Franco-Tunisian film and TV entrepreneur will be celebrated by Variety with its International Achievement in Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
An infallible dealmaker, resourceful problem-solver and filmmaker-friendly bon vivant, Ammar has played a pivotal, yet often behind-the-scenes role, in building cultural and cinematic bridges between Europe, the U.S. and the Arab world over the last 50 years.
Ammar, whose Eagle Pictures is currently Italy’s top independent film distributor and a growing production force, also owns France’s Studios de Paris, home of “Emily in Paris,” and is active in Saudi Arabia where he recently launched a film fund.
Ammar began his career in Italy and Tunisia in the late 1960s. He quickly became an ally to iconic filmmakers such as Roberto Rossellini, Georges Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Franco Zeffirelli. He opened the doors of Tunisia to the film world, helping build an industry there from scratch while facilitating the productions of films sush as “Star Wars,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Jesus of Nazareth” and “La Traviata,” among others. After moving to France, Ammar in 2007 returned to his film roots and bought Italian indie distributor Eagle Pictures which has since then become his flagship film outfit and is Paramount and Sony’s Italian theatrical distributor.
On the indie production side Eagle scored Italy’s biggest local hit of 2024 with Margherita Ferri’s teen drama “The Boy With Pink Trousers,” about a 15-year-old who took his own life after enduring bullying at school and online. In terms of ticket sales, it’s even beat Hollywood heavyweights such as “Wicked,” “Dune 2,” “Gladiator 2” and “Venom 3.”
“Tarak has been a passionate supporter and champion of independent films,” said Variety’s Co-Editor-in-Chief Ramin Setoodeh. “He is truly deserving of this honor and Variety looks forward to toasting him in Cannes.
Ammar will be honored by Variety on May 15 at 4pm at the Majestic Hotel, Salon Croisette.