Month: October 2021

Bangladeshi filmmaker Nuhash Humayun’s “Moving Bangladesh” has received NT$2.5 million ($89,800) from the Taipei Film Fund. With this, the TIFFCOM selected project has achieved 60% of its $659,000 budget and aims to raise the rest in Tokyo. In “Moving Bangladesh,” sick of being stuck in traffic — and in life — a struggling middle-class Bangladeshi entrepreneur

Japanese film sellers are once again out in force at TIFFCOM, which is completely online for the second year in a row. Buyers will find much familiar from the Busan market, but new titles are on offer as well. NIKKATSU Japan’s oldest continuously operated studio, Nikkatsu is bringing Matsui Daigo’s “Just Remembering,” a romantic drama

Michael Laughlin, a filmmaker and producer whose credits included the likes of 1971’s “Two-Lane Blacktop” and 1981’s “Strange Behavior,” died on Oct. 20 from complications related to COVID-19. He was 82 years old. Laughlin’s death was confirmed to Variety by his friend Brooke Nasser. He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, where had been living for many years. Laughlin

Kal Penn, the actor best known for his lead role in the “Harold & Kumar” comedy series, has come out, revealing that he is engaged to his partner of eleven years. Penn gave his story during an interview on this week’s CBS Sunday Morning while promoting his new tell-all memoir “You Can’t Be Serious,” touching

Disney has announced eleven new cast members that will join returning stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in “Hocus Pocus 2,” its upcoming Disney Plus sequel to the 1993 family fantasy film. Disney made the announcement through its official Disney Plus Twitter, alongside a video featuring the sequel’s logo. The black flame

For the first time in modern history, October is the highest-grossing month of the year at the domestic box office. Thanks to Sony’s comic book adventure “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” MGM’s James Bond sequel “No Time to Die,” Universal’s “Halloween Kills” and the Warner Bros. and Legendary tentpole “Dune,” the season that celebrates all

Kumail Nanjiani did something most people would never think of — he turned down a party invitation from Angelina Jolie. And not just any party. Jolie hosted a Halloween bash while they were filming “Eternals” in the Canary Islands. “I did get an invite but I actually didn’t go because we were shooting on location

Quick, which of the following describes Timothée Chalamet? He’s the brightest male star of his generation. He’s an actor who has been in a handful of independent hits (“Call Me by Your Name,” “Lady Bird”) but has never, on his own, in the classic sense, truly opened a movie. He’s a clothes horse with a

Unfortunately for “No Time to Die’s” China debut, government authorities have decided that it’s currently no time for citizens to risk dying of COVID-19 at the movies and are taking extra precautions to suspend cinema operations across the country this weekend as new outbreaks occur. Hollywood is catching a tough break in China this month.

The domestic box office was lighter on the treats and heavier on the tricks during Halloween weekend, capping an otherwise busy October at the movies on a muted note. Horror movies “Antlers” and “Last Night in Soho” opened nationwide and struggled to scare up strong ticket sales, leaving last weekend’s champion “Dune” to rule over

Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky brings a basket brimming with projects to this year’s AFM as he looks forward to easier international conditions as the COVID pandemic begins to recede. Deals with two of Russia’s biggest platforms — Kinopoisk HD on local search engine giant Yandex, and Okko, part of leading bank Sber (which has a

“Flabbergasted” is Georges Chamchoum’s choice word to use when thinking of Asia’s disappointingly low Oscar representation, especially given all the masterpieces that have come from the region. Two years after South Korea’s Parasite won best picture, Chamchoum believes events such as the Asian World Film Festival, of which he serves as executive and program director, are

Stories of urban life under pressure dominated the 25th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival as the event wrapped Saturday with top honors going to Slovak director Barbora Sliepkova for “Lines,” called by the jury an “exceptional” approach to showing how “beauty, intimacy and space are intertwined” amid social and economic contradictions and connections. “Lines” also

James Ivory has offered an account on his exit from co-directorial duties on the 2017 drama “Call Me by Your Name,” explaining his creative differences with director Luca Guadagnino. In an excerpt from Ivory’s new memoir, “Solid Ivory,” published by GQ, the seasoned film director and writer goes into detail about being dropped from the

Alec Baldwin has given his first comments on-camera regarding the tragedy on the set of “Rust,” in which a prop gun held by the actor and producer accidentally discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. In an intense but polite conversation with paps on a roadside in Vermont, Baldwin addressed the fatal incident and explained his relationship

George Tyssen Butler, a documentary filmmaker best known for co-directing the 1977 feature “Pumping Iron,” died on Oct. 21 of pneumonia at his home in New Hampshire. He was 78 years old. Butler’s death was confirmed to Variety by his longtime companion Caroline Alexander. Butler was born in England in 1943 and grew up in Somalia and