Month: May 2022

Dubai-based distribution and production outfit Front Row Filmed Entertainment has boarded Arab-language comedy “Abdelinho,” directed by Morocco’s Hicham Ayouch and toplined by Ali Suliman (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”). The move comes as Front Row, which is a prominent MENA region indie distributor, ramps up its production side following its Arabic adaptation of Italian dramedy “Perfect

The Palm Springs area will live up to its reputation for seediness under the cover of never-ending nights — irony intended — as the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival returns to town for its 22nd annual marathon of vintage crime dramas this weekend. Leonard Maltin and TCM “Noir Alley” host Eddie Muller will be among

Just as Marvel movie fans were getting the chance to see “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” on May 6, they were also getting an update from James Gunn that filming had officially wrapped on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” The end of production marked the finish line for Dave Bautista’s MCU tenure

“The Maze Runner’s” Kaya Scodelario, “John Wick’s” Lance Reddick and “Bohemian Rhapsody’s” Ben Hardy are set to lead the cast of sci-fi thriller “Apteros.” Independent Entertainment have launched international sales on the pic, which is written and directed by Edward Anderson (“Shuttle”). Producer Laura Rister (“Mr Malcolm’s List”) will handle North American rights with Independent

Variety has been given exclusive access to the first teaser for Norwegian drama “War Sailor,” which follows two Norwegian sailors whose merchant ship is attacked by German submarines at the outbreak of World War II. Beta Cinema will be selling the film at the Cannes Market. [embedded content] The film centers on Alfred Garnes, a

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the program of its Cinema de la Plage section which launched last year with a mix of restored classics, cult films and premieres. Open to all audiences, the Cinema de la Plage will take place on the beach every evening and will be free of charge. The program, which

Independent Entertainment have boarded M. Cahill’s “Porcupine” and will launch international sales at the Cannes Marche. Vertical Entertainment have the North American rights and have set a summer 2022 release for the film, which was written and directed by Cahill. Featuring Jena Malone (Hunger Games franchise) and Robert Hunger-Bühler (“Vacuum”), “Porcupine” is based on a

Daniel Battsek, director, Film4, has been elevated to chair, while deputy director and creative director Ollie Madden will succeed Battsek as director. Film4 is the filmmaking arm of U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, which invests £25 million ($31 million) annually to develop and co-fund British films with British talent. Since its launch, films it has backed

Anurag Kashyap’s “Dobaaraa” has been set as the opening night film of the London Indian Film Festival. Despite its name, the festival will play at venues across the U.K., and will present 24 features and 18 shorts. “Dobaaraa” is a supernatural thriller that LIFF describes as involving a young woman trapped between two lives in

A new documentary on tennis superstar Boris Becker is nearing completion and is set to be sold at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. Alex Gibney, Oscar-winning director of “Taxi to the Dark Side” and John Battsek, producer of the Oscar-winning “One Day in September,” have had exclusive access to Becker since 2019 and have been

Shivkumar Sharma, Hindustani classical musician and co-composer of several memorable Bollywood film soundtracks for the late Yash Chopra, died on Tuesday in Mumbai. He was 84. Sharma, addressed by the honorific Pandit, had kidney related ailments for the past six months and eventually succumbed to a cardiac arrest. Born in Jammu, Northern India, Sharma became

For some time, the French VFX sector suffered an acute case of brain drain, as young professionals would graduate from internationally admired institutions and nearly immediately take their talents abroad. “Years ago, when I spoke with students from [the renowned school] ArtFX, something like 95% of them planned to leave after graduation,” says VFX supervisor

Playing a foundational role in the history of film and benefitting from enough picturesque locales to launch a thousand postcards, France has long attracted directors and crews from across the globe. Keeping them on site for more than a few days, however, was once a different story altogether. The 2009 passage of the Tax Rebate

Viewed with 20/20 hindsight, all of history appears inevitable simply because it went to the trouble of happening. More than four decades after it defied skeptics, entertained millions, and hit the No. 2 spot (just behind “The Empire Strikes Back”) on the list of top-grossing 1980 movies, green-lighting “9 to 5” might now appear to