Keslassy International Correspondentveteran: Last News

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentVeteran French actor Gerard Depardieu will remain under formal investigation for alleged rape after losing an appeal.The decision, which was announced on Thursday (March 10) by the Paris Court of Appeal, said it won’t drop Depardieu’s indictment, which stems from accusations of rape and sexual assault filed to authorities by actor Charlotte Arnould in August 2018.Depardieu, who previously said through his lawyer that he “firmly rejected” Arnould’s accusations, has been under formal investigation since Dec. 16, 2020, and filed an appeal in May 2021.“The Paris Court of Appeal considers that there remains, at this point, some grave and consistent clues that justify that Gerard Depardieu remains indicted,” said the French court in a statement sent to Variety.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentVeteran French animation producer Aton Soumache and renowned comicbook artist-turned-filmmaker Joann Sfar (“The Rabbi’s Cat”) are launching Magical Society in the run up to the online Annecy Animation Film Festival.The Paris-based mini-studio is already boasting a slate of a dozen ambitious animation, hybrid and live action projects in various stages of development, with about 30 topnotch international creative talents attached, notably Leo Sanchez Barbosa, the character designer of “How to Train Your Dragon,” and Viktor Antonov (“Dishonored,””Half Life 2”).Magical Society is a rebranded company stemming from Sfar’s production vehicle Nice Pictures, which was acquired last year by Soumache’s