Eric Lavallée

Finally. Perhaps the crowd pleaser of the 2011 Cannes edition has finally found a home - with the provider of retro art-house cinema. Janus Films who make about one theatrical pick-up every 24 months have secured the North American rights to a film that might have gone home empty handed (it was however bestowed with the FIPRESCI Prize), but essentially slayed the majority of the international press with its slow burn, simplistic charm. Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre will be set up for a release in the autumn and will surely premiere at major upcoming North American fests such as Telluride, TIFF and Chicago.

Once they were ten. Now they are three. Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Attenberg, Robert Guédiguian’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Ruben Östlund’s Play have gone thru into the final round of the European Parliament LUX Prize.

It's double announcement day for Nanni Moretti’s Habemus Papam. This morning it was among the first batch of North American premiere titles announced for this year's TIFF and in the afternoon, the church bells chimed once again, as Sundance Selects announced their pick-up of the comedy with a pinch of drama.

Since the Nicolas Winding Refn arty biopic (Bronson), nothing has thwarted Tom Hardy's rise to leading (muscle) man status. Upcoming 2011 and 2012 releases in Warrior, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, This Means War, The Wettest County in the World, The Dark Knight Rises and eventually Mad Max: Fury Road prove that bulking up can reward one with top commodity status in Hollywood. TTB reports that Hardy has added one more action-thriller project to his workload - Hummingbird could begin production as early as 2012, somewhere between when Nolan is finished with the actor and when George Miller begins the four film in the Mad Max franchise.

Now that we're done salivating over the unveiling of the Gala and Special Presentation screenings for 2011 Toronto Int. Film Festival, we now put our attention on the official selection of the Venice Film Festival sidebar know as Venice Days. Director Giorgio Gosetti has mounted an edition that includes some gem auteurs and newbie filmmakers we've been keeping tabs on for the better half of 2010/2011.