Month: September 2021

In “Blue Moon,” young Irina dreams of University in Bucharest while her chaotic, rural family serves to undermine her future. Alina Grigore’s directorial debut premiers in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival, and follows Irina’s psychological take on ‘blood for blood.’ Grigore – who wrote and starred in Berlinale prize-winning film “Illegitimate” – moves
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International documentary film festival IDFA has revealed the first films selected for its 34th edition, which runs Nov. 17-28 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. These are the program curated by the event’s guest of honor, the German filmmaker, media artist and writer Hito Steyerl, and a selection of four films directed by Armenia’s Artavazd Pelechian, who
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Finnish series “Mister8,” produced by It’s Alive Films and sold internationally by Federation Entertainment, will celebrate its international premiere at Canneseries. The series festival will take place on Oct. 8-13 in Cannes, alongside the 37th edition of the MipTV market. Starring Krista Kosonen (spotted in “Blade Runner 2049”) and Pekka Strang, reuniting after their 2019
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Sky Original’s fifth and final season of “Gomorrah,” RTL Group and Beta Film’s German-language “Sisi,” and Canal Plus’ hip-hop themed “All The Way Up” will — rather fittingly — join the David Tennant-led, Slim Film+Televison/Federation co-produced “Around the World in 80 Days” for an internationally accented edition of Canneseries, which plays from Oct. 8-13. Running
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Eva Longoria, Anne Hathaway, Debbie Allen, Peter Dinklage, Richard Gere, Connie Britton and other Hollywood notables have signed an open letter urging world leaders to make COVID-19 vaccines widely available in developing countries. On Tuesday, humanitarian organization Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) released the open letter with more than 70 signatures from prominent
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Some 68% of teens say that seeing positive portrayals of mental health conditions on-screen breaks down stigma, a survey commissioned by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has found. The research, conducted by YouGov, also reveals that 48% said that seeing these positive depictions helps them understand issues around mental health, can act as
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Fresh off another win at Finland’s Jussi Awards, this time for his short film “The Bouncer,” Aleksi Salmenperä is already in post-production with his upcoming feature “Bubble,” about to be presented at Helsinki International Film Festival’s industry event Finnish Film Affair in its Fiction in Progress section. “I was sort of embarrassed by this win,”
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Syrian director and producer Diana El Jeiroudi spent 12 years making “Republic of Silence,” her decidedly non-conventional documentary, perhaps better described as a personal video diary, depicting the turmoil of Syria’s civil war seen from the outside. This sprawling non-linear work that jumps between Syria and her present home in Berlin and comprises the plight
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SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the series premiere of “Ordinary Joe.” “Ordinary Joe,” NBC’s latest tearjerker drama, starts simply enough with the eponymous young man (played by James Wolk) graduating from college. He is at a time in his life where the world is both widely open to him, but
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SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the series premiere of “The Big Leap.” “The Big Leap,” the title of Simone Recasner’s new television series, has multiple meanings for the rising star. It is the name of the reality dance competition within the show, on which the main characters are competing, in
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The most performed R&B and hip-hop songs in the BMI repertoire were awarded at the 2021 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, recognizing the top songwriters, producers and music publishers of the previous year. Held virtually across all BMI digital and social channels, marquee categories included song, songwriter, producer and publisher of the year. “Say So” written and
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Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” topped the Rolling Stone albums chart for a second week, holding the No. 1 spot with more than 232,000 project units, according to Alpha Data. The album moved more than double the amount of the week’s biggest debut, Kacey Musgraves’ “Star-Crossed.” That album made a strong entry at No. 2, with
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As she slowly awakens from the “dream” of working with director Steven Spielberg on “West Side Story,” Maddie Ziegler is teasing some of the upcoming musical’s standout scenes, including the iconic “Dance at the Gym” number.  The “Dance Moms” alum stars as Velma in Spielberg’s film adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical, about two teenagers (played
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Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning editor of the original “Star Wars,” wasn’t very happy with Disney’s sequel trilogy. She said producer Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams “don’t get it” and “the storylines are terrible” in an interview for J.W. Rinzler’s book “Howard Kazanjian: A Producer’s Life,” which examines the prolific producer’s life, including his time
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