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A French director is suing the Cannes Film Festival for rejecting his work.

Paul Verhoeven, 73, who shares the same name as the famous Dutch director behind "Total Recall" and "Robocop," claims that selectors rejected his film, "Teenagers," because they were "homophobic," The Telegraph reports.

The film, which covers a wide array of issues including terrorism, teen sexuality, homophobia and suicide, received poor reviews when it was released in 2009, Variety reports. It did, however, manage to win a few prizes at minor festivals around the world, including best narrative feature at the California Film Awards in 2011.

The trailer is below:



Verhoeven reportedly wants the festival to be forced to show his flick or pay for it to be screened in theaters. A ruling on the lawsuit is due later this month.

The Guardian reports:

The claims of homophobia against the festival have come as a surprise to many Cannes regulars. Last year, British drama Pride debuted at the festival –- and went on to win the coveted Queer Palm -– while in 2013 the Palme d'Or was won by Blue is the Warmest Colour.

BERLIN (AP) — More than 6,000 people have died in eastern Ukraine since the start of the conflict almost a year ago that has led to a "merciless devastation of civilian lives and infrastructure," the U.N. human rights office said Monday.

Hundreds of civilians and military personnel have been killed in recent weeks alone after an upswing in fighting particularly near Donetsk airport and in the Debaltseve area, the Geneva-based body said in a report covering the period from December to February. The strategic railroad town of Debaltseve was captured from Ukrainian government forces last month by pro-Russian separatists. While Russia denies its troops are fighting in Ukraine, the U.N. cited "credible reports (that) indicate a continuing flow of heavy weaponry and foreign fighters" from Russia.

"This has sustained and enhanced the capacity of armed groups of the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk people's republic' and 'Luhansk people's republic' to resist Government armed forces and to launch new offensives in some areas, including around the Donetsk airport, Mariupol and Debaltseve," it said.

U.N. rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein said many civilians stay in embattled areas "because they fear for their lives if they try to move."

"Many others stay to protect children, other family members, or their property," while some are forced to stay or unable to leave, he said.

The report cited "credible allegations of arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances, committed mostly by the armed groups but in some instances also by the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies." It noted video footage appeared to support allegations of summary executions by the rebels.

The displacement of 1 million people has also increased the risk for women from sex traffickers, the report found.

Zeid called on all sides to comply with a recent accord signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, that foresees the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- For its next technological trick, Google will show you what it's like to zip through trees in the Amazon jungle.

The images released Monday are the latest addition to the diverse collection of photos supplementing Google's widely used digital maps. The maps' "Street View" option mostly provides panoramic views of cities and neighborhoods photographed by car-mounted cameras, but Google also has found creative ways to depict exotic locations where there are no roads.

CLICK HERE TO ZIP-LINE THROUGH THE AMAZON!

In its latest foray into the wilderness, Google teamed up with environmental protection group Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, or FAS, to explore a remote part of an Amazon rainforest. Google Inc. lent FAS its Trekker device, a camera mounted on an apparatus originally designed to be carried like a backpack by hikers walking on trails.

FAS, though, sent the Trekker down a zip line. Google is renowned for going out on a technological limb, but even this project made the company nervous at first, said Karin Tuxen-Bettman, who oversees Google's Street View partnerships.

The setup required FAS workers to tread through the rainforest to find a place where they could string the zip line so the Trekker wouldn't bump into tree trunks and branches as it zoomed through the thick canopy. With the help of some monkeys who joined their scouting expedition, FAS workers found just enough room to erect a zip line for the Trekker's trip.

"One of the things that I love about working at Google is that if a partner comes to us with a crazy idea, we will probably try it," Tuxen-Bettman said.

Since Google developed the Trekker camera in 2012, the device has been dispatched on other unusual journeys. The Trekker went scuba diving in the Galápagos Islands to take underwater photographs of the preserve, and traveled on a dog sled in the Canadian Artic to photograph the tundra.

Google's Street View feature has raised privacy concerns through the years because its photographs have occasionally captured images of unsuspecting bystanders engaged in embarrassing activities or near places where they didn't want to be seen. Cars carrying Street View cameras also secretly vacuumed up emails and other personal information transmitted over unsecure Wi-Fi networks from 2007 to 2010, sparking outrage and legal action around the world.

Privacy issues shouldn't be an issue in any of the photography taken by the zip-lining Trekker. Birds and insects are the only visible forms of life in the pictures it took.