Movies

Germany’s Red Balloon Film and Palestine’s Fresco Films have boarded director Ameer Fakher Eldin’s second film “Nothing of Nothing Remains.” The film is part of a trilogy building on his first film, “The Stranger” (pictured), which premiered in Venice and represents Palestine at the Oscars in the International Feature Film category. “Nothing of Nothing Remains”

The Cairo Film Festival’s Cairo Film Connection co-production platform wrapped Saturday with a glamorous prize ceremony which saw Egyptian first-timer Adhan El-Sherif’s “Ravens of the City” and French-Egyptian filmmaker Namir Abdel Messeeh’s “Life After Siham” stand out, though awards were widely spread. “Ravens” of the City,” a gritty drama in development about a reckless hustler

In Panama to shoot “The Stars at Noon,” French auteur Claire Denis (“Beau Travail,” “High Life”) spoke at an IFF Panama fest panel about shooting the film in Panama and her hallmark “instinctive” filmmaking. With her were her two male actors, lead Joe Alwyn (“The Favorite”) and rising Panamanian thesp and former wrestler Nick Romano

Turkish director Selman Nacar’s “Between Two Dawns,” a taut moral thriller exploring ethical and familial responsibilities over the course of one 24-hour period, took home the top honor at the 39th edition of the Torino Film Festival, which ran from Nov. 26 – Dec. 4. Chaired by director Ildikó Enyedi, and made up of actor

Promising ingredients for a juicy murder mystery are spoiled by weak plotting and anemic drama in “Precious Is the Night.” Set among Singapore’s wealthy elite and their household servants in 1969, this plodding tale about a randy doctor involved with an unhappily married socialite and her two housemaids is impeccably decorated and handsomely photographed but

Iranian first film “Hit The Road,” directed by Panah Panahi, was named the winner of the Silver Screen Award for best film. The prizes were announced on the final Saturday of the Singapore International Film Festival. Silver Screen Awards 2021: Winners Best Film “Hit The Road” dir. Panah Panahi (Iran) Best Director P.S. Vinothraj for

Sony Pictures Animation pulled the curtain back on its follow-up to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” on Saturday, unveiling the first footage of the upcoming animated sequel. The teaser caps off with the reveal of the title “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” along with a surprise subtitle “Part One,” suggesting that more “Spider-Verse” sequels are on the

“Spencer” director Pablo Larraín has thrown his weight behind Chilean Oscar entry “White on White” (“Blanco en Blanco”), hailing it as a “really interesting, strange and highly violent film.” “White on White” also addresses issues that are “highly unsettling and complex and which haven’t been resolved or at least discussed at sufficient length,” Larraín adds.

As new COVID protocols bedeviled travel to the U.K. and other parts of Europe, 3,000 lucky souls, including several hundred execs from Europe, were able to enjoy summer sun and post-lockdown reunions at Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur. Latin America’s biggest film and TV market and forum, it wrapped Friday Dec. 3 with an humungous, though

Ventana Sur’s genre-dedicated sidebar Blood Window hosted a special panel this year, The Phenomenon of Fantasy Genre in an Ibero-American Environment: New Content, Formats and Trends. There, filmmakers, producers, festival heads and other industry professionals met, discussed and debated the state of genre filmmaking in Latin America and Spain, coming to a positive consensus concerning

Riz Ahmed has boarded Egyptian-American director Dina Amer’s “You Resemble Me,” a bold exploration of the roots of Islamic radicalization through the story of Hasna Aït Boulahcen – who in 2015 was wrongly believed to be Europe’s first female suicide bomber – ahead of the pic’s premiere in the Middle East and North Africa region

“I am a product of my dream. Even as a child, I wanted to be an actress and enter this world, even though it was very far from my reality,” said Monica Bellucci at the Torino Film Festival, where she accepted the Stella Della Mole Award for Artistic Innovation. Bellucci also held a masterclass at

The most colorful contributor to this year’s Ventana Sur Blood Window Works in Progress section, where it won the Chemistry Award for post-production services, is “Niobe,” a high-octane dark comedy thriller set in a fictitious South American country run by a group of ruthless men. Pajé Produções Culturais founder Fernando Mamari produces and directs the

When the Torino Short Film Market kicked off its inaugural edition in November 2016, the young event already set a clear intention: To catapult new talents into the wider film industry. “The short film world is kind of detached from the feature and docs markets,” TSFM artistic director Enrico Vannucci tells Variety. “Our job is

Lucy Animation Studio’s Colombian cartoon “Halloween” was one of two feature films, alongside Star Toons Animation’s “Chaskis – Mensajeros del sol,” honored with the MIFA/Annecy Award from this year’s Ventana Sur Animation! sidebar. Teams representing the two films will receive full accreditation to Annecy 2022 and its MIFA marketplace, where they will pitch as part

Since 2004, Israeli documentary filmmaker Avi Mograbi has sat on the board of Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower organization that collects and publishes testimonies about life in the Occupied Territories, all while exploring similar subjects via oft-irreverent films. And as Mograbi’s still ongoing festival tour with his latest film, “The First 54 Years – An

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is honoring the centenary of cinema giant Satyajit Ray with a major two-part retrospective. May 2, 2021 was the birth centenary of Ray, the Indian master who won an honorary Oscar in 1992, shortly before his death, and remains the country’s best known filmmaker internationally. The first part of

As the content universe expands at a rapid clip, music has never been more appreciated as an essential aspect of visual storytelling. That’s the 30,000-foot view of the film and TV music marketplace from dozens of industry insiders, tunesmiths and top players who are taking part in Variety’s annual virtual Music for Screens Summit. The

Argentina’s “Ayelén and the Forest Shadow,” Uruguay’s “The Eagle Heist,” Mexico’s “Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara,” Brazil’s “Berg’s Books”and Spain’s “Upiro” proved top winners at a Ventana Sur prize ceremony which in its very form stressed just how much the biggest film-TV market in Latin America has expanded. Prior to the pandemic, prize

Yvonne Wilder, the actor known for her work in “West Side Story,” “Seems Like Old Times” and numerous TV shows, died Nov. 24 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 84. Wilder played the role of Consuelo in Robert Wise’s landmark 1961 film adaptation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story.” She also appeared

Eric Zemmour, the French far-right pundit and TV journalist who has been called “France’s Trump,” sparked a scandal in French media earlier this week when he announced his presidential bid with a video that incited nationalist fervor and included unauthorized footage from classic movies, TV shows, newscasts and soccer games. The controversy echoes musicians such

Ron and Russell Mael didn’t intend for 2021 to be the year they conquered Hollywood, but there’s serendipity in what wound up happening. The brothers, known for their longtime work in the band Sparks, found themselves overcoming decades of false starts in the movie business with not one but two highly acclaimed films. First up

Home of Fiat, birthplace of Gianni Agnelli, and site of one of cinema’s most memorable vehicular chases in 1969’s “The Italian Job,” the northern Italian city of Turin has always been car central. So when it comes to big screen representation, besting that iconic Michael Caine caper might be no easy task, but the local

The New Mexico prosecutor overseeing the investigation into the “Rust” shooting said Friday that she is “exploring various legal theories” in the case, and has not ruled out any criminal charges. Mary Carmack-Altwies, the district attorney for New Mexico’s First Judicial District, issued a statement apparently in response to Alec Baldwin’s interview on ABC on

George Clooney’s “The Tender Bar,” set in the working-class neighborhood of Manhasset, Long Island, spans 15 years starting in 1973. In the film, which bows Dec. 17 in theaters, young JR Maguire, played by Daniel Ranieri, spends his time among family members: his mom (Lily Rabe), grandmother (Sondra James), grandfather (Christopher Lloyd) and uncle Charlie

“Doctor Who” star Peter Capaldi and Raindance founder Elliot Grove have been honored at the first ever British Short Film Awards. Capaldi was given the Icon Award while Grove was handed the Impact Award The British Short Film Awards, in partnership with the HearArt Project, were hosted by presenter Alex Zane on Friday evening. The

Antoine Fuqua has entered a new creative partnership with Netflix, focusing on feature and documentary films. The multi-project agreement comes on the heels of the streaming premiere of “The Guilty,” for which star Jake Gyllenhaal is currently making awards rounds. As both a director and producer, Fuqua will execute the agreement under his newly renamed

Bono hasn’t taken up many offers to work as an actor despite his years in the public eye. But when writer-director Garth Jennings came calling with an opportunity to collaborate on Universal’s animated “Sing 2,” Bono embraced the challenge of becoming a leading man with a leading mane. He got into the head of his

Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the 15-title lineup of its Work-in-Progress session, the popular industry sidebar whose alumni roster include Vladimar Jóhannsson’s “Lamb,” Lukas Dhont’s “Girl” and Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher.” The section, curated by Frederic Boyer, the artistic director of Tribeca and Les Arcs Film Festival, will include “Opponent,” a drama by Swedish

Unlike a lot of kids, Lin-Manuel Miranda says he never dreamed of becoming president. “I was never that kid. I fell in love with musical storytelling because of ‘The Little Mermaid’” — he has the VHS on hand — “and wanted to know how those songs got written.” The “Hamilton” creator got his taste of