Month: February 2020

Swedish director-actor Mårten Klingberg (“Cockpit”) will find out if his latest dramedy is as big of an audience pleaser as early test screenings predict when he presents “My Father Marianne” as the closing night of the Göteborg Film Festival on Saturday, Feb. 1. Variety chatted to Klingberg  before the film’s bow. How did you get involved in “My Father Marianne,” which

Invitation to that most exclusive of groups, the Oscar winners club, must be gratifying to those who have come up short in the past. Some have had to put a brave face before the cameras on double-digit occasions. Sound mixer Kevin O’Connell, for instance, endured 20 unsuccessful nominations before triumphing as part of the team

January 31, 2020 11:21PM PT Social media is a termite infestation eating at the foundations of society, according to experts in Jeff Orlowski’s cautionary documentary. Many a personal device will be at least temporarily darkened by “The Social Dilemma” — though whether it’s already too late to stem, mid-course, the societal disaster the film charts is

As far as the Academy’s concerned, “Honeyland” is the bee’s knees. A Macedonian beekeeper’s struggle to sustain an ancient way of life picked up three jury prizes at 2019’s Sundance Film Festival. Now it’s the first-ever dual nominee for documentary feature and international feature. “Honeyland” thrives on elements traditionally revered in each category. Nature docs

If you’re a Natalie Wood fan, there is so much to appreciate about her — her flashing eyes, the no-nonsense immediacy of her acting. But if you ask what made her special, I think it had something to do with how she fused sensuality with a kind of sun-dazed warmth. It’s tempting to compare her

Oct. 29 “The Harriet Tubman story is very intense, and it’s a story that needs to be told, so this is the moment that Cynthia and I always talk about for Harriet: How would Harriet do a carpet?” says Bolden, who went for bold, impactful and strong. “All of those looks have this really fantastic,

By any measure, it’s been a great year for animation. From “Frozen 2” and “Toy Story 4” bringing in huge box-office numbers in the U.S. to “Ne Zha” becoming the top-grossing Chinese animated film with more than $700 million gross to 32 official entries in the best animated feature category for the 2020 Oscars, animated

Heading into sundance 2020, twin brothers Josh and Dan Braun keep fielding the same question: “What is this year’s ‘Honeyland?’” It’s not a surprising question because the Braun brothers are the co-founders and co-presidents of Submarine Entertainment, the New York-based sales, production and distribution company that sold Oscar-nominated “Honeyland” to Neon 12 months ago after

Bob Shaw has scored his first Oscar nomination, as production designer for “The Irishman.” The film looks at U.S. history through the eyes mafia hitman Frank Sheeran and his relationship with Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. The epic entailed 108 shooting days, with several locations each day. How did you start? I decided at age 16

It’s a remarkable story of personal and professional friendship, all the more so because it plays out within the notoriously volatile realm of show business. Two young men skip university to become chartered accountants. They run a partnership for almost two decades, serving and representing many of the preeminent musical attractions of their time. After

Spike Lee has signed on to direct a movie based on the Broadway show “David Byrne’s American Utopia” with Participant acting as lead financier and executive producer. River Road Entertainment and Warner Music Group will also co-finance. The film will be produced by RadicalMedia, as well as Byrne’s Todomundo and Lee’s Forty Acres and a Mule

Taika Waititi owes a lot of this awards season to his mother, Robin Cohen. She’s the one who first told him that he should think about adapting Christine Leunens’ novel “Caging Skies” for the big screen. That suggestion eventually turned out to be “Jojo Rabbit.” Adapted from “Caging Skies,“ the film was written and directed

In today’s film news roundup, DreamWorks Animation hires a Sony vet, indie comedy “Kombucha Cure” gets cast, “Siempre, Luis” gets sold and Women In Film names new board members. ACQUISITION HBO has acquired worldwide television and streaming rights to the documentary feature film “Siempre, Luis,” which had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film

January 31, 2020 5:58PM PT Netflix is in negotiations to buy the worldwide rights to Radha Blank’s semi-autobiographical comedy “The 40-Year-Old Version,” sources have confirmed. Blank directed, wrote, produced and stars in “The 40-Year-Old Version,” which premiered on Jan. 25 at the Sundance Film Festival. Peter Y. Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Reed Birney, Imani Lewis, TJ