Movies

Documentary “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,” about the teenage actor in Luchino Visconti’s “Death in Venice,” has been sold to numerous territories by Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique. The Swedish film, directed by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri, premiered in Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. It receives an online market screening

In 2002, “Ogu and Mampato in Rapa Nui” became Chile’s first animated feature since the silent “Vida y milagros de Don Fausto” in 1924. Less than two decades later, five animated Chilean features in various stages of production are pitching at the Cannes Marché du Film. That kind of growth would be surprising if it

The Academy Award-nominated animated feature “Wolfwalkers,” from Kilkenny-based studio Cartoon Saloon, has won Best Film at the Irish Film and Television Awards this evening. It is the second time an animated feature has won in the category, the first being Cartoon Saloon’s “Song of the Sea” in 2015. “Avengers: Endgame” star Josh Brolin presented the

Nikkatsu has added “Hiruko the Goblin,” a 1991 adventure-horror film by cult director Tsukamoto Shinya, to its sales slate at the Cannes Market, an adjunct to the Cannes Film Festival. To mark the 30th anniversary of the film’s original release, it has been restored and remastered in a new 2K version. The second feature by

There are a lot ways to describe “Zola,” the scandalously intoxicating mad-dog erotic-underworld drama with a title that doesn’t tell you much about it. It’s a true story so extravagant it feels like it must have been made up. It’s a mini volcano of sex and violence and danger and deception. It’s a close-to-the-bone portrait

Documentaries from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal will compete for the €10,000 ($11,866) docs-in-progress grand prize and other awards at the 2021 edition of Cannes Docs. From Afghanistan, prolific short filmmaker Hezbullah Sultani’s feature documentary debut “Birds Street” explores Kabul’s showcase for avian life, a corner of the city tucked away behind a mosque untouched

It won’t be a weekend for the record books, but this year’s July 4th holiday box office haul is a marked improvement on the 2020 edition. The box office boost is thanks to a trio of new movies — the kid-friendly “The Boss Baby: Family Business,” the gruesome thriller “The Forever Purge,” and the satirical

In a career that spans more than seven decades, Eva Marie Saint has won an Oscar, played Superman’s mom, and acted alongside screen legends such as Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. A versatile performer, she appeared in comedies (“The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming”), historical epics (“Raintree County”), social dramas (“On

Mediawan Rights, the sales arm of European media group Mediawan, is ramping up its documentary slate with the addition of two new feature films, Variety has learned. Directed by Ado Hasanovic, “My Father’s Diaries” is an intimate portrait of the Bosnian War that uses 8mm footage shot by the director’s family, as well as his

Animation film “Belle” by the Japanese director Hosoda Mamoru will join the Cannes Film Festival lineup. The festival said Sunday that “Belle” will have its world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section and play on Thursday July 15. ” ‘Belle’ is the film that I’ve always dreamt to create and that I can make today thanks

Transgender drama “Midnight Swan” was named as the best film on Saturday at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy. The Golden Mulberry prize was awarded by an audience poll after the film’s online screening. The film, directed by Uchida Eiji, is the story of an adolescent girl who moves in with her transgender

Dominikos Ignatiadis was just 16 years old when his mother, Gabriela, left his family, a fact that has haunted him for much of his adult life. After her death, he embarked on an intimate journey into the past, using her diary, her letters, and the recollections of her family and friends to try to unravel

During the first lockdown in the spring of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic began spreading throughout Greece, the director of an elderly care home in the suburbs of Athens and his staff decided to seal the home from the outside world, in order to prevent the possibility of infections amongst his vulnerable residents. When he

As the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival winds down, filmmaker and Greek Documentary Association (GDA) president Marianna Economou points to great strides taken by the local industry in recent years, while adding that more support is needed to sustain its growth and development. As the head of the GDA, Economou oversees an organization that was founded in

Some people like “Independence Day” for its campy take on “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”; or for its technical achievements, which won an Oscar and set director Roland Emmerich on the path for becoming the disaster director du jour; or for establishing Will Smith as the “King of the Fourth of July.” Other people

While it’s not uncommon for an animation director to make the leap into live-action filmmaking, it is rather rare for that first at bat to be a massive sci-fi blockbuster that isn’t based on any pre-existing properties. That’s the opportunity presented to Chris McKay, who transitioned from directing nearly four dozen episodes of “Robot Chicken”

Monaco-based International Emerging Film Talent Association will showcase 32 in-progress documentaries at this month’s Cannes Marché du Film-Festival and will present a cash award of to one of them. The Marché runs July 6-15, concurrent with the broader Cannes film festival, which wraps July 17. This is the third year year IEFTA is offering its

The documentary “Beyond the Raging Sea” will make its European premiere July 4 as the centerpiece presentation of the Monaco Streaming Film Festival. The screening will take place in Monte Carlo’s Grimaldi Forum prior to the Festival’s Gala Awards evening. The film’s writer-director, Marco Orsini, will attend. The Streaming Festival debuts this year, running July

Incoming Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been given stock awards valued at well over $200 million based on the tech giant’s four-figure stock price at present. Jassy has been granted 61,000 shares of Amazon common stock as of July 5, when he takes over the helm from founder Jeff Bezos. The stock awards will vest

Guangzhou, the capital of China’s top movie-going province Guangdong, announced Friday that cinemas there can now reopen after nearly a month of closures due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. Theaters were shuttered in a number of districts in the city of more than 15 million on June 7 after an outbreak that authorities worried

Twenty-four years ago, on the evening that the U.K. handed political control of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Hong Kong leading man and Cantopop superstar Andy Lau performed in state broadcaster CCTV’s song-and-dance spectacular to mark the occasion. As the camera panned through an audience waving both Chinese and Hong Kong flags, he sang

Big-budget mainland Chinese propaganda film “1921” is set for distribution across a raft of English-speaking countries, including the U.S. and U.K. The film enjoyed a wide general release in mainland China from Thursday as part of the ongoing celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. It is primarily

Fans will have to wait a little longer to return to Downton. Focus Features is pushing the North American release of “Downton Abbey 2” from Dec. 22, 2021, to March 18, 2022. The film will now compete against “Unbreakable Boy,” a drama with Zachary Levi, Meghann Fahy and Patricia Heaton. The following weekend will bring

MK2, the venerable family-owned film group which operates a leading arthouse multiplex chain in France and Spain, is emerging from the pandemic stronger, cooler and more ambitious than ever. Nathanaël and Elisha Karmitz, who succeeded their father Marin at the helm of the company in 2005, have galvanized the MK2 brand with activities ranging from

When “Fear Street” writer-director Leigh Janiak recruited Christopher Allen Nelson as special makeup FX designer and department head for Netflix’s trilogy based on the R.L. Stine books, she knew she had the right person to pay homage to ’90s slasher flicks such as “Scream.” Janiak’s goal was that the “skull mask” killer in the first

Filmmaker Dee Rees made history on June 29 when her debut feature “Pariah” joined the Criterion Collection, making the Oscar and Emmy nominee the first Black American woman to have her work included. Before Rees, Euzhan Palcy, who is from Martinique, was the lone Black woman to have a film (1989’s “A Dry White Season”)

DreamWorks Animation’s “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and Blumhouse and Universal’s “The Forever Purge” both netted $1.3 million each in Thursday previews. The two sequels, which appeal to vastly different segments of the moviegoing audience, will likely be overshadowed by the second weekend grosses of “F9,” which is expected to earn roughly $28 million over

The British Film Institute (BFI) has revealed a one-year fund worth £500,000 ($690,000) to support the U.K. distribution of international titles. The funding comes by way of the National Lottery and will be administered by the BFI Audience Fund. It is aimed at supporting exhibitors and distributors in the wake of the pandemic and aims

Paris-based international sales and production company Totem Films has added Gábor Fabricius’ “Erasing Frank” to its Cannes market lineup. Set in 1983, behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe in Budapest, the film follows Frank, the charismatic singer of a banned punk band that carries the voice of their generation against a totalitarian regime. Taken

Brazilian audiovisual promotion group Projeto Paradiso and Argentina’s Cannes-backed market-festival Ventana Sur are launching a new $10,000 award to be handed out at the Buenos Aires event, earmarked for the best Brazilian fiction projects in post-production. The announcement was made by Projeto Paradiso’s Josephine Bourgois – executive director of the Olga Rabinovich Institute – and