Movies

As the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, prepares for its 27th edition, Variety spoke with artistic director Tiina Lokk about its ambitions and coming highlights. “If you see the festival like a big building, then all the walls are in and the building is ready, but some rooms are not furnished yet,” Lokk

After making a promising directorial debut with 2021’s Western “Old Henry,” filmmaker Potsy Ponciroli is back with the twisted black-comedy thriller “Greedy People,” which harkens back to classic neo-noirs like Sam Raimi’s “A Simple Plan” while sampling the idiosyncrasies of a Coen brothers’ film. The original script, by Mike Vukadinovich (Showtime’s “Kidding”), piles on the

“Snow Leopard,” the last film by Tibetan director Pema Tseden prior to his death in May, was awarded the Grand Prix at the closing ceremony of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday. Premiering out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival and later screening at Toronto, the film depicts the argument between

WestEnd Films has scored multiple sales, including to North America, on British director Patrick Dickinson’s drama “Cottontail,” which stars Japan’s Lily Franky (“Shoplifters”) and Ciaran Hinds. The film, first announced at the AFM in 2019, won the prize for best first feature last week at the Rome Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.

Umbrella Entertainment has snapped up Luke Sparke’s one-shot horror feature “Scurry” for Australia and New Zealand. Starring Jamie Costa (“Kenobi: A Star Wars Story”) and Emalia (“Paper Dolls”), the film tells the story of two strangers who find themselves trapped underground when their city is attacked by a monstrous threat. “Badly injured and with limited

Signature Entertainment has acquired U.K. and Ireland rights to horror thriller “Don’t Move” from Capstone Global. The film follows a seasoned killer as he injects a grieving woman with a paralytic agent. She must run, fight and hide before her body shuts down. The film is produced by Sam Raimi (“Evil Dead Rise”), Zainab Azizi

Tom Tykwer’s first feature film since 2016, “Das Licht” (“The Light”), is set to start rolling this month at Studio Babelsberg near Berlin. The X Filme Creative Pool production, about a troubled family who take in a Syrian immigrant as their new housekeeper, is one of a number of projects heading to the renowned studio

Barcelona-based studio Filmax has scooped international rights to “Just One Small Favor,” the new film from Zeta Studios, which is behind Netflix smash hit “Elite” and HBO Max Spanish banner title “García!” Released in Spain by Universal on Nov. 10, “Favor” will receive its market premiere at this week’s American Film Market.  Directed by Juana

Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures will disburse $140,000 to three Philippines and one Indonesian film as part of its fall grants. The Purin committee has chosen three fiction and one documentary projects for production support and one documentary project for post-production support. “The Remotes” is John Torres’ first fiction film after two decades of making

High-concept horror film “Rosario” is getting a stellar cast. David Dastmalchian (“Oppenheimer“), José Zúñiga (“Twilight”), Diana Lein (“Fear the Walking Dead”), Paul Ben-Victor (“The Irishman”) and Emilia Faucher (“CODA”) will join rising star Emeraude Toubia (“Shadowhunters”) in the pic. Penned by Alan Trezza (“We Summon the Darkness”), the story, set in New York, revolves around Rosario (Toubia), a successful Wall

Mister Smith Entertainment has clinched first key international sales on Weston Razooli’s “Riddle of Fire.” Among major territories, Mister Smith has closed Japan (Klockworx), France (ASC Distribution) and Spain (Flamingo Films). Deals build on a co-U.S acquisition by Yellow Veil Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome, which plan a domestic theatrical bow in early 2024, releasing the

“Unicorns” explores a world not seen much in feature films — the world of “gaysians,” the South Asian gay community in the U.K. The film, directed by Sally El Hosaini (“The Swimmers”) and James Krishna Floyd and written by Floyd, follows Aysha/Ashiq (charismatic newcomer Jason Patel) a queer, Muslim, South Asian drag queen living a

In the early days of the culture war, science stood on one side and religion on the other. In 1925, the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial hung on whether a Tennessee high-school instructor had violated state law by teaching human evolution. He was on trial, but it was really Charles Darwin who was on trial. Darwin

India’s Matchbox Shots is developing a project on slain Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala. Indian rapper, singer and songwriter Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known as Sidhu Moose Wala, was a star of Punjabi-language music and cinema whose work charted on Billboard globally. His work was not without controversy – it delved into raw, unfiltered issues, making

SAG-AFTRA is set to meet again on Wednesday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after a “productive” day of talks on Tuesday. The sides continue to project “cautious optimism” about resolving the strike, which is now on Day 110. The studios have warned that they must get a deal this week in

Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks, led by CEO Guido Rud, has pounced on world sales rights to Lucia Puenzo’s “Los Impactados” on the eve of the American Film Market (AFM) where it will kick off sales. Delving into the theme of rebirth in the face of profound trauma, “Los Impactados” follows Ada, portrayed by Mariana Di Girólamo

John Stamos revealed on Instagram in the wake of Matthew Perry‘s death that the late “Friends” star came to his aid during an embarrassing trip to the set of the NBC sitcom. Stamos made a surprise cameo on “Friends” in 2003 during the show’s ninth season. He played Zach, Chandler’s co-worker who is courted to

Bella DeLong (“The Winchesters”) and Amber Janea (“A Predator Returns”) have been cast in Andy Fickman’s upcoming horror feature “Blue Light.” Daryl Tofa (“Two-Bit”), Ana Zambrana (“La Traición en la Amistad”), Crystal Lake Evans (“Hightown”), Jarrett Brown (“Colin in Black and White”), John Bucy (“Frasier”) and Finley Rose Slater (“Playing with Fire”) round out the

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Monday establishing new standards and security measures regarding artificial intelligence. Deputy White House chief of staff Bruce Reed told the Associated Press that AI is an issue of great importance to the president, who was “impressed and alarmed” after seeing “fake AI images of himself” and learning

Did Warner Bros. get spooked? The studio is looking to jettison its horror film “Salem’s Lot” to Max, sources say. Warner Bros. developed it for a theatrical rollout, but after sitting on the shelf for a year, the Gary Dauberman-directed Stephen King adaptation is poised to make its debut on the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming

The Exchange has picked up world sales rights to “The Islander,” starring Harry Connick Jr. Variety can share an exclusive first look of the romantic feature. The Exchange will be introducing the title to buyers at AFM, which kicks off Oct. and runs through Nov. 5. Stelana Kliris wrote directed her original screenplay and produced

The 10th anniversary edition of Miami’s Gems Film Festival will get underway in November, promising a four-day line-up of 26 films that feature diversity and highlight more than famous faces from the awards season circuit. The festival, a fall offshoot of the Miami Film Festival hosted by Miami Dade College, will run from Nov. 2-5

The life of many an undocumented domestic worker is marked by fear. The threat of deportation may feel remote at times, but it hovers over them nonetheless — and structures their experience in ways both big and small. Exploiting such paranoia, Augustus Meleo Bernstein’s provocative if listless “At the Gates” creates a scenario where a

Break out the tobacco pipes and fedora hats: Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is returning to Imax screens for a one-week encore presentation. The blockbuster historical drama will be back on the big(gest) screen starting this Friday, including six Imax 70mm film locations: AMC CityWalk Stadium 19 in Hollywood, Calif.; AMC Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, Calif.; AMC

Trinity Creative Partnership have snapped up U.K. sales rights for historical war film “Love, Courage and the Battle for Bushy Run,” which is launching at AFM. Set in 1763, “Love, Courage and the Battle for Bushy Run” is a historical drama set against the backdrop of one of the most defining moments in American history,

Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed on “The Graham Norton Show” that he once hired an accent removal coach to try and do away with his thick Austrian accent for good. Aside from his jacked muscles, the action star’s accent is his most definitive quality as a performer. “I had an English coach and an acting coach and

Gaumont is launching “Night Call,” a high-concept thriller set over the course of a night, directed by rising filmmaker Michiel Blanchart. Blanchart, who is repped by WME and Itaka Media, previously directed the short film “You’re Dead Hélène,” which was a festival standout and played at Clermont-Ferrand and Sitges, among other festivals. It also made

The American Film Market kicks off Oct. 31 and runs through Nov. 5 in its new headquarters at the Le Meridien Delfina in Santa Monica. Industry screenings are set at theaters throughout the city and AFM’s conference series, the AFM Sessions, will take place at the Hilton Santa Monica Hotel. More than 245 companies and

Despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, sales agents and distributors are convening in Santa Monica this week in the hopes of reconnecting with buyers and kicking off deal discussions at the American Film Market. After an underwhelming Toronto Film Festival, which saw little deal activity, there’s hope that a few of the starry packages being shopped

Picture Tree Intl. has boarded international sales for Scandinavian period drama “Stormskerry Maja,” directed by Tiina Lymi (“Happier Times, Grump,” “Sisäilmaa”), adapted from Anni Blomqvist’s series of novels. The film chronicles the saga of Maja and her family as they embark on a journey to the desolate and remote island Stormskerry. Their daily existence becomes