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Memories can’t be cancelled. The Boltanski family never celebrates significant dates, even their own birthdays; according to the narrator who leads us into this whimsical fantasy of post-war Jewish life, they live only for the present moment. In May 1968, the present moment consists of riots in the streets and demands for the government to step down, although it is the utopian dreams on the posters slapped up on walls that embody the movement’s true spirit: “Beauty is in the streets!” “Banning is banned!”. One of the Boltanski sons is out there at the Sorbonne with his wife, changing the world; the rest of the family are together in their house in Paris, where they like to huddle in one room, eating assortments of snacks on the bed while the revolution is televised.

In fact, the past is stuck in the house’s every ***. Knick-knacks from menorahs to...

Studiocanal has unveiled a first look at Roxine Helberg’s action thriller Coka Chica about a trio of best friends turned drug mules who become embroiled in a violent adventure in the Caribbean when one of the girls disappears. The company is showing a promo reel to EFM buyers.

Eva Huault, Fadily Camara, and Zoé Marchal star in the film, now in post-production, that shot on location in the Dominican Republic last year. It is based a true story.

Coka Chica is produced by Paris-based Bien ou Bien Productions.“I wanted to make a film about girls from the Paris projects,...

RhonniRose Mantilla is a pro when it comes to the stage. Theater is a big love of hers, and she’s performed in productions of some of the biggest musicals, including Grease, The Wiz, and A Chorus Line. Earlier this year, she made her Broadway debut, and now she’s making her daytime television debut in Beyond the Gates. We get to witness her big break, so seeing what she’ll do with her role as Dani Dupree’s youngest daughter, Chelsea Hamilton, is exciting.

The Early Days

RhonniRose Mantilla hails from the gateway to the West, St. Louis, Missouri. While she was in high school at Parkway North, she once told them what she was most proud of. She said, “My talents like my abilities to dance and sing.” And when she added acting to her skillset, she turned into a triple threat.

She attended Baldwin Wallace University in...

Va-va-voom ostrich-plumed showgirls were once synonymous with Las Vegas entertainment. While Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl explores the end of an era for the glitzy, glamorous dancers, the first showgirls were introduced to the U.S. in The Ziegfield Follies, a series of revues on Broadway from 1907 to 1927, inspired by the famed dancers at the Folies Bergère in Paris.

Initially kicking off in 1869 in a Parisian cabaret hall, the Folies Bergère launched the career of Josephine Baker, who made a splash in 1926 dancing topless with strategically placed pearls and a skirt composed of artificial bananas. Fast forward to Christmas Eve, 1959, when Lou Walters — then-entertainment director for the lavish Tropicana Las Vegas and father of broadcast journalist Barbara Walters — imported the sensational Folies Bergère act directly from Paris. Touching down in a pre-Cirque du Soleil era when French revues were all the rage, it went on to become the longest-running show in Vegas history,...

Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, and Jimmy Choo. They’re all legends of the footwear world. Another name that belongs in any book about designer shoes is Roger Vivier.

The French shoe designer is famous for creating the stiletto heel and was one of the most influential designers of the 20th century.

Over 20 years after his death, Roger Vivier’s shoes continue to captivate our imagination. Without Roger Vivier, we wouldn’t have the stiletto heels we know and love today. We’re deep-diving into the world of his French fashion house to discover why their shoes are so famous.

Roger Vivier: The Icon Behind the Stiletto Revolution

Roger Vivier—pronounced “ro-juh vee-vee-ay”—is the namesake French fashion brand founded in 1937 at 22 Rue Royale in Paris.

Nicknamed the “Fabergé of Footwear,” Vivier is famous for pioneering both the first platform shoe and the slender stiletto heel.

Legendary French designer Roger Vivier,...

The African American Film Critics Association has announced its honorees for the 16th annual Aafca Awards and the 2025 Aafca Special Achievement Awards. The two distinct ceremonies will honor the best cinematic achievements from the Black community in 2024, with “Nickel Boys” and “The Piano Lesson” leading the pack.

Held on Sunday, February 2 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Special Achievement Awards will honor RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys” with the Karen & Stanley Kramer Social Justice Award, while stars Brandon Wilson and Ethan Herisse are set to receive the Gen Next Award. Amber Rasberry, who oversaw the film as a senior creative executive at Amazon MGM, will also be honored with the Horizon Award.

Seventeen days later, the Aafca Awards will keep the love for “Nickel Boys” rolling when Ross receives the Spotlight Award. “The Piano Lesson” director Malcolm Washington will also receive the Emerging Director Award while his star Ray Fischer...

The African American Film Critics Association (Aafca) announced today its 16th Annual Aafca Awards and 2025 Special Achievement honorees. The Special Achievement Awards takes place on Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the Annual Aafca Awards on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The recipients include actors and artisans from 2025 Oscars contenders “Nickel Boys,” “The Piano Lesson,” and “The Six Triple Eight.”

The 2025 Special Achievement Awards honorees include:

Lynn Whitfield, Legacy Award Brandon Wilson and Ethan Herisse, Next Gen Award “Nickel Boys,” Karen & Stanley Kramer Social Justice Award Amber Rasberry, Horizon Award

The 16th Annual Aafca Awards honorees include:

Nicole Avant, Beacon Award Malcolm Washington, Emerging Director Award Ray Fisher, Breakout Performance Award RaMell Ross, Spotlight Award

“Our honorees set a high standard of discipline, talent, and hard work that inspires others to strive for greatness,” said Aafca President and Co-Founder Gil Robertson in a press release.

The African American Film Critics Association (Aafca) has revealed the honorees for the 16th annual Aafca Awards as well as the honorees for its 2025 Special Achievement Awards.

Nicole Avant, Malcolm Washington, Ray Fisher and RaMell Ross are set to be honored at the Aafca Awards on Feb. 19, 2025, which will be held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.

Avant, a producer, former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas and the wife of Netflix co-ceo Ted Sarandos, will receive the Beacon Award for producing Tyler Perry’s upcoming Netflix historical drama series The Six Triple Eight and the documentary The Black Godfather, about her late father Clarence Avant, the legendary music executive.

Washington, a filmmaker who made his feature debut with an adaptation of August Wilson Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Piano Lesson, will receive the Aafca’s Emerging Director Award. The Piano Lesson, which stars John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson,...

If there is one holiday I always look forward to every year as a Star Wars fan, it's Life Day. Sorry May the Fourth, you're great if I want to go into credit card debt with all the new merchandise dropped that day. I adore Life Day. It's wonderful with the memes, the gifs of a hyper smiling Wookiee kid, and Luke Skywalker looking like a knock-off Ellen DeGeneres.

Because I unironically love The Star Wars Holiday Special.

I'm not ignoring the warts of the show by any means. The production is filled with blackface, actors almost dying on set, and Grandpa Wookiee looking at "*** content." The fantastic documentary and companion novel A Disturbance in the Force: How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened details every ugly step by people who love it and the franchise. The history of our fandom should be studied, even the worst parts.

For “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” costume designer Ernesto Martinez, the reality of the fact-based story of an armed robbery in the aftermath of Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta was merely the starting point for his craftsmanship on the Peacock limited series.

“I had free range to design every character in a way that felt like Atlanta – but a very fashionable Atlanta with a lot of money and a lot of gangsters,” Martinez tells Gold Derby during our Meet the Experts: TV Costume Designers panel. “So I went out of the box, and decided that each character should come from different places of the world and dress very unconventionally – dress how people would think they would dress in Atlanta in the 1970s.”

See‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist’ reviews: Peacock’s ‘crime caper’ could turn critical acclaim into Golden Globes glory

Created by Shaye Ogbonna and...

Jonathan Haze had over 40 screen acting credits to his name, with many of those credits being earned on Roger Corman productions – and the one credit that stands out among all others came when Haze took on the role of Seymour Krelborn in Corman’s 1960 man-eating plant classic The Little Shop of Horrors. We lost Corman earlier this year, when he passed away at the age of 98. Now, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that we’ve lost Haze as well. His daughter Rebecca informed them that Haze passed away at his home in Los Angeles this past Saturday at the age of 95.

A cousin of drummer Buddy Rich, Haze was born with the name Jack Aaron Schachter in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 1, 1929. He worked the stage for Rich and was Josephine Baker’s stage manager for two years before he got into acting. He hitchhiked to L.A. and got a...

Jonathan Haze, who starred for Roger Corman as the flower shop assistant Seymour Krelborn in the original The Little Shop of Horrors, just one of two dozen films he made with the B-movie legend, has died. He was 95.

Haze died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Rebecca Haze, told The Hollywood Reporter.

A cousin of drummer Buddy Rich, Haze was a valuable and versatile member of Corman’s repertory company from 1954 — when he acted in The Fast and the Furious and Monster From the Ocean Floor — until 1967, when he appeared in The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and served as an assistant director on The Born Losers.

In one of his more noteworthy turns, Haze portrayed one of the three teenagers who stumble upon $250,000 worth of *** and become dealers in Warner Bros. drama Stakeout on Dope Street (1958), the first feature directed by Irvin Kershner.

The Pittsburgh...

Skybound Entertainment (founded by "Invincible" creator Robert Kirkman) has turned into a comic book industry power player thanks to some lucrative licensing deals. Skybound is the current owner of the "Transformers" publishing license, and their ongoing comic is an Eisner Award-winning bestseller. Skybound's franchises don't end at the robots in disguise.

The publisher has, since 2023, been releasing a four-issue "Universal Monsters" mini-series, focusing on the classic monster ensemble and telling stories that either reimagine or continue the creatures as they appeared in those films. Kicking off with "Dracula" and continuing with "The Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives!" (read /Film's review of that series here), the third "Universal Monsters" mini-series finally delivers Skybound's "Frankenstein.""Universal Monsters: Frankenstein" is written and drawn by Michael Walsh, most famous as co-creator of the horror anthology comic "The Silver Coin" (Walsh drew all 15 issues and wrote three of them). Skybound has shared the first...

Actress Vicky Krieps and filmmaker Maimouna Doucoure are among the jury members for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Also joining are Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir, and American film critic and writer Todd McCarthy.

Xavier Dolan was announced as jury president earlier this year.

The quintet will watch 18 films as part of the Un Certain Regard selection, including eight debut films.

Last year’s Un Certain Regard jury, headed by John C. Reilly, awarded six prizes including the main award to Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have ***.

This year’s Un Certain Regard...

Jennifer Yale has joined the untitled Peacock espionage thriller series starring Simu Liu as co-showrunner, Variety has learned.

The show was announced with a straight-to-series order earlier in February. Thomas Brandon created the series and will also serve as co-showrunner alongside Yale.

The official description of the series states, “Five minutes in the future, a first-generation-American intelligence analyst Alexander Hale (Liu) realizes his brain has been hacked, giving the perpetrators access to everything he sees and hears. Caught between his shadowy agency and the unknown hackers, he must maintain a performance 24/7 to flush out who’s responsible and prove where his allegiance lies.”

Yale most recently wrote for the Apple TV+ series “See” starring Jason Momoa. Her other credits include “Dexter,” “Legion,” “Underground,” “Outlander,” and “Chambers.” She is also currently developing the series “De La Resistance” based on the life of Josephine Baker with A24 producing and Janelle Monae starring and executive producing.

Jennifer Yale (See) is set as co-showrunner for the Untitled James Wan/Simu Liu project at Peacock. The original espionage techno-thriller was one of three Peacock dramas given straight-to-series orders, announced at the recent TCA winter press tour.

Yale wil co-showrun and executive produce with creator/writer/EP Thomas Brandon (Legacies).

The Untitled James Wan/Simu Liu project, which stars Liu, is set five minutes in the future when first-generation American intelligence analyst Alexander Hale (Liu) realizes his brain has been hacked, giving the perpetrators access to everything he sees and hears. Caught between his shadowy agency and the unknown hackers, he must maintain a performance 24/7 to flush out who’s responsible and prove where his allegiance lies.

Liu also executive produces alongside Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett for Atomic Monster. Danielle Bozzone will oversee for Atomic Monster.

Nolita Cinema’s musical Hear Me Love, starring France’s biggest pop star Clara Luciani in her first lead role, has started shooting in Paris as part of a revival of the film musical in France.

Set between Paris and Rome’s Cinecitta’s Studios in the 1970s, Hear Me Love (Joli Joli) follows a struggling writer looking for inspiration for his second novel who falls in love with a famous movie star. It is the fifth feature by French film and theatre director Diastème and is being scored by composer Alex Beaupain.

Ginger & Fed is selling the film...

Great actors struggle with subpar material, changes in the industry, personal challenges, and collaboration dynamics, impacting their ability to make good movies. Navigating the complexities of the film industry requires talent, strategic decision-making, and perseverance for actors to consistently deliver quality performances. Even if actors haven't made good movies lately, their past roles serve as a reminder that they have the potential for greatness on the big screen.

Great actors who haven't made a good movie in years may face various factors contributing to this phenomenon. Firstly, script selection plays a pivotal role - even the most talented actors struggle with subpar material. Secondly, shifts in the film industry landscape, such as changes in audience preferences or market trends, can affect the types of roles available to established actors. Furthermore, personal choices or external circumstances - like prioritizing other projects or dealing with personal challenges - can impact an actor's career trajectory.

FKA Twigs experienced a significant change in scenery when she relocated to Prague, where she encountered the key influence for her upcoming album: techno. In a series of posts on Discord, the musician teased the project, which will mark her first since 2022’s Caprisongs. “I moved to Prague a couple summers ago, fell in love with techno,” she wrote. “The album isn’t techno but the spirit is there fr [for real].”

Explaining the record’s tone, Twigs shared: “It’s deep but not sad … I’m not sad anymore.” The announcement of new music,...

FKA twigs, the British singer who will star in a reboot of The Crow, has slammed a decision by the UK’s advertising watchdog to ban her semi-*** Calvin Klein ad.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form because it portrayed FKA twigs (real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett) as a “stereotypical sexual object.”

In an Instagram post, FKA twigs (Honey Boy) said the ruling displayed “double standards” after “past and current” campaigns featured scantily clad models.

She did not explicitly reference other ads, but recent examples include The Bear star Jeremy Allen White’s Calvin Klein photoshoot, in which he is dressed in nothing but underwear.

“I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me,” FKA twigs said. “I see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine.

Nearly a year after a partially *** FKA Twigs starred in a Calvin Klein campaign, the ad was banned in the U.K. as it apparently made the singer a “stereotypical sexual object.”

The artist responded to the ban on Wednesday, taking to social media to share her thought. “I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me. i see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine,” wrote Twigs on Instagram alongside an image of the ad.

FKA Twigs is taking a stand after the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority banned a photo from her 2023 Calvin Klein ad campaign.

The 36-year-old singer was one of several stars to feature in the campaign, which also included the likes of Kendall Jenner. One of her photos featured her wearing nothing but a jacket.

In its ruling, the Asa ruled that “The ad used nudity and centered on FKA Twigs’ physical features rather than the clothing, to the extent that it presented her as a stereotypical sexual object.”

FKA Twigs took to social media to weigh in on the decision.

Read FKA Twigs’ response…

“i do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me. i see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine,” the hitmaker wrote on Instagram, where she re-posted the controversial photo.

She continued,...

It’s detective vs. detective in Apple TV+‘s new crime thriller series. Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo are happy to be working together again — they previously starred in Torchwood in 2009 — in Criminal Record, premiering January 10. “It was so funny because when I remember Cush from Torchwood, she was just this kind of bright light, this kind of youthful teen,” he tells TV Insider. “I wasn’t a teen, but I was pretty young,” she interjects. “I was just terrified. That’s why I was bright. My poor eyeballs were so wide. Which direction should I be walking in?” The two have worked together and seen each other since, and Capaldi makes sure to praise Jumbo’s work as both a playwright and performer, including in Josephine and I, a play about Josephine Baker. But they’d been trying “to find the right thing,” which this is, she shares. “I...

Actress and frequent Sia collaborator Maddie Ziegler is a teenage girl with an unexpected crisis in the trailer for Fitting In. The film, from writer and director Molly McGlynn, stars Ziegler as a 16 year old who has been diagnosed with Mrkh syndrome.

The movie co-stars Emily Hampshire, Djouliet Amara, D’Pharaoh Woon-a-Tai, and Ki Griffin, and was notably produced by Janelle Monae, among others. It will open in theaters on Feb. 2.

The official synopsis notes, “A joyful, comedic drama, from writer/director Molly McGlynn, Fitting In is a coming-of-age story that...

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You get a gift, and you get a gift, and you get a gift! Everyone’s sure to be in winning spirits this season with gifting picks from Oprah’s Favorite Things List 2023. The annual rundown of Oprah’s top gift ideas features a wide assortment of items, broken down this year into categories like “cozy,” “stylish,” “kitchen,” “wellness” and more.

Full List Of Oprah'S Favorite Things...

Netflix’s “The Perfect Find” director Numa Perrier collected generational references in her film adaptation of Tia Williams’ novel.

The story follows Jenna Jones (Gabrielle Union) and Eric Combs (Keith Powers) who gravitate toward each other despite a substantial age gap and the fact that Eric is the son of Jenna’s boss Darcy (Gina Torres).

The two pair up for a creative project for Darzine, Darcy’s fashion magazine. The project, which eventually becomes “The Perfect Find” highlights fashions inspired by Black starlets of Hollywood’s past. Jenna and Eric also bond over their love for old Hollywood — like Nina Mae McKinney, who pops up throughout the film with clips from “Hallelujah!,” a Greta Garbo clip from “The Flesh and Devil” and Spike Lee’s “School Daze,” featured at a drive-in movie date.

Perrier explained the process behind making references to classic Black Hollywood, first during Jenna’s swap meet browsing,...

Florian Zeller, the Oscar-winning director and playwright of “The Father” and “The Son,” received the Medal of Honor, France’s highest decoration, at an intimate ceremony in Paris on Wednesday.

The event, hosted in the gardens of the French authors and composers guild (Sacd), gathered a flurry of talent and luminaries from the worlds of film, TV, theater and literature — reflecting the breadth of Zeller’s body of work. Zeller was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor by France President Emmanuel Macron.

Guests included Isabelle Huppert, Pierre Arditi, Catherine Frot and Elodie Navarre who have starred in Zeller’s plays; Christopher Hampton, with whom he shares a best adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Father;” “Simone” actor Elsa Zylberstein; Mediawan boss Pierre-Antoine Capton, with whom he launched the L.A.-based company Blue Morning Pictures; Victoria Bedos (“La famille Belier”); Orange Studio’s Kristina Zimmermann and Sebastien Cauchon, who distributed...

Exclusive: Emmy winner Lynn Whitfield (The Josephine Baker Story) is set for a key recurring role on the upcoming sixth season of Showtime’s The Chi, from 20th Television.

Created and executive produced by Lena Waithe and her Hillman Grad banner and executive produced by Common (Selma), The Chi is a coming-of-age story centering on a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption.

Whitfield will play Alicia, an intimidating, old-money matriarch who will spare no expense to get what she wants.

In Season 6, big dreams are finally realized but at a cost and everyone will be tested in unimaginable ways as they calculate the risks and rewards of their next big move. Emmett (Jacob Latimore) and Kiesha’s (Birgundi Baker) blissful blended union is tested by his insatiable drive to...

Netflix's limited series Stay Close has a lot of complex characters brought to life by many actors that audiences have likely seen before — here is the Stay Close cast guide. Stay Close is based on the novel by American mystery writer Harlan Coben. Stay Close is the first of 15 upcoming adaptations of Coben's work on Netflix, so expect to become familiar with him very soon. This show follows 3 Londoners trying to overcome the failures of their pasts and a mysterious woman who seems to connect them all.

Instead of casting British stars who are more recognizable in America, the creative team behind Stay Close chose to work with a seasoned cast of British television veterans. Many of these actors are classically trained, learning and using their craft just as much on the stage as they do on screen. The choice pays off, as the Stay Close cast effortlessly oozes drama in every frame.

Janelle Monáe has announced her new album, The Age of Pleasure, out June 9th via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. As a preview, she’s shared “Lipstick Lover” and its accompanying video.

The Age of Pleasure follows 2018’s Dirty Computer (which Consequence named as one of the greatest albums of all time) and her recent swaggering single “Float.” In an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Monáe said the album was written from “an honest space” and added that she started with a blank canvas while getting “back to the basics.”

She continued by explaining the album’s theme. “I’ve had my age of depression. I’ve had my age of anxiety. I’ve had my age of struggle. And again, it’s not like life is pleasurable every single day, but I think I have actively just sought out… How do I create a space for myself?...

"Star Wars: Visions Volume 2" is an exciting window into the history and culture of places all across the globe. Filmmakers from Chile and India brought stories of the evils of colonialism. Filmmakers from the United States and Japan united to tell a story about racism. South Korean filmmakers told a story about the dangers of trying to change the future. Filmmakers from Spain made a film about how art can guide us to the light. 

Every installment of this season was a tour de force of meaning and depth, but one stood above the others in its rooting in culture, history, and art. And one installment in particular is worth highlighting. 

The Spy Dancer

Produced by Studio La Cachette from France, "The Spy Dancer" tells the tale of dancers in a cabaret on a planet now controlled by the Empire. The dancers cater to the whims of the Imperials, and it would look,...

Just ahead of her appearance in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, Janelle Monáe has released “Float,” a swaggering track that will serve as an anthem for the weekend’s festivities and beyond.

“Float” features Fela Kuti’s son Seun Kuti and his band Egypt 80. Co-produced by Monáe’s frequent collaborators Nate “Rocket” Wonder and Nana Kwabena with Sensei Bueno, the track features bombastic production as Monáe raps, “I’m light as a feather, I’m light as a feather, yeah, baby, I float/ It’s hard to look at my resume, hoo and not find a reason to toast.”

As an equally talented actor, musician, and activist, Monáe does have every reason to toast. Monáe earned critical acclaim for her latest starring role in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and she’s set to play cabaret singer turned secret agent and civil rights activist Josephine Baker in A24’s...

Chairman and CEO Maxime Saada stresses that film ‘defines’ Canal+.

French media powerhouse Canal+ has pledged to invest €1bn in cinema in the next five years and has showcased its high profile production slate for 2023.

“2023 will be the best year for cinema in Canal+ history,” Canal+ chairman and CEO Maxime Saada declared at a press event in Paris on Wednesday, which focused on the group’s investment in the country’s seventh art.

Saada’s pledge to spend €1bn spend is in line with the group’s previously announced plans to invest €200m per year in film, and includes €20-...

Chairman and CEO Maxime Saada stresses that film ‘defines’ Canal+.

French media powerhouse Canal+ has pledged to invest €1 billion in cinema in the next five years and has showcased its high profile production slate for 2023.

“2023 will be the best year for cinema in Canal+ history,” Canal+ chairman and CEO Maxime Saada declared at a press event in Paris on Wednesday, which focused on the group’s investment in the country’s seventh art.

Saada’s pledge to spend €1 billion spend is in line with the group’s previously announced plans to invest €200m per year in film, and includes €20-...

French pay-tv giant Canal+ went on the offensive at a special event in Paris on Wednesday, promoting its historic role as the biggest supporter of local and international cinema in France and laying out its past track record and future plans.

The roadshow-style conference was part of an operation laying the ground for the launch of a new high-end, cinema-focused channel Canal+ Box Office which was teased at the end of the event.

“2023 will be the most beautiful year for cinema in the history of Canal+. We’ve never held an event like this before devoted only to cinema, but we felt the need to talk about this,” declared Canal+ Group Chairman and CEO Maxime Saada.

The exec said the banner year was due to three factors, topped by the agreement it signed with the French cinema guilds in early 2022, pledging to invest at least €200M (213M) annually in cinema over five years.

Studiocanal has boarded development on part English-language thriller Smiling *** which is currently being written by Audrey Diwan.

Anna Marsh, Deputy CEO of parent group Canal+ Group, teased the project at an event in Paris on Wednesday promoting the pay-tv giant’s commitment to local and international cinema and launching a new channel bannered Canal+ Box Office.

The film is loosely inspired by Algerian *** Hamza Bendelladj. He made headlines internationally for stealing from U.S. banks and giving the proceeds to charity and came to be known as the “Smiling ***” or “Happy ***”.

Marsh said talks were underway to sign The Serpent and The Mauritanian star Tahar Rahim for the lead role and Belgian Bad Boys directorial duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to direct.

“It’s a French thriller in the English language in part. It’s written by Audrey Diwan. We’re honored and proud to work with her,...

At the Musée Rodin, on a frigid cold Jan. 23 with highs in the 30s, the House of Dior unveiled their Spring Summer 2023 Haute Couture collection.

In a packed room of celebrities, buyers, media, top clients, and friends of the brand, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri unveiled a sartorial story inspired by American singer Josephine Baker. It was a presentation that paid homage to the breaking of racial barriers, which artist Mickalene Thomas sought to capture in the show’s staging. The room was surrounded by large images on the walls of Baker and other icons from Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt and Nina Simone to pianist Hazel Scott and models Naomi Sims and Donyale Luna.

Sitting front row were film director Baz Luhrmann and his Oscar-award winning costume and producer designer wife Catherine Martin. The Elvis director said of the collection, “It was elegant and glamorous and beautiful. The designs in...

Warning! Contains spoilers for Emily in Paris season 3Emily in Paris season 3 features many songs belonging to various genres, all enriching Emily’s story as she carries on with her choice to stay in Paris. An upbeat soundtrack has always been a staple of the Netflix show, and Emily in Paris season 3 boasts a collection of classic and more modern French songs, along with many international electro-pop bops. As Ashley Park’s Mindy continues with her musical career in Emily in Paris season 3, many covers by Park of French and American hits of the past are also part of Emily in Paris season 3’s soundtrack.

American composer Chris Alan Lee’s original songs for Emily in Paris season 3 appear throughout the season. With Emily in Paris’ main title theme composed by James Newton Howard, Lee’s songs offer continuity to Emily in Paris season 3’s characters and their stories, as...

Next to the jukebox musical, the Broadway genre getting and usually deserving the least amount of respect is that woebegon Frankenstein that starts life on the big screen only to have its parts jumbled and reassembled for the stage. The failure-to-success ratio of such attempts should keep any sane stage director as far from a movie house as humanly possible.

We’re all fortunate that Casey Nicholaw has ignored any such warnings, and has instead assembled a glorious new Some Like It Hot, a tap-dancing, razzle-dazzling embrace of everything to love about classic American musical theater, Golden Age Hollywood and Broadway talent at the top of their games, all of it crafted with a 21st Century wisdom that knows what’s worth clutching from the past and what insists on a refresh. Some Like It Hot is a delight from start to finish.

Nicholaw both choreographs and directs and seems...

Maimouna Doucouré, a French director of Senegalese origins who grew up in a social housing project in Paris and started her career with a screenwriting contest, isn’t one to buckle under any type of pressure or challenge.

She certainly didn’t dwell on the misguided backlash to her film “Cuties.” The controversy was provoked by Netflix’s promotional material for her Sundance prizewinning feature debut, which aimed to shed light the sexualization of children. In her sophomore outing, “Hawa,” Doucouré embarked on another challenging project, a modern-day fable boasting a cast entirely made up of non-professionals, including the celebrated Malian singer-songwriter Oumou Sangaré, astronaut Thomas Pesquet and popular singer Yseult.

As with “Cuties,” which earned Fathia Youssouf a Cesar award for best promising actress, the Amazon original film “Hawa” is headlined by Sania Halifa, a newcomer who delivers a robust performance. Halifa, a teenager with albinism, plays the title role,...

Hardly a stranger in the wuxia films universe, Chor Yuen from the Shaw Brothers Studio is renowned for his adaptations of Ku Lung’s swordplay wuxia novels onto the big screen, starting with “Killer Clans” in 1976 that ultimately made him well known internationally. “Clans of Intrigue”, adapted from “Fragrance in the Sea of Blood” is one of five such films the prolific director released in 1977.

Highly skilled in chigong (energy power) and a reputable player in the Jianghu (Martial arts world), “Thief Master” Chu Liu Hsiang (Ti Lung) steals from the rich to help the poor and lives in a luxurious boathouse with three beautiful maidens. He carries a metal fan for self-defense even though he is renowned as someone who doesn’t *** his enemies.

One evening, while having dinner with his friends Monk Wu Hua (Yeah Hua) and Nan Gong Lin (Tien Ching) Chief of the Beggar Clan,...

While Johnny Depp’s decision to not return as Jack Sparrow represents a major problem for Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the franchise could create a prequel series and allow the series to recast Depp. Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is happening but there is no reason to believe that the blockbuster sequel/reboot will feature an appearance from Johnny Depp’s iconic iteration of the franchise’s antihero, Jack Sparrow. Depp is the only actor to play Jack Sparrow in any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies so far and there has already been significant backlash online against the prospect of the character being recast, with one petition calling for Depp’s return garnering over half a million signatures.

While it looks unlikely that Depp will return, this does not mean that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has no option but to recast Jack Sparrow for the next sequel in the series.

Coming off the TIFF world premiere of her sophomore film Hawa — a very PG Capraesque adventure film bursting with magic dust, Maïmouna Doucouré will take on the life of the iconic Josephine Baker. Deadline reports that Studiocanal project have the support from the family and Bien Ou Bien Productions’ Zangro will once again produce. This should be a big deal for whoever lands the part of Josephine. Production is expected to begin next year so we can date this for a possible 2024 showing.

Baker was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and she renounced her U.S. citizenship to became a French national.…...

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French director Maïmouna Doucouré (Cuties, Hawa) has signed on to write and direct a new biopic on American-born French icon Josephine Baker.

Studiocanal and Bien ou Bien Productions are set to produce the film together with Cpb Films, with principal photography expected to begin next year. The project is being developed with the support of Josephine Baker’s sons Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker.

A singer, dancer, actress and civil rights activist, Josephine Baker was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, but after coming to Paris to perform, remained, enjoying a life free of the institutionalized racism and segregation she experienced at home.

Performing in her trademark banana skirt, or shimmering sequins, Baker became the darling of Parisian society and a symbol of the Jazz Age. She was also a pioneering figure in cinema, becoming the first Black woman to star in...

The film will start shooting next year

French filmmaker Maimouna Doucouré is set to write and direct a biopic of French dancer, singer and actor Josephine Baker.

The film is in development and will shoot in 2023.

Studiocanal are producing with France’s Bien Ou Bien Productions. Cpb Films are co-producing.

Doucoure is best known for 2020’s Cuties which won her the directing award in world cinema at Sundance.

Her most recent film Hawa had its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in the Platform strand.

XYZ Films founders on working with international filmmakers and their...

Josephine Baker is coming back to the big screen.

Maïmouna Doucouré, the director behind controversial film “Cuties,” is confirmed to write and direct the upcoming Baker biopic, with Baker’s sons Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker supporting the Studiocanal film.

“I am very excited to be involved in this wonderful project. Josephine Baker is such an inspiration for me and so many people around the world,” Doucouré said in a press statement. “It’s a huge honor and also a beautiful challenge to board this project with Studiocanal. To think that through fiction I can tell her great and profoundly rich story, her beauty, her fights, her wounds, and her humanity. I can’t wait to breathe new life into this incredible legend on screen.”

The French-Senegalese writer-director won a César award for the short film “Maman(s),” which was inspired by her experience being raised in a polygamous family.

Studiocanal has announced it is in development on a biopic feature film devoted to the life of iconic U.S.-born, French artist Josephine Baker.

Maïmouna Doucouré, who is best known for the French-language coming-of-age tale Cuties, is attached to write and direct.

Studiocanal is producing with Doucouré’s longtime producers at Bien Ou Bien Productions in co-production with Cpb Films.

The project is in development with the support of Josephine Baker’s sons Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker, Brian Bouillon Baker and the Rainbow tribe, the affectionate name the artist gave to the 12 children from a variety of different backgrounds that she adopted after World War Two.

They said in a joint statement: “Josephine Baker. The universal artist, woman and mother. We are honoured to partner with Studiocanal and collaborate with Maïmouna on this feature film about the incredible and humanist achievements of our mother. Yes she could. And she did.

Studiocanal is developing a feature film about Josephine Baker, the pioneering American-born French dancer, singer and actor, which Maïmouna Doucouré (“Cuties”) is attached to write and direct.

The project is being produced by Studiocanal and Doucouré’s banner Bien ou Bien Prods., in co-production with Cpb Films. The biopic has also been endorsed by Josephine Baker’s sons, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker, and the Rainbow Tribe, which is what she dubbed her adopted children.

“We are honoured to partner with Studiocanal and collaborate with Maïmouna on this feature film about the incredible and humanist achievements of our mother,” said Baker’s sons and the Rainbow tribe, who described Baker as a “universal artist.” “Yes she could. And she did. Thank you, Mum,” the children continued.

Doucouré, who won best director at Sundance with “Cuties,” said, “Josephine Baker is such an inspiration for me and so many people around the world.

Kiera Knightley rose to fame in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Elizabeth Swann, but she declined to return after At World's End concluded the original trilogy. It might have been the right move given that her character arc had been wrapped up, but fans missed the unlikely action hero that Knightley made so great. In At World's End, Elizabeth had become such an action hero that she was even briefly the captain of the Black Pearl.

Unlikely action heroes are the best kind of action heroes, as they completely through audiences off guard, aren't completely protected by plot armor, and are way more interesting than invincible, two-dimensional characters. Between John McClane, Sarah Connor, and Ripley, these characters were forced into situations where they had no choice but to become badasses.

Die Hard (1988) - John McClane

Shady_Hound thinks John McClane in Die Hard is the best unlikely action hero.

Sydney Gallonde, the French producer of Make It Happen Studio, is set to re-team with MGM TV Intl. Productions on a biopic of Eugene Bullard, one of the first Black American military pilots who was also a boxer and a jazz musician.

Gallonde has acquired the book rights to Claude Ribbe’s biography of Bullard, which shed light on the man’s heroic life and drew headlines on French media across the country when it was published in 2012.

Like many Black American entertainers such as Josephine Baker, Bullard left America for Europe and France in 1914 to escape racial segregation, lynchings and prejudice. The young and adventurous man, who was born in Georgia, eventually settled in Paris looking for a better life and worked at a music hall. When WWI erupted, Bullard enlisted in France’s Foreign Legion along with other foreign volunteers, becoming one of the few Black combat pilots during the war.