Movies

Just as she emerged as one of the brightest lights of Latin American cinema, actor Pina Pellicer died by her own hand 60 years ago. Only 30, she had in a short time co-starred opposite Marlon Brando in his only directing effort, the epic Western “One-Eyed Jacks,” and also appeared in one of the most

Yasuo Nakajima and Mariona Carrera’s Barcelona and Tokyo-based b-mount have boarded “Maybe It’s True What They Say About Us,’ (“Quizás Es Cierto Lo Que Dicen De Nosotras”) from Chilean filmmaking duo Camilo Becerra (“El último sacramento”) and Sofía Paloma Gómez (“Quiero morirme dentro de un tiburón”), seen at San Sebastian’s San Sebastián WIP Latam competition.

Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu and his Bucharest-based company Mobra Films will join forces with Poland’s Kijora Films on “Tales of the Golden Age – The Warsaw Pact,” a follow up to his 2009 sketch comedy referencing urban legends from the Ceausescu regime.  Expanding to accommodate stories from different ex-communist Eastern European countries, including Poland,

Spanish indie film studio Filmax has sold sleeper hit “The Teacher who Promised the Sea” to Italy’s Officine Ubu following sales to Nachshon Films in Israel, Angel Films Scandinavia, India’s BookMyShow and airline rights to Encore Inflight. “The Teacher…” is based on the real story of Antoni Benaiges, an instructor from Catalonia who, back in 1935, was

In “Pepe,” Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias tells the story of a very special hippopotamus. Or rather, he allows the hippopotamus to tell the story himself. “Pablo Escobar brought three hippos to Colombia back in 1981. He was ‘the pioneer’ among drug lords investing in exotic pets. When he had to abandon his mansion

At age 17, there are only so many ways a high school student can flee a suffocating life. Bullied by her fellow students, Fanny (Lilith Grasmug) tried to commit suicide — or so she says — but fortunately, that didn’t work. Now, this shy, self-questioning and clearly troubled teen is counting on a foreign exchange

Signature Entertainment has acquired the U.K. and Ireland rights to the Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island”) horror film ”The Home” from Miramax. The feature was produced by Bill Block (“Halloween Kills”) and Sébastian K. Lemercier (“The First Purge”) and is directed by James DeMonaco (“The Purge” franchise) from a script co-written by DeMonaco and Adam Cantor. Last year Lionsgate bought the film for

“Do I look like every other politician?” Regina King‘s Shirley Chisholm says in response to being told she sounds like every other politician in the trailer for “Shirley.” Out March 22, the Netflix film tells the story of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, and chronicles her trailblazing 1972

Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has launched a new film fund called Big Time Investment to boost production of quality Arabic movies and announced a slate of Egyptian feature films toplined by a biopic of Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum who is considered the Arab world’s greatest singer. Prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed, whose epic

Not too long ago, it would have been considered a box office suicide mission to pit any new release against a superhero movie. But this weekend’s showdown of Sony’s comic book adaptation “Madame Web” versus Paramount’s musical biopic “Bob Marley: One Love” demonstrates that’s no longer the case — superhero tentpoles no longer hold all

“We need a new idea of beauty,” says Michele De Lucchi, the Italian architect who talks us through certain stretches of “Architecton,” a singularly imposing and sonorous new documentary from Russian non-fiction auteur Victor Kossakovsky. His argument is that the earth can no longer sustain the kind of hefty architectural grandeur, built from the fabric

Kirsten Niehuus, head of German film fund Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, is confident that the changes to film funding proposed by the German government recently will have a “very positive effect on the production scene in Berlin-Brandenburg.” The proposed changes to the funding system were presented last week to German lawmakers in the Bundestag by commissioner for

‘Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger,’ the documentary executive produced and narrated by Matin Scorsese, has been acquired by Mubi ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The arthouse streamer, distributor and production company has bought all rights for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Latin

BAFTA has responded strongly after a man crashed the final category at the film awards on Sunday night. The man, an alleged social media prankster who Variety has opted not to name, joined “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan, producers Emma Thomas and Charles Roven and star Cillian Murphy on stage after Michael J. Fox named the

Film production and distribution company KRG Studios is teaming with acclaimed filmmaker Anjali Menon on a Tamil-language feature film. Menon’s London Film School graduation short “Black Nor White” (2002), starring Archie Panjabi (“The Good Wife”) and Rez Kempton (“The Mummy”), won the BFI award at the Palm Springs film festival. Her directing credits include “Manjadikuru”

“Poor Things” director Yorgos Lanthimos will reteam with Element Pictures on a remake of South Korean fantasy comedy “Save the Green Planet,” Variety has learned. Lanthimos — whose latest film, “Poor Things,” is nominated for 11 Oscars and just won five BAFTAs (including best actress for Emma Stone) — is expected to start shooting the

The Locarno Film Festival has formed an advisory board for its industry side and recruited a roster of top indie industry figures including former Amazon Studios film executive Ted Hope, Bobby Allen, who is senior VP of content at Mubi, and former European Film Market chief Beki Probst as members. Locarno’s industry advisory board will be

Playtime has had a busy EFM, where it’s locked a raft of major deals on “The Devil’s Bath,” a period psychological thriller in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “The Devil’s Bath” is directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind “Goodnight Mommy.” Set in rural Austria in 1750, “The Devil’s Bath”

As the European Film Market starts to unwind, the verdict is already in: Even if global economics are rocky, buyers are back and on the lookout. This week, dealmaking has been happening on both star-driven packages as well as arthouse and foreign-language movies. In a sign that the theatrical business is rebounding, Sony just scooped

“From Hilde, With Love,” which world premiered Saturday in competition at the Berlinale, has debuted its trailer (below). The film, directed by Andreas Dresen, centers on a group of young anti-Nazi activists in Berlin during World War II. (Read Variety‘s review here.) The film, which is being sold by Beta Cinema and is produced by

European film agencies, festivals and organizations could do more to support Ukrainian filmmakers, the head of Germany’s state film promotion body, German Films, says. Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films — which supports the promotion of national filmmakers at festivals and events worldwide — says there is a lot of talk at festival panels

Chile’s Storyboard Media brings its latest documentary venture to Berlin, a project centered on Jorge González, a Latin American music legend frontman of Los Prisioneros.  Set to be shown at the EFM, the doc feature charts the life and legacy of a musician whose songs became anthems of resistance during Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, and

British actor Solly McLeod‘s career is on an upward trajectory with Berlin-premiering “Last Swim” and Viggo Mortensen-directed “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” which premiered at Toronto 2023 and is bound for Glasgow next. Set over a hot summer day in London as the high-school year is ending, “Last Swim,” from feature debutant Sasha Nathwani, follows British-Iranian

It’s been five years since “Chernobyl,” HBO’s phenomenally successful miniseries about the catastrophic 1986 disaster and a show that garnered both widespread acclaim and a whole host of Emmys, Golden Globes and BAFTA TV awards. Its creator Craig Mazin has since brought us zombies galore in the video game adaptation “The Last of Us,” but

International sales company Iuvit Media Sales has closed multiple deals at the European Film Market in Berlin for the suspense horror slasher “Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge.” Buyers include Gussi Films for Latin America, Pioneer for the Philippines and Front Row for the Middle East. Directed by Craig Rees (“Annabellum,” “Whispers”) and

The fight for diversity and inclusion takes center stage at this year’s European Film Market, which will host a day-long event Feb. 20 as part of a concerted, pan-European effort to open more doors in the continent’s screen industries. This year’s Equity and Inclusion Pathways Seminar is the second of three annual events designed to

Its raining biopics of revered 17th century Indian ruler Shivaji Bhonsle in Mumbai. Days after Sandeep Singh’s “The Pride of Bharat – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj” was announced, billionaire Mukesh Ambani‘s Jio Studios and actors Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh’s Mumbai Film Company have unveiled their collaboration on “Raja Shivaji.” Both films were revealed on the occasion

An unsung master of movie magic, Solon Luigi Colani has worked on some of the biggest Hollywood movies ever shot in Germany and beyond, among them works by Quentin Tarantino, Ron Howard, George Clooney, Denis Villeneuve, Paul W.S. Anderson, Gore Verbinski and the Wachowskis. His enormous range of practical visual effects have also become regular

Acclaimed British actor, writer and director Samantha Morton who was awarded a Fellowship at the EE BAFTA Awards on Sunday has called for more investment in British cinema. The award is the highest recognition given by BAFTA to an individual for their exceptional contribution to the film, games or television industry. Addressing a press conference

With just four days remaining until final Oscar voting officially opens, the race has taken a few unexpected turns at the BAFTA Awards. Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” a biographical drama about the father of the atomic bomb, has continued to surge ahead after seven wins, including best film and director. Its trajectory towards a triumphant night