at their best), cameos from Peter Sarsgaard and Maribel Verdu, and a mass list of executive producers who should have known better (including Michel Franco and Martin Scorsese), this poorly paced crime drama is afflicted with terrible dialogue and weak lead performances from Jack Irv (also a co-screenwriter, along with Schnabel and Galen Core) and Dario Yazbek Bernal as two repellent, entitled brats in love.
The opening sequence introduces us to Alejandro (Dario Yazbek Bernal, half brother of Gael Garcia Bernal), a young man in his 20s,...
Even with the built-in advantage of Willem Dafoe and Emmanuelle Seigner taking major roles (neither at their best), cameos from Peter Sarsgaard and Maribel Verdu, and a mass list of executive producers who should have known better (including Michel Franco and Martin Scorsese), this poorly paced crime drama is afflicted with terrible dialogue and weak lead performances from Jack Irv (also a co-screenwriter, along with Schnabel and Galen Core) and Dario Yazbek Bernal as two repellent, entitled brats in love.
The opening sequence introduces us to Alejandro (Dario Yazbek Bernal, half brother of Gael Garcia Bernal), a young man in his 20s,...
- 9/10/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From the mind of Olmo Schnabel — yes, he’s the son of artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel — comes one of the most frustrating protagonists to grace an indie film screen this year. The impulsive black sheep of his family, Alejandro is played in the queer romance “Pet Shop Days” by Dario Yazbek Bernal. And if your nepo baby light wasn’t already blinking at the name Schnabel, Dario Yazbek Bernal is also the brother of Gael García Bernal.
After almost killing his mother in a car accident, Alejandro flees the scene of his mobster family’s moneyed party, thrashing his way through the lives of everyone else he encounters in the aftermath while on the run. That includes Jack (Jack Irv), a pet shop worker in crisis with his dying mother (Emmanuelle Seigner) and philandering father (Willem Dafoe), with whom he lives in a pricy Manhattan penthouse. Jack and Alejandro...
After almost killing his mother in a car accident, Alejandro flees the scene of his mobster family’s moneyed party, thrashing his way through the lives of everyone else he encounters in the aftermath while on the run. That includes Jack (Jack Irv), a pet shop worker in crisis with his dying mother (Emmanuelle Seigner) and philandering father (Willem Dafoe), with whom he lives in a pricy Manhattan penthouse. Jack and Alejandro...
- 9/8/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
A scrappy urban tale of misspent young adulthood, Olmo Schnabel’s “Pet Shop Days” evokes the blown-out, stolen-shot 16mm character studies of 1990s independent cinema, as well as the bohemian oeuvre of painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, his father. This isn’t attributable merely to the fact that the younger Schnabel includes a scene in which his characters watch Julian’s 1996 “Basquiat,” whose themes and aloof tone — not to mention the events of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s actual life — would seem an obvious inspiration for his first feature. But in a contemporary absence of true New York stories told by filmmakers with seemingly more moxie than money, newcomer Schnabel distinguishes himself with a debut that feels tactile, real and suitably off-putting as he attempts to capture the sensibilities (if not always common sense) of twentysomethings.
Dario Yazbek Bernal (of Netflix’s “House of Flowers”) plays Alejandro, a spoiled, rebellious young adult...
Dario Yazbek Bernal (of Netflix’s “House of Flowers”) plays Alejandro, a spoiled, rebellious young adult...
- 9/3/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
Roman Polanski’s black comedy “The Palace” was given a tepid three-minutes of applause when it world premiered in the Palazzo del Cinema’s Sala Grande on Saturday night.
Producer Luca Barbareschi, French star Fanny Ardant and other key cast members including German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Portugal’s Joaquim de Almeida and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”) stood up and took a bow, but the audience’s response seemed to be more polite than exited, though there were occasional bursts of laughter during the screening.
Before the film’s premiere “The Palace” set designer Tonino Zera received Venice’s Campari Passion for Film prize from artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Polanski directed the black comedy from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa Piaskowska. “The Palace” takes place during New Year’s Eve in 1999, when a dinner party at Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace hotel takes an unexpected turn.
Producer Luca Barbareschi, French star Fanny Ardant and other key cast members including German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Portugal’s Joaquim de Almeida and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”) stood up and took a bow, but the audience’s response seemed to be more polite than exited, though there were occasional bursts of laughter during the screening.
Before the film’s premiere “The Palace” set designer Tonino Zera received Venice’s Campari Passion for Film prize from artistic director Alberto Barbera.
Polanski directed the black comedy from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa Piaskowska. “The Palace” takes place during New Year’s Eve in 1999, when a dinner party at Switzerland’s Gstaad Palace hotel takes an unexpected turn.
- 9/2/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli and Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
In The Palace, guests of a luxury hotel prepare to celebrate the turn of the millennium. The caviar is tasted. The fireworks are readied. Soon (you guessed it) indulgence shifts to debauchery. The director, if you haven’t heard, is Roman Polanski, a filmmaker whose marketability in Europe seems to endure almost in spite of its continued non-existence in Britain and the United States. The Palace was made on a budget of €17,000,000, boasts an Alexandre Desplat score and a starry cast, and was shot in the Gstaad Palace of Switzerland, where a basic single room will set you back a grand a night. The Palace premiered this week at the Venice Film Festival, where Polanski’s last film, An Officer and A Spy, opened to cautiously positive reviews in 2019, ultimately winning him the Silver Lion for Best Director. At the time you could almost feel the critical consensus straining against its better judgment.
- 9/2/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Actor, producer and director Luca Barbareschi is at the Venice Film Festival this year as one the main representatives of Roman Polanski’s new film The Palace.
The satire, poking fun at the ultra-rich against the backdrop of Switzerland’s luxury Gstaad Palace Hotel and featuring Mickey Rourke, Fanny Ardant and John Cleese in the ensemble cast, world premieres Out of Competition in a gala screening on Saturday.
Its selection for Venice’s 80th edition has sparked debate in the film world, which remains split over whether Polanski should be celebrated as an artist while 1970s charges of unlawful sex with a minor in the U.S. remain unresolved.
The director, who turned 90 in August, has not travelled to Italy, where it remains unclear whether he would be subject to Italy’s extradition treaty with the U.S., while a number of the film’s international stars including John Cleese...
The satire, poking fun at the ultra-rich against the backdrop of Switzerland’s luxury Gstaad Palace Hotel and featuring Mickey Rourke, Fanny Ardant and John Cleese in the ensemble cast, world premieres Out of Competition in a gala screening on Saturday.
Its selection for Venice’s 80th edition has sparked debate in the film world, which remains split over whether Polanski should be celebrated as an artist while 1970s charges of unlawful sex with a minor in the U.S. remain unresolved.
The director, who turned 90 in August, has not travelled to Italy, where it remains unclear whether he would be subject to Italy’s extradition treaty with the U.S., while a number of the film’s international stars including John Cleese...
- 9/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Sex, crime and fish tanks converge in the officially titled “Pet Shop Days,” Olmo Schnabel’s directorial debut which will play at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Variety has an exclusive first look at the project starring Jack Irv, Dario Yazbek Bernal and Willem Dafoe. Schnabel, son of Oscar nominated director Julian Schnabel, tells the story of two young men falling down a rabbit hole of rebellious desire – one running from a traumatic incident and a bitter authoritarian father, the other a privileged drifter in search of himself.
Irv and Bernal take the leads, hustling their way through a punishing city. Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard and Emmanuelle Seigner are just a few of the hapless adults caught in their web.
“This is the perfect New York story in that anything can happen,” Schnabel said. “That’s how it was growing up. You meet a complete stranger, you’re enamored or infatuated with them,...
Variety has an exclusive first look at the project starring Jack Irv, Dario Yazbek Bernal and Willem Dafoe. Schnabel, son of Oscar nominated director Julian Schnabel, tells the story of two young men falling down a rabbit hole of rebellious desire – one running from a traumatic incident and a bitter authoritarian father, the other a privileged drifter in search of himself.
Irv and Bernal take the leads, hustling their way through a punishing city. Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard and Emmanuelle Seigner are just a few of the hapless adults caught in their web.
“This is the perfect New York story in that anything can happen,” Schnabel said. “That’s how it was growing up. You meet a complete stranger, you’re enamored or infatuated with them,...
- 8/17/2023
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
The 80th Venice Film Festival is shaping up to be a star-studded affair, with Michael Mann, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, and David Fincher all set to premiere their latest films at the festival.
Mann will be bringing his long-awaited biopic of Enzo Ferrari, Ferrari, to Venice. The film stars Adam Driver as Ferrari and Penélope Cruz as his wife, Laura. It is scheduled to premiere on August 25, the opening night of the festival.
Polanski will be presenting his latest film, The Palace, a psychological thriller set in a luxury hotel in the 1980s. The film stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Rebecca Dayan, and Pauline Burlet. It is scheduled to premiere on August 30, the second day of the festival.
Woody Allen and Roman Poloanski
Allen will be showing his latest comedy, Coup de Chance, which stars himself, Cate Blanchett, and Louis Garrel. The film is a romantic comedy about a man who wins...
Mann will be bringing his long-awaited biopic of Enzo Ferrari, Ferrari, to Venice. The film stars Adam Driver as Ferrari and Penélope Cruz as his wife, Laura. It is scheduled to premiere on August 25, the opening night of the festival.
Polanski will be presenting his latest film, The Palace, a psychological thriller set in a luxury hotel in the 1980s. The film stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Rebecca Dayan, and Pauline Burlet. It is scheduled to premiere on August 30, the second day of the festival.
Woody Allen and Roman Poloanski
Allen will be showing his latest comedy, Coup de Chance, which stars himself, Cate Blanchett, and Louis Garrel. The film is a romantic comedy about a man who wins...
- 7/25/2023
- by amalprasadappu
- https://thecinemanews.online/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_4649
Director Roman Polanski, who has been a Hollywood outcast since 1978, when Samantha Geimer accused him of allegedly sexually assaulting her in 1977 when she was just 13 years old, recently posed for a selfie with his alleged victim.
Both Geimer and Polanski were pictured smiling despite the incident from 45 years ago, and the subsequent five charges of rape by use of drugs, perversion, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under fourteen, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, brought against Polanski.
Geimer, who had asked a judge to drop the case against Polanski in 2017, sat down for an interview for French publication Le Point with her alleged assaulter’s wife, former model Emmanuelle Seigner.
Speaking to Seigner, Geimer explained that it was time for them to finally meet and “speak, you know, together in solidarity of adult capable women who have opinions and don’t have to fall into this...
Both Geimer and Polanski were pictured smiling despite the incident from 45 years ago, and the subsequent five charges of rape by use of drugs, perversion, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under fourteen, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, brought against Polanski.
Geimer, who had asked a judge to drop the case against Polanski in 2017, sat down for an interview for French publication Le Point with her alleged assaulter’s wife, former model Emmanuelle Seigner.
Speaking to Seigner, Geimer explained that it was time for them to finally meet and “speak, you know, together in solidarity of adult capable women who have opinions and don’t have to fall into this...
- 5/17/2023
- by Nicky Kashani
- Uinterview
Samantha Geimer, who was raped by Roman Polanski when she was an under-age teenager, has once again spoken out denying that she is a victim – this time in an interview with Polanski’s wife, Emmanuelle Seigner.
Geimer, who was 13 when she was given alcohol and pills and raped by the French-Polish film director, told Seigner for an interview in Le Point magazine (translated by IndieWire) that what happened had “never been a problem for her.”
She said: “Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was never a big problem for me. I didn’t even know it was illegal, that someone could be arrested for it. I was fine, I’m still fine. The fact that we’ve made this thing up weighs on me terribly. To have to constantly repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.”
In the interview, Geimer and...
Geimer, who was 13 when she was given alcohol and pills and raped by the French-Polish film director, told Seigner for an interview in Le Point magazine (translated by IndieWire) that what happened had “never been a problem for her.”
She said: “Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was never a big problem for me. I didn’t even know it was illegal, that someone could be arrested for it. I was fine, I’m still fine. The fact that we’ve made this thing up weighs on me terribly. To have to constantly repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.”
In the interview, Geimer and...
- 4/15/2023
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Samantha Geimer is once again defending Roman Polanski, who raped her in 1977 when she was 13 years old. Geimer has often spoken out in support of Polanski, although this time she did it in an interview with France’s Le Point magazine that was conducted by none other than Polanski’s wife, the actor Emmanuelle Seigner.
Polanski was arrested in 1977 for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He accepted a plea bargain and only served 42 days in prison. He fled the United States in 1978 while still under probation after his legal team got word that he was going to face imprisonment on additional charges. He was detained by Swiss police decades later in 2009 while traveling to the Zurich Film Festival in an attempt by the United States to extradite him. The Swiss court ultimately rejected the request and released Polanski.
“Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was...
Polanski was arrested in 1977 for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He accepted a plea bargain and only served 42 days in prison. He fled the United States in 1978 while still under probation after his legal team got word that he was going to face imprisonment on additional charges. He was detained by Swiss police decades later in 2009 while traveling to the Zurich Film Festival in an attempt by the United States to extradite him. The Swiss court ultimately rejected the request and released Polanski.
“Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was...
- 4/14/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
Samantha Geimer, whom Roman Polanski raped when she was 13 in Los Angeles, is once again reaffirming that the sexual assault was never an issue for her in a new interview with his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner.
In the interview conducted by Le Point, as translated by IndieWire, Geimer, who was 13 when Polanski gave her alcohol and pills and raped and sodomized her in the home of Jack Nicholson, said, “Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was never a big problem for me. I didn’t even know it was illegal, that someone could be arrested for it. I was fine, I’m still fine. The fact that we’ve made this thing up weighs on me terribly. To have to constantly repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.”
Geimer is among five other women who have accused Polanski of underage sexual abuse.
In the interview conducted by Le Point, as translated by IndieWire, Geimer, who was 13 when Polanski gave her alcohol and pills and raped and sodomized her in the home of Jack Nicholson, said, “Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was never a big problem for me. I didn’t even know it was illegal, that someone could be arrested for it. I was fine, I’m still fine. The fact that we’ve made this thing up weighs on me terribly. To have to constantly repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.”
Geimer is among five other women who have accused Polanski of underage sexual abuse.
- 4/14/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Leonis Productions, the Newen Studios-owned French banner created by Jean-Benoit Gillig, is developing a raft of international shows on the heels of “Liaison,” Apple TV+’s first French original.
The company reached a milestone with “Liaison,” a thriller series created and entirely penned by Virginie Brac (“Spiral”) and directed by Stephen Hopkins. Vincent Cassel and Eva Green lead a cast that includes Peter Mullan, Gérard Lanvin, Daniel Francis, Stanislas Merhar, Irène Jacob, Laëtitia Eïdo, Eriq Ebouaney, Tchéky Karyo, Bukky Bakray and Thierry Fremont.
“It’s a sprawling French-British thriller set against the backdrop of Brexit, and there’s a metaphor between the love tragedy playing as the primary plot and the political tragedy embodied by Brexit unfolding in the background,” said Gillig.
“The starting point of this series was our wish to create a series using Brexit as a canvas, and from there Virginie Brac was able to conceive a...
The company reached a milestone with “Liaison,” a thriller series created and entirely penned by Virginie Brac (“Spiral”) and directed by Stephen Hopkins. Vincent Cassel and Eva Green lead a cast that includes Peter Mullan, Gérard Lanvin, Daniel Francis, Stanislas Merhar, Irène Jacob, Laëtitia Eïdo, Eriq Ebouaney, Tchéky Karyo, Bukky Bakray and Thierry Fremont.
“It’s a sprawling French-British thriller set against the backdrop of Brexit, and there’s a metaphor between the love tragedy playing as the primary plot and the political tragedy embodied by Brexit unfolding in the background,” said Gillig.
“The starting point of this series was our wish to create a series using Brexit as a canvas, and from there Virginie Brac was able to conceive a...
- 2/16/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker Olmo Schnabel has assembled a cast of heavyweights for his directorial debut – a romantic thriller about two young men exploring the underbelly of New York and one other.
“Pet Shop Boys” will mark the first time behind the camera for Schnabel, son of Oscar-nommed director Julian Schnabel. Already wrapped, the project is led by newcomers Dario Yazebek Bernal (“The House of the Flowers”) and Jack Irv (“Giants Being Lonely”).
The film follows the impulsive black sheep Alejandro (Bernal) and college-age pet store employee Jack (Irv) who engage in a whirlwind affair that sends them down a rabbit hole of vice.
The men will have pedigreed costars in four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe and the prolific Peter Sarsgaard. Also on board is Emmanuelle Seigner (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Jordi Mollà (“Riddick”), Louis Cancelmi (“The Looming Tower”), Camille Rowe (“The Deep House”), Maribel Verdu (“Blancanieves”) and Angela Sarafyan.
“Someone...
“Pet Shop Boys” will mark the first time behind the camera for Schnabel, son of Oscar-nommed director Julian Schnabel. Already wrapped, the project is led by newcomers Dario Yazebek Bernal (“The House of the Flowers”) and Jack Irv (“Giants Being Lonely”).
The film follows the impulsive black sheep Alejandro (Bernal) and college-age pet store employee Jack (Irv) who engage in a whirlwind affair that sends them down a rabbit hole of vice.
The men will have pedigreed costars in four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe and the prolific Peter Sarsgaard. Also on board is Emmanuelle Seigner (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Jordi Mollà (“Riddick”), Louis Cancelmi (“The Looming Tower”), Camille Rowe (“The Deep House”), Maribel Verdu (“Blancanieves”) and Angela Sarafyan.
“Someone...
- 1/24/2023
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Rene van Pannevis on his UK drama starring Charley Palmer Rothwell and Morgane Polanski.
Dutch filmmaker Rene van Pannevis is at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival with the world premiere of his debut feature Looted.
The UK drama - selected for the festival’s First Feature Competition - is very much the successor to the London-based director’s short Jacked, which was nominated for a Berlin Crystal Bear in 2016 and won a Bifa.
Not only does Looted explore similar themes, of car jackers in an urban setting, but also reunites the director with actors Charley Palmer Rothwell (Legend) and Thomas Turgoose...
Dutch filmmaker Rene van Pannevis is at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival with the world premiere of his debut feature Looted.
The UK drama - selected for the festival’s First Feature Competition - is very much the successor to the London-based director’s short Jacked, which was nominated for a Berlin Crystal Bear in 2016 and won a Bifa.
Not only does Looted explore similar themes, of car jackers in an urban setting, but also reunites the director with actors Charley Palmer Rothwell (Legend) and Thomas Turgoose...
- 11/27/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Roman Polanski's Venice Silver Lion winner An Officer and a Spy topped the French box office in its first week of release despite calls to boycott the film after actress Valentine Monnier accused the director of rape.
The film, starring Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel and Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, had the strongest opening for Polanski in France in years, with 501,000 tickets sold across 545 screens for the week ended Wednesday. His 2003 Oscar-winner The Pianist sold 1.8 million tickets during its release, but recent films haven't fared as well, with 2013's Venus in Fur topping ...
The film, starring Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel and Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, had the strongest opening for Polanski in France in years, with 501,000 tickets sold across 545 screens for the week ended Wednesday. His 2003 Oscar-winner The Pianist sold 1.8 million tickets during its release, but recent films haven't fared as well, with 2013's Venus in Fur topping ...
- 11/21/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Roman Polanski's Venice Silver Lion winner An Officer and a Spy topped the French box office in its first week of release despite calls to boycott the film after actress Valentine Monnier accused the director of rape.
The film, starring Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel and Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, had the strongest opening for Polanski in France in years, with 501,000 tickets sold across 545 screens for the week ended Wednesday. His 2003 Oscar-winner The Pianist sold 1.8 million tickets during its release, but recent films haven't fared as well, with 2013's Venus in Fur topping ...
The film, starring Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel and Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, had the strongest opening for Polanski in France in years, with 501,000 tickets sold across 545 screens for the week ended Wednesday. His 2003 Oscar-winner The Pianist sold 1.8 million tickets during its release, but recent films haven't fared as well, with 2013's Venus in Fur topping ...
- 11/21/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Roman Polanski’s latest film, “An Officer and a Spy,” is leading the French box office after its opening weekend and fifth day out in theaters despite new sexual-assault accusations against the director and truncated promotion for the film.
Released by Gaumont last Wednesday across 545 screens, “An Officer and a Spy” has grossed an estimated €1.5 million ($1.6 million) from 370,000 tickets sold in France as of midday Monday, taking the lead at the weekend B.O. ahead of James Mangold’s “Ford v. Ferrari,” according to Comscore France. It’s the seventh-best start for a French film since the beginning of the year, Gaumont said.
The film’s main Parisian premiere last Tuesday evening went smoothly, with Polanski and lead actor Jean Dujardin in attendance, but another premiere screening scheduled at a different Paris venue, which co-star Louis Garrel was supposed to attend, was canceled amid a protest by women’s-rights activists.
Released by Gaumont last Wednesday across 545 screens, “An Officer and a Spy” has grossed an estimated €1.5 million ($1.6 million) from 370,000 tickets sold in France as of midday Monday, taking the lead at the weekend B.O. ahead of James Mangold’s “Ford v. Ferrari,” according to Comscore France. It’s the seventh-best start for a French film since the beginning of the year, Gaumont said.
The film’s main Parisian premiere last Tuesday evening went smoothly, with Polanski and lead actor Jean Dujardin in attendance, but another premiere screening scheduled at a different Paris venue, which co-star Louis Garrel was supposed to attend, was canceled amid a protest by women’s-rights activists.
- 11/18/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Following recent explosive allegations by actresses Adele Haenel and Valentine Monnier of harassment and assault at the hands of male directors, France’s authors, directors and producers guild said Tuesday that it will consider sanctions against any member being investigated for or found guilty of a sexual offense.
The Société Civile des Auteurs, Réalisateurs, Producteurs (Arp) said in a statement that, although it is not an adjudicator of such allegations, “as an organization we must take into account the fact that our profession, because of the power it yields, can open the door to reprehensible excesses. These can’t in any case be justified, nor can they be tolerated. That’s why the board of the Arp will propose during the next administrative council that, from now on, any member who has been convicted of a sexual offense be expelled and any member under investigation be suspended” from the guild.
The Société Civile des Auteurs, Réalisateurs, Producteurs (Arp) said in a statement that, although it is not an adjudicator of such allegations, “as an organization we must take into account the fact that our profession, because of the power it yields, can open the door to reprehensible excesses. These can’t in any case be justified, nor can they be tolerated. That’s why the board of the Arp will propose during the next administrative council that, from now on, any member who has been convicted of a sexual offense be expelled and any member under investigation be suspended” from the guild.
- 11/12/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
In the wake of French actress Valentine Monnier’s allegation of rape against Roman Polanski, the promotion of the director’s latest film, “An Officer and a Spy,” has been axed in France, but the movie’s premiere Tuesday night and its theatrical release are scheduled to go forward.
Real-life period drama “An Officer and a Spy” is set to premiere Tuesday evening in Paris on the Champs Elysees. It’s unknown at this point if Polanski will attend. Distributor Gaumont told Variety that it would press ahead with its plan to give the film a wide release across France starting Wednesday on 545 screens, despite the accusation against Polanski of sexual assault.
However, several promotional activities have been canceled following Monnier’s allegation last Friday that Polanski raped her at a ski chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, in 1975, when she was just 18. Le Parisien newspaper, which published Monnier’s story, said...
Real-life period drama “An Officer and a Spy” is set to premiere Tuesday evening in Paris on the Champs Elysees. It’s unknown at this point if Polanski will attend. Distributor Gaumont told Variety that it would press ahead with its plan to give the film a wide release across France starting Wednesday on 545 screens, despite the accusation against Polanski of sexual assault.
However, several promotional activities have been canceled following Monnier’s allegation last Friday that Polanski raped her at a ski chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, in 1975, when she was just 18. Le Parisien newspaper, which published Monnier’s story, said...
- 11/12/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Roman Polanski's An Officer and a Spy, lensed by his frequent collaborator Pawel Edelman (The Pianist), will open the 27th EnergaCamerimage cinematography festival Nov. 9 in Torun, Poland.
The thriller, based on the novel by Robert Harris, recently received the Silver Lion and the Fipresci Award at the Venice Film Festival. An Officer and a Spy tells the story of Alfred Dreyfus, a French officer wrongly convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The cast includes Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Louis Garrel (The Dreamers) and Emmanuelle Seigner (Venus in Fur).
As previously announced, this year Camerimage will honor ...
The thriller, based on the novel by Robert Harris, recently received the Silver Lion and the Fipresci Award at the Venice Film Festival. An Officer and a Spy tells the story of Alfred Dreyfus, a French officer wrongly convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The cast includes Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Louis Garrel (The Dreamers) and Emmanuelle Seigner (Venus in Fur).
As previously announced, this year Camerimage will honor ...
- 10/18/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Roman Polanski's An Officer and a Spy, lensed by his frequent collaborator Pawel Edelman (The Pianist), will open the 27th EnergaCamerimage cinematography festival Nov. 9 in Torun, Poland.
The thriller, based on the novel by Robert Harris, recently received the Silver Lion and the Fipresci Award at the Venice Film Festival. An Officer and a Spy tells the story of Alfred Dreyfus, a French officer wrongly convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The cast includes Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Louis Garrel (The Dreamers) and Emmanuelle Seigner (Venus in Fur).
As previously announced, this year Camerimage will honor ...
The thriller, based on the novel by Robert Harris, recently received the Silver Lion and the Fipresci Award at the Venice Film Festival. An Officer and a Spy tells the story of Alfred Dreyfus, a French officer wrongly convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The cast includes Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Louis Garrel (The Dreamers) and Emmanuelle Seigner (Venus in Fur).
As previously announced, this year Camerimage will honor ...
- 10/18/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
What road should one take when approaching a film like An Officer and a Spy? On one hand, it is a perfectly robust, informative, prestige-y and even timely dramatization of the Dreyfus affair, the infamous late 19th-century political scandal in which a French Jewish soldier was wrongfully imprisoned for treason. On the other hand, it is a story about injustice and prosecution directed by, of all people, Roman Polanski.
So to that first hand: an especially dashing and mustachioed Jean Dujardin stars as George Picquart, the man responsible for pulling the thread from which the Dreyfus scandal ultimately unraveled. Polanski arranges the narrative in much the same way that Mike Leigh did with Peterloo, another film about 19th-century social injustice–and one in which the director carefully set out the names, dates, and people involved before going for the jugular in the final act. The first half of An Officer...
So to that first hand: an especially dashing and mustachioed Jean Dujardin stars as George Picquart, the man responsible for pulling the thread from which the Dreyfus scandal ultimately unraveled. Polanski arranges the narrative in much the same way that Mike Leigh did with Peterloo, another film about 19th-century social injustice–and one in which the director carefully set out the names, dates, and people involved before going for the jugular in the final act. The first half of An Officer...
- 9/18/2019
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Joker won over audiences in Venice Photo: Courtesy of Nyff Todd Phillips' Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, has won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
The film about the Batman villain, which has inspired a slew of debate online since its premiere, will be released in the UK on October.
Roman Polanski's An Officer And A Spy - which had already sparked controversy by being included due to the director's Us fugitive status after his conviction for statutory rape in 1978 - won the Grand Jury Prize.
Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, who stars in his dramatisation of the Dreyfus affair political scandal - which also won the Fipresci award - collected the award on his behalf.
The Silver Lion went to Roy Andersson for About Endlessness, while writer/director Yonfan won the best screenplay for his Hong Kong animation No. 7 Cherry Lane.
The acting awards in the main...
The film about the Batman villain, which has inspired a slew of debate online since its premiere, will be released in the UK on October.
Roman Polanski's An Officer And A Spy - which had already sparked controversy by being included due to the director's Us fugitive status after his conviction for statutory rape in 1978 - won the Grand Jury Prize.
Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, who stars in his dramatisation of the Dreyfus affair political scandal - which also won the Fipresci award - collected the award on his behalf.
The Silver Lion went to Roy Andersson for About Endlessness, while writer/director Yonfan won the best screenplay for his Hong Kong animation No. 7 Cherry Lane.
The acting awards in the main...
- 9/8/2019
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Todd Phillips’ dark supervillain origin story “Joker” has come up trumps at the Venice Film Festival, taking the Golden Lion from a jury headed by Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel. Controversial veteran Roman Polanski, meanwhile, took the runner-up Grand Jury Prize for his film “An Officer and a Spy,” capping a festival marked by debate over gender representation and the impact of #MeToo in the industry.
It’s a rarity for a major Hollywood studio production to take the top prize at Venice, and unprecedented for a superhero-adjacent property to take any such honor, but the Warner Bros. title established itself early on as the festival’s lightning rod: a film that sparked headlines and critical discussion to the very end of the festival, as many other competing titles came and went without a ripple.
Variety chief critic Owen Gleiberman was among its many champions, acclaiming it as “a neo-‘Taxi Driver...
It’s a rarity for a major Hollywood studio production to take the top prize at Venice, and unprecedented for a superhero-adjacent property to take any such honor, but the Warner Bros. title established itself early on as the festival’s lightning rod: a film that sparked headlines and critical discussion to the very end of the festival, as many other competing titles came and went without a ripple.
Variety chief critic Owen Gleiberman was among its many champions, acclaiming it as “a neo-‘Taxi Driver...
- 9/7/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Title: J’accuse (An Officer and A Spy) Director: Roman Polanski Cast: Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel, Emmanuelle Seigner, Grégory Gadebois Hervé Pierre de la Comédie Française, Wladimir Yordanoff, Didier Sandre de la Comédie Française, Melvil Poupaud, Eric Ruf de la Comédie Française, Mathieu Amalric, Laurent Stocker de la Comédie Française, Vincent Perez, Michel Vuillermoz de la […]
The post 76th Venice Film Festival: J’accuse (An Officer and A Spy) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post 76th Venice Film Festival: J’accuse (An Officer and A Spy) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 8/31/2019
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
Update: The biggest talking point ahead of and into the early days of the Venice Film Festival, Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy had its official competition world premiere this evening. Inside the Sala Grande, the film was well-received with a five-minute standing ovation. That’s not a Lido record in this year or others. It is, however, indicative of the division between how certain audiences may accept, or not, a movie whose maker comes with baggage.
From critics, the film has received mixed to solid reviews since it screened for the press this morning. It was warmly-received at a press conference this afternoon, during which the focus was on the movie and the actors rather tha Polanski’s long history as a fugitive from U.
From critics, the film has received mixed to solid reviews since it screened for the press this morning. It was warmly-received at a press conference this afternoon, during which the focus was on the movie and the actors rather tha Polanski’s long history as a fugitive from U.
- 8/30/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Roman Polanski has absolutely no intention of asking you to separate the art from the artist. His “Officer and a Spy” — — seems determined to remind viewers that it was directed by cinema’s most storied rapist.
The film’s more damning and transparent moments are as nakedly autobiographical as anything Polanski has ever made, as the story’s hero — a reformed anti-Semite fueled by the guilt he carries after condemning an innocent Jewish man to Devil’s Island — arrives in court to ridicule the whole of French society for rushing to judgment and ruining someone’s life. Of course, it might be more accurate to contextualize these scenes as the stuff of unfettered wish fulfillment, as Polanski has no claim on total innocence, and he rather famously neglected to stick around for his own trial.
If nothing else, “An Officer and a Spy” leaves you with the sense that its...
The film’s more damning and transparent moments are as nakedly autobiographical as anything Polanski has ever made, as the story’s hero — a reformed anti-Semite fueled by the guilt he carries after condemning an innocent Jewish man to Devil’s Island — arrives in court to ridicule the whole of French society for rushing to judgment and ruining someone’s life. Of course, it might be more accurate to contextualize these scenes as the stuff of unfettered wish fulfillment, as Polanski has no claim on total innocence, and he rather famously neglected to stick around for his own trial.
If nothing else, “An Officer and a Spy” leaves you with the sense that its...
- 8/30/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The film was warmly received at its first Venice screening.
The producers of Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy attempted to draw a line under the controversy swirling around the film after it was warmly received by press and industry on the Lido ahead of its official premiere tonight (Aug 30).
Venice’s decision to invite the film has prompted criticism due to 40-year-old sexual assault charges against Polanski related to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old following a photoshoot in Los Angeles.
Tension around its selection flared on the opening day when jury president Lucrecia Martel told the...
The producers of Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy attempted to draw a line under the controversy swirling around the film after it was warmly received by press and industry on the Lido ahead of its official premiere tonight (Aug 30).
Venice’s decision to invite the film has prompted criticism due to 40-year-old sexual assault charges against Polanski related to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old following a photoshoot in Los Angeles.
Tension around its selection flared on the opening day when jury president Lucrecia Martel told the...
- 8/30/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” has been sparking debate on the Lido since it was announced that it would premiere at the Venice Film Festival. But the movie’s press conference Friday was remarkably drama-free, perhaps in part because Polanski himself, as expected, did not attend.
The film’s producers, including France’s Alain Goldman and Italy’s Luca Barbareschi, and key cast members Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel and Emmanuelle Seigner received a hearty ovation at the presser Friday afternoon, ahead of the movie’s evening premiere. Barbareschi, who had said he considered pulling the film out of the festival if jury president Lucrecia Martel didn’t clarify her comment that she would “not congratulate” Polanski, seemed placid, if not philosophical. Asked if he feared Martel’s stance could cause prejudice against “An Officer and a Spy” within the jury, Barbareschi said: “The past is the past.
The film’s producers, including France’s Alain Goldman and Italy’s Luca Barbareschi, and key cast members Jean Dujardin, Louis Garrel and Emmanuelle Seigner received a hearty ovation at the presser Friday afternoon, ahead of the movie’s evening premiere. Barbareschi, who had said he considered pulling the film out of the festival if jury president Lucrecia Martel didn’t clarify her comment that she would “not congratulate” Polanski, seemed placid, if not philosophical. Asked if he feared Martel’s stance could cause prejudice against “An Officer and a Spy” within the jury, Barbareschi said: “The past is the past.
- 8/30/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Although its inclusion in Venice’s competition has stirred some controversy, Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” has lured buyers in several key markets ahead of its world premiere on Friday.
Since unveiling the film’s first footage at Cannes, Paris-based sales company Playtime has pre-sold it to Japan (Longride); Spain (Caramel Films); Greece (Odeon); Portugal (Midas Filmes); Israel (United King Films); Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland (Future Film); Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Cis (Top Film); Poland (Gutek Film); and former Yugoslavia (Fivia). Playtime is in negotiations to close several more deals in major markets.
“An Officer and a Spy” is France’s biggest-budgeted film slated for theaters this year. Gaumont will release the film Nov. 13. The €25.5 million ($28 million) historical espionage thriller is based on Robert Harris’ novel and headlined by Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) and Mathieu Amalric (“At Eternity’s Gate”).
The movie tells...
Since unveiling the film’s first footage at Cannes, Paris-based sales company Playtime has pre-sold it to Japan (Longride); Spain (Caramel Films); Greece (Odeon); Portugal (Midas Filmes); Israel (United King Films); Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland (Future Film); Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Cis (Top Film); Poland (Gutek Film); and former Yugoslavia (Fivia). Playtime is in negotiations to close several more deals in major markets.
“An Officer and a Spy” is France’s biggest-budgeted film slated for theaters this year. Gaumont will release the film Nov. 13. The €25.5 million ($28 million) historical espionage thriller is based on Robert Harris’ novel and headlined by Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) and Mathieu Amalric (“At Eternity’s Gate”).
The movie tells...
- 8/29/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The 2019 Venice Film Festival officially kicked off with a press conference featuring the event’s chief, Alberto Barbera, and this year’s jury president Lucrecia Martel, the Argentine director behind “La Ciénaga,” “The Headless Woman,” and “Zama.” As reported by Deadline, one of the most pressing topics discussed was the inclusion of Roman Polanski in this year’s competition lineup. The French director is debuting his Dreyfus affair drama “An Officer and a Spy,” starring Emmanuelle Seigner, Louis Garrel, Jean Dujardin, and Mathieu Amalric.
The Venice Film Festival has been under fire for including Polanski in this year’s competition because the director was charged with rape in the 1970s. The #MeToo era has put a new focus on Polanski’s behavior, resulting in his expulsion from the Academy in May 2018. Barbera continued to defend Polanski’s inclusion at Venice 2019 during the opening press conference.
“[I am] convinced that we have to...
The Venice Film Festival has been under fire for including Polanski in this year’s competition because the director was charged with rape in the 1970s. The #MeToo era has put a new focus on Polanski’s behavior, resulting in his expulsion from the Academy in May 2018. Barbera continued to defend Polanski’s inclusion at Venice 2019 during the opening press conference.
“[I am] convinced that we have to...
- 8/28/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The French sales agent’s slate boasts 3 films being showcased on the Lido, 2 of which are competing for the Golden Lion, 4 on the programme of the Canadian festival and 6 titles in post-production. French international sales agent Playtime is all set to tout its tantalising line-up, brimming with 13 features, at the 76th Venice Film Festival (28 August-7 September 2019) and the 44th Toronto Film Festival (5-15 September).On the Lido, Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, François Yon, Sébastien Beffa, Valery Guibal and Frédérique Rouault’s team will be pinning its hopes on three films being world-premiered, two of which are taking part in the competition: An Officer and a Spy by Roman Polanski and Guest of...
Director Roman Polanski may not be welcome in many places, but Venice is not one of them. His new film, An Officer and a Spy, about the Dreyfus affair, will compete in the 76th edition of the world’s oldest film festival.
Based on the book by Robert Harris, the film follows Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus, who is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Polanski penned the script with Harris. The pic stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Louis Garrel and Jean Dujardin.
New assault accusations have surfaced against Polanski in the past few years, following the notorious 1977 Los Angeles ...
Based on the book by Robert Harris, the film follows Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus, who is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Polanski penned the script with Harris. The pic stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Louis Garrel and Jean Dujardin.
New assault accusations have surfaced against Polanski in the past few years, following the notorious 1977 Los Angeles ...
- 7/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Director Roman Polanski may not be welcome in many places, but Venice is not one of them. His new film, An Officer and a Spy, about the Dreyfus affair, will compete in the 76th edition of the world’s oldest film festival.
Based on the book by Robert Harris, the film follows Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus, who is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Polanski penned the script with Harris. The pic stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Louis Garrel and Jean Dujardin.
New assault accusations have surfaced against Polanski in the past few years, following the notorious 1977 Los Angeles ...
Based on the book by Robert Harris, the film follows Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus, who is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Polanski penned the script with Harris. The pic stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Louis Garrel and Jean Dujardin.
New assault accusations have surfaced against Polanski in the past few years, following the notorious 1977 Los Angeles ...
- 7/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Over the past few years, the Venice Film Festival has become a magnet for awards-season hopefuls, having hosted world premieres of three of the past five Best Picture Oscar winners. This year again, there is no shortage of big-ticket titles that we’re likely to be talking about for the next six months. In what’s beginning to look like another recurring theme, fest chief Alberto Barbera has shown he is not one to shy away from controversy.
After becoming the first major fest boss to embrace Netflix back in 2015, he is already facing criticism from European cinema groups for putting three of the streamer’s movies in the lineup that was announced today. The fest also has a pretty lousy track record with female directors. While Barbera did increase the number of women in competition by 100%, that means there are two this year versus one last year. And, sure...
After becoming the first major fest boss to embrace Netflix back in 2015, he is already facing criticism from European cinema groups for putting three of the streamer’s movies in the lineup that was announced today. The fest also has a pretty lousy track record with female directors. While Barbera did increase the number of women in competition by 100%, that means there are two this year versus one last year. And, sure...
- 7/25/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
There are only two films by female directors in competition.
The line-up of the 76th Venice Film Festival (August 28 – September 7) has been announced.
Scroll down for the full line-up
This year features some high-profile projects including Todd Phillips’ Joker and James Gray’s Ad Astra, a lack of female directors in competition once again, and the controversial selection of Roman Polanski’s latest film.
Australian title Babyteeth, from first-time director Shannon Murphy, and Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate are the two films in the 21-strong competition from female filmmakers. Last year festival chief Alberto Barbera was heavily...
The line-up of the 76th Venice Film Festival (August 28 – September 7) has been announced.
Scroll down for the full line-up
This year features some high-profile projects including Todd Phillips’ Joker and James Gray’s Ad Astra, a lack of female directors in competition once again, and the controversial selection of Roman Polanski’s latest film.
Australian title Babyteeth, from first-time director Shannon Murphy, and Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate are the two films in the 21-strong competition from female filmmakers. Last year festival chief Alberto Barbera was heavily...
- 7/25/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Quentin Tarantino revealed at the Cannes Film Festival that he never reached out to Roman Polanski during the writing and production of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” in which the controversial “Rosemary’s Baby” director appears briefly as a character opposite Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate. Polanski and Tate were married at the time of her murder in August 1969. Tate was also pregnant with their first child.
In a new interview with Deadline, Tarantino expanded on why reaching out to Polanski ahead of time was not a priority.
“Look, when it comes to Roman Polanski we’re talking about a tragedy that would be unfathomable for most human beings,” Tarantino said. “I mean there’s Sharon, there’s his unborn son that literally lived without ever being born. That’s just a crazy sentence even to say. I felt that the story of her death, and the Manson tragedy had moved into legit history.
In a new interview with Deadline, Tarantino expanded on why reaching out to Polanski ahead of time was not a priority.
“Look, when it comes to Roman Polanski we’re talking about a tragedy that would be unfathomable for most human beings,” Tarantino said. “I mean there’s Sharon, there’s his unborn son that literally lived without ever being born. That’s just a crazy sentence even to say. I felt that the story of her death, and the Manson tragedy had moved into legit history.
- 7/19/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Exclusive: With Cannes in the rear-view mirror, film industry attention is now turning to the autumn festivals and what titles are shaping up as the ones we’ll be talking about throughout awards season. Having steadily cemented its status as the go-to fall launchpad for awards hopefuls, including three of the last five Best Picture Oscar winners, the Venice Film Festival is currently putting together its 2019 lineup, with the highly-anticipated reveal set for July 25.
From Joker to Roman Polanski to The Irishman and Ad Astra, chatter is increasing over what may or may not show up on the Lido from August 28-September 7.
Premiering a comic book movie at a major film festival would be a bold move, but we hear that Joker is sitting out ComicCon in favor of a fall springboard which just might be Venice. Warner Bros unveiled footage of the Todd Phillips-directed DC origins story at...
From Joker to Roman Polanski to The Irishman and Ad Astra, chatter is increasing over what may or may not show up on the Lido from August 28-September 7.
Premiering a comic book movie at a major film festival would be a bold move, but we hear that Joker is sitting out ComicCon in favor of a fall springboard which just might be Venice. Warner Bros unveiled footage of the Todd Phillips-directed DC origins story at...
- 6/26/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione and Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The mere mention of Roman Polanski’s name sparks argument in many arenas, but here’s a reality check: The Polanski presence is not about to disappear.
A case in point: At a moment when anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world, Polanski’s latest film, An Officer and a Spy, will be receiving major attention as a historical depiction of that hateful movement. Those who are seeking to block its release in the U.S. will encounter an emotional opposition.
That’s because the Polanski presence remains with us on many levels. As an influential player in the Hollywood of 1969, Polanski is portrayed by a young Polish actor in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s new movie starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Some insiders who saw the film at Cannes already have registered their surprise and distress. Polanski’s wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, declared...
A case in point: At a moment when anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world, Polanski’s latest film, An Officer and a Spy, will be receiving major attention as a historical depiction of that hateful movement. Those who are seeking to block its release in the U.S. will encounter an emotional opposition.
That’s because the Polanski presence remains with us on many levels. As an influential player in the Hollywood of 1969, Polanski is portrayed by a young Polish actor in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s new movie starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Some insiders who saw the film at Cannes already have registered their surprise and distress. Polanski’s wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, declared...
- 6/12/2019
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Shannon Lee, daughter of acting and martial arts legend Bruce Lee, has revealed to Deadline that Quentin Tarantino never reached out to contact her before or during the making of his latest film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” The 1969-set feature stars Mike Moh (“Marvel’s Inhumans”) as Bruce Lee, who plays a key role in the film alongside main characters Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Shannon Lee is in charge of her father’s estate.
“In these instances, there are a lot of different ways you can go,” Lee said. “If they contacted me, I could be completely unreasonable and a pain in the ass and make all kinds of ridiculous demands — but they don’t know that I’m not going to do that. A lot of times, the best practice is ‘we’ll just stay away from that...
“In these instances, there are a lot of different ways you can go,” Lee said. “If they contacted me, I could be completely unreasonable and a pain in the ass and make all kinds of ridiculous demands — but they don’t know that I’m not going to do that. A lot of times, the best practice is ‘we’ll just stay away from that...
- 6/7/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, has been described as his “love letter to Hollywood,” chronicling the 1969 heyday of Hollywood, and the chaos that was going on during that time surrounding the Manson murders. One character who was involved in all of it was then-Hollywood director Roman Polanski. He had just been made famous by his 1968 film, Rosemary’s Baby, when his pregnant wife, actress and model Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson family cult. Polanski was since ostracized from Hollywood after a conviction for statutory rape, which he pleaded guilty to but then skipped out of the country before serving his sentence.
Since being so embroiled in the story that Tarantino is weaving, the character of Polanski does play a part, but Polanski’s current wife, actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner isn’t very happy about it. In a recent social media report,...
Since being so embroiled in the story that Tarantino is weaving, the character of Polanski does play a part, but Polanski’s current wife, actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner isn’t very happy about it. In a recent social media report,...
- 5/30/2019
- by Jessica Fisher
- GeekTyrant
The wife of Roman Polanski is not pleased that her husband is a character in the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In a social media post (written in French and translated by The Hollywood Reporter), actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner said she was angered that Tarantino included aspects of her husband's life (Polanski was previously married to Manson Family victim Sharon Tate) but that he did not consult Polanski.
"I am just saying that it doesn’t bother them [in Hollywood] to make a film about Roman and his tragic story, and make ...
In a social media post (written in French and translated by The Hollywood Reporter), actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner said she was angered that Tarantino included aspects of her husband's life (Polanski was previously married to Manson Family victim Sharon Tate) but that he did not consult Polanski.
"I am just saying that it doesn’t bother them [in Hollywood] to make a film about Roman and his tragic story, and make ...
- 5/28/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The wife of Roman Polanski is not pleased that her husband is a character in the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In a social media post (written in French and translated by The Hollywood Reporter), actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner said she was angered that Tarantino included aspects of her husband's life (Polanski was previously married to Manson Family victim Sharon Tate) but that he did not consult Polanski.
"I am just saying that it doesn’t bother them [in Hollywood] to make a film about Roman and his tragic story, and make ...
In a social media post (written in French and translated by The Hollywood Reporter), actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner said she was angered that Tarantino included aspects of her husband's life (Polanski was previously married to Manson Family victim Sharon Tate) but that he did not consult Polanski.
"I am just saying that it doesn’t bother them [in Hollywood] to make a film about Roman and his tragic story, and make ...
- 5/28/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Quentin Tarantino‘s highly anticipated ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, debuted to a warm reception at its Cannes Film Festival premiere last week, but it has also seen its fair share of controversy.
The film stars Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant with director Roman Polanski’s child when she was brutally killed by members of the Manson Family in 1969.
Polish actor Rafa? Zawierucha plays Polanski in the film, alongside Robbie.
In a French-language Instagram post, translated by Yahoo, Polanski’s current wife Emmanuelle Seigner spoke out against her husband’s inclusion in the movie,...
The film stars Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant with director Roman Polanski’s child when she was brutally killed by members of the Manson Family in 1969.
Polish actor Rafa? Zawierucha plays Polanski in the film, alongside Robbie.
In a French-language Instagram post, translated by Yahoo, Polanski’s current wife Emmanuelle Seigner spoke out against her husband’s inclusion in the movie,...
- 5/28/2019
- by Helen Murphy
- PEOPLE.com
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