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Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Rithy Panh’s “Meeting With Pol Pot” which world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and represents Cambodia in the international feature film race.

Sold by Playtime, the film is based on real events chronicled by American war journalist Elizabeth Becker in her book “When the War Was Over: Cambodia and The Khmer Rouge Revolution.”

The film, which stars Irene Jacob as Becker, charts the deadly journey of two journalists and an academic who travel to Democratic Kampuchea in the midst of Pol Pot’s dictatorship after accepting an invitation from the regime. The cast is completed by Gregoire Colin and Cyril Guei.

It marks the fourth collaboration between Panh and Strand Releasing who previously teamed on “The Missing Pictures” which went on to earn an Oscar nomination in 2013, followed by “Exile” and “Irradiated” which premiered at the Berlin International Film...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Rithy Panh has dedicated the lion’s share of his career to interrogating the genocidal Khmer Rouge era in his native Cambodia, and it is no trivial obsession. Panh fled Phnom Penh when he was just 11, and after his family was devastated in the Killing Fields, he escaped to a Thai refugee camp at 15. Now 60, Panh has been committed to keeping the memory of the impact of Pol Pot’s tyrannical regime alive in documentary, narrative and animated film.

His 2013 feature The Missing Picture blended archival footage with clay figures re-creating the atrocities of the genocide, and the film was nominated for an Academy Award after picking up the top prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section. His return to Cannes this year with Meeting with Pol Pot (Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot), in the Premiere lineup, brings that blend back to the screen, interweaving it into a narrative about three...

A chilling historical drama rendered with impeccable sleight of hand, Rithy Panh’s “Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot” (“Meeting With Pol Pot”) reveals its political dimensions through layers of obfuscation. While based partially on real events (and on the writings of American war journalist Elizabeth Becker), it crafts a fictitious tale of three French journalists attempting to interview Cambodian dictator Pol Pot in 1978. Although its outcomes echo the real experiences of Becker, Scottish academic Malcolm Caldwell, and American reporter Richard Dudman, the film is as much about a specific moment in time as it is about the mechanics of propaganda, which it refutes and embodies in equal measure.

A narrow 4:3 frame introduces the movie’s analogues for Becker, Caldwell, and Dudman, who make their approach by air in the hopes of exposing the opaque Cambodian regime. Irene Jacob plays Lisa Delbo; like Becker — whose work influenced Panh’s 1996 documentary “Bophana:...

Exclusive: Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights for the zany kung-fu-themed action romantic comedy Zenithal.

Vanessa Guide stars as a woman battling to establish peace between the sexes after her longtime boyfriend falls under the thrall of a Machiavellian schemer, who has murdered and harnessed the virulent powers of a famous kung-fu master, as part of a plan to restore absolute male domination.

It is the first feature of Jean-Baptiste Saurel, who has recently been signed as one of the directors on France TV’s upcoming Zorro reboot starring Jean Dujardin, with previous credits including the Disney+ sci-fi French original Parallels.

The feature expands on his provocative 2012 Cannes Critics’ Week short The Dickslap (La Bifle). Bff has released a first-look photo hinting at one of the zany plot twists.

First look at ‘Zenithal’

“Zenithal questions the injunctions of virility through comedy, with a visual style inherited from U.

Grigris, Chad’s Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S.: Film Movement. International Sales Agent: Les Films du Losange

Tackling cynicism with a strike of sheer hopefulness Mahamat-Saleh Haroun opens his film about the struggles of a handicapped Chadian man with a dance number that sets the tone for a film that never sees the conditions of its characters with pity, but with a their forceful wills to survive. Grigris begins on the dance floor with the title character being the main attraction at a modem night club, clearly not the first image the West associates with Sub-Saharan Africa. From that moment on the film develops into a kind of testament to all those in the world who wonder how they’ll make it through the day, and still manage to do so working for a better tomorrow no matter how bleak their situation appears.

Grigris (played by Soulémane Démé) glides to the music gracefully using his unfit leg as an asset to his passionate performance and sporting a contagious smile showing an undeterred joy to live. Trying to make ends meet, he helps his uncle (Marius Yelolo) run his rudimentary but functional photo studio when he is not collecting tips from his devoted fans. Although, hardworking and gifted in the performing arts, he is just like any young man his age and is entranced by the stunning beauty of foxy local girl Mimi (Anais Monroy). She walks into his studio in need of some photos for a modeling contest, to which, evidently, Grigris complies. Her exuberant figure and enigmatic personality go hand in hand with her 70’s black actress-inspired wig, a combination that is not only irresistible for the protagonist, but for the local men who pay for her services. Yet, Grigris seems not to mind it, he sees beyond her outer shell and doesn’t judge the circumstances that have led her to live such life.

Regardless of his remarkable popularity, Grigris is a man with few friends, and when his uncle falls ill, he must resort to the closest "friend" that he has, Moussa (Cyril Guei) a local petrol smuggler who is willing to give him a job. Lying to Moussa about his swimming abilities, he gets the job but fails miserably because he cannot swim. Failure, however, is not an option when his family depends on him. In desperation he tricks the mobsters to get enough cash to help his deteriorating uncle and skips town with his now-girlfriend, Mimi. At this point, Haroun’s artistry as a storyteller really becomes noticeable. Instead of simply tying all the loose ends together quickly by having the couple ride happily into the sunset, he takes the story into a new direction that highlights women’s empowerment in a traditionally male-centered society.

Mimi and Grigris escape to an all women community. Besides becoming their protective army, the community opens the way for them to come to terms with their past and make plans for the future. That is what the Chadian auteur aims to convey, a beautiful story of people in transition. Grigris is unaffected by his paralyzed leg, it is merely a characteristic, never a defining factor in what he is capable of doing. As a performer he commands the crowd's attention, and as a human being he is relentless against adversity. Such sheer determination to overcome obstacles is parallel to the struggles of African cinema, a continent sadly underrepresented in the medium, which Haroun clearly spearheads.

Soulémane Démé, a non-actor, exudes an almost- infantile eagerness to be surprised and to be freed from obvious financial disadvantages by means of his physical exertions which lead to his liberation. His performance and that of Monroy, who becomes transformed from a disguised but calculative sexual worker into a vulnerable loving woman, speak volumes of the director’s skill, and his preference of bringing out raw performances from everyday people. What Mahamat-Saleh Haroun generously shares with the audience is a portrayal of an individual whose optimism is more grounded than his impoverished situation. Not only is he striving to help his family but he is given a purpose and a passion beyond mere survival, an assertive decision from the writer/director who certainly knows how to craft a compelling story about connections and human transformation rather than about any particular national problematic situation.

Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...

★★★☆☆ Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's latest feature, Grigris (2013), recounts a tale of hope against despair in the director's native country of Chad. It tells the story of the titular Grigris (played by Souleymane Deme), a young man whose ambition is to be a dancer despite having a paralysed leg. He's a generous and positive young man who helps out his uncle (Marius Yelolo), is a budding photographer and prays when his mother pesters him into doing so. However, his real passion is for dance. At the local disco he's something of a sensation, strutting his stuff and earning some money by passing a hat around afterwards.

Things seem to be looking up when Mimi (Anaïs Monory), a beautiful local girl, comes by to have some modelling shots taken. Grigris is clearly smitten. However, his Uncle Ajoub suddenly falls ill and the hospital bills mount to impossible levels. Desperate for a solution, Grigris...

In July, Film Movement picked up North American rights to Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's 2013 Cannes Competition entry Grigris, where it won the Vulcan Award for technical achievement.  The film, which received mixed reviews after its Cannes premiere, centers on Grisgris, a 25 year old young man with dreams of becoming a dancer despite his physical disability from the waist down. His dreams are shattered when his uncle falls seriously ill. To save him, he decides to go work for petrol traffickers. It stars Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei, Anaïs Monory and Marius Yelolo (who's worked with Haroun on at least 2 other past...

Film Movement picked up North American rights to Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's 2013 Cannes Competition entry Grigris, where it won the Vulcan Award for technical achievement.  The film, which received mixed reviews after its Cannes premiere, centers on Grisgris, a 25 year old young man with dreams of becoming a dancer despite the fact that he's paralyzed from the waist down. His dreams are shattered when his uncle falls seriously ill. To save him, he decides to go work for petrol traffickers. It stars Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei, Anaïs Monory and Marius Yelolo (who's worked with Haroun on at least 2 other past...

Film Movement has picked up North American rights to Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's 2013 Cannes Competition entry Grigris, where it won the Vulcan Award for technical achievement.  The film, which received mixed reviews after its Cannes premiere, centers on Grisgris, a 25 year old young man with dreams of becoming a dancer despite the fact that he's paralyzed from the waist down. His dreams are shattered when his uncle falls seriously ill. To save him, he decides to go work for petrol traffickers. It stars Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei, Anaïs Monory and Marius Yelolo (who's worked with Haroun on at least 2 other past...

Congratulations UK readers!  UK distributor New Wave Films has picked up rights to Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's 2013 Cannes Competition entry Grigris. The film, which received mixed reviews after its Cannes premiere, centers on Grisgris, a 25 year old young man with dreams of becoming a dancer despite the fact that he's paralyzed from the waist down. His dreams are shattered when his uncle falls seriously ill. To save him, he decides to go work for petrol traffickers. It stars Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei, Anaïs Monory and Marius Yelolo (who's worked with Haroun on at least 2 other past films). Grisgris is produced...

Really the only Diaspora film screening in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year, here's your another look at footage from Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's follow-up to his critically-acclaimed drama Un Homme Qui Crie (aka A Screaming Man), titled Grisgris.  The film centers on Grisgris, a 25 year old young man with dreams of becoming a dancer despite the fact that he's paralyzed from the waist down. His dreams are shattered when his uncle falls seriously ill. To save him, he decides to go work for petrol traffickers. The film stars Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei, Anaïs Monory and Marius...

A minor work from the emerging master of African cinema, Mahamat Saleh-Haroun, this is elevated by a heightened female perspective and some rousing dance scenes

Mahamat Saleh-Haroun now revisits that theme of father-son bonding which was such an important part of his earlier movies Our Father (2002), Dry Season (2006) and A Screaming Man (2010). But now he progresses away from this template — in the same meandering way that characterises his storytelling — to a closer identification with women. It is a typically calm, lucid drama, presented in the director's unforced, cinematic vernacular and attractively and sympathetically acted. There is also some great music from the Senegalese composer Wasis Diop, brother of the director Djibril Diop Mambety. However, I couldn't help feeling that this was a slight and contrived piece, compared to his earlier work.

Saleh-Haroun's lead is non-professional Souleymane Deme, who plays Grigris, a brilliant dancer despite a leg disability. He earns spare...

#11. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s Grisgris

Gist: It will tell the story of a 25-year-old man with a paralyzed leg who dreams of becoming a dancer, and starts to work for a gang of petrol smugglers. Starring Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei and Marius Yelolo.

Prediction: Having shown 2002′s Our Father (Directors’ Fortnight) or the 2010 Jury Prize winning A Screaming Man, on the odd years where the filmmaker doesn’t show up on the Croisette, he ends up on the Lido – this won’t be the case for his latest. Set for an August release in France, a long lead world premiere is definitely in the cards. This is a Main Comp entry folks.

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Ok, I know that I'm almost one month late. After all, the list of the candidates for the Best Male and Female Hopes has been public knowledge since November 25. Anyway, I just want to post the information since I'm a lover of French culture. Enjoy.

The 2010 César for the Best Female Hope:

Marie-Julie Baup in Micmacs à tire-larigot

Astrid Berges Frisbey in Un barrage contre le Pacifique

Agathe Bonitzer in Un chat un chat

Sophie Cattani in Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante

Judith Davis in Je te mangerais

Anaïs Demoustier in Sois sage

Mati Diop in 35 rhums

Pauline Etienne in Qu’un seul tienne et les autres suivront

Alice de Lencquesaing in Le père de mes enfants

Florence Loiret-Caille in Je l’aimais

Sara Martins in Mensch

Lola Naymark in L’armée du crime

Vimala Pons in La Sainte Victoire

Soko in A l’Origine

Christa Theret...