News

CAA has signed Deal Productions, a European film and TV banner co-founded by actor-turned-filmmaker Désirée Nosbusch (“Bad Banks”) and Alexandra Hoesdorff (“High Fantasy”).

Based in Luxembourg, the company handles development, financing, packaging and production of independently-produced films and TV worldwide. Nosbusch, a well-known actor whose recent credits include “Bad Banks” and “Sissi,” is now making her directorial feature debut with “Poison,” a drama starring Tim Roth and Trine Dyrholm.

Hoesdorff’s recent projects as a producer include “Souvenir” starring Isabelle Huppert; “High Fantasy,” which premiered at Toronto in 2017 and played at the Berlinale and Rotterdam; and “Flatland,” which competed at Toronto in 2019 after opening the Berlinale Panorama section. Hoesdorff has also produced several titles for streamers, including “Sawah” and “Girls With Balls,” released in 2020 on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, respectively.

Deal Productions is currently in development and production on a slate of series and films supported by the lucrative Luxembourg Film Fund.

The film follows on from 2019’s indie hit.

Picturehouse Entertainment has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to The Souvenir Part II, the sequel to Joanna Hogg’s independent hit drama from 2019.

The distributor is planning what it describes as an “ambitious full cinema release” for later in 2021.

Picturehouse Entertainment’s acquisition marks a move away from Curzon, which distributed the first film in the UK and Ireland, grossing £536,692.

A semi-autobiographical account of Hogg’s experiences, The Souvenir Part II will take up the story of aspiring film student Julie, played by Honor Swinton Byrne.

Tilda Swinton and Richard Ayoade return from the first film,...

Year-end conversations about the movies are often dominated by top 10 lists from critics who spend the year watching movies. But they aren’t the only ones. Many of the most influential people responsible for getting movies out into the world are toiling away behind the scenes, whether they’re assembling venerated film festival lineups or acquiring and distributing some of the most revered films of the year.

Each year, IndieWire reaches out to a range of figures from the independent film community to give them the opportunity to single out some of their favorite movies from the past 12 months. This year’s respondents include programmers, publicists, and distribution executives. Provided with a flexible criteria for their lists, participants singled out a range of media — from television to theater and beyond — providing a unique window into the way many of the movers and shakers in film culture experienced the year as a whole.

The rigors of the road took a toll on Drew Holcomb. Around the release of 2017’s Souvenir, the sturdy-voiced Tennessee troubadour — originally from Memphis, but now based in Nashville — was exhausted by the nonstop cycle of churning out albums, then touring relentlessly in support, and wound up hospitalized for eight days with meningitis. After a much-needed breather, he decided to ask friends for help. The result is the collaborative and restorative album Dragons.

“I was itching to create in a different way, and co-writing was a way forward out of that funk,...

Based on her own recollections as a shy film student growing up in the 1980s of Margaret Thatcher’s U.K., Joanna Hogg’s coming-of-age drama “The Souvenir” starring Honor Swinton Byrne and her mother Tilda Swinton, quickly became one of our favorite films of 2019 so far, when it was released earlier this year. The filmmaker’s stunning and intimate drama lived up to the immense buzz coming out of Sundance and struck a chord with all cineastes.

Continue reading Harris Dickinson, Charlie Heaton & Joe Alwyn Cast In Joanna Hogg’s Upcoming ‘Souvenir’ Sequel [Exclusive] at The Playlist.

Since breaking big as a film director with 2008’s “Cloverfield,” Matt Reeves has often turned to Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino to create the original scores for his films. Reeves and Giacchino have since worked together on “Let Me In,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” and “War for the Planet of the Apes.” Does this mean Giacchino will be scoring Reeves’ “The Batman” with Robert Pattinson? No deal has been made as of yet, so the musician wouldn’t confirm the rumor during a recent appearance at Comic-Con

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Giacchino said (via CinemaBlend). “I just know that my friend is working really hard right now. Anyway, I’ll say that.”

Still, Giacchino appears to be familiar with some of what Reeves is developing for “The Batman” and amped up anticipation by sharing praise for what the director has in store for Pattinson’s Caped Crusader.

Danny Boyle is a Robert Pattinson fanboy. And though the director is no longer involved with the James Bond franchise after parting ways with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson on Bond 25 over creative differences, he knows exactly who should don 007’s tux next.

“And it was so bizarre, because I was sitting there thinking: ‘Oh my God, they should get him to be the next Bond,’” Boyle told The Guardian about seeing Pattinson in “High-Life.” The director was apparently very taken with Claire Denis’ film and Pattinson’s performance, in particular, as a convict exiled from Earth and serving a life-sentence with other prisoners aboard a spaceship.

When challenged about whether Pattinson is too young to achieve 00-status, Boyle said, “No, no. He must be in his 30s. How old was Connery? He’s ready now.”

For the record, Pattinson is 33. And Boyle’s right: Sean Connery...

One of the earliest rumors that circulated about Christopher Nolan’s 2020 movie “Tenet” referred to the project as a “massive, innovative, action blockbuster,” and that seems to be correct considering the reported budget of the film is in the $225 million range. Nolan is gearing up to shoot part of the project in Estonia and Estonian Public Broadcasting (Err) first reported the budget number. Estonian finance minister Martin Helme is eager to provide the film with around $5.6 million in funding through the Film Estonia film fund as production is expected to boost the local economy.

“Estonia stands to win a lot,” Helme told Err about Nolan coming to film in the country. “On one hand, part of the support paid out will make it back into the state’s coffers as taxes, and on the other there is work and revenue for different sectors, from the film industry right down to the caterers.

One of the best films of 2019 so far, “The Souvenir” is a breakout project for actress Honor Swinton Byrne and ultimately, filmmaker Joanna Hogg. Despite Hogg’s acclaimed career, it appears like “The Souvenir” is going to be the film that puts the director’s talents in front of her largest audience to date, thanks to A24. And the profile of the film was only going to rise thanks to Robert Pattinson’s involvement in the planned sequel that is scheduled to shoot very soon.

Continue reading Robert Pattinson Drops Out Of Joanna Hogg’s ‘Souvenir’ Sequel Due To A Scheduling Conflict at The Playlist.

Robert Pattinson will no longer be able to co-star in Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir” sequel due to scheduling conflicts, IndieWire has learned. The British actor was first rumored as part of the cast for Hogg’s 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning feature back in 2017, though he ultimately did not appear in the first film, instead opting for a part in the filmmaker’s planned sequel.

“Despite Rob’s strong desire to do the film, scheduling proved impossible but he very much looks forward to working with Joanna on something down the line,” a representative for the actor told IndieWire. Distributor A24 declined to comment.

Production on Hogg’s film is slated to begin this month in Norfolk, putting it up against Pattinson’s next big movie: Christopher Nolan’s action epic “Tenet,” which started filming late last month and is expected to travel to locations in seven different countries. Pattinson...

Tilda Swinton and daughter Honor Swinton Byrne play mother and daughter in writer-director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, which took the World Cinema – Dramatic prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where it debuted in January. In fact, the filmmaking team already is readying their follow-up even as the first installment heads to several theaters this weekend via A24. Roadside Attractions took rights to Telluride premiere Trial by Fire last fall. Starring Laura Dern and Jack O’Connell, the title takes on the death penalty, based on a true story. Amazon Studios is heading out with Sundance debut Photograph by Ritesh Batra in over a half-dozen markets, while Magnolia Pictures is going day-and-date with sci-fi title Aniara, which it acquired out of last year’s Toronto. Samuel Goldwyn Films is “counterprogramming” the early-summer blockbuster season with All Creatures Here Below starring Karen Gillan and David Dastmalchian.

Other limited releases this weekend...

A new crop of Mexican fiction films and feature-length documentaries premiering in Guadalajara’s (Ficg) Premio Mezcal section are vying for the festival’s largest cash prize of 500,000 pesos. Winning the prestigious award virtually ensures a good run on the global festival circuit.

As tradition has it, a group of 30 film students from Mexico and other countries will be tasked in selecting the best picture as well as the best in acting, cinematography and directing.

The fiction entries range from mainstream pics such as “The Mongolian Conspiracy” (“El Complot Mongol”), Sebastian del Amo’s conspiracy thriller starring Eugenio Derbez, Damian Alcazar and Barbara Mori, to Antonino Isordia Llamazares’ rural drama “At’ Anii” (“Your Lover”) with 90% of its dialogue in the indigenous language of Teenek.

“The new authorities are encouraging the making of more indigenous-themed films but it’s also important to give equal weight to films with mainstream, international appeal,...

Avril Lavigne’s first record since the beginning of Barack Obama’s second term (in other words, seemingly centuries ago) finds everyone’s favorite arrested-development case emerging from a physically and emotionally debilitating time. She divorced husband number two, Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, and was diagnosed with Lyme disease so severe that she was bed-ridden for a period. Alas, Head Above Water is neither a concept album about the life of a liquid-terrified tick nor one about Kroeger; Lavigne insists their breakup was amicable, and her ex is thanked in...

Exclusive: A24 is near to closing what sources said is a $6 milion deal for worldwide rights excluding China on The Farewell, the Lulu Wang-directed comedy that stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, and Diana Lin.

A Chinese family discovers that their beloved grandmother has a short time to live. They don’t tell her, but instead stage a wedding so the family can gather before she expires. The film has been a buzz titles since it premiered Friday at Eccles. It is in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category.

Chris Weitz and Andrew Miano produced the film through Depth of Field with Big Beach’s Peter Saraf, Marc Turteltaub, and Dani Melia, and Anita Gou.

What buyers were saying is that while there are subtitles in the film, and it is not as glossy as Crazy Rich Asians, it is similar to that film in that it tells a genuine story infused in Chinese culture,...

For 34 years, Robert Redford opened the Sundance Film Festival with a freewheeling press conference in which he juggled questions from the press. This year, after a brief introduction, he stepped aside to let the programming staff handle the hard part. The move had symbolic resonance: Redford is the Sundance’s founder and figurehead, but the festival’s reputation has evolved far beyond the long-standing appeal of the white male artist. So has the lineup.

Thirty years ago, Steven Soderbergh created the Sundance breakout with “Sex, Lies, and Videotape;” a decade later, the honor fell to Darren Aronofsky with “Pi.” While those success stories remain key aspects of the festival’s mythology, they don’t carry the same charge for audiences, or for the marketplace.

However, Sundance remains vital. Reflecting the concerns of the industry as a whole, the festival has moved beyond the notion of diversity as a buzzword to...

God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija

Macedonia’s Teona Strugar Mitevska fifth feature is the intriguingly titled God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija. Produced by Labina Mitevska through Sisters and Brother Mitesvski Production, and co-produced by Entre Chien et Loup, Vertigo Productions and Spiritus Movens, Mitevska employs her I Am From Titov Veles Belgium cinematographer Virginie Saint-Martin. Newcomer Zorica Nusheva makes her debut as Petrunija. Mitesvka’s 2004 debut How I Killed a Saint went to Rotterdam and her 2007 title I Am From Titov Veles won a Special Jury Prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival and was programmed in Berlin’s 2008 Panorama Program.…...

Avril Lavigne has released the soulful relationship post-mortem “Tell Me It’s Over.” This marks the second new song off Head Above Water, out on February 15th.

On the song, Lavigne wonders if a relationship is actually done since the break-up still doesn’t feel real to her. It’s a soulful, retro-pop sound with horns and a mid-tempo beat. The video shows scenes from a tumultuous relationship, switching from moments that Lavigne and her beau are in bed together or slow dancing in front of a Christmas tree to...

A24 has picked up British writer-director Joanna Hogg's romance drama The Souvenir, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, ahead of the Sundance Film Festival.

A24 nabbed North American rights to the indie from Protagonist Pictures and 30West. The pic, which was announced last week as part of the Sundance lineup, stars Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke and Tilda Swinton and will be released theatrically in 2019.

Scorsese boarded the project as an executive producer after the veteran Hollywood director saw Hogg's second film, Archipelago. The Souvenir follows a quiet film student (Swinton Byrne) who begins to find her voice ...

A24 has picked up British writer-director Joanna Hogg's romance drama The Souvenir, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, ahead of the Sundance Film Festival.

A24 nabbed North American rights to the indie from Protagonist Pictures and 30West. The pic, which was announced last week as part of the Sundance lineup, stars Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke and Tilda Swinton and will be released theatrically in 2019.

Scorsese boarded the project as an executive producer after the veteran Hollywood director saw Hogg's second film, Archipelago. The Souvenir follows a quiet film student (Swinton Byrne) who begins to find her voice ...

Indie singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers unveiled their new supergroup, Boygenius, with three songs, “Bite the Hand,” “Me and My Dog” and “Stay Down.” The tracks will appear on the group’s self-titled debut Ep, out November 9th via Matador.

Baker, Dacus and Bridgers each helm one of the three songs, and though their respective offerings bear the hallmarks of their solo work, a distinct Boygenius style emerges, especially in the stunning vocal harmonies. On “Bite the Hand,” Dacus leads the group through a crackling ballad that...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Annihilation (Alex Garland)

More terrifying than any creature Hollywood could dream up is the unraveling of one’s mind—the steady loss of a consciousness as defined by the memories, motivations, and knowledge built up from decades of experience and reflection. With Annihilation, Alex Garland’s beautiful, frightening follow-up to Ex Machina, he portrays this paralyzing sensation with a sense of vivid imagination, and also delivers a cadre of horrifying creatures to boot.

Signatories to the initiative, called Collectif 5050x2020, include Léa Seydoux, Lily-Rose Depp.

Some 300 professionals from across the French cinema world have signed up to a new movement called the Collectif 5050x2020 demanding more gender equality and diversity in the country’s film industry.

The aim of the initiative, launched on the eve of the country’s prestigious César film awards this evening, is to put in place concrete steps to bring about equality across the business, says film sales executive Bérénice Vincent, co-founder and spokesperson for the collective.

The initiative is among a raft of gender equality campaigns to have...

As March brings a close to 2017 in cinema with the Academy Awards, there are also a great number of noteworthy 2018 films making their way to theaters, ranging from animated adventures to dark comedies to ambitious blockbusters. Looking further back, in terms of restorations that are touring the country, don’t miss Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, Mind Game, Police Story, and Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day.

Matinees to See: They Remain (3/2), Red Sparrow (3/2), Souvenir (3/2), The Leisure Seeker (3/9), Gringo (3/9), Ramen Heads (3/16), 12 Days (3/16), Keep the Change (3/16), 7 Days in Entebbe (3/16), Roxanne Roxanne (3/23), I Kill Giants (3/23), Game Over, Man! (3/23), Final Portrait (3/23), Salomé & Wilde Salomé (3/30), Outside In (3/30)

15. Ready Player One (Steven Spielberg; March 29)

Synopsis: When the creator of a virtual reality world called the Oasis dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all Oasis users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune. Wade Watts finds...

Better than ever, now in its seventh year, the spectacular program with its filmmaking guests and a committed community of dedicated and intellectually alive filmgoers invigorates the mind and activist tendencies already in play.

Take for instance, University of Arizona Professor Noam Chomsky, one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world, speaking with Regents’ Professor Toni Massaro about social justice and the environment. Here he is, in person, being honored as every word he speaks is treated as a jewel. Considered the founder of modern linguistics, Chomsky has written more than 100 books, his most recent being Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power. An ardent free speech advocate, Chomsky has published and lectured widely on U.S. foreign policy, Mideast politics, terrorism, democratic society and war. Chomsky, who joined the UA faculty this fall, is a laureate professor in the Department of...

Robin Murray | The Graduate and Souvenir reviews | Oil price | Miliband brothers | Welsh crosswords

Many people owe much to the vision and prodigious industry of Robin Murray (Obituaries, 19 June). Unmentioned was his excellent contribution to the co-operative movement, especially his report for Co-ops UK, Co-operation in the Age of Google, and his superb contribution as a member of the Welsh government’s co-operative and mutuals commission.

David Smith

Secretary, Co-ops & Mutuals Wales

• In reviewing The Graduate (Film and Music, 23 June), a film about the relationship between an older woman and a 21-year-old man, Peter Bradshaw says “the element of predatory abuse is inescapable”. On the same page, Benjamin Lee, reviewing Souvenir, a film about a relationship between an older woman and a 21-year-old man, says “it is refreshing to see her (Isabelle Huppert) in a romance with a 21-year-old without anyone making a point of their age difference.” Well, that’s clear then.

"You need a lot of love. From your audience, too." Studiocanal has debuted the first UK trailer for a Belgian drama titled Souvenir, starring French actress Isabelle Huppert as a former singer now working at a factory in a small town. The film played at a few major festivals last fall, including Toronto and London, and is opening in Us theaters later this year. Huppert plays Liliane Cheverny, who was once "Laura", a singer who finished second in the 1974 European Song Contest. Her singing dreams are reignited when she meets a young boxer who convinces her she should make a comeback. Also starring Kévin Azaïs, Johan Leysen, Muriel Bersy, and Benjamin Boutboul. This looks like a provocative, passionate film about lost dreams. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Bavo Defurne's Souvenir, direct from YouTube: Liliane (Isabelle Huppert) was once "Laura", a rising star in the singing world, who had her moment of glory when she finished second in the ...

It’s not a major film festival without a new film from Isabelle Huppert. While Cannes saw the premieres of Happy End and Claire’s Camera, last fall a handful of films starring the actress came to Tiff and one was the drama Souvenir. Directed by Bavo Defurne, the film follows her as a factory worker whose semi-famous past bubbles up when she begins a new relationship. Set for a U.K. release this month, a new trailer has now arrived.

We said in our review, “With some nice feel-good moments and a couple crippling defeats, Defurne allows his characters to evolve despite the abbreviated run-time of 90 minutes. So while the relationship is half-baked to a point–hormones running wild–both Liliane and Jean are three-dimensional. We empathize with each misstep, their quick-tempered rejection of the other rapidly replaced by coy looks of forgiveness. And we appreciate their undying support...

Besides becoming an unlikely internet favorite, Isabelle Huppert has been ridiculously busy, so much so that we forgot about “Souvenir.” Making its international premiere at Tiff last fall, the film more or less got lost in all the buzz around Paul Verhoeven‘s “Elle,” but the picture is now quietly making its way to cinemas.

Directed by Bavo Defurne, the film runs with an interesting premise, following a former singer who takes another chance at making it big, thanks to the interest of a young fan.

Continue reading Isabelle Huppert Makes A Comeback In New Trailer For ‘Souvenir’ at The Playlist.

Author: Stefan Pape

The French have a remarkable ability to present formulaic romantic comedies that affectionately abide by the tropes of the genre at hand, in unique, creative ways. Whether it be Up For Love or Love is in the Air, or even Heartbreaker and Populaire, they tell familiar stories in a resourceful manner, and Bavo Defurne’s Souvenir is very much cut from the same cloth – yet there’s a distinct comfortability to these movies that make for congenial cinema.

Isabelle Huppert plays Liliane Cheverny, who went by the stage name of Laura, coming in second place to Abba in the Eurovision Song Contest. Labelled a has-been, she now works at a pate factory, which is where she meets the opportunist young boxer Jean Leloup (Kévin Azais), who recognises her instantly given his father was such a big fan of her work. Wanting nothing more than to convince her...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– Netflix has acquired the worldwide Svod rights to Drake Doremus’ “Newness,” Deadline reports. The film stars Nicholas Hoult and Laia Costa as a couple in contemporary Los Angeles navigating the world of online dating and social media–driven hookup culture. The film was a last-minute addition to the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, and co-stars Matthew Gray Gubler, Courtney Eaton, Danny Huston and Courtney Eaton. Netflix acquired the rights in a reported seven-figure deal.

– Gravitas Ventures has acquired writer-director Angus MacLachlan’s second feature film, “Abundant Acreage Available.” The film premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay Award in the U.S. Narrative Competition. The film focuses on siblings Tracy (Amy Ryan) and Jesse...

Distributor plans autumn release following deal with Pathe International.

Strand Releasing has picked up North American rights to Souvenir starring Isabelle Huppert and Kevin Azaïs.

Bavo Defurne directed the film, which concerns a former singer who works in a factory and whose days of glory appear to be behind her.

When a co-worker discovers her talent he persuades her to hit the road for a comeback tour and a budding romance ensues.

Strand distributed Defurne’s previous feature North Sea Texas as well as his short films.

The distributor is no stranger to Huppert either, having released Anne Fontaine’s My Worst Nightmare, Guillaume Nicloux’s Valley Of Love, and Catherine Breillat’s Abuse Of Weakness.

Strand plans an autumn release and negotiated the deal with Pathe International. Bonjour Pictures, Frakas Productions, Deal Productions, and Avenue B Productions produced Souvenir.

“This film is making an amazing journey and I think Souvenir comes to the Us at the...

Awards season: Isabelle Huppert collects her Crystal French Cinema Award at the Ministry of Culture in Paris surrounded by directors including Benoît Jacquot and Anne Fontaine Photo: Richard Mowe

After her surprise best actress win at the Golden Globes (against more obvious contenders as Natalie Portman [Jackie] and Amy Adams [Arrival], last night (16 January) it was the turn of the French to honour Paul Verhoeven’s Elle star Isabelle Huppert.

Isabelle Huppert: “Sometimes the idea of culture falls by the wayside. In France, we have a tendency to think that the values of culture are very high and we have to keep them that way.”

Just returned from Los Angeles with her Globe trophy in her suitcase, the normally serene Huppert was visibly moved by the accolade bestowed in a ceremony at the Ministry of Culture overlooking the historic Palais Royal in the heart of Paris.

The award from the legendary...

Marrakech, Morocco — Tipped for potential, and unexpected, awards-season success (keep your eyes on the Golden Globes), Isabelle Huppert attended this month’s Marrakech International Film Festival with the controversial film “Elle” and the tragicomic feature “Souvenir,” in which she plays a singer making a comeback.

Huppert spoke in Marrakech about the difference between directors Michael Haneke and “Elle” helmer Paul Verhoeven, sharing Orson Welles‘ acting theories, and trying to do nothing in her downtime.

Continue reading Isabelle Huppert Talks The Layers Of ‘Elle,’ Strong Roles For Women, Working With Paul Verhoeven & More at The Playlist.

Isabelle Huppert has had a stellar year, making a splash in two critically acclaimed films this year: Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Things to Come” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle,” which could earn her an Oscar nomination.

With a career spanning over four decades and with over 100 credits to her name, the French actress has earned 15 César nominations, winning the coveted Best Actress award in 1995 for her role in “La cérémonie.” She also has a BAFTA Award, won two Best Actress titles at the Cannes Film Festival and most recently won Best Actress at the 2016 Gotham Awards. To pay tribute to her remarkable career, filmmaker Candice Drouet created the video essay, “Isabelle Huppert: 100 Faces.”

The clip includes scenes from “Every Man for Himself,” “Copacabana,” “Violette Nozière,” “8 Women” and many others. The video looks at Huppert’s previous work and adds tidbits about her roles, like the fact that she portrayed a...

To say “Elle” is dividing critics and audiences would be an understatement. One of the year’s most controversial films, the thriller proves the great Paul Verhoeven is still a master of provocation and that Isabelle Huppert is one of the very best actresses we’ve got.

Huppert plays a rape victim who, instead of reporting the crime, begins a very twisted relationship with her assailant, but the character’s complex history makes her motives ambiguously self-destructive. “Elle” is a conversation starter like no other film this year as it defies description and expectations at every turn.

Read More: ‘Elle’: Why Paul Verhoeven’s Rape Revenge Drama is Essential Viewing, Even for the Squeamish

The thriller is now playing in New York City and Los Angeles, and to celebrate the release IndieWire is giving one reader the chance to win the official film poster signed by none other than Paul Verhoeven and Isabelle Huppert.

As Paul Verhoeven’s controversial Isabelle Huppert-starring “Elle” finally hits theaters this weekend, IndieWire’s Kate Erbland and Anne Thompson traded notes on the bold film and its depiction of rape, female empowerment and the power of humor in the face of unexpected trauma.

Kate Erbland: I confess that I balked a little when I saw our own Eric Kohn’s early review of the film out of Cannes, which calls the film “a lighthearted rape-revenge story,” but having now seen the film at last month’s New York Film Festival, I struggle to find better wording. It’s both of those things, lighthearted and a rape-revenge story, and that’s a nearly impossible combination to make work, no matter who is behind it, and “Elle” has got some serious wattage to recommend it.

The film stars the always-wonderful Isabelle Huppert as the “post-feminist” Michele, a hard-driving career woman...

French actress Isabelle Huppert has made a big splash starring in at least two widely acclaimed films this year: Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle,” about a businesswoman who is assaulted in her home and then begins stalking her attacker, and Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Things to Come,” about a philosophy professor who’s life is thrown in disarray when her husband leaves her for another woman. Now, Huppert returns yet again in Bavo Defurne’s “Souvenir,” about a middle-aged factory worker’s new relationship with a young boxer. Watch a trailer for the film below. (Note: there are no English subtitles.)

Read More: Why ‘Elle’ Star Isabelle Huppert Is the Actress Whose Oscar Time Has Come

In the film, Huppert plays Liliane, an unassuming model employee in a pâté factory who meets a new worker named Jean (Kévin Azaïs) who boxes in his spare time. They soon form a platonic relationship, but...

This week we spoke with Isabelle Huppert, an actress who not only delivers one of the year’s best performances in Elle, but delivers another one of the year’s best performances in Things to Come. The prolific actress also had another film premiere earlier this season with Souvenir, which debuted at Tiff. Directed by Bavo Defurne, the film follows her as a factory worker whose semi-famous past bubbles up when she begins a new relationship. While it doesn’t have a U.S. release yet, it’ll be landing in France by the end of the year and the first trailer — albeit one without English subtitles — has arrived.

We said in our review, “With some nice feel-good moments and a couple crippling defeats, Defurne allows his characters to evolve despite the abbreviated run-time of 90 minutes. So while the relationship is half-baked to a point–hormones running wild–both Liliane and Jean are three-dimensional.

Jury led by Jeremy Thomas awards Terence Davies title with top award.

The 43rd annual Film Festival Ghent (Oct 11-21) awarded Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion with the Grand Prix for Best Film.

Shot largely at Aed Studios in Antwerp, the Emily Dickinson biopic is a UK-Belgium co-production.

The international jury was led by Jeremy Thomas. The veteran UK producer was also recognised by the festival for his contribution to cinema, receiving the lifetime achievement award.

Ahead of the closing-night screening of Belgian film-maker Bavo Defurne’s romantic drama Souvenir, Thomas and his jury – including Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung, author Jonathan Coe and actresses Maaike Neuville, Lina El Arabi and India Hair – handed out the prizes.

Davies’ A Quiet Passion win came with $47.500 (€43,500) in prize money; special mention went to Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s Glory.

The Georges Delerue Award for best score went to Us producer/composer Johnny Jewel for Fien Troch’s Home...

“I’ll let myself be surprised, as my good friend Michael Haneke would say,” says French actress about Oscar prospects.

There has been growing buzz in recent weeks around Isabelle Huppert’s chances of clinching Best Actress at the 2017 Oscars for her multi-layered performance as a woman who turns the tables on a rapist in Paul Verhoeven’s French-language thriller Elle.

The French actress – who counts one Bafta, two Palme d’Or, a shared Silver Lion and a slew of life-time achievement tributes among the 60-odd awards she has won over her 40-year career – has never made it to the Academy Award nomination stage before.

But there appears to be a groundswell of feeling at home and in Los Angeles that this should be her year.

A win would come on the back of a high-profile 12 months on the international festival circuit for Huppert, linked to her appearances in Elle as well as French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Love...

Coureur won the events best project pitch, while Cloduboy triumphed in the Works In Progress strand.

Organisers of the inaugural NeXT event in Ghent, hosted by Flanders Image, intend to re-stage the event in 2017 following positive feedback from industry at this year’s programme.

NeXT welcomed international industry guests – including festival programmers, distributors and sales executives – to meet with Belgian producers and distributors, view finished Flemish films, and listen to pitches of projects in development or presentations of works in progress.

There were eight projects in development pitched, with an international jury selecting Coureur as best pitch. In the Works In Progress, the jury picked Cloudboy as the winner of the 13 films in post-production.

Finished films screening included Fien Troch’s Home, Peter Monsaert’s Le Ciel Flamand, Bavo Defurne’s Souvenir, Christophe Van Rompaey’s Vincent And The End of the World, and Nic Balthazar’s Everybody Happy.

Peter Bouckaert [pictured] of leading Belgian producer Eyeworks pitched...

Coureur won the events best project pitch, while Cloduboy triumphed in the Works In Progress strand.

The inaugural NeXT event in Ghent, hosted by Flanders Image, has revealed its best pitch and works in progress winners.

NeXT welcomed international industry guests – including festival programmers, distributors and sales executives – to meet with Belgian producers and distributors, view finished Flemish films, and listen to pitches of projects in development or presentations of works in progress.

There were eight projects in development pitched, with an international jury selecting Coureur as best pitch. In the Works In Progress, the jury picked Cloudboy as the winner of the 13 films in post-production.

Finished films screening included Fien Troch’s Home, Peter Monsaert’s Le Ciel Flamand, Bavo Defurne’s Souvenir, Christophe Van Rompaey’s Vincent And The End of the World, and Nic Balthazar’s Everybody Happy.

Peter Bouckaert [pictured] of leading Belgian producer Eyeworks pitched Stijn Coninx’s Don’t Shoot and presented...

British director’s Palme d’Or winning film opened the 43rd edition of the festival.

I, Daniel Blake director Ken Loach and actress Hayley Squires were in Ghent, Belgium last night (Oct 11) for the opening of the 43rd Film Fest Gent.

Loach, tireless at age 80, passionately introduced his Palme d’Or winning drama five times in five separate cinema screens at the Kinepolis multiplex. Loach said, “This is a story we needed to share. It is in a sense about how we choose to live together.”

The veteran director also held a Q&A away from the red carpet, at a public screening at the Vooruit, a venue that has long been associated with socialist causes, where the audience gave him a lengthy standing ovation.

Festival artistic director Patrick Duynslaegher said he wanted to open the festival with I, Daniel Blake because it offered a shared artistic experience “without excluding social and political relevance.”

Loach was also...

Roskam’s third feature The Racer And The Jailbird starring Matthias Schoenaerts will be among the line-up.

Flanders Image – a division of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund — is hosting the first NeXT event from Oct 9-12 in Ghent, Belgium.

The event will include a showcase of new films and pitches of future projects, alongside works in progress presentations from both established names and new talents of Belgian cinema made in Flanders. There will also be a day of talks, workshops and panel discussions that bring together local filmmakers and international experts.

Among the high profile Flemish films to be discussed will be Michael R Roskam’s third feature The Racer And The Jailbird, described as a dark romantic drama and starring his Bullhead star Matthias Schoenaerts alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos; and Loft director Erik Van Looy’s new thriller The Prime Minister, which is being sold by The Works. Those are both part of short works in progress presentations...

Talking with Tiff CEO Piers Handling, Huppert discussed her career, which includes over 100 film credits.

Isabelle Huppert is in focus at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival (Tiff), with the French actress starring in three films in this year’s programme: Elle, Souvenir and Things To Come.

Speaking to festival director and CEO Piers Handling in a masterclass on Saturday (Sept 10), Huppert – whose resume includes over 100 films, television and theatre productions, peppered with a bevy of awards recognition including 15 Cesar nominations – spoke candidly about the highs and lows of her career.

Michael Haneke, Michael Cimino, Claude Chabrol and Claire Denis were among the list of directors she gave credit for helping her to grow as an actress. French New Wave director Chabrol, she said, gave her little direction, in turn granting her almost complete artistic license.

“Working with a director is like building a strong friendship. There is desire, there is love – and for me, reality and truthfulness...

It starts with bubbles. So many bubbles rising slowly in liquid as the opening credits in script font flash onscreen. And when the camera finally pans out to see what it’s been that’s mesmerized us so? A glass of water with an Alkaseltzer dropped in, of course. This is the humor director Bavo Defurne and his co-writers Jacques Boon and Yves Verbraeken infuse throughout their outside-the-box romance Souvenir. As it is the woman about to drink this concoction is hardly special: she lives alone, watches trivia game shows, and works at a pâté factory garnishing one pan after the next in blissful monotony and anonymity. Today is the day that all stops.

Liliane (Isabelle Huppert) has a secret no one has yet caught onto until a twenty-two year old boxer begins working at her job. Jean (Kévin Azaïs) recognizes her from somewhere, but it takes a couple days...

As if taking part in two of the most celebrated films of the year, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come and Paul Verhoeven’s Elle wasn’t enough, Isabelle Huppert will also bring the new drama Souvenir to Tiff (where she’ll give a masterclass) and she recently wrapped Michael Haneke‘s new feature Happy End. Although it marks a reunion following The Piano Teacher, it looks like we can expect a much different film.

We’ve previously learned it centers on a “bourgeois, European family, blind to what is going on in the wider world around them,” specifically with regard to Europe’s migrant crisis. Huppert has now talked with Little White Lies, saying, “This movie is completely different from what I did on, say, The Piano Teacher. And certainly different to Amour. It is an ensemble film, with lots of characters. He calls it a ‘freeze frame’. It...

A selection of films from the 2016 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival has been unveiled, with films by Jim Jarmusch, Maren Ade, Tom Ford, Paul Verhoeven, Damien Chazelle, and many more.Opening NIGHTThe Magnificent Seven (Antoine Fuqua)GALASDeepwater HorizonArrival (Denis Villeneuve)Deepwater Horizon (Peter Berg)The Headhunter's Calling (Mark Williams)The Journey Is the Destination (Bronwen Hughes)Jt + The Tennessee Kids (Jonathan Demme)Lbj (Rob Reiner)Lion (Garth Davis)Loving (Jeff Nichols)A Monster Calls (J.A. Bayona)Planetarium (Rebecca Zlotowski)Queen of Katwe (Mira Nair)The Rolling Stones of Olé Olé Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America (Paul Dugdale)The Secret Scripture (Jim Sheridan)Snowden (Oliver Stone)Strange Weather (Katherine Dieckmann)Their Finest (Lone Scherfig)A United Kingdom (Amma Astante)Special PRESENTATIONSLa La LandThe Age of Shadows (Kim Jee-woon)All I See Is You (Marc Forster)American Honey (Andrea Arnold)American Pastoral (Ewan McGregor)Asura: The City of...

Isabelle Huppert might as well be crowned queen of the 2016 festival circuit. Her first film of the year, Mia Hansen-Løve‘s Things to Come, premiered at Berlin, followed by Paul Verhoeven‘s Elle at Cannes; then, at Tiff, she’ll have those two films, as well as the premiere of Bravo Defurne‘s Souvenir. But before that, she’s starring alongside Louis Garrel in Luc Bondy‘s The False Secrets, which will screen at the Locarno Film Festival this weekend.

Today we have a pair of new trailers for two of the films — first from Things to Come, which is one of our favorites of the year. As we said in our review, “While Hansen-Løve certainly deserves credit for writing such a compelling character, it’s difficult to imagine anyone realizing Nathalie as consummately as Huppert, who, even by her exceptionally high standards, pulls off a superlative performance.”

Following that,...

The Toronto International Film Festival — aka Tiff — has announced its first round of picks for this year’s festival, including Galas and Special Presentations, along with the festival’s opening night selection, Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven,” and their closing night pick, Kelly Fremon Craig’s feature directorial debut “The Edge of Seventeen.” Filled with early awards contenders, returning filmmakers and favorites from other festivals from around the globe, it’s a meaty selection of offerings that firmly announces the imminent arrival of the cinematic bonanza otherwise known as the fall festival season.

There are plenty of familiar faces here, including Denis Villeneuve, who will be bringing his “Arrival” to the same festival that has also screened his “Sicario” and “Prisoners” in previous years. The year after debuting his “Being Charlie” at Tiff, director Rob Reiner will return with his Woody Harrelson-starring biopic “Lbj.” Lone Scherfig, who has...