{"id":190903,"date":"2026-09-01T11:57:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/190903\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:57:15","slug":"snd-boards-alice-pioneer-of-cinema-starring-the-berenice-bejo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/190903\/","title":{"rendered":"SND Boards ‘Alice: Pioneer of Cinema,’ Starring the B\u00e9r\u00e9nice Bejo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tParis-based film and television studio SND<\/a>, part of French media group M6<\/a>, has picked up world sales on the high-end period drama\u00a0\u201cAlice: Pioneer of Cinema<\/a>,\u201d in which Oscar-nominee B\u00e9r\u00e9nice Bejo<\/a> (\u201cThe Artist\u201d) stars as Alice Guy, the very first female fiction filmmaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The six-parter, ordered by HBO Max<\/a> and France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions<\/a>, is due to world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival<\/a>\u2018s Primetime section on Sept. 14, ahead of its airing in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFrance\u2019s Wild Bunch<\/a> and Ligne de Front are producing along with Belgium\u2019s Panache Productions, La Compagnie Cin\u00e9matographique and Canada\u2019s Sphere Media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The big-scale series, created by Tim Loane (\u201cVersailles,\u201d \u201cDas Boot\u201d) and Claire Lemar\u00e9chal (\u201cThe Bureau\u201d) from a script by Andr\u00e9 Gulluni (\u201cRematch\u201d), will also play on the leading Spanish pay TV\/SVOD service Movistar Plus+, HBO Max in Belgium and the streamer Crave in Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Alice: Pioneer of Cinema\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Caroline Dubois\/SND\/Wild Bunch\/France T\u00e9l\u00e9visions<\/p>\n

\n\tHelmed by Virginie Verrier and Guillaume Lonergan, \u201cAlice: Pioneer of Cinema\u201d tells the true story of\u00a0Alice Guy, who turned from secretary for Gaumont\u00a0to\u00a0the first female fiction filmmaker and movie mogul in the late 19th to early 20th century.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter rising through the ranks at\u00a0French banner\u00a0Gaumont, she moves to the U.S., where she builds the first film studio owned by a woman. Despite her extraordinary achievements, she ends up losing it all, and her name fades into oblivion.<\/p>\n

\n\tA century later, her film pioneering role is finally recognized when she receives a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America, handed out by Martin Scorsese. Then in 2024, at the Paris Olympic Games, her golden statue rises from the Seine, alongside other female luminaries Simon Veil and Simone de Beauvoir.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBesides Bejo, the stellar cast takes in Oscar Lesage (\u201cThe Substance\u201d), Thibaut Evrard (\u201cParis Police 1900,\u201d \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d), Ir\u00e8ne Jacob (\u201cThe Affair; \u201cThe Double Life of V\u00e9ronique\u201d), Sophie N\u00e9lisse (\u201cYellowjackets,\u201d \u201cThe Book Thief\u201d) and Fran\u00e7ois Arnaud (\u201cThe Borgias,\u201d \u201cYellowjackets\u201d).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEvery so often, a series arrives with a story so extraordinary you cannot believe it has never been told,\u201d said Alexis Reybet-Degat, SND head of international TV series distribution. \u201c\u2018Alice\u2019 has the scale and craft of a major production, and a heroine whose fight feels strikingly modern. It is prestige and popular at once, and we are proud to bring it to broadcasters around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCaroline De Jenlis,\u00a0producer\u00a0at\u00a0Ligne de Front\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cWe are thrilled to partner with\u00a0SND. With their incredible expertise, we are fully confident they will give Alice\u2019s extraordinary story the global showcase it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSND will start negotiating the series at the 32nd\u00a0Unifrance Rendez Vous in Le Havre, unspooling over Sept 7-10. Another prime drama on the sales\u00a0banner\u2019s slate includes the nuclear warship thriller \u201cR91<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Toronto, \u201cAlice: Pioneer of Cinema\u201d will be showcased together with nine premium shows from major players such as\u00a0A24, Amazon MGM, Netflix and Apple.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paris-based film and television studio SND, part of French media group M6, has picked up world sales on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[60158,60159,8165,60160,1463,48,19255,60161,60162],"class_list":["post-190903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-bu00e9ru00e9nice-bejo","tag-france-tu00e9lu00e9visions","tag-hbo-max","tag-m6","tag-snd","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-film-festival","tag-unifrance-rendez-vous","tag-wild-bunch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}