Movies

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy’s production shingle Film Clinic –– at Venice with “Amira,” Mohamed Diab’s drama about Palestinian children conceived behind bars with smuggled sperm –– is getting a financial boost that will triple its resources just as two new film and TV projects go into production. Film Clinic is having an outstanding festival presence

A singular new voice born in Cameroon and based in New York, Ellie Foumbi is set to shine on the international scene at the Venice Film Festival, where her feature debut, “Our Father, the Devil,” will be presented as part of the Biennale College-Cinema section. Foumbi, who is represented by UTA, is the second Black

The Venice crowd at the Sala Grande theater could not take their eyes off Anya Taylor-Joy during Edgar Wright’s trippy psychological thriller “Last Night in Soho.” But when the movie ended just after midnight on Saturday and the spotlight shone on the cast to receive applause from the festival attendees, as is tradition, Taylor-Joy was

Time’s Up’s governing board of directors has issued a new statement about the impending transition of leadership within the group, which includes the exits of several prominent board members. The statement denotes the women’s advocacy group’s “crisis,” including former CEO Tina Tchen’s resignation, as an “opportunity for growth and change.” Political strategist and activist Monifa

Production designer Cara Brower had several themes to keep in mind when building the art-centric world of Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman.” In the film, now playing in theaters, Yahya Abdul Mateen II plays artist Anthony McCoy, while his girlfriend Brianna Cartwright, played by “WandaVision” actor Teyonah Parris, is a gallery director steeped in Chicago’s art scene.

Have you ever noticed how the icily dramatic opening strings in “You’re My World,” Cilla Black’s earnest, bawling-on-the-bathroom-floor ballad from 1965, could just as easily be a shivery horror theme by Bernard Herrmann? Edgar Wright has, and uses the likeness to briefly spine-tingling effect early in “Last Night in Soho”: As ’60s-fixated Gen-Z fashion student

In a new interview, Stanley Tucci shared that he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent successful treatment three years ago. The actor told Vera that doctors discovered a large tumor at the base of his tongue. “It was too big to operate, so they had to do high-dose radiation and chemo. I’d vowed I’d never

SPOILER WARNING: Do not read this story if you haven’t seen “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” currently playing in theaters. Throughout “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” there are only a few small signs that the 25th feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is actually a part of it.

In a new interview, Angelina Jolie further opened up about her experience with convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, sharing that she turned down a role in Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” to avoid working with him.  “If you get yourself out of the room, you think he attempted but didn’t, right?” the actress told The Guardian while

Margaret Qualley will star as a dominatrix opposite Christopher Abbott in the thriller “Sanctuary,” directed by Zachary Wigon (“The Heart Machine”). Shooting just wrapped in New York. Written by “Homecoming’s” co-creator Micah Bloomberg, the film is produced by David Lancaster and Stephanie Wilcox of Rumble Films (“Whiplash,” “Nightcrawler”) with Ilya Stewart of Hype Film and

Some A-list actors get treated like rock stars at film festivals, but when the real rock stars arrive, it’s another level of fandom. Jimmy Page, the 77-year-old lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin, received a hero’s welcome in Venice on Saturday, where “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” the band’s first proper documentary since the band’s conception in 1968,

Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “I and the Stupid Boy,” the new title in the Prada-commissioned Miu Miu Women’s Tales short film series directed by women, was unveiled Sept. 4 at the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section. The short by Ben Hania, who directed the Oscar-nominated “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” is a

If we believe the adage that the wish to climb a mountain comes about just because it’s there, perhaps it follows, not to be too glib about it, that a cave explorer mapping a hole in the ground does so because it’s not. Notions of absence — not just of solid ground, but of light

From the second that benefits office worker Kate makes charged eye contact with the flirty, scuzzily charismatic claimant across the desk from her, you’re torn between pulling her back, as a sensible best friend would, and urging her to go for it, as we might secretly do ourselves. The man has red flags practically pinned

Women filmmakers from Afghanistan made a powerful and emotional plea for international intellectual support at a panel at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. Fighting back tears, Sahraa Karimi, who wrote a hard-hitting open letter about the impact of her country being taken over again by the Taliban, did not mince her words about the

Rare home movie footage shot in Poland in 1938 becomes a priceless historical artifact, documenting people and places obliterated by the Holocaust in Dutch writer-director Bianca Stigter’s haunting and provocative documentary essay “Three Minutes – A Lengthening.” She utilizes the three minutes and some-odd seconds of 16mm film shot by American visitor David Kurtz in

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page didn’t hold back in detailing why the band has refused to participate in a single documentary until now. Bernard MacMahon’s “Becoming Led Zeppelin” premieres at the Venice Film Festival Saturday afternoon, and tickets for all 12 press and public screenings of the film have sold out — easily making it

Producers Adam Mirels and Robbie Mirels of 141 Entertainment, the team behind Ana Lily Amirpour’s hotly anticipated “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon,” which plays Sunday in competition at the Venice Film Festival, have signed an option to remake director-writer Sameh Zoabi’s 2018 Venice Horizons Award entry “Tel Aviv on Fire.” The adaptation will be

MK2 Films has boarded “Blaze,” the feature directorial debut of award-winning Australian painter Del Kathryn Barton, which stars Simon Baker (“High Ground”) and Julia Savage (“Sweet Tooth”). Now in post-production, the film stars Savage as Blaze, a teenager who is the sole witness to a shocking crime. Struggling to make sense of what she saw,

Matt Dillon (“The House That Jack Built”) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Antichrist,” “Nymphomaniac”) are attached to star in Fred Garson’s “An Ocean Apart,” a period drama about the romantic affair between French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir and American writer Nelson Algren. The film is being developed by French producer Olivier Delbosc at Curiosa Films, which is

English audiences have long been partial to Romeo and Juliet, but in this critic’s outside-the-box opinion, Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” is the more romantic play. For starters, its tragedy hinges not on teenage impatience and suicide, but deep, long-unrequited affection. Convinced that his physical appearance makes him unworthy of his beloved Roxanne, the chivalrous

Mexico’s Michel Franco is back in Venice after his triumphant Silver Lion win last year for his dystopian thriller “New Order.” His new film “Sundown” is in competition at the Lido where it world premieres on Sunday. Variety spoke to the director and the film’s star Tim Roth. While “New Order” used thousands of extras

“True Things,” which world premieres Saturday in Venice’s Horizons section, is the fruit of a collaboration between the production companies of two stars, Jude Law and Ruth Wilson, the first feature film that she has produced, as well as The Bureau, a production company with a stellar track-record for delivering arthouse hits. When literary agent

With seven titles selected for Venice VR Expanded at this year’s film festival, Taiwan has once again demonstrated its potential as a global leader in virtual reality content production. But this time, the tech hub in Asia has more to offer: it aims higher than just flaunting its technological advancement and the quality of locally

As one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the world, the Venice Intl. Film Festival has been launching films that have gone on to grab top awards and discoveries of emerging filmmakers, and now, after several years as a leader in the VR space, the 78th edition is poised to do the

For over 25 years, Emmy-award winning directors/producers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have jointly created multi-character documentary narratives that use the personal stories of their protagonists to paint a larger portrait of the human experience. They are especially known for meticulous archival research, which made works such as “Ballets Russes” (2005) and “Isadora Duncan: Movement

Rising Italian star Michele Riondino, who is on the Lido with Venice Days pic “I Nostri Fantasmi,” is set to play a priest sent by the Vatican to Holland to investigate a crying statue of the Virgin Mary in “The Man From Rome,” from Dutch director Jaap van Heusden (“In Blue”). This English, Dutch and

Rising Russian director Vladimir Bitokov’s sophomore effort, “Mama, I’m Home,” bows this week in the Horizons sidebar of the Venice Film Festival. Following on the heels of his 2018 Karlovy Vary premiere “Deep Rivers,” it’s produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky (“Loveless,” “Leviathan”) and Sergey Melkumov. Wild Bunch Intl. is handling world sales.

Eighteen months after the outbreak of the COVID crisis, the Norwegian film industry has never been busier. A combination of strict protocols, generous government programs and film-friendly measures has enabled the industry to resume production to answer the ever-growing demand for both domestic content and international co-productions. Norway’s cinematic landscapes have become a prized destination

Norway’s famous landscapes will be gracing screens around the world in a fresh crop of blockbusters and domestic productions set to be released internationally. Premiering in Venice out of competition, Denis Villeneuve’s long-awaited “Dune” features scenes shot on the West Cape plateau, one of the most spectacular view points on the coast of Norway. The