David Elkaïm: Last News

Tomris Laffly A bold celebration of taking up space in places you’re told you don’t belong, “Hawa” is a crowd-pleasing fable with a fluffy heart, fierce spirit and disarming sense of humor. These qualities also define the titular heroine of Maïmouna Doucouré’s lovely sophomore feature, co-written by Doucouré, Alain-Michel Blanc, Zangro and David Elkaim. Hawa is both sensitive and fearless while she roams the streets of Paris on a life-defining quest with her dependable scooter and unapologetic blonde afro, seeing the world through her idiosyncratic coke-bottle glasses as she earns the help and goodwill of a parade of strangers. Don’t be alarmed by the crowded group of writers here — despite the many cooks in the kitchen, “Hawa,” under the baton of Doucouré, is as coherently envisioned and tightly structured as movies come. You might recall the gifted Doucouré’s name and recognize her style from her debut “Cuties,” a prize winner at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival whose fate was overshadowed by an unfair and misguided controversy that erupted about it later that year. In her equally confident second feature, the defiant Doucouré puts to work the same vigorous essence at the core of her previous film, one that comprehends the complicated headspace of burdened, contemporary young ones and splits the difference between a touch of magical realism and social drama.

Marta Balaga Netflix and Arte’s musical show “Le Monde de Demain” (“The World of Tomorrow”) took the top prize in the International Competition of television festival Series Mania at the event’s awards ceremony Friday.The series, created by Katell Quillévéré, Hélier Cisterne – both also directing – Vincent Poymiro and David Elkaïm, takes a look at the birth of the French hip-hop movement in the 1980s. Made with the collaboration of Laurent Rigoulet and the participation of Kool Shen, JoeyStarr and DJ Détonateur S, it was described by the organizers as “a personal chronicle about a Parisian suburban youth reaching adulthood, claiming its own space in a new France, a country to reinvent.” In the acting categories, Michelle De Swarte was noticed for her role in the U.K.’s “The Baby,” produced by Sky, HBO and OCS, while Israeli actor Yehuda Levi impressed the jurors with his performance in “Fire Dance,” a Yes TV, Firma Productions and Kuma Studios production about an 18-year-old girl falling for a much-older married son of their ultra-Orthodox community’s leader.“He had to be charismatic in a manly way,” helmer Rama Burshtein-Shai told Variety ahead of the series’ premiere.“Levi, a very big star here in Israel, is so talented.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentHigh-profile French creators and showrunners, David Elkaïm, Vincent Poymiro, and producer Jeremy Sahel, are joining forces with Anca, a banner which is backed by German powerhouse Beta Group, to develop and produce ambitious TV series.Anca was created in 2021 by Rose Brandford Griffith and Christophe Thoral, two former bosses of Lagardere Studios, to invest in production banners.Elkaïm, Poymiro and Sahel’s production company Perpetual Soup marks Anca’s first investment with a minority stake. Poymiro and Elkaïm are known for having written a pair of top-rated drama series ordered by Arte, “Ainsi soient-ils” and “En Thérapie,” the French adaptation of Hagai Levi’s series “BeTipul” (“In Treatment”).