Movies

Why? That one-word question bobs up more than once in “Freediver,” director Michael John Warren’s often fascinating documentary about Alexey Molchanov, a champion in a sport to which audiences may not have given much thought but won’t soon forget. Based on a piece by Daniel Riley published in GQ magazine in 2021, the movie begins

Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted from power early on Sunday in a stunning bloodless coup by Islamist rebels who took control of Damascus, the Syrian capital after a 13-year civil war that has caused more than 500,000 deaths and forced millions of Syrians to leave their homeland. The rebels, who are called the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

Disney’s animated adventure “Moana 2” remained the de facto choice at the movies, collecting a leading $52 million from 4,200 North American theaters in its second weekend of release. Ticket sales for the family friendly sequel declined by 63% from its record-breaking Thanksgiving debut of $139 million over the traditional frame and $225 million during

At the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia Sunday, Brendan Fraser, who won an Oscar for his work in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” revealed the real reason why the director chose him for the role. Fraser said Aronofsky was looking for “an actor who hadn’t been seen in a while” to play Charlie, the

U.S. actor Omar Benson Miller who is known for roles in “8 Mile,” HBO’s Ballers, and Apple’s “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” stars in Italian immigration-themed drama “Naples to York” by Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores that is having its festival premiere at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. Interestingly, Federico Fellini co-wrote this tale of two

As one of a handful of actresses in Hollywood who have successfully crossed over into directing, Olivia Wilde claims one of the reasons for this small number was the messaging given to children when they express an interest in cinema. “I think for many young women, when we love movies as little girls, we’re told,

Prominent Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy is branching out into Saudi Arabia by setting up an outpost of his prolific Film Clinic shingle – which has six titles at Saudi’s Red Sea Film Festival – in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The milestone move comes after Hefzy has been busy forging rapports with Saudi’s film community

The 19th edition of Indonesia’s Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (JAFF) was its most successful one yet and the inaugural JAFF Market proved to be an auspicious debut. Variety was present to report on both. To put matters in context, films from Indonesia now routinely get selected and win prizes at major international festivals. The local

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy and Algerian director Merzak Allouache will be honored this week by Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival in the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Hefzy will receive the Variety International Vanguard Producer Award, while Allouache is being bestowed with the Variety International Vanguard Director Award. Both honors are

The 19th Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival has wrapped in Yogyakarta (Jogja), Indonesia, with local feature “Yohanna” dominating the Indonesian Screen Awards while Neo Sora’s “Happyend” secured the festival’s top Golden Hanoman Award. “Yohanna,” directed by Razka Robby Ertanto, collected five honors including best film, director, storytelling, performance (Laura Basuki, Kirana Putri Grasela, Iqua Tahlequa), and

UPDATED: After being denied entry into Saudi Arabia to present her film “Sima’s Song,” which is playing in competition at the Red Sea Film Festival, and denouncing this, Afghan filmmaker Roya Sadat has been cleared to visit the kingdom. “On Wednesday, the 4th, I was stopped at Dallas Airport and prevented from boarding my flight

Timothée Chalamet stopped by College GameDay to share his predictions for a slew of today’s matchups, impressing the panel of Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis and Nick Saban.  Social media was buzzing amid Chalamet’s picks, with former NFL coach Blake Williams sharing on X, “Lisan Al Gaib 🤝 Ball Knower,” along with

A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz” sold at auction Saturday for $28 million. In an email sent to CBS News, Robert Wilonsky, vice president of communications at Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions, revealed that, including the buyer’s premium, the price tag for the iconic

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Y2K,” out now in theaters. As the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, 2000, the world held its breath. Would our computers, unequipped for the 21st century, simultaneously crash and usher in widespread chaos? Thankfully not. But Kyle Mooney’s raucous directorial debut, “Y2K,” playfully imagines the worst-case scenario

Jacques Audiard‘s “Emilia Perez” won best film, director, screenwriter and actress at the 37th European Film Awards, which were held Saturday in Lucerne, Switzerland. The best film nominees included narrative features “The Room Next Door,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” “The Substance” and “Vermiglio,” as well as documentaries “Bye Bye Tiberias,” “Dahomey,” “In Limbo,”

Scandar Copti’s “Happy Holidays” won top honors at the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday, capping an emotional and politically resonant ceremony, while adding Marrakech’s Étoile d’Or to a list of accolades for the film that also includes best screenplay from Venice’s Orizzonti and best in show from the Thessaloniki Film Festival. The acclaimed title also

Barry Keoghan took to X on Saturday to announce that he deactivated his Instagram account following heavy speculation surrounding his relationship with his infant son and his breakup with pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter. After Keoghan had a son with his now ex-partner Alyson Sandro in August 2022, the pair broke up the following summer. Shortly

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — “As a meeting place, Ventana Sur was fantastic, the sales agent presence was good, focused on companies which really do buy, and the organization was impecable, run by highly dedicated and nice people,” said Antonio Saura, at Madrid-based sales agency Latido Films.  Most other attendees would buy into that.  Transferred for the

Jessica Chastain highlighted the importance of female voices while being honored at the 38th Annual American Cinematheque Awards on Friday evening at the Beverly Hilton. In her acceptance speech, Chastain detailed the struggles of her childhood. She was the first woman in her family without a teenage pregnancy as well as the first to graduate

For its starriest edition to date, the Marrakech Film Festival did more than rolling out the red carpet: it opened the doors to Palace Badi, a 16th-century iconic landmark, for an epic dinner offered by HM Mohammed VI and hosted by HRH Prince Moulay Rachid, accompanied by his wife, Princess Lalla Oum Keltoum. The gala evening kicked off with

Watching “Nawi,” two things become quickly evident. First, a wonderful lead performance carries the film. Michelle Lemuya Ikeny plays the eponymous character, a 13-year-old who yearns to go to high school but instead must face the patriarchal traditions of her community. She’s set to be married off for a substantial dowry in livestock. Second, the

Inspired by Saudi writer-director-producer Ahd Kamel’s childhood, the nostalgic coming-of-age story “My Driver & I” unfolds against the backdrop of Jeddah in the 1980s and ’90s and traces the relationship of a rebellious girl and the Sudanese chauffeur her affluent family hires as a driver. A more conventional-looking and less compelling watch than “Wadjda” (2012),

After producing the upcoming documentary “The Blue Angels,” J.J. Abrams and Glen Powell are in early talks to team up for a new movie, with Abrams eyeing Powell to star in his next directorial effort. Deals have yet to close, but in the aftermath of “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone but You,” no one’s career

Nishtha Jain‘s “Farming the Revolution” — winner of the best international feature documentary prize at Hot Docs — captures the vast emotional scope of revolutionary movements. Chronicling the lengthy stand-off between Indian farmers and the Modi government, during which tens of thousands of Sikh and Punjabi farm workers occupied highways and state borders, the film

Alec Baldwin‘s lawyers have filed two more motions to throw out his manslaughter indictment in the “Rust” case in New Mexico. Meanwhile, Rory Kennedy, who is making a documentary about Baldwin and the “Rust” shooting, is fighting a subpoena that would force her to turn over interview footage to the prosecutors in the case. Baldwin

Grace Caroline Currey has joined the cast of “The Breed,” and is set to lead the film. Directed by brothers Sean and Bryan Furst, the film is an “unconventional reimagining of the Wes Craven cult classic.” The brothers will produce together through their company, Curmudgeon Films. The film centers around Currey’s character Violet, “a rebel

Kristen Stewart recently graced the cover of Porter magazine and called out “phony” Hollywood for how it often self-congratulates itself for doing away with the patriarchy when in reality, Hollywood has just prioritized a select group of women to operate in the studio world. While progress is being made, Stewart rang the alarm by saying

Filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg is having a bit of a “hail the conquering hero” moment that very few people would have expected him to be having this far into the 21st century, least of all himself. Although he has had many successes in film and in the theater over the last 60 years or so, he

Chris Pine was taken by surprise when news hit that Steve Yockey, creator of the Max series “The Flight Attendant,” had signed on to write the script for “Star Trek 4.” Why? “I thought there was already a script,” the actor recently told Business Insider during an interview on his “Poolman” press tour. Pine’s not

What really happened during the 48 hours leading up to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — at least according to mob bosses — is heading to the big screen in the upcoming film “November 1963: The Killing of a President.” The mob’s version of events were passed down to Chicago mob boss Sam