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Big winners of Festival de Cannes
After 11 days of an exceptional edition, the Jury of the 76th Festival de Cannes, chaired by Swedish director Ruben Östlund, surrounded by Moroccan director Maryam Touzani, French actor Denis Ménochet, British-Zambian screenwriter & director Rungano Nyoni, American actress & director Brie Larson, American actor & director Paul Dano, Afghan author Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian director and screenwriter Damián Szifron and French director Julia Ducournau, presented its winners’ list among the 21 films presented in Competition this year.

The Hitchcockian psychological drama starring German actress Sandra Hülle ‘Anatomy Of A Fall’ by Justine Triet received the Palme d’or, the grand prize of the festival. This will be the third time in the 76-year history of the Cannes Film Festival that a female filmmaker has won the grand prize, with the first being Jane Campion in 1993 for ‘The Piano’.

The Grand Prix award went to ‘The Zone of Interest’ directed by Jonathan Glazer. The best director award went to Tran Anh Hung for ‘The Pot-Au-Feu’, Jury prize was awarded to the film ‘Fallen Leaves’ as directed by Aki Kaurismaki, best screenplay went to Sakamoto Yuji for Monster as directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu while the best performance by an actress award and best performance for an actor award went to Merve Dizdar in ‘About Dry Grasses’ as directed by Nuri Bridge Ceylan and Koji Yakusho in ‘Perfect Days’ as directed by Wim Wenders, respectively. Winners were also announced in the short film category (27 by Flóra Anna BUDA) and in Uncertain Regards (How To Have Sex directed by Molly Manning Walker)

SILO Actor Chinaza Uche’s ‘How to rob’ acquired
Peter Horgan’s debut feature film ‘How to Rob’ has been acquired by Good Deed Entertainment’s Cranked Up Films for North American rights and Nicely Entertainment for international rights. The crime drama, shot in Cape Cod and Boston, includes outstanding performances from Chinaza Uche (Silo, Zach Braff’s A Good Person), Josh Koopman (The Golden Scallop) and Caitlin Zoz (Silo). The film won the 2022 Audience Award for Narrative Feature to sold-out audiences at both IFFBoston and the New Hampshire Film Festival. “We are thrilled to include How to Rob as a part of Nicely Entertainment’s growing slate of international releases,” said Scott Kirkpatrick, EVP of Distribution and Co-Productions for Nicely Entertainment.

“Director Peter Horgan did a fantastic job executing this film and we cannot wait to get this title distributed into the international market.” In the film, the lifelong bond between a Boston two-man stick-up crew of Sean Price (Chinaza Uche) and Jimmy Winters (Josh Koopman) is put to the test when they rob the wrong bookie and go on the lam from a couple of killers hell-bent on retribution. “We’re excited to be working with Cranked Up and Nicely Entertainment. With such incredible performances by Chinaza, Josh and the rest of the cast, we’re excited to share this film with audiences worldwide,” says Horgan. ‘How to Rob’ is written and directed by Peter Horgan, produced by Horgan, Josh Koopman, Chinaza Uche, Samantha Brindisi, Vera Teixeira, Becca E. Davis and Caitlin Zoz and executive produced by Sammie Astaneh (Exile)

Submissions now open for Third Creative Producers Indaba
Submissions have opened for the third Creative Producers Indaba (CPI), a film producers’ development programme presented by the Realness Institute, in collaboration with EAVE, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s IFFR Pro, and the Marrakech International Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops. Mehret Mandefro, Director of Development and Partnership at the Realness Institute says, “creative Producer Indaba is addressing the most important gap in the local African media markets – training producers that can develop and finance local stories for the global and local markets.

We are thrilled to be launching the third edition.” Since its inception in 2021, the CPI has nurtured outstanding film talent and facilitated meaningful collaborations that have empowered participants to identify the right partners for their African projects. There are numerous success stories, and a shining example is the collaboration between three African producers: Bramwel Iro from Kenya, Caroline Kganyago from South Africa, and Zoe Ramushu from South Africa.

These talented individuals, who participated in last year’s Indaba, are now set to co-develop their projects with Dutch producer Ellen Havenith, whose film Tiger Stripes just won the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Critics Week. The CPI offers 10 African producers with and without projects and five international producers the unique opportunity to augment their leadership and entrepreneurial skills, deepen their producer capabilities, and build professional networks across Africa and beyond.

The Creative Producers Indaba participants will also attend the Atlas Workshops during the Marrakech International Film Festival in November and attend industry sessions at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January 2024.

The chosen participants will enjoy the valuable opportunity of receiving mentorship from prominent figures in the industry, including Group Leaders Mehret Mandefro and Diana Elbaum, as well as Story consultant Mmabatho Kau. Guest speakers such as producers Femi Odugbemi, Katriel Schory and Dayo Ogunyemi, along with IFFR Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic. The deadline for submissions is July 3, 2023. Information and submission details can be sourced at https://www.realness.institute/creative-producer-indaba.