Movies

European film-TV powerhouse Studiocanal has clinched major territory sales across a powerful slate of new movies, led by Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby survival thriller “Suddenly,” and “Baghead” with “The Witcher’s” Freya Allan. “Boldangles” and “Cat Person,” starring “Succession’s” Nicholas Braun and “Coda’s” Emilia Jones, are also finding trading traction, as is Cannes Festival player

The Smithsonian Museum has commissioned a series of eight forward-looking shorts exploring social justice issues facing diverse communities across the U.S. to screen as part of its major upcoming November “FUTURES” exhibition. “Futures We Dream” consists of new works created over the past year by nine independent filmmakers selected via a partnership with the non-profit

Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment has partnered with Sister, the production company founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone, on the feature film “Raya,” based on the novel by Mahsa Rahmani Noble. Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari will adapt and direct. Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff will produce for Krasnoff/Foster alongside Kate Fenske for Sister, who together

Maja Doroteja Prelog’s “Cent’anni” won this year’s Docs-in-Progress Award given out by the Cannes Film Market with the support of the Intl. Film Talent Assn. (IEFTA), which was presented at a ceremony on Tuesday in Cannes. Prelog’s feature was chosen out of the 32 works-in-progress that were presented this week during the Cannes Market. The

Oliver Stone is not pleased that American financiers refused to step up and help make his new documentary about the late John F. Kennedy. Stone and his producer Robert S. Wilson discussed the Cannes Film Festival premiere “JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass” at a Tuesday press conference, bemoaning a lack of domestic financial support.

There was a 22% decline in films selected by European documentary festivals during the pandemic, according to research presented in Cannes, and films from underrepresented regions and continents, such as Africa, continued to receive little love from selectors. On Monday, Marek Hovorka, festival director of Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, presented its annual report “East

Hit Korean movie “Miracle in Cell No. 7” is set for a Spanish-language remake following a deal between sales agent Contents Panda and production company Rock and Ruz. The 2013 original film told the fact-based tale of a man with intellectual disabilities who was wrongly jailed on theft charges. While in jail he struggles to

Compared with the U.S. or European countries, South Korea’s infection and death toll from COVID-19 was small. But the disease has had an outsize impact transforming the entertainment industry. Film producers and distributors are currently seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, and are busily repopulating the late summer distribution calendar. But the

Rob Zombie, the heavy metal musician and director, has revealed the blueprint for the Munster Mansion in his upcoming film adaptation of the classic television series. Zombie posted the detailed construction plans to his Instagram account on Monday, complete with measurements and stylistic notes. “The blueprints are done! Time to start the construction,” Zombie wrote

That escalated quickly. In May, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an extra $30 million for the state’s film and TV tax credit program. Not to be outdone, the Legislature offered $180 million over two years. Now the two sides have reached a compromise: $330 million. That includes the $180 million, plus a brand-new $150 million tax

Sharon Stone will host the 27th annual amfAR Cannes Gala on July 16. The gala will take place outdoors at Villa Eilenroc and consist of an exclusive dinner, auction, multiple performances and a fashion show curated by French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld. Simon de Pury and Sandra Nedvedskaia will conduct the live auction, which will

Charlie Robinson, known for playing Mac the court clerk in the 1980s and ’90s sitcom “Night Court,” died on Sunday in Los Angeles due to cardiac arrest and cancer. He was 75. Throughout his 50-year career, Robinson appeared in movies such as “Secret Santa,” “The River,” “Set It Off,” “Antwone Fisher,” “Jackson,” “Even Money” and

Kirill Serebrennikov made an appearance by FaceTime on Monday after the premiere of “Petrov’s Flu,” which bowed in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The 51-year-old helmer is banned from leaving Russia and was unable to attend the opening. “I would like to thank everyone who is here. This is the first time that I

Netflix and Gold House have created a partnership called “Netflix Gold” to amplify API stories, artists, and creators. The partnership marks an evolution for the nonprofit collective of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) cultural leaders behind Gold House. By expanding their support beyond films for Asian audiences, Gold House will work closely with Netflix to amplify

Investment firm Forest Road Co. has enlisted Hollywood’s largest talent agencies CAA, UTA and WME to help launch the NFT sales venture Notables. Notables is designed to serve as both a creator of NFTs and as an online sales platform for the “non-fungible tokens” offered up for auction as unique digital items often aimed at

Theaters and cinemas in the U.K. are rejoicing as the British government confirmed it is going ahead with plans to drop all social distancing measures from July 19, nicknamed “Freedom Day.” Health Secretary Sajid Javid said today almost all pandemic-induced legal restrictions will be removed although he recommended that people continue to wear masks indoors.

There were so many movie stars at the premiere of Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” on Monday night at the Cannes Film Festival, it almost felt like pre-pandemic times. The streets near the Palais were shut down. The crowds were screaming. And Timothee Chalamet, in a silver suit, cut through the July heat to sign

Filmmaker Alberto Mielgo wore multiple hats including director, screenwriter, editor, sound design and music for “The Windshield Wiper,” screening in the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. The animated short follows a middle-aged man who asks himself and the audience, what is love? Through vignettes, the man goes on a journey as he reaches

Director, writer and producer Roman Coppola is in Cannes to promote his blockchain-based filmmaking platform, Decentralized Pictures — an ambitious undertaking that the “French Dispatch” co-writer describes as “a very long-term endeavor.” While blockchain’s application in film financing has yielded mixed results over the years — many blockchain ventures that rocked up to Cannes years

MTV Documentary Films has set set July 30 as the theatrical release date for “Sabaya.” The documentary that generated strong reviews at Sundance this year follows the sexual exploitation of women in the Kurdish religious minority group of Yazidi. The title refers to the term used for individuals who are abducted and forced into sexual

France president Emmanuel Macron has announced new health rules to contain the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The country is currently hosting the Cannes Film Festival with several thousands of guests from all around the world. The key measure announced by Macron will make the EU Digital Covid Certificate — commonly called “health

Chile’s Chilemonos International Animation Festival, the country’s largest event dedicated to celebrating its rapidly expanding animation scene, kicked off its second entirely online edition last week, and will run through July 25. 2021 is a milestone year for the festival, marking a decade since its inaugural edition. Since then, the festival has grown exponentially and

Lina El Arabi, the emerging French actor of the Cesar-nominated “A Wedding,” is set to headline “The Malediction” (“Leana”), a horror-thriller which will mark the feature debut of Abel Danan. The film is being produced by Leo Maidenberg, whose credits include “Sisters in Arms” and “The Bunker Game.” Xavier Gens, the producer of Mounia Meddour’s

CAA has signed three-time Emmy Award-winning writer, director, editor and producer, Randy Wilkins, best known for his work on ESPN Films’ “30 for 30.” Up next, Wilkins will direct “The Captain,” a multi-episode docuseries for ESPN Films focused on New York Yankees icon Derek Jeter. The series is set to debut in 2022 and will

Journalists are the heroes in “The French Dispatch,” so expect film critics to be a little bit biased in their embrace of Wes Anderson’s latest. It flatters the field, after all, just not in the way that Pulitzer-centric mega-scoop sagas “All the President’s Men” or “Spotlight” may have done before. Anderson is more of a

Backup Systems, the owner of the cloud-based app MovieChainer, has acquired a strategic stake in Moonday, the new AI-powered social and professional network dedicated to the film and TV industry. MovieChainer launched five years ago and allows right-holders to model and track the legal and financial structure of their film projects. MovieChainer and Moonday will

Simón Mesa Soto’s “Amparo,” which world premiered Monday in Cannes’ Critics’ Week, is both the portrait of its complex protagonist of the same name and a frightening thriller that over two days follows a desperate mother trying to save her son from forced military service. Mesa Soto, winner of the Palme d’Or for short film

As a cross-section of documentary sales exes winged their way towards the Palais for their first physical Cannes in two years, it wasn’t just the COVID-19 spit tests that marked out the experience as different – the marketplace has also changed, the pandemic exacerbating several trends. For starters, in terms of investment in new feature-length

A panel of top animation professionals gathered in Cannes has underlined how festivals can help to promote a new generation of socially engaged animation films. “It is one of the main launching pads for this very specific kind of film, which needs that kind of exposure. We have such strong industries in Europe, especially in

The Playmaker Munich has released the first teaser for upcoming sci-fi movie “Rubikon,” which is one of seven international genre projects selected for this year’s Frontières Buyers Showcase, which is running during the Cannes Film Festival. “Rubikon,” directed by Magdalena Lauritsch and written by Jessica Lind and Lauritsch, is in post-production. Johannes Mücke, a longtime