Month: August 2022

“Me, My Mom & Sharmila,” the feature directorial debut of queer Muslim writer-director Fawzia Mirza, has set its cast. The film will feature Amrit Kaur, the breakout star of Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble’s HBO Max series “The Sex Lives of College Girls”; Hamza Haq, who won best actor in 2021 and 2022 at the
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“Clarkson’s Farm,” the break-out British Amazon Prime Video hit starring former “Top Gear” host Jeremy Clarkson attempting to run a farm in the Cotswolds, has just wrapped and is already in the edit suite, confirmed Amazon Studios’ U.K. head of originals Dan Grabiner. “Because it’s farming and it’s authentic it’s so linked to the seasons
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Abel Ferrara says casting Shia LaBeouf as Padre Pio, the Italian monk who gained rock-star status among the Catholic faithful, coincided with a point in the actor’s life “where he connected very deeply with Pio’s journey in the film.” “Padre Pio,” which is among titles set to launch next week from the Venice Film Festival’s independently
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The BFI London Film Festival has revealed the line-up for LFF Expanded, its immersive art and extended realities strand (Oct. 5-16). Programmed by Ulrich Schrauth, the BFI’s immersive art and XR curator, this year’s program features interactive virtual reality, screen-based installations, augmented reality, mixed reality, immersive audio experience and live performance. The program will be
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Swedish helmer Mika Gustafson, one of a roster of promising Swedish voices with “Clara Sola”’s Natalie Álvarez-Mesén at Stockholm-based Hobab, has finalised the cast for her directorial debut “Sisters.”  The feature is in final stages of filming, and co-produced by Italy’s Intramovies, Denmark’s Toobox and Finland’s Tuffi Films. Ida Engvoll, who broke out in Netflix
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Danish international sales and aggregation outfit LevelK has boarded the thought-provoking drama “Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures” by award-winning Portuguese director Marco Martins, which world premieres in main competition at next month’s San Sebastian Film Festival.  Hailed by Variety as “a powerful study of intense grief,” Martin’s debut feature, “Alice,” won the Prix Regards Jeune at Cannes in
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Faroese-born emerging director Andrias Høgenni, winner of a Canal+ award at Cannes Critics’ Week in 2021 with his short film “Illi illa meint,” just got married this summer. His project “Anything for Her,” introduced at this year’s Nordic Co-Production Market in Haugesund, is precisely about a wedding, and much more. Family conflicts, especially with step-parents
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Seasoned Finnish producer Ilkka Matila (“The Eternal Road”, “All the Sins”) of MRP Matila Röhr has signed with Estonia’s Taska Film and locked early support from the Finnish Film Institute and local commercial channel MTV3 for the $2.7m film “Between the Hammer and the Sickle.” Nordisk Film holds Scandinavian rights. To be pitched on Aug.
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Italy’s I Wonder Pictures has boarded Finnish comedy “The Player” as a co-producer ahead of its bow at Haugesund’s industry sidebar New Nordic Films.  The company will also handle local distribution. The project is directed by Teemu Nikki and produced by It’s Alive Films’ Jani Pösö.  “I consider Teemu Nikki as one of the best European directors. He is
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On the heels of the release of her sophomore album, “Traumazine,” Megan Thee Stallion’s ongoing legal battle with Carl Crawford’s indie label 1501 Certified Entertainment continues. An amended complaint obtained by Variety and filed on behalf of Megan (real name Megan Pete) reveals that in addition to asking Harris County district court to determine that
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Not long after announcing that the Capitol label had signed a computer-generated rapper dubbed FN Meka, Capitol Music Group announced that it is severing ties with the project. The move Tuesday came after Capitol came under fire from activists pointing out that the music perpetuated Black stereotypes and included the repeated use of the N-word
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Amazon Studios is merging its Prime Video and Freevee unscripted teams  under the oversight of reality TV vet Chris Castallo. Having previously focused on Prime Video fare, Castallo will now oversee unscripted for both outlets and report to Lauren Anderson, who was recently named head of AVOD original content and programming at Amazon Studios. The
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