Latest news with #Césars
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Simply Black' Filmmaker Jean-Pascal Zadi Aims To Break Down More Barriers: 'Being Black And Living In France Has Marked Me Deeply'
When Julia Roberts attended the French Césars this March, Jean-Pascal Zadi was given the task of introducing the Erin Brockovich Oscar-winning actress. The comic actor and director had Roberts in fits as he drew comparisons between their big toothy smiles and explained she could apply for political asylum if she were feeling the heat back home, suggesting she could get tips from actor Abou Sangaré, who was sitting a few seats behind. More from Deadline Scarlett Johansson On Why The Script For Her Directorial Debut 'Eleanor The Great' Made Her Cry: 'It's About Forgiveness' – Cannes Cover Story 'Bono: Stories Of Surrender': On Irish Fathers & Sons, Processing Family Tragedy & How A Need To Be Heard Propelled A Dublin Kid To Become One Of The World's Biggest Rock Stars Cannes Film Festival 2025: Read All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews Guinea-born Sangaré, who won Cannes' Un Certain Regard Best Actor prize in 2024 for his performance as an undocumented migrant in Souleymane's Story and would be feted with Best Male Revelation that evening, had just escaped deportation from France after securing a work permit in January. The tone of the humor was typical of Zadi, who four years previously also won Best Male Revelation for Simply Black, his riotously, impolitically correct comedy tackling the experiences of Black people in France. Zadi's spot at the César Awards as well as his starring role in a skit-based trailer promoting the 50th edition, suggest he is now part of mainstream French culture. 'I like the fact that you say that because I still feel a bit on the margins,' says Zadi. RELATED: This comes as a surprise given his recent achievements which include the Netflix series Represent, which he created with Lupin writer François Uzan, and stars in as a youth leader who runs to become France's first Black president, as well as roles in films such as Final Cut, Smoking Causes Coughing, Beating Hearts, Dog on Trial and most recently Prosper. One of 10 siblings, Zadi was born in the Paris suburb of Bondy in 1980 to parents hailing from the Ivory Coast. He grew up in the Normandy port city of Caen. 'We were the only Black family. There wasn't segregation but we lived some difficult things,' says Zadi. 'My mother anchored in us from very early on the fact that we were Black and that that was going to turn our destinies upside-down.' 'She would make us watch films like Cry Freedom and A Dry White Season. She introduced us to Black culture and the fact that we were going to have to fight in life. When I was small, with my brothers, we found her a bit crazy,' he continues. As a student, Zadi came to realize his mother had prepared him well, after a shop-owner, advertising a vacancy in the window for which he was qualified, denied they were looking for someone when he walked in off the street to enquire. 'That day, the penny dropped,' recalls Zadi. 'I understood that rather than asking for things, I was going to have to act.' He bought a camera on credit and made his first documentary Des halls aux bacs, about the French rap scene. 'It came out on DVD in 2005, and I haven't stopped since,' he says. 'I understood what I was capable of.' He followed the documentary with ultra-low budget features Cramé, African Gangster and Sans pudeur ni morale, at the same time as breaking into television as a contributor on the Canal+ show Le before du grand journal. Zadi reveals he bluffed his way through the pitch for Simply Black, suggesting he had secured the participation of stars such as Omar Sy, Eric Judor and Fabrice Eboué when he had not even approached them at that point. 'I signed the contract, and I was in a panic… I hadn't even written a scene for Omar Sy. He was working in the U.S., while I was an unknown. I wrote a scene anyway and sent it to his agent. One night he calls me, it was about midnight, I was in bed, and he says, 'Your film, we're going to make it. We're going to show them we're united.'' Zadi suggests that the project struck a chord with the roster of French Black actors who signed up for the film. 'Black French identity hasn't been tackled that much. We talk a lot about Black American identity, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, segregation, while French Black identity is tied up with colonization, which brings us together, but also separates us at the same time,' he says. Producing under the banner of Douze Doigts Productions, the Paris-based company he founded with his partner Camille Moulonguet, in 2010, Zadi has a raft of project in the works. He is now gearing up for the June release of Abidjan-shot feature Le grand déplacement, about a space mission with an all-African crew, and developing an adaptation of Boris Vian's novel I Spit On Your Graves, about a Black man in the U.S., whose white complexion allows him to cross racial barriers, to be set in the French Antilles. Zadi says questions of French Black identity are likely to remain at the heart of his work. 'Unfortunately, or fortunately, the fact of being Black and living in France has marked me deeply and for now, this is what is easiest for me to recount, these visceral things I have lived,' he says. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery Where To Watch All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies: Streamers With Multiple Films In The Franchise Everything We Know About 'My Life With The Walter Boys' Season 2 So Far
The Guardian
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Holy Cow review – unlikely French teen cheesemaker drama with a big heart
Here's something to tempt the appetites of fans of French cinema and artisan cheeses alike: Holy Cow, the first feature fim from French director Louise Courvoisier, has been a breakout success domestically (it won a prize at Cannes and a couple of Césars, and went on to win over French audiences in their droves). On paper, this tale of a rural teenage delinquent who dreams of glory in the annual comté cheesemaking competition sounds like any number of generic feelgood underdog tales. But there's a knack to making great rural cinema, which boils down to capturing the grit and spit and personality of the place rather than some sun-dappled romantic projection of a simpler life. It helps immeasurably that Courvoisier grew up in the same remote Jura farming community in eastern France where the film is set. It shows in every rough-edged, beer-drenched frame – this is earthy, sweaty, unvarnished film-making with dirt under its nails – and in particular it benefits the casting and direction of the phenomenal, largely nonprofessional actors. Courvoisier's storytelling approach is sensitive but resolutely unsentimental, despite the tragedy that underpins this coming-of-age story. Teenage deadbeat Totone (Clément Faveau) spends his summer drinking, fighting, chasing girls and tooling around on battered dirt bikes. Then his alcoholic, widowed father dies, leaving Totone responsible for a failing farm and his seven-year-old sister. Totone latches on to the cheese competition, with its generous prize money, as a quick-fix solution to his predicament. But to make cheese, he decides to steal milk from young farmer Marie-Lise (Maïwene Barthelemy). Ultimately, the comté is beside the point: the nourishment in this terrific, big-hearted drama comes from Courvoisier's satisfyingly full-blooded characters. In UK and Irish cinemas
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Seven People Stand Trial In Paris Over Online Threats & Insults Against Paris Olympics Ceremonies Director Thomas Jolly
Seven people were due to stand trial in Paris on Wednesday on charges of making death threats and cyberbullying against director Thomas Jolly in the wake of his controversial Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony last July. French media reported that six men, aged between 22 and 79 years old, and a woman aged 57 had been summoned to court on charges of 'repeated death threats, cyberbullying and aggravated insults based on sexual orientation and real or supposed religious affiliation.' More from Deadline France's Césars At 50: Academy Heads Patrick Sobelman & Ariane Toscan Du Plantier Talk Landmark Ceremony & Future Of French Awards Mediawan's Montreal 'Miraculous' & 'The Little Prince' Production Studio ON Animation Closes As Tax Credit Squeeze Bites Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Rebecca Zlotowski's Jodie Foster Murder Mystery 'Vie Privée' A number of the insults were reported at the time to have been antisemitic in nature. Jolly is not Jewish. The accused face maximum jail terms of seven years and fines of up to €75,000 ($80,000), if found guilty. The Paris criminal court hearing comes seven-and-half months after theater director Jolly's July 26 Olympics opening ceremony on the River Seine caused furore in some quarters for its modern, inclusive take on French history and culture. Jolly filed a police complaint on July 31 saying he had been the target of death threats, insults and defamation. He came under particular attack for a controversial scene entitled 'festivity' featuring drag queens sitting around a table. There was speculation that the scene was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's iconic painting The Last Supper, depicting Jesus's last meal with the 12 apostles, which in turn sparked claims that the tableau was an insult to the Christian faith. Then U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump even waded in calling the opening ceremony 'a disgrace'. Jolly explained that the scene was inspired by Greek mythology rather than The Last Supper but this did little to quell the public attacks and social media threats and insults. French DJ and lesbian activist Barbara Butch, who participated in the drag queen tableau, also lodged a police complaint. She said she had been subjected to a campaign of cyber-harassment which included death, torture, and rape threats as well as anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and grossophobic insults. Jolly suggested at the time of his complaint that many of the posts seemed to be from people based outside of France, however, the seven people due to stand trial on Wednesday hail from the French departments of Alpes-Maritimes and l'Hérault. The accused were arrested after an investigation by France's Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH). French media reported at the end of last year that another three men were due to stand trial on September 25, 2005, in relation to the Barbara Butch police complaint for messages posted on Instagram between July 26 and 30. Best of Deadline 'Poker Face' Season 2: Everything We Know So Far A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media How Jon Gries' Return To 'The White Lotus' Could Shape Season 3
Local France
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Local France
Count of Monte Cristo and Emilia Perez frontrunners in French 'Oscars'
Monte Cristo, a high-budget French adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' epic novel The Count of Monte Cristo, was the second most-watched film in French cinemas last year and leads the Césars nominations with 14. Lead actor Pierre Niney is the frontrunner in the best actor category, but faces competition from François Civil who starred in the surprise French comedy hit of the year, Un p'tit truc en plus (A Little Something Extra). The film about a father and son who go to work in a holiday camp for people with disabilities topped the French 2024 box office and picked up 13 nominations. The French film L'Amour Ouf (Beating Hearts) picked up 13 César nominations while Emilia Perez, directed by Frenchman Jacques Audiard and the most-nominated film for the Oscars, was picked in 12 categories for the Césars, including best film and best director. The surreal musical odyssey about a narco boss who transitions to life as a woman shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language film last week with 13 Oscar nominations. It was also the second-most nominated film for Britain's BAFTA awards, according to the shortlist unveiled on January 15, behind Vatican thriller Conclave. However it has sparked anger in Mexico, with some saying that it shows a stereotyped and cartoon image of the country - a Mexican director has released a short film called Johanna Sacrebleu poking fun at French stereotypes. The Césars will be handed out in Paris on February 28 marking the 50th anniversary of the awards. Winners are picked by the 4,951 members of the Cesars academy.
Euronews
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
French film academy behind the César Awards quits Elon Musk's X
The Berlin Film Festival decided to quit last November. Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera also waved goodbye last year. Now, the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, the body behind France's national film awards, the Césars, is ditching X. In an announcement, the César Academy said it had deleted its account on the platform, noting that the public positions taken by owner Elon Musk means that X 'no longer corresponds' to the Academy's stated values. 'The Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques has decided to end its presence on the social network X, formerly Twitter,' the statement reads. 'This decision, proposed by the Bureau and unanimously validated by the House of Representatives of the Association, is part of a process of consistency with the fundamental principles of the Academy in terms of ethics and integrity.' 'The Academy's mission is to promote cinema in all its diversity,' the statement adds. 'It supports all forms of artistic expression, without distinction of origin or identity of those who contribute to the creation or distribution of films. The César Academy believes that the X platform, particularly due to the actions and stances of its leader, no longer aligns with its values. Therefore, it is withdrawing from the platform effective immediately. The decision to leave X follows Musk's Nazi-like gesture at Donald Trump's Presidential inauguration, as well as repeated sharing of right-wing content on X and seemingly supporting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. He also recently endorsed Germany's far-right populist AfD party and made a controversial comment at an AfD rally two days before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Musk told Germans to let go of "the guilt of the past" - something which led Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to state that Musk's words sounded "all too familiar and ominous, especially only hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz." The César Academy's move also follows last week's decision to suspend any member currently under investigation for sexual violence. The organization has been implementing #MeToo measures to prevent and address misconduct within the French film industry. Regarding the zero-tolerance policy, the Academy announced: 'In the event of legal proceedings against a member for acts of violence, particularly of a sexist or sexual nature, the board will suspend the member's voting rights until the ongoing procedure is concluded, or exclude them entirely until the full completion of the sentence, in the case of a final conviction.'
