Month: February 2022

Heirs of Jimi Hendrix’s former bandmates, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, have filed a lawsuit against Sony Music in the U.K., alleging copyright infringement and seeking royalties. The filing, in London’s High Court, follows an application for a legal declaration made by Sony Music and the Hendrix estate in a Manhattan federal court
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Along with being one of the favorites in the best picture category, “Belfast” shepherded producer, writer and director Kenneth Branagh into Oscars history books. With nominations for best picture (as one of the film’s producers) and original screenplay, Branagh is the first person to be nominated in seven individual Oscar categories, surpassing George Clooney, Alfonso
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Frederic Aspiras, hairstylist to Lady Gaga in “House of Gucci” has become the second Asian American to be nominated for a hair and makeup Oscar. Japanese-born American special make-up effects artist and visual artist Kazuhiro Tsuji is the only other Asian American to be nominated and win for “The Darkest Hour” and “Bombshell.” The award
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In a breath-taking plot twist, the health of Brazil’s indie production sector of films and TV shows has turned from the worst crisis in 30 years to an unprecedented boom. The growth is fuelled by commissions from streaming platforms such as Netflix, local Globoplay, Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max, and most recently the “resurrection”
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International sales, distribution and production company Axxon Media has picked up a troika of films ahead of Berlinale. Leading the pack is Askar Uzabayev’s “Happiness” (“Bakhyt”) from Kazakhstan, which world premieres in the festival’s Panorama section. Making its market debut at the EFM is Algeria-set “Soula,” written and directed by Salah Issaad, a contender at the Red
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International distribution house Pink Parrot Media has taken worldwide sales rights outside Spain and Portugal to 3D/2D animated musical film “Valentina,” the feature debut of Spanish producer-turned director Chelo Loureiro of Galicia’s Ábano Producións. Based out of Montreal and Madrid, Pink Parrot will introduce the toon feature to international buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market
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A long awards season is almost on its last legs. On Tuesday, Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross will unveil the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards. The presentation will begin at 5:18 a.m. PT/8:18 a.m. ET, and will be available to stream live on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, and the Academy’s Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts.
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Dark comedy-drama “Concerned Citizen,” which has its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, has debuted its trailer. Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal will be selling the film during the European Film Market. The film, a satirical parable on the insidious ways in which privilege can unleash the prejudice within, centers on Ben, who
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Leading Italian sales company The Open Reel has snagged the international sales rights to Pablo Garcia Perez de Lara’s latest doc, “Born to be Born,” ahead of its world premiere at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin. Doc revolves around a progressive public school, the Escola Congrés-Indians, in Garcia’s native Barcelona, where preparations for
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Russian production and distribution powerhouse Central Partnership will launch two new animated features at this year’s European Film Market, along with a live-action film that will have its world premiere in competition at SXSW next month. “The Swiss Adventure” (pictured) is the first big-screen animated film from SMF Animation Studio, the venerable Russian animation house
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Rapidly emerging as one of Spain’s foremost hothouses for new producer and creative talent, the ECAM Madrid Film School’s Incubator program has chosen five titles for its 2022 program: “Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes,” “Disposable,” “Macrame,” “Festina Lente” and “Ripli.” Launched to connect early career talent in Spain with Europe’s film industry,
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Reconstruction in documentary filmmaking is an eternally divisive technique: What some deem vivid and immediate, others find distancing and artificial, cloaking and blurring reality in the language of fiction cinema. Yet what if the reconstructions don’t just feature the documentary’s real-life subjects, but are expressly conceived and realized by them — not recreating reality so
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