- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
'Palme d'Or whisperer': Tiny US studio Neon eyes fifth Cannes prize
Could a tiny movie studio founded seven years ago win the Cannes Film Festival's top prize for a stunning fifth consecutive time?
Neon, a New York-based indie movie outfit, has been dubbed "the Palme d'Or whisperer", for a track record that turns the world's most powerful movie producers green with envy.
Films like "Parasite", "Titane", "Triangle of Sadness" and "Anatomy of a Fall" were released in US theatres by Neon, under deals struck before they won the Cannes prize.
The company purchases -- and more recently, has produced -- movies that it then distributes to movie theatres, as well as running marketing and awards campaign for the films.
When this year's festival best film winner is unveiled on Saturday, Neon will again boast two frontrunners -- giving it a strong hope of going five for five.
Weeks before Cannes kicked off, Neon acquired "Anora", a raw and often-hilarious story about a New York erotic dancer who strikes gold with a wealthy client, infuriating his Russian oligarch parents.
It boasts the best reviews of the festival so far.
And last week, just days after its director secretly escaped from Iran, "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" was quietly snapped up by Neon.
That film -- about a judge's struggles amid political unrest in Tehran -- will have its world premiere Friday, and expectations are sky-high.
Multi-award-winning director Mohammad Rasoulof's dramatic journey to Cannes, fleeing an Iranian prison sentence for "collusion against national security", will surely be hard for the jury to ignore.
- Weinstein, Chan -
Neon founder Tom Quinn had spent decades working in indie films with producers including Harvey Weinstein, before deciding to branch out on his own.
In 2016, he struck a deal with China's Sparkle Roll Media, fronted by screen legend Jackie Chan.
Their first film was "Colossal", an oddball sci-fi starring Anne Hathaway.
Neon was officially launched the following year. Critical success soon came with ice-skating comedy "I, Tonya", which won an Oscar for star Allison Janney.
Following the election of Donald Trump as United States president, Chinese investors swiftly departed, replaced by Texas billionaire Dan Friedkin.
But film buying remained in the hands of Quinn, who had worked for years and on multiple films with South Korean director Bong Joon-ho.
"It didn't matter what he was going to do next -- it was going to be a Neon film," Quinn said in a recent interview.
"We were going to go for broke, and pre-buy it," he told "The Town" podcast.
That film turned out to be "Parasite", the stunning, genre-hopping drama about a poor family infiltrating a rich family's home, which became a sensation.
Not only did it win the Palme d'Or in 2019, but it went on to become the first non-English-language film to win best picture at the Oscars.
- Glow -
Since then, Cannes has proven to be a happy hunting ground for Neon, which has grown to around 55 staff.
Neon bought body horror "Titane" almost two years before it won the 2021 Palme d'Or.
And the company won bidding wars for both "Triangle of Sadness" and "Anatomy of a Fall" immediately following their Cannes premieres, but before the prizes were unveiled.
Named after an ephemeral gas that glows when captured inside a glass tube, the company will be hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again this Saturday.
A.Rodriguezv--AMWN