Global Showbiz Briefs: Deauville Fest Sets Pair Of Prizes; Universal Pics Int’l Entertainment; Smithsonian Channel; More

Deauville Fest Taps ‘Les Garcons Et Guillaume’ For D’Ornano Prize
The Deauville Festival of American Film has announced Les Garçons Et Guillaume A Table! as the winner of this year’s Michel d’Ornano prize, which will be awarded during the festival on September 7. The d’Ornano prize is given to a debut French film and comes with a purse of €3,000 for the director – in this case Guillaume Gallienne — €3,000 for the producer and €10,000 for the distributor to use in promoting the film. (Full disclosure, I am a member of the jury that selects the winner.) Les Garçons debuted in Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, where it scooped the Art Cinema award and the SACD prize. Gallienne also wrote the film, a transfer of his autobiographical stage show about a young man who isn’t exactly what his family perceives him to be. Deauville, which runs from August 30-September 8, also announced that Richard Ford will be given the Prix Littéraire Lucien Barrière for his novel Canada.

Roberto Paris Tops UPIE’s Italian Operation
Universal Pictures International Entertainment has hired former Sony Pictures Home Entertainment exec Roberto Paris to lead its Italian operations as managing director. Paris will assume his new role on August 1. The nine-year Sony vet most recently was country manager and managing director for SPHE Italy. Last month, Universal and Sony announced they had reached an agreement to distribute SPHE’s physical home entertainment product slate through the UPIE operation in Italy, starting in October. Universal Pictures Italy have also distributed Paramount home entertainment product since 2011.

Smithsonian Networks, Blue Ant Launch Canadian Channel
Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between Showtime and the Smithsonian Institution, and Blue Ant Media are partnering to launch Smithsonian Channel in Canada. This will be the channel’s first expansion into an international market. The HD channel will feature exclusive content for broadcast, digital and mobile platforms and start airing in the fall.

Claudia Cardinale Is Guest Host For Venice Fest’s Venezia Classici
Claudia Cardinale will be the guest host of Venezia Classici, the Venice Film Festival’s section devoted to restored films and documentaries about film. The sidebar was added to Venice last year. This year it will include Luchino Visconti’s Vaghe Stelle Dell’Orsa, which won the Golden Lion 40 years ago. It’s been restored by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Other films to screen are Chantal Akerman’s Le 15 D’Août and Hotel Monterey; Emir Kusturica’s Do You Remember Dolly Bell?; Little Fugitive by Ray Ashley, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin; Hands Over the City, by Francesco Rosi; Paisan by Roberto Rossellini; Bread And Chocolate by Franco Brusati; A Bullet For The General by by Damiano Damiani; Property Is No Longer A Theft by Elio Petri; La Bête Humaine by Jean Renoir; Providence by Alain Resnais; Tosca’s Kiss by Daniel Schmid; Bruce Weber’s Let’s Get Lost; John Ford’s My Darling Clementine; Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Nagisa Oshima and two films by Indian master Satyajit Ray. William Friedkin’s The Sorcerer opens the section on August 29. The festival runs from August 28-September 7.