The Rome Film Festival is under new management following a political shake-up that has led to the appointment of RAI Cinema executive Paola Malanga as the fest’s artistic director and Gian Luca Farinelli, who heads the Bologna film archives, as president. Malanga, who was appointed late on Tuesday, replaces Antonio Monda, the New York based
Movies
What do documentary filmmakers working with contributors suffering from trauma or experiencing traumatic situations need to take into account when filming? This key question, which has become all the more timely for filmmakers against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was among the themes addressed at CPH:Conference, the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival’s industry
More than four weeks into Russia’s disastrous war in Ukraine, and just one week after a court sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to nine years in a high-security prison, “Navalny” director Daniel Roher made a passionate plea on behalf of the jailed politician in Copenhagen, lashing out at the “murderous” regime of President Vladimir
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has sent a letter to its members addressing the incident that occurred at the Oscars ceremony on Sunday evening, when Will Smith walked onto the stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about the appearance of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The letter,
Ariana DeBose made history on Sunday night by becoming the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar for her work as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” The musical was distributed by 20th Century Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. On the Academy Awards red carpet before
A committee of the Georgia State Senate voted on Monday to cap the state’s lucrative film and TV tax credit at $900 million per year. The tax credit has made Georgia a major hub of film and TV production over the last decade. Last year, the credit soared to a record $1.2 billion as production
The power of Nick Cave had forever hinged on summoning the spirits of the dark. Be it his time as frantic frontman to the clamorous Birthday Party, or since the 1984 start of a menacing solo career with the floating membership of the Bad Seeds by his side, Cave’s catalog of violence-driven characters and furiously
Variety’s Clayton Davis has seen a lot of things. But nothing prepared him for being in the audience at Sunday’s Oscars, and witnessing Will Smith leap on stage and smack Chris Rock — and the awkward aftermath inside the Dolby Theater. “It’s the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in my life,” Davis says on this
Zoë Kravitz has shared her disapproval of Will Smith’s controversial evening at the Oscars on Sunday, in which the actor walked onto the ceremony stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian said a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith then returned to his seat before shouting “Keep my wife’s name out of
Aquarius Films has optioned the film development and production rights to Abdul Karim Hekmat’s acclaimed article “True Love in Nauru,” and aims to produce it as feature film “Paradise.” “Paradise” is the powerful true story of two men who meet and fall in love in an Australian offshore detention center. Their relationship becomes a life-affirming source
Sharon Stone has been tapped to play villain Victoria Kord in DC’s upcoming “Blue Beetle,” its first superhero movie starring a Latino character, Variety confirms. Victoria Kord is a new character created for the film, which will premiere in theaters on Aug. 18, 2023. Raoul Max Trujillo (“Mayans M.C.”) also joins “Blue Beetle” as Carapax the Indestructible
If Sunday night’s Oscar ceremony were a validation for Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros., whose $165 million gamble on Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi tentpole “Dune” paid off in the form of six Academy Awards, it was no less a triumph for the Hungarian film industry, which hosted the blockbuster throughout much of production in 2019 and
“Bridgerton” Season 2 was viewed for 193 million hours over its debut weekend, per Netflix’s newly released Top 10 rankings for the week of March 21-27. That impressive three-day viewership is a record-breaker, as “Bridgerton” Season 2 is now the most-watched Netflix English-language TV title in its premiere weekend in the streamer’s history. Naturally, the
After her notable absence from the recent “Harry Potter” reunion special, J.K. Rowling attended the premiere of “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” on Tuesday at The Royal Festival Hall in London. When “Harry Potter” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint reunited earlier this year for the HBO Max special “Return to Hogwarts,”
Sundance sensation “Fire of Love” continues to wow audiences on the festival circuit as it hits the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival, where it is vying for the top DOX:AWARD. Variety speaks to its director, Sara Dosa. Based on archive material, photographs and animation work, “Fire of Love” tells the story of French volcanologists Katia
Golden Lion winner “Happening” will open the 2022 New Directors/New Films Festival, Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art announced Tuesday. Now in its 51st year, the New Directors/New Films Festival screens the best films made by young filmmakers, many of which tend to be their debut features. The festival has served
Viewership for Sunday’s Oscars on ABC grew by 511,000 viewers during the 15-minute time span that featured Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, according to Live + Same Day Nielsen data. While the Oscars’ audience dipped from there, it spiked again during Smith’s best actor win and acceptance speech shortly after 11 p.m. ET, this time
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles has announced the programming lineup for its 2022 edition, which includes Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” as a gala presentation. The festival, which spotlights films made about the Indian diaspora from filmmakers of Indian heritage, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with a return to in-person screenings
Jim Carrey is criticizing Hollywood for giving Will Smith a standing ovation when it was announced at the Oscars that he won best actor for “King Richard.” Smith’s Oscar victory occurred several minutes after he slapped Chris Rock while the comedian was presenting the documentary feature category. Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s
Sunset Studios’ first U.K. site intends to offer twenty-one sound stages, 9 workshops, 7 production officers, a daycare and a gym, planning documents reveal. The film and TV studio facility, which is a co-development by Sunset Studios owners Hudson Pacific Properties and private equity firm Blackstone Group, is being built in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. Hudson Pacific
No one should be surprised by how Julia Fox is embracing and enjoying her fame. While the New York native first attracted attention playing Adam Sandler’s mistress in “Uncut Gems,” Fox’s spotlight intensified when she briefly dated Kanye West earlier this year. “It comes so naturally to me,” she told me Sunday at the Vanity
Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” dominated the U.K. and Ireland box office for the fourth weekend in a row with £1.66 million ($2.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The film now has a total of £35.6 million. Dreamz Entertainment release “RRR,” directed by S.S. Rajamouli and starring NTR Jr, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn and
In a competitive situation, Neon has won the rights to develop Dorothy Baker’s 1962 novel “Cassandra at the Wedding,” in partnership with Seaview and John Early. The novel follows Cassandra Edwards, a graduate student at Berkeley, who is gay, brilliant, nerve-wracked, and miserable. She drives to her family ranch in the foothills of the Sierras
London-based documentary specialists Dogwoof and Danish production company Elk Film have revealed a commercial partnership to develop and produce documentary projects. The deal will involve a project slate of eight to 10 feature documentaries and documentary series where Dogwoof, Elk Film and the Danish Growth Fund Vaekstfonden will co-fund development. This will be The Danish
Egyptian filmmaker Amir Ramses, who has tackled controversial social and political themes including pedophilia in works such as “Curfew” and the doc “Jews of Egypt,” has been appointed director of the Cairo Film Festival. The news that Ramses will head Cairo, which is the grande dame of Arab film events, follows shortly after prominent producer Mohamed
British-Indian actor Arjun Mathur, 2020 International Emmy best actor nominee for Amazon Prime Video India series “Made In Heaven,” has signed with the U.K.’s United Agents for international representation. Mathur has wrapped the U.K. schedule of Indian dark comedy “Lord Curzon Ki Haveli” and is in the process of completing season 2 of “Made in
What hooks and disarms audiences minutes after clicking play on “Better Nate Than Ever” is its infectious energy. George Benson’s funk cover of “On Broadway,” used decades earlier in “All That Jazz,” makes for a lively introduction to a spirited, small-statured youth’s big personality. Writer-director Tim Federle welcomes us into this world with the tantalizing
Tobias Menzies, who won last year’s primetime Emmy Award for his turn as Prince Philip in ‘The Crown,’ has joined the cast of “Made in Oslo,” a character-driven thriller series set at a fertility clinic in Norway. Menzies stars in the cinematic show opposite Pia Tjelta, one of Norway’s most successful actors whose credits include
Prime Video will begin filming of its first Australian Amazon original movie, “Five Blind Dates” from next month. The romantic comedy film was created and written by actor and influencer Shuang Hu (“The Family Law,” “Ronny Chieng: International Student”) and actor and comedian Nathan Ramos-Park (“As We Babble On,” “Club Mickey Mouse,” “Bone”). “Five Blind
Ezra Miller, who stars in the upcoming DC film “The Flash” and April’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” was arrested by law enforcement in Hilo, Hawaii on Monday morning. Miller was charged for disorderly conduct and harassment after an incident at a bar. According to a post by the Hawai’i County Police Department, South