Participating in the Goes to Cannes initiative for the very first time, Australia’s Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival has unveiled titles selected for its works-in-progress showcase: Four feature films and one documentary. “It is the first time that Goes to Cannes has a partner from Australia and it’s also the first time when we
Movies
A long-anticipated adaptation of the 2003 bestselling novel “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi is hitting the Marché du Film at Cannes this month. Directed by award-winning director Eran Riklis (“Lemon Tree”) and written by Marjorie David, the film stars an ensemble cast led by Golshifteh Farahani (“Pirates of the Caribbean”), Zar Amir-Ebrahimi (“Holy
Damien Chazelle will preside over the competition jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival. The U.S. director is a Venice regular, having opened the Lido event on two occasions, in 2016 with “La La Land” and in 2018 with “First Man.” Damien Chazelle, welcoming Venice’s proposal stated: “For ten days each year this city of
Russell Crowe will receive the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival (June 30-July 8). The Oscar winning actor will also deploy his musical talent with his band Indoor Garden Party, which will perform at the festival’s opening night concert. The festival also revealed Friday that
Yash Raj Films’ Bollywood blockbuster “Pathaan,” headlined by superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is set for a historic theatrical release in Bangladesh, Variety has confirmed. Hindi-language Bollywood films, while very popular in the country, have not been released in Bangladesh since the country’s formation in 1971, in a bid to protect the country’s local film industry.
“Rain in My Head” was the big winner at the 10th annual Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, taking honors for best film, director Chrissy Marshall and actor Layne Apffel. Also saluted were Nathan Cox, editor for “Smash or Pass”; Rachel Handler, writer, “Unlucky in Love”; and Judith Rubin and “Leap of Love” for best awareness campaign.
Watching a police-procedural homicide drama, whether it’s the grungiest of VOD potboilers or the most visionary film of the genre, Michael Mann’s silvery, dread-drenched “Manhunter,” we more or less know one thing: At the end of two hours, the grisly mystery we’ve been dunked in will have its catharsis and its resolution. We will know
It’s deja vu all over again for Patric Verrone, the former WGA West president who led the guild during the 2007-08 writers strike. Verrone, who spoke to Variety while picketing outside Fox Studios in West Los Angeles, sees a number of parallels to the dynamic that led to the work stoppage in November 2007 but
Brad Pitt is getting in the cockpit of a real Formula One race car for his upcoming film on the international racing league, according to director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. During a panel about the untitled film at the F1 Accelerate Summit in Miami, Kosinski and Bruckheimer shared production details of the Apple
We’ve all heard Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” but if you really listen to the lyrics — “Love can touch us one time / And last for a lifetime … Near, far, wherever you are / I believe that the heart does go on” — the tragedy they describe applies to more than
When last we saw the title character of Mani Ratnam’s epic “Ponniyin Selvan” saga, the real-life prince who would expand the Chola empire from South India all the way to the Ganges in the north was drowning as he crossed from Lanka to India. Instead of picking up at that cliffhanger, the action-packed second installment
“Inkas the Ramferinkas,” a story about a small flying dinosaur, is being adapted into an animated feature film. Independent film producer Niels Juul and Sherman Theatrical Entertainment have teamed up to develop the project, which is inspired by music from the Sherman Brothers. It’s the first and final musical from the late Robert B. Sherman
As James Gunn’s final Marvel movie opens in theaters and his DC Studios future begins, he’s shutting down any notion about the two superhero studios hating each other. Gunn has had a foot in both studios for quite some time. His Marvel run lasted 11 years and three “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, while he
Mark Hamill was in attendance at Carrie Fisher’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony and brought with him the note he wrote six years ago in the aftermath of her tragic death. Fisher was only 60 years old when she passed away in late December 2016. Hamill and Fisher’s careers are forever intertwined thanks to their
Anthony and Joe Russo conquered the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the record-breaking blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” (their fourth Marvel movie after “Captain America: The Winter Solider,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War”), and it turns out the “Star Wars” franchise could’ve been next. During an appearance on the “Smartless” podcast (via Total Film magazine),
Max has shared the trailer for its upcoming documentary “Bama Rush,” which follows the social media phenomenon that grew out of University of Alabama students documenting their sorority recruitment experience. The feature length documentary will premiere on Warner Bros. Discovery’s merged HBO Max-Discovery+ streaming platform Max on May 23. In August of 2021, thousands of
Film Movement has acquired North American rights to Spanish writer-director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s “20,000 Species of Bees,” a tender drama about growing up trans that recently won a Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear. The New York-based distributor is planning to roll out this topical title — in which the child protagonist explores her gender identity —
Mammoth Lakes Film Festival has announced the lineup of its ninth installment, held in-person from May 24-28 at venues throughout the California mountain town. Notably, the opening and closing films will feature stories from transgender individuals around the world. “Two of the most compelling documentaries we came across this year happened to be transgender stories,
Frameline Film Festival will open with a screening of the Sofia Coppola-produced movie “Fairyland.” The 11-day, LGBTQ-focused festival will return to San Francisco and Oakland from June 14-24. “Fairyland” will be followed by the festival’s Oakland Centerpiece event, which will screen “Cora Bora” on June 15. Its Pride Kickoff screening will be of “God Save
Emeraude Toubia is set to star in the high-concept horror film “Rosario,” the debut feature of director Felipe Vargas, who will shoot the pic in his native country of Colombia. Toubia, whose credits include the Freeform fantasy series “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments” and Gloria Calderón Kellett’s new Amazon Studios series “With Love,” stars as Rosario,
Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy’s working relationship spans nearly 20 years and counting as the filmmaker has directed the “Peaky Blinders” favorite in six movies: Three Batman films, “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “Oppenheimer.” Notably, however, the upcoming atomic bomb drama marks Murphy’s first time headlining a Nolan picture in the lead role. Murphy stars as theoretical
Isla Gie (“The Sandman”) will star alongside Martin Freeman (“Sherlock,” The Hobbit”) in the upcoming feature film adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery.” Protagonist Pictures is launching international sales on the family adventure and will introduce to buyers at the
Gwyneth Paltrow said on a recent episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that her 1999 best actress Oscar win for “Shakespeare in Love” led to an unhealthy identity crisis. Paltrow was only 26 years old at the time when she won the Academy Award against the likes of Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth”) and Meryl Streep
In her 2011 memoir, “Shockaholic,” Carrie Fisher opens with a quote from Jewish poet, playwright and paratrooper Hannah Senesh: “There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are
Anonymous Content has come on board California surf-themed animated feature adapted from illustrator AJ Dungo’s celebrated graphic memoir, “In Waves.” Produced by Paris-based Silex Films, “In Waves” marks the feature debut of Phuong Mai Nguyen (“Brazen”), and is being penned by Fanny Burdino and Samuel Doux, whose screenwriting credits include “After Love” and “The Origin of
With Hot Docs’ marquee market event the Forum and its sidebar operations back to live action, and the festival’s 30th anniversary adding a layer of buzzy excitement, docmakers and industry pros from Western Canada are hauling out a bumper crop of adventurous docs for audiences and buyers, and chatting in the real world about new
The breakdown of the Writers Guild of America’s contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers could benefit the documentary industry. Especially those documentary filmmakers with projects seeking distribution. At least that’s the hope. Like film and television scribes worried about the survival of screenwriting as a viable profession, hundreds of nonfiction
Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been banned from leaving Iran to serve as a member of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard jury, according to a report. News of the travel ban for the director who was recently released from Tehran’s Evin prison after being arrested last July for criticizing the government on
BAFTA has published its latest membership data. As of May 2023, the current make-up of BAFTA’s membership is 42:58 female:male; 16% from underrepresented ethnic groups; 7% with a disability; and 12% LGBTQIA+. It’s a requirement of voting members before casting votes or accessing content on BAFTA’s streaming platform BAFTA View to participate in this survey.
Studiocanal is releasing a newly re-mastered version of David Lynch’s 2006 surreal mystery drama “Inland Empire,” which is set to hit theaters in the U.K. and France later this month. Supervised by Lynch, the new 4K master was undertaken by The Criterion Collection with the support of Studiocanal. It features 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio