Month: February 2023

“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” composer Andrew Scott Bell used a wealth of unique sounds, including a beehiveolin — a combination of a beehive and violin — to score the micro-budget slasher movie. Bell recalled reading an article in The New Yorker about Tyler Thackray, the creator of Instagram account @violintorture, who experiments with

Variety will present Nicolas Cage with the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the Miami Film Festival on March 5. Previous recipients of the prestigious award include Francis Ford Coppola, Hans Zimmer and Ron Howard. “Year after year, Nicolas Cage proves to be an actor of great range, exhibiting dramatic power and great comedic verve,

For a hot minute, it looked like BlackBerry might control the smartphone market. They got there first, figuring out how to use the existing data network to put email in users’ hands. Sure, it all came packaged in a device as thick and unwieldy as a slice of French toast — too big for most

Emily Atef, who is presenting her latest film, “Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything,” in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, just moved to Paris to direct “La Maison,” a series depicting a fictional family-owned French luxury fashion empire. While discussing “Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything” ahead of its world premiere, Atef told Variety

Stella Stevens, who starred with Elvis Presley in “Girls! Girls! Girls!” and with Jerry Lewis in “The Nutty Professor” as well as in disaster film “The Poseidon Adventure,” died Friday in Los Angeles. Her son, Andrew Stevens, said she had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 84. “Girls! Girls! Girls!” (1962) was one of the

In celebration of his love for animation, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro is set to program a weekend of animation for the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica called “Guillermo del Toro’s Weekend of Animation.” The films programmed by del Toro will include screenings of “The Red Turtle” and “I Lost My

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The beautifully creepy android doll from “M3GAN” is shimmying her way into your home. The unrated cut of the satirical sci-fi horror film will begin streaming exclusively on Peacock starting Feb. 24. Directed by

Anyone who has spent much time on Film Twitter recently might know that there are two recurring subjects sure to instigate discourse wars between certain moralistic Zoomers and their befuddled elders: on-screen relationships marked by significant age gaps, and on-screen sex scenes between partners of any age, largely condemned by youthful detractors as gratuitous narrative

Variety is set to honor “Fruitvale Station” producer and Significant Productions co-founder Nina Yang Bongiovi with its Creative Impact in Producing Award at the Sun Valley Film Festival in Idaho in recognition of her many achievements. At 10 a.m. March 31, she will participate in a Coffee Talk, which is the crown jewel of the

Spain boasts a bullish presence at the Berlinale. Following, short profiles of its features that have made the festival cut and a selection of top titles being moved at the European Film Market: 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES Director: Estíbaliz Urresola Spain’s Berlin competition player is from Urresola, director of Cannes Critics’ Week short “Chords.” Film

The César Awards are characterized as France’s answer to the Oscars. And just like their awards show cousin halfway across the world, the Césars are embroiled in controversy after failing to nominate any women directors.  This year’s Academy Awards were slammed by advocacy groups after ignoring the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Woman King”) and

Spain has proved ever more successful in luring some of the biggest movies and series, and although 2020 saw a large rise in tax breaks, the big hike came in December. New record tax advantages raised relief for international productions to up to €20 million ($21.4 million) per movie and $10.7 million for any single

Belarusian filmmakers and industry professionals gathered in Berlin on Friday to announce the launch of the Belarusian Film Academy (BIFA), an organization formed to give a platform to independent filmmakers in the repressive former Soviet republic and staunch Kremlin ally. Born in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when more than 130 Belarusian

The intersection between Black Lives Matter and a COVID-like pandemic plus a standout performance from non-professional actor Mwajemi Hussein is sure to make “The Survival of Kindness” one of Berlin’s most talked-about films. The film is deliberately obscure – the little dialog that is heard involves each performer speaking in a language of their own

“The Echo” — or rather, El Eco — is the name of a tiny rural village in Mexico’s Puebla state that sufficiently captivated Mexican-Salvadorean filmmaker Tatiana Huezo into filming it over the course of 18 months, observing its changes in weather, fortune and the temperament of its few, tightly bonded residents in fine, fraught degrees.

REinvent International sales has closed deals on genre titles from its Chills label, including “Dark Windows,” “Leave” and “Shadow Island,” ahead of the EFM. “Dark Windows,” Alex Herron’s English-language horror thriller, has been sold to the MENA region (ENL / Empire Network Ltd) and Latin America (Gussi). The movie tells the story of teenagers involved

Best Friend Forever has boarded Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s debut feature “Banel & Adama,” a lushly lensed Senegalese female emancipation drama. Now in post, the movie is expected to have its world premiere later this year. ‘Banel & Adama’ is set a remote village of Northern Senegal where Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. Longing for

Barcelona-based sales shingle Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Ellipsis,” directed and co-written by  Goya-nominated David Marqués (“The Unemployment Club,” “En Temporada Baja”). “Ellipsis” toplines a slew of Spanish-language world stars, including  Diego Peretti (“The Kingdom,” “The Wrath of God”), José Coronado (“No Rest for the Wicked”), and iconic Mexican thesp Cecilia Suárez