Who Will Buy Cannes' Buzziest Sales Title, ‘Sound of Falling'?
This week on 'Screen Talk,' we take you behind the scenes of the goings-on at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera, where we recorded on Day Two. Politics dominated the first press conferences with director Thierry Frémaux and the nine-member jury led by Juliette Binoche. They turned up for opening night as well, where Leonardo DiCaprio presented an honorary Palme d'Or to Robert De Niro, and Quentin Tarantino bounded onto the stage to declare the festival open. The opening night film 'Leave One Day,' from French rookie Amélie Bonnin, a strictly local jukebox musical with the actors singing French pop hits of the '80s, will not travel.
Later that night, DiCaprio attended the gala dinner with De Niro at the Palm Beach, where Anne enjoyed talking with 'Anora' Oscar-winners Sean Baker and Samantha Quan (he produced, wrote, and edited Critics' Week entry 'Left-Handed Girl'), the hilarious Michael Covino ('Splitsville'), Amazon's Scott Foundas, Michael Barker and Tom Bernard (Sony Pictures Classics), and Searchlight's Matthew Greenfield, among others.
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When we recorded the podcast on Thursday, the first breakout film of the fest, Mascha Schilinski's German-language 'Sound of Falling,' led the Screen International jury grid (by Friday, Sergei Loznitsa's 'Two Prosecutors' was on top). Ryan and Ane both admire 'Sound of Falling' with some caveats. Most buyers admire the bravura filmmaking, but mainly art-house distributors are circling.
Anne attended the IMAX showing of 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,' which features several satisfying Tom Cruise death-defying stunts shot in IMAX. (You must see the film in IMAX.) Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie explain the $400-millon movie's craziest stunts here. Ryan suspects the Entity enemy is not only an AI but a metaphor for streaming services, where Cruise is leaning on his legacy as the man who saved Hollywood (and will keep saving it) with 'Top Gun: Maverick.' Anne thinks this one, billed as the finale, will do better than the last, which was dinged by 'Barbenheimer.' That doesn't mean it will make its money back: while the film's ending leaves a sequel open, the box office will tell that tale.
We also dig into big news out of Cannes that Neon has hired Cinetic Media executive Ryan Werner as its next global president. (His lieutenant Courtney Ott will now run Cinetic Media marketing.)
And we share our thoughts on a few titles premiering in the Competition and other sections. Ryan previews 'Sirat,' 'Left-Handed Girl,' and 'The Little Sister,' while Anne raves about Ugo Bienvenu's 'Arco,' a charming French animated film with an eco message.Best of IndieWire
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New York Times
21 minutes ago
- New York Times
French Open night session snub not about quality of women's tennis, says Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo, the former world No. 1 who is the tournament director for the French Open, has rejected suggestions that the lack of women's matches in the Roland Garros night session tells WTA Tour players that they are not worthy of the event's primetime slot. In a confrontational news conference, Mauresmo insisted that scheduling four women's matches out of 44 on Court Philippe-Chatrier since 2021 was not a judgment about the value and quality of women's tennis. Advertisement 'It has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night,' Mauresmo said. 'It's never been this, and I will not accept that you carry this message.' Mauresmo said that the French territory television contract with Amazon Prime stipulates there being only one match in the night session. She then repeated another message of the past few years: that the potential length of the match is what matters. A three-set match could be over in two; a five-set match guarantees at least three. 'It's the length of the matches, not the level they reach,' Mauresmo said. Earlier in the week, French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Gilles Moretton said that scheduling decisions are based on 'what is better for spectators.' Mauresmo said no female player has raised the issue directly with her, but her comments followed Coco Gauff, the world No. 2, and Ons Jabeur, the three-time Grand Slam finalist, discussing the importance of giving women the chance to showcase their talents in front of the widest possible audience. 'It's still sad that we are still seeing this,' Jabeur said in a news conference. 'I keep standing by my words. In Europe, in general, it's unfortunate for women's sports. Not for tennis but for in general. I hope whoever is making the decision, I don't think they have daughters, because I don't think they want to treat their daughters like this.' 'I do think that women's matches are worthy of a night spot,' said Gauff, who often plays at night at the U.S. Open in front of some 24,000 people at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She said French Open organizers could solve the problem by starting earlier and having two matches at night rather than one, as both the U.S. and Australian Opens do, as well as other top mixed tournaments. 'From my experience playing at US Open, night match at 7 p.m. with Novak (Djokovic) following me, and he's the greatest player of all time, people were almost just as excited to see me play as him,' Gauff said. Jabeur also noted the circularity and the self-fulfilling outcome of having limited women's matches in the best slots. Advertisement 'They don't show women's sport, they don't show women's tennis. Of course they watch men more because you show men more. Everything goes together. It's a shame from the Federation, a shame from the Prime,' she said. She noted how Naomi Osaka and Paula Badosa had played an epic three-set match that lasted nearly two and half hours in the first round, a duel between two high-profile players that could have carried a night session. Osaka played a similar match in the second round last year against Iga Świątek. Both matches took place in the day session, but Osaka's encounter with the four-time champion went on so long that it was getting dark when they were done. 'A lot of great matches, they should have been there,' Jabeur said. Mauresmo told reporters to 'ask her on Sunday' about the topic, and a French reporter suggested putting the all-French encounter between wild cards Lois Boisson and Elsa Jacquemot in the slot Saturday, during the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter. She said that the night sessions are sold out to Chatrier's capacity of 15,000, with the seats filled from early in the first set. She suggested that would not be the case if the session started earlier with a women's match, partly because of French work schedules. That is rarely an issue in Melbourne and New York, with spectators who have paid serious money for prime tickets not wanting to miss out. Ken Solomon, the former chief executive of the Tennis Channel, which used to be the U.S. broadcaster of the tournament, said he had raised the issue during his tenure. In part, that was to see if high-profile Americans like Gauff might play at night because it is the afternoon in the U.S., even if that meant scheduling two women's matches for the night session. Solomon said that there was no interest in doing that from either the WTA Tour or the tournament. Advertisement Like every other broadcaster, TNT, the current U.S. broadcaster makes suggestions and expresses preferences but ultimately the French Tennis Federation (FFT) makes the final call. The last time women played at night on Philippe-Chatrier was in 2023, when current world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka played Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals. Asked whether she personally had an issue with the decision to schedule exclusively men at night since then, Mauresmo declined to answer. 'I would like to change the subject,' she said. (Top photo of Amélie Mauresmo: Antonio Borga / Eurasia Sport Images via Getty Images)
Forbes
33 minutes ago
- Forbes
Former World No. 1 On Novak Djokovic: ‘Of Course He Can Win Another Grand Slam'
PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 27: Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates winning match point against Mackenzie ... More McDonald of United States during the Men's Singles First Round match during Day Three of the 2025 French Open at Roland Garros on May 27, 2025 in Paris, France. (Photo by) Novak Djokovic is dealing with a blister problem on his left foot as he tries to win a record 25th major title, but former world No. 1 Mats Wilander firmly believes the Serb can win another Slam. "Of course he can win another Grand Slam,' Wilander told Tennis365 in his role as a TNT Sports analyst. 'Anyone who writes off Novak Djokovic is making a mistake. 'I would say that Wimbledon may be his best chance and it will be hard for him to get past [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner, but this is Novak Djokovic. This is not a normal tennis player. I would not be surprised for one second if he wins another Grand Slam.' Djokovic won his second-round match over Correntin Moutet of France, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1) despite getting treated during the match for a blister that also required post-match injections. 'I mean, I'm pretty fit at the moment,' Djokovic said, after apologizing for arriving late to his press conference due to treatment. "I don't feel like I have any major issues. Although it took me, like, almost an hour to deal with the blister and the bleeding that I had." "So they had to use the injections and draw the blood out and then inject something to dry out the blister. So that was, you know, not really a pleasant process. But it is something that, you know, anyone who has blisters that are bleeding has to do it." Djokovic will next face Filip Misolic of Austria in the third round on Saturday. His draw is complicated with a potential quarterfinal against No. 3 Alexander Zverev, a potential semifinal with No. 1 Jannik Sinner and a possible final vs. defending champ and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Coco Gauff makes history as Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys join her in French Open third round
Coco Gauff came through an unexpectedly difficult match against Tereza Valentová to win 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday, becoming the youngest player in 17 years to reach the third round of the French Open for five consecutive years. The 21-year-old failed to hold her serve four times during the second set but broke back on five occasions to round off a topsy-turvy run and take the victory over her Czech opponent, who was last year's girls' champion in Paris. Two-time French Open winner Maria Sharapova was also 21 when she reached the third round at Roland-Garros for the fifth straight year in 2008. 'I think overall it was fine. I think towards the end of the second set I could have been much more aggressive on the serve. The return game was pretty good,' said Gauff after her win, per 'She's obviously a great young player, I knew it was going to be a tough match today. 'Definitely going to practice (tomorrow) and work on things I feel I could have done a lot better today.' The world No. 2 won just 19% of her second serve points and had six double faults to her opponent's three. Nonetheless, she has now won 12 of her last 14 matches as part of a run which has seen her reach the final of both the Madrid Open and Italian Open. She will face Valentová's compatriot Marie Bouzková in the third round on Saturday. Elsewhere, Jessica Pegula claimed a confident 6-3, 7-6(3) victory over Ann Li to record her 30th match-win of the year; only world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has more. In Gauff and Pegula, the US has two of the top three seeds at the French Open for the first time since Venus and Serena Williams in 2010, and Pegula put up a performance worthy of her ranking. The 31-year-old dropped the first two games to her compatriot, but then won six of the next seven to breeze into a 1-0 lead. In the second set, Pegula had to fend off two break points for Li and won the tiebreak with a deep backhand. 'It was a really tough match today,' Pegula said afterward, per the WTA. 'Ann has been playing some really good tennis this year and had a lot of close matches with good players. It was tricky with the wind. She was slicing a lot, kind of making me earn a lot of points. 'I felt like it was a pretty physical match, a lot of long points and long games. But happy I was able to kind of hold on to that second set there definitely.' Pegula will play Markéta Vondroušová in the third round on Saturday. Later on Thursday, Madison Keys, who is playing in her first grand slam since she won the Australian Open in January, eased to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Katie Boulter. In doing so, the 30-year-old became the oldest woman to win nine consecutive grand slam matches since Angelique Kerber in 2018, per the WTA. Keys will face another former Australian Open winner, Sofia Kenin, on Saturday.
