Movies

Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason star in Valdimar Jóhannsson’s A24 drama “Lamb” as a couple, Maria and Ingvar, who live on a remote farm in Iceland and discover that one of their sheep has given birth to a lamb that is half human. The two decide to raise the half-lamb half-human creature as their

Two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins is best known for his effective and simple camera work on films such as “Skyfall,” “Blade Runner 2049” and “1917,” on which he collaborated with directors such as Sam Mendes and Denis Villeneuve. His images simmer and he has provided some of the most visually delightful scenes on film. Considered

Abramorama is partnering with Imperative Entertainment for the nationwide release of the upcoming documentary “To What Remains.” After a world premiere on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11 at AFI Fest, the film will hit theaters in early December, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  “To What Remains” tells the story of Project

Jane Campion, the first woman filmmaker to have received a Palme d’Or in Cannes (for “The Pianist” in 1993), is in Lyon for another first, as she becomes the first female filmmaker to pick up the Lumière Prize at the eponymous film festival. Warmly greeted by an enthusiastic crowd for a masterclass at the city’s

SPOILERS AHEAD: Do not read until you have seen “Lamb,” in theaters now. Director Valdimar Jóhannsson deliberately kept the ending of “Lamb” vague, wanting audiences to open up discussions. The film, a viral sensation after its trailer debut follows a childless couple who discover a hybrid lamb baby — half-human, half lamb. They take her

British filmmaker Asif Kapadia, Oscar winner for “Amy,” was due to adapt Nick Abadzis’ 2007 graphic novel “Laika” as an animated film before it finally saw fruition as a VR experience. Kapadia came across the novel, based on the true story of a Moscow stray mongrel who was sent into orbit by Russia on Sputnik

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is threatening to go on strike on Monday morning if it cannot reach a new contract. The strike will put up to 60,000 workers on the picket lines, shutting down film and TV production nationwide, and causing a lot of chaos. It will be especially confusing in New

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees’ crew members working in the U.K. are preparing to down tools if the strike goes ahead on Oct. 18, Variety has learned. Bectu, which represents the U.K.’s below-the-line workers, has confirmed it has received calls from heads of department (HODs) on U.K. productions asking about replacing IATSE workers in

Actor, writer, director and trans icon Isabel Sandoval wants trans characters in film and TV to be layered, complex and multidimensional. Speaking to Variety during the BFI London Film Festival, where she is the president of the first features jury, the Philippines-born, New York-based Sandoval said that a lot of studios and producers relegate trans

Eran Riklis (“Lemon Tree,” “Dancing Arabs”) is developing a new feature that he hopes will strike a chord at this week’s MIA Market in Rome, where the acclaimed Israeli director will be pitching it to potential partners. “Last Chord in Thessaloniki” follows a family of jazz musicians who are forced to confront their dysfunctions while

An A-list panel of key actors in the film heritage industry gathered around a table at the Lumière Festival’s Classic Film Market (MIFC) with this year’s special guest Margaret Bodde to discuss how they relay the actions of the Film Foundation she heads. “Obviously there’s a commercial imperative, but we work with partners that have

Paris-based Carlotta Films, a leading player in the distribution of heritage cinema, is preparing a number of major releases next year, including a retrospective of Pier Paolo Pasolini and a showcase of works by Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Pasolini’s birth, the retrospective will featuring restored versions of “Accattone” (1961), “Mamma

Cologne-based The Match Factory, one of the world’s leading arthouse sales agencies, is at MIA Market in Rome with two German features and one upcoming Italian project, following a busy summer with 20 premieres between Cannes and Toronto. Nana Neul, best known for her film “My Friend From Faro,” is back with an entertaining German-Italian-Greek

Prolific Filipino filmmaker Brillante Ma Mendoza (“Kinatay,” “Thy Womb”) steps into the boxing ring with the heartfelt if rather thin drama “Gensan Punch.” Inspired by the true story of Naozumi Tsuchiyama, an amputee who was denied a license to box professionally in Japan and traveled to the Philippines in pursuit of his dreams, “Gensan” lands

A lot gets lost in Radu Muntean’s fantastic “Intregalde.” Stuck in the mud as night falls in the thick of an increasingly sinister Romanian forest, people lose tempers, minds, control of their bowels, loyalties, ideals and maybe even a sense of themselves as decent, altruistic souls. But this uncannily gripping tragicomedy never loses your attention:

Films can take years to finance, but for the filmmaking team behind the documentary feature “Bull Run,” the production was fully financed within 24 hours of launching the idea to a group of private investors. Then the money landed in their crypto currency wallet. Filming proper begins on Monday. “We did the presentation on the

“I don’t know my neighbors. There is a wall between us,” muses immigrant handyman Moha (Mohamed Mellali) in voiceover in Neus Ballús’ deceptively modest, gently ingenious third feature, “The Odd-Job Men.” “Water, electricity, gas, telephone. Our building is connected to all the others in the city and to all the other cities. And yet, we’re

Marking its 25th edition later this month, the Czech Republic’s Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival will celebrate its silver anniversary with an expanded slate, a streamlined number of sections and pointed focus on renewal and wellbeing. As it runs from Oct. 26-31, this year’s in-person edition will screen 300 films, including 54 world premieres spread

The first 40 minutes of “Hard Luck Love Song” are so aggressively off-putting, even the unluckiest of audiences may be tempted to to walk out of the theater or turn off the TV. The arrantly contrived last 20 minutes are equally patience-testing — and borderline loony to boot. Everything in between is bearable, if only

A morose drama that never quite lives up to the promise of its moody, noirish atmosphere, Wang Qi’s “The Bargain” does at least look the part of the gritty, crime-shaded sprawling urban saga. But however tactile and textured the photography, and however pleasurable the rendering of the city’s outskirts as a kind of gloomy nocturnal

There’s just so much summer in “The Tsugua Diaries” — great lashings of sunlight warming and slightly melting every 16mm frame, tangles of hyper-green foliage that seem to sweat in the heat, a generally horny, indolent air of human mischief — that you’d be forgiven for assuming “Tsugua” is some idyllic holiday spot you’ve never

The Busan International Film Festival announced joint winners in both of its prestige sections, the New Currents competition for emerging Asian filmmakers and the Kim Jiseok showcase for works by the region’s more established directors. Korean-made “The Apartment With Two Women” and Chinese film “Farewell, My Hometown,” both first features, shared the New Currents award.

Diane Weyermann, chief content officer at Participant and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died Thursday of cancer in New York. She was 66. For the last three decades, Weyermann played a seminal role in supporting the documentary community and shaping the nonfiction landscape during stints at Participant and the Sundance Institute.

The fire that engulfed a section of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival’s Festival Plaza on Wednesday turned out to be a minor deterrent as the event’s fifth anniversary got off to a rousing start on Thursday. The fire, the cause of which has not yet been confirmed but is possibly a short circuit, was contained

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees reported on Thursday that negotiators were making “good progress” in bargaining, but advised members to be ready to go on strike on Monday if a deal is not reached. The union also put out a detailed FAQ on Thursday, which is posted in its entirety below. The FAQ

George Clooney and Grant Heslov have joined Austrian director Friedrich Moser’s feature documentary “How to Build a Truth Engine” as executive producers through their Smokehouse Pictures banner. The docu, now in the final stages of filming, tackles investigative journalism and the fight against fake news. Moser follows award-winning journalists from the New York Times, the

In 2004, Banjong Pisanthanakun and then-collaborator Parkpoom Wongpoom kickstarted their directorial careers with “Shutter,” a supernatural thriller so effective it’s been remade (albeit to lesser effect) abroad three times to date. Less likely to translate that widely is Pisanthanakun’s latest solo effort, “The Medium.” Marking his return to straight horror after a couple romances and

“The Addams Family,” the big-screen adaptation of Charles Addams’ comic stories of an aristocratic family with a taste for the macabre, became a box office sensation when it opened in theaters in 1991. The film, which had built-in interest thanks to the popularity of the 1960s television show that was also spawned by Addams’ cartoons,

LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD announced a preliminary list of celebrities, shows and networks set to participate in this year’s Spirit Day, the anti-bullying campaign taking place on Oct. 21. Among the names announced are Zuri Adele, Ryan Michelle Bathé, Michael Judson Berry, Michael Bolton, Bob The Drag Queen, Kent Boyd, Crystal Lee Brown, Sterling

Saban Films President Bill Bromiley and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Shanan Becker have renewed their contracts with the Los Angeles-based global film acquisition and distribution company through the end of 2024. The new deals keep the two critical executives in the fold. Bromiley and Becker founded the company in May 2014, and