Michael Douglas Heads To Deauville; Les Arcs Sets Iceland Focus & Christos Nikou To Close Karlovy Vary – Festival Briefs

Michael Douglas Set As Guest Of Honor Of 50th Deauville Film Festival

Michael Douglas will be guest of honor at the 50th Deauville American Film Festival. It will be the actor’s fifth trip to the fall festival unfolding in the swanky northern French beach resort. The organisers suggested Douglas has a special connection with the festival as the place where he met now wife Catherine Zeta Jones. “Everyone says that the Deauville Festival is special, but few people say like me that it changed their lives,” the announcement release quoted him as saying. The actor was last at the festival in 2013 with My Life with Liberace. His late father Kirk Douglas was also an honorary guest at Deauville and was feted with a posthumous retrospective in 2020. Douglas is a regular visitor to France and has previously been honored by Cannes and the César awards. The Deauville Film Festival runs from September 6 to 15.

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France’s Les Arcs Film Festival Sets Iceland Focus

The Les Arcs Film Festival has announced Iceland as the focus country at its 16th edition, running against the backdrop of the French Alps from December 14 to 21. Under the focus, a delegation of Icelandic film and music professionals will attend, while a selection of feature projects will also participate in the Industry Village program. The Les Arcs Film Festival has a long relationship with Iceland, having welcomed many of its films, projects and talents over the last years including as Rúnar Rúnarsson (Sparrows, Echo), Grímur Hákonarson (Rams, The County), Baltasar Kormákur (The Deep), Dagur Kári (Virgin Mountain), Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (Beautiful Beings, Heartstone), Ísold Uggadóttir (And Breathe Normally), Valdimar Jóhannsson (Lamb) and Ninna Pálmadóttir (Solitude).  The focus is organized in partnership with the Icelandic Film Centre.

Christos Nikou’s ‘Fingernails’ To Close Karlovy Vary

Greek director Christos Nikou’s unconventional sci-fi romance Fingernails has been announced as the closing film of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Jesse Buckley and Riz Ahmed co-star in the Cate Blanchett-produced feature as employees of the Love Institute, a scientific organization testing whether couples are truly compatible and suitably matched to go the long haul in their relationship. Nikou was previously at Karlovy Vary as a jury member. “After being in the jury of Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2021 and having the chance to present my first feature Apples to the Czech audience, I am so excited and grateful to return to a festival and a city that feel like home. I would like to thank Karel Och and Krystof Mucha for honouring us as the closing film of the festival and giving me the opportunity to share with the audience my English debut Fingernails.” Karlovy Vary runs from June 28 to July 6.

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