Movies

In his film “The Mute Man of Sardinia” (“Il Muto di Gallura”) Turin-born Matteo Fresi reignites the feud between the Vasa and Mamia families, which caused the deaths of more than 70 people in mid-19th century Sardinia. Focusing on deaf-mute Bastiano Tansu, he shows an outsider who – mistreated and marginalized all his life –

Los Angeles-based Outsider Pictures has picked up North American rights to the award-winning Brazilian stop-motion feature “Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People,” this year’s Best Film winner from Annecy’s Contrechamp section for innovative and outside-the-box toon features and the Best Animated Feature at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Outsider is currently planning an Academy

A new documentary is in the works exploring the mysterious founder of Bitcoin and the larger state of cryptocurrency. Director Matthew Miele (“Always at the Carlyle,” “Quixotic Endeavors”) will helm the project, titled “Finding Satoshi.” The film will investigate the origins of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, whose identity and invention remains secret.

When “Summit of the Gods” director Patrick Imbert graduated from France’s Les Gobelins school of animation in the late 1990s, he entered an industry still looking for its right footing. “The market and industry was not as developed as it is today,” Imbert tells Variety. “There were much fewer projects because there were much fewer

Prolific Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua (Cannes titles “Rehana,” “A Yellow Bird”) and compatriot Nicole Midori Woodford were among the many filmmakers affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The duo were prepping “Last Shadow at First Light,” the debut feature from Woodford who had made several acclaimed shorts including Clermont Ferrand selection “Permanent Resident” and Busan

George Clooney turned down an offer of $35 million for a day’s work for an airline commercial, the star revealed to the U.K.’s The Guardian newspaper. In an interview published in the newspaper on Friday, Clooney said: “I was offered $35 million for one day’s work for an airline commercial, but I talked to Amal

IFF Panama’s co-production forum, the Panama Film Match, launched in 2020 in a virtual format. It’s now holding its first in-person format between Dec. 2-4 as part of the 10th Panama Intl. Film Festival (IFF Panama). Creating a co-production forum has been a long-standing goal for IFF Panama, the highest-profile film event in Central America. The

Launched in 2015, IFF Panama’s rough-cut sidebar Primera Mirada has proved a vital launch pad for Central American and Caribbean films in post, providing that all-important impetus towards their final completion. A jury led by Diana Sánchez, Marcelo Quesada and Paula Gastaud along with head curators, festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron and IFF Panama industry head

All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Cinephiles know that movie magic is real. What other medium can transport us to different worlds, bring characters

Throughout the pandemic that has ravaged Central America, the region’s most prominent film event, the Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama), has forged on virtually in its continued bid to bolster local projects and talent. To mark its 10th anniversary this year, a smaller hybrid edition kicks off on Dec. 3 with “Plaza Catedral,” Panama’s

The Indian arm of Sony is planning to produce local content that has the potential to travel globally. Speaking at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market on Friday, Vivek Krishnani, MD at Sony Pictures Entertainment Films India, said: “We are strongly focusing on creating Indian IPs, which can crossover into the mainstream and therefore, to

A decade back, Clarissa Campolina burst on the filmmaking scene co-directing with Helvecio Marins Jr. “Swirl” (“Girimunho”), a portrait of an elderly faith healer on Brazil’s arid highlands and the beliefs, myths and habits of rural Brazil before they are swept aside by the passing of a generation. Activated by producer Luana Melgaço, Campolina and

The flood of documentaries in recent years about high-risk climbing and mountaineering have offered plenty of vicarious armchair athleticism, to be sure. But for viewers with a more casual than envious interest in such adventures, it’s hard not to wonder: Do these daredevils have personal attachments? Who’d be reckless or masochistic enough to forge a

The perpetual troubles of a prepubescent protagonist are humorously placed at the center of Disney Plus’ “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” After a successful run of four live-action features adapted from Jeff Kinney’s popular book series, director Swinton Scott refurbishes the franchise as an animated feature, and while the wholesome-minded product feels a tad redundant,

There is a distinct flavor of the brawnily austere Westerns that comprise Budd Boetticher’s cult-favorite Ranown Cycle — and more than a hint of another showcase for the great Randolph Scott, Sam Peckinpah’s “Ride the High Country” — in director Michael Feifer’s “Last Shoot Out,” a small-budget indie that aims to please the currently underserved

Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” will begin filming in Melbourne, Australia in early 2022 under the direction of Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”). Williams is one of the U.K.’s most prominent entertainers and one of the best-selling artists of all time. He first found fame with the group Take That, from 1989 to 1995, and

Alec Baldwin gave a detailed interview on the “Rust” shooting on ABC Thursday night, answering questions about why he pointed a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and saying he had not heard any safety concerns on set beforehand. Baldwin told interviewer George Stephanopoulos that he has nothing to hide and does not feel guilt about

“Betrayed” doesn’t depict anything that hasn’t been seen many times before, but that’s less a knock on its lack of originality than a sad reflection of the fact that millions suffered similar hardships, tragedies and horrors during the Holocaust. Based on a true story, Eirik Svensson’s WWII saga focuses on the Braude family, who along

The Gotham Awards are usually the first stop on the awards season trail. This year, the Nov. 29 dinner was also the first in-person awards ceremony in New York City since the pandemic changed everything nearly two years ago. So what did we learn from the show? The two big winners of the night were

Netflix has lost an appeal of a 2019 ruling that ordered the streaming service to stop poaching employees from Fox. The streaming service has been battling Fox since 2016 over the practice of locking midlevel executives into fixed-term contracts. Netflix has argued that Fox’s contracts are illegal under California law, and that they unfairly restrict

Lyft hired Elaine Paul, Amazon Studios’ chief financial officer and former longtime Disney exec, to be the ride-hailing service’s CFO. Paul officially starts at Lyft on Jan. 3, 2022. She’ll replace current Lyft CFO Brian Roberts, who is stepping down from the role but will remain an adviser until June 2022 to assist with the

Species dysphoria. That’s what the professionals call the condition troubling Jakob (George MacKay) in “Wolf,” a shockingly dull look at a fascinating disorder affecting humans who believe they were born into the wrong species. Jakob is convinced he’s a wolf in human clothing, and except for the first and last scenes, he spends practically the

Argentine Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Armanda Bó has set as his next feature a film on the heroic opposition of the Buenos Aires Herald and its editor Robert Cox to Argentina’s heinous 1976-83 military dictatorship. To make the film, About Entertainment, Bó’s new Buenos Aires based production house, has acquired the rights to

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” Talk about a warm welcome. Brian d’Arcy James tells me that Steven Spielberg surprised him during his first day of shooting on the much-buzzed-about “West Side Story” remake. “Steven Spielberg has this fantastic tradition of stopping after the first shot that you’re in, and basically announcing and applauding

Apple Original Films and A24 Announce ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’ IMAX Screening Apple Original Films and A24 announced a special free screening event of “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” followed by a live Q&A with Joel Coen and Frances McDormand on Dec. 5 in IMAX. Shot in black-and-white, Coen’s take on the Scottish Play stars Denzel Washington

Six years ago, a grandma in Arizona mistakenly invited a stranger to her Thanksgiving dinner. What started as an accidental text message — a humorous exchange that quickly went viral on social media — has turned into an unlikely friendship and a heartwarming holiday tradition. Now, Netflix is turning the feel-good story into a feature

Ours is an age of nostalgia. Now that the rose-tinted glasses have increasingly turned their gaze toward the 1990s — they’re literally making a “That ’90s Show,” in case you didn’t already feel old enough — “Mixtape” almost feels timely. With a pre-Y2K setting, soundtrack featuring the likes of Vitamin C and Lit, and plot

After spending much of this year promising and then implementing various reforms, the first test of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.’s evolution may come on Dec. 13. That’s when the org will announce the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations, at 6 a.m. PT from the Beverly Hilton. How and what that might look like

The theatrical experience is unique, important and akin to an experience of “shared dreaming,” says Hans Zimmer, whose scores for 2021’s “Dune” and “No Time to Die” are among those in next year’s awards conversation — and who is being honored by Variety as Composer of the Year, presented by ASCAP. “It’s an incredible honor

Big news for Paul Thomas Anderson’s awards campaign as his film “Licorice Pizza” was named the best picture of the year by the National Board of Review. The MGM and United Artists Releasing film also picked up prizes for directing and shared the breakthrough performance award for newcomers Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. Another newcomer