LOS CABOS, Mexico — Cultivated and connected, Carla Gonzalez Vargas has discovered her calling. The result, “Luis Miguel – The Series,” is one of Latin America’s drama series sensations of the year, catapulting lead Diego Boneta to fame, sparking a litany of extraordinary social media stats, and turning Gonzalez Vargas into still one of the
Movies
Bing Liu’s “Minding the Gap,” an look at small-town American life through the lens of a group of skateboarder friends, led the 2018 Cinema Eye Honors nominations for nonfiction filmmaking Thursday. The film, a Hulu original documentary, landed seven bids, for direction, editing, cinematography, original score, debut feature and the audience award, in addition to
To start with, some credit where it’s due: In the nearly half century since the death of J.R.R. Tolkien, no writer of the English language has created a more pliable, tangible, and livable fantasy world than J.K. Rowling. And save for Peter Jackson’s sojourns to Middle Earth, no recent filmmaker has put in a more
Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage,” Colombia’s official entry to the Oscars’ Foreign-Language category, took home the best picture Fenix Award in a glittering ceremony held in Mexico City on Nov. 7. Its lead actress, Carmiña Martínez, clinched the best actress Fenix. However, Argentine period drama “Zama” by Lucrecia Martel snagged the most
A total of 166 films have been submitted for consideration in the documentary feature category for the 91st Academy Awards. Notable titles up for the gold include “RBG,” “Three Identical Strangers,” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” — which have performed strongly at the box office. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences noted
LOS CABOS, Mexico — Cinematographer-turned-director Joaquín del Paso is at this year’s Los Cabos Festival with his highly anticipated sophomore feature, the 1986-set suspense-thriller, “The Hole in the Fence,” pitching at the festival’s Works in Development section. Del Paso also announced to Variety that “It Follows” and “Under the Silver Lake” composer Disasterpiece will score the film,
November 8, 2018 11:08AM PT Rising star Jodie Turner-Smith will star opposite Academy Award nominee Daniel Kaluuya in Universal Pictures and Makeready’s “Queen & Slim.” “Insecure” helmer Melina Matsoukas is set to make her feature directing debut from a script by Lena Waithe. The story follows a couple after they’re stopped by the police and
November 8, 2018 8:02AM PT The missing link has been found in the first trailer for Zach Galifianakis’ stop-motion film. “Missing Link” follows the charismatic Sir Lionel Frost, voiced by Hugh Jackman, as he works to uncover a lost species of animal, linking the human race to its more beastly ancestors. What he finds, however,
For the second straight year, a record eight African films were submitted to the Academy for consideration, vying for a chance to bring home just the third statue for the continent in the nearly 50 years since Costa-Gavras won for the Algerian-French political thriller “Z.” This year’s submissions aren’t likely to get the buzz of
The Oscar for foreign-language film may ostensibly represent world cinema at an evening otherwise largely dedicated to Hollywood, but it’s marked by its own form of cultural hegemony: Eurocentrism. Of the 70 foreign-language films (including special award winners) honored as the year’s best by the Academy, a whopping 56 have been from Europe. For the
Ema Edosio would be the first to admit she didn’t know what she was getting into when she decided to make her first feature film. “I had no idea how I was going to raise the money. I had no idea what the distribution strategy was going to be,” she said. “I just wanted to
November 8, 2018 6:51AM PT As it unveiled its third-quarter results this week, German TV group ProSiebenSat.1 said it was in the process of reviewing its existing output deals with U.S. studios, while planning to ramp up local productions and its digital offering. The company’s results show that profit dropped by 8% and revenue fell
In his second year at the helm as artistic director of the Africa Intl. Film Festival (AFRIFF), Newton Aduaka said his goal when curating this year’s edition, which unspools Nov. 11-18 in Lagos, was “to present a rigorously selected program with an international gaze.” It’s an acknowledgment by the Paris-based filmmaker, who was born in
When the organizers of the ION Intl. Film Festival decided to bring their traveling event to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, nearly a decade ago, they called on Chioma Ude – then managing director of a local logistics company – to help it take flight. It didn’t matter that a fest founded in Hollywood was unspooling in
ATHENS — Raúl de la Fuente and Damian Nenow’s “Another Day of Life,” the hybrid animation-live action adaptation of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski’s harrowing account of the Angolan Civil War, led the pack with five nominations at the second annual European Animation Awards, which were announced Thursday morning in Athens. “Chris the Swiss,” Anja Kofmel’s
Netflix says it will honor its promise to give a theatrical release to “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle,” the big-budget fantasy film by actor-director Andy Serkis. The streaming giant said it would give the picture a limited theatrical release from Nov. 29 in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and London. “Mowgli” will then be
French composer Francis Lai, who won an Oscar for “Love Story” and penned the beguiling theme for “A Man and a Woman,” has died at the age of 86, the mayor of Nice announced on Wednesday. No cause of death was reported. Lai’s plaintive piano melody for “Love Story,” the 1970 tearjerker that made stars
In today’s film news roundup, the “Nightmare Cinema” anthology starring Mickey Rourke gets a release, “Instant Dreams” is acquired, Universal’s Kristin Lowe is promoted and “Venom” hits a milestone. ACQUISITIONS Cranked Up Films has partnered with AMC Network’s streaming platform Shudder to buy North American distribution rights to Cinelou Films’ “Nightmare Cinema” anthology, Variety has
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan was presented with the first-ever DEG “Vanguard” award at the 4K UHD Summit in L.A. on Nov. 6. The event, held at the Skirball Cultural Center, was produced by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group and the UHD Alliance. Presenting the award to Nolan (above left) was Ron Sanders (above right), president of
The Israel Film Festival has released a statement after Jason Blum was booed offstage Wednesday night while making remarks critical of Donald Trump while he was accepting an award. The speech came in the midst of midterm election results being reported, which made it a “very tense day,” the festival said. Festival director Meir Fenigstein
November 7, 2018 1:53PM PT Andy Fickman has signed on to direct the Paramount Players pic “Playing With Fire” starring John Cena, sources tell Variety. The family comedy revolves around a group of rugged wildfire fighters who meet their match when they rescue a trio of rambunctious children. Todd Garner and Sean Robins of Broken
November 7, 2018 1:07PM PT Bradley Cooper is about to get showered in a lot of love. The four-time Oscar nominee will receive the American Cinematheque Award later this month in Beverly Hills, Calif. The Cinematheque has now announced that the star-studded lineup paying tribute to Cooper will include his “A Star Is Born” co-stars Lady
November 7, 2018 1:04PM PT Police were called to WME’s headquarters on Wednesday after a suspicious package was delivered to the Beverly Hills office. Though the lower level was temporarily evacuated, employees in the upper levels of the building remained in the office as police assessed the scene. Camden Avenue, where the building is located,
November 7, 2018 11:46AM PT Bleecker Street has partnered with LD Entertainment for a spring 2019 release of the Elle Fanning drama “Teen Spirit.” The film, which is Max Minghella’s directorial debut, follows a shy teenager living in a small European town who dreams of pop stardom as an escape from her dismal surroundings and
The idea for “Elf” began as an ode to New York during the holidays. David Berenbaum, the screenwriter behind the Christmas classic, had just moved to Los Angeles and missed the East Coast. The nostalgia for the city inspired what he calls a “left-of-center” family comedy about a human who was raised by elves in
Courtney B. Vance, Niecy Nash, and Mamoudou Athie will star in the father-son drama “Uncorked” for Netflix. “Uncorked” is loosely based on the family history of “Insecure” showrunner Prentice Penny, who is directing from his own script in his feature directorial debut. Principal photography will begin Saturday in Memphis, Tenn. Filming will also take place
November 7, 2018 10:28AM PT Mickey Rourke will produce and star in the independent crime drama “Twilight Into Darkness,” Variety has learned exclusively. Rourke will portray a detective who becomes obsessed with finding and stopping a child murderer while searching for his own redemption. Rourke and Brian Metcalf are both producing under Rourke’s Ruby Baby
Our all-encompassing cinematic landscape has evolved over the decades, but within the past few years, something startling has occurred within the realm of independent cinema. Not only do the major studios have their own well-funded artfilm divisions that are in the business of making movies that feel independent, but the truly indie studios and distributors
After winning the director Oscar for “La La Land” in 2017, Damien Chazelle did a thematic 180-degree turn for his follow-up. “First Man” centers on Neil Armstrong (played by Ryan Gosling), the first person to walk on the moon, and the personal story that took him to that momentous event in 1969. Chazelle credits his
Spike Lee is set to direct “Frederick Douglass Now,” his third movie adaptation of a one-man stage show by Roger Guenveur Smith, after “A Huey P. Newton Story” and “Rodney King.” The new film is set up at Buffalo 8, which produced “Rodney King” with Luna Ray Media. Netflix acquired “Rodney King” last year. “Frederick Douglass Now” will