Movies

The Berlin Film Festival has revealed 12 titles from 16 countries that will compete in the festival’s Encounters strand, including Denis Côté’s “Social Hygiene” from Canada, Alice Diop’s “We” from France, and Fern Silva’s “Rock Bottom Riser” from the U.S. The selections also take in “As I Want” (Egypt/France/Norway/Palestine) by Samaher Alqadi; “Azor” (Switzerland/France/Argentina) by

ARRI Media Intl. has signed a deal with Faktura Film to handle the international sales for the Marxist vampire comedy “Bloodsuckers.” The film has been selected to world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Encounters section, which aims to “foster aesthetically and structurally daring works from independent, innovative filmmakers.” Variety has been given exclusive access

Sales agency Global Screen, part of Will Smith and Marc Forster’s Telepool, has picked up global distribution rights to $24 million family adventure movie “Jim Button and the Wild 13.” The pic, which is the second most expensive German movie of all times, according to Global Screen, will be launched at the European Film Market

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne reopened on Wednesday after a $30.9 million (A$40 million) overhaul. Before it closed the venue, which evolved from the State Film Centre of Victoria, was the second most visited museum in Australia and claimed to be the most visited film museum in the world. However, its

Following hard on the heels of the film’s selection for this year’s Berlin Film Festival Encounters section, director Denis Côté has shared a first trailer for his new movie “Social Hygiene,” the latest from the Canadian director who won a Silver Bear for 2013’s “Vic+Flo Saw a Bear.” At first glance, if the trailer is

More than 80% of movie tickets in China are sold online or via mobile device, one of the world’s highest penetration rates. That gives the country’s ticketing agencies unusually accurate insight into audience behavior and film tracking. After the early part of last year was wiped out by the coronavirus, how strong is the theatrical

Eligibility controversies. Category name changes. Executive committee “saves” allowed. Executive committee “saves” disallowed. The introduction of a nine-entry shortlist. The expansion to 10. Then to 15…and so on. There has been no Academy Award category more frequently and fitfully tinkered with than best international feature film (formerly best foreign language feature). And so to the

Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affairs” (The Things We Say, The Things We Do) is leading the nominations for the Cesar Awards, France’s top film honors. Nominations were announced online on Wednesday. The film, which was part of Cannes 2020’s official selection, weaves together a series of romantic tales exploring love, friendship and infidelity with an ensemble

In Lee Daniel’s upcoming “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” coming to Hulu on Feb. 25, Andra Day plays legendary Billie Holiday. The film centers around her 1940s court trial and her encounters with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Leslie Jordan plays journalist Reginald Lord Devine, who sits down with Holiday for an interview to

“Boonie Bears: The Wild Life,” the latest feature-length instalment in a long-running Chinese film and TV franchise, is set to open in Japan and Australia. The moves are closely coordinated with the film’s release at the Chinese box office’s annual high point: Lunar New Year. The seventh feature film in the “Boonie Bears” franchise “Wild

Sandra Bullock is the latest star to come aboard Sony Pictures’ action thriller “Bullet Train,” Variety has confirmed. Bullock joins an ensemble cast jam-packed with stars, including Brad Pitt, Joey King, Lady Gaga, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Zazie Beetz, Logan Lerman, Bad Bunny, Andrew Koji, Brian Tyree Henry, Masi Oka, Michael Shannon, Hiroyuki Sanada and Karen Fukuhara.

The shortlists for the Academy Awards’ two music categories are out, and while there are few surprises among  the 375-member music branch’s 15 choices for best original score, there’s a remarkable shift in the original song category: Nearly half of the 15 songs on that list emerged from narrative films or documentaries whose casts or

There’s a conventional truism about musicals that basically says: If they’re constructed so that you could take all the songs out and nothing about the narrative or emotional impact of the rest of the show would be at all affected, maybe you’re doing it wrong. That brings us to “Music,” the first feature film from

The Walt Disney Company will close Blue Sky Studios, the animation company inherited in its 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Founded in 1987, Blue Sky helped grow top-grossing family franchises including “Ice Age,” the Dr. Seuss adaptation “Horton Hears a Who,” and most recently the Will Smith and Tom Holland project “Spies in Disguise.”

Variety has promoted writers Matt Donnelly and Elaine Low and editor Jazz Tangcay. The promotions come as Variety is expanding the scope of its multiplatform editorial operations to better capture all aspects of the global entertainment business. Donnelly, Low and Tangcay are part of a growing team around the world delivering breaking news, analysis, data

The filmmaking couple Kata Wéber and Kornél Mundruczó experienced a miscarriage together, and they didn’t speak about it for a long time. When Wéber was invited to write a theater play, Mundruczó encouraged his partner to dive deeper into the topic of miscarriage.  “I was really frightened,” Wéber said. “I wasn’t sure if it’s the

Global distributor, producer and streamer MUBI has snapped up major European markets for hot Sundance title “Pleasure,” which delves into the world of the porn industry in Los Angeles. The service has acquired all rights to the provocative film in the U.K., Ireland, Italy and Turkey. Directed by Ninja Thyberg, the film recently received its

The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the lineup of 20 shorts from 17 countries which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bear awards for short films. The festival said the films “daringly confront the present and rewrite the past,” while imagining “a new tomorrow” in many different ways. “There is longing to understand and

Kitano Takeshi, the 74-year-old icon of Japanese gangster films and TV comedy, has set “Kubi” (Neck) as his next film — and possibly the last movie that he will direct. The film is a period actioner based on Kitano’s 2019 novel of the same title, published by Kadokawa, according to local magazine Josei Jishin, which

You can take the boy off the farm, but you can’t keep the farm — especially the dino ones — away from Sam Neill. From the sheep of his new movie “Rams” to the bunnies of upcoming “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,” the Emmy-nominated New Zealand actor is entering his milestone 50th year of professional

Netflix has picked up international rights to “The Yin Yang Master” a film that is one of the big seven tentpole titles that will open in mainland Chinese cinemas on Friday and compete for Lunar New Year holiday audiences. Netflix acquired distribution rights in the rest of the world ex-mainland China from Huayi Brothers Media

Federation Entertainment, Pascal Breton and Lionel Uzan’s independent production and distribution group, is ramping up its premium documentary output with a slate of new acquisitions, including “The Vatican” and “The Sect.” “The Vatican” is a six-part investigative documentary series exploring the pinnacle of Catholicism, and how incessant scandals and an ever changing society have weakened

If you’re of a certain age, the mere mention of the name M.C. Escher can nudge you into a heady swirl of nostalgia. Robin Lutz’s joyful and kaleidoscopic documentary “M.C. Escher: Journey to Infinity” took me back to the days when I was in junior high in the early ’70s, and I would go downtown

Jean-Claude Carriere, the prolific French screenwriter and novelist who was Oscar-nominated for “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “That Obscure Object of Desire” and “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” died Monday at his home in Paris. He was 89. His family confirmed his death, of natural causes, to AFP. Carriere was a frequent collaborator with

Mon. Feb 8. Universal Pictures Moves Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Marry Me’ to 2022 Universal Pictures has announced Jennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me” is moving from May 14, 2021 to Feb. 11, 2022. Lopez stars as musical superstar Kat Valdez and Owen Wilson as Charlie Gilbert, a math teacher—total strangers who agree to marry and then get to

Black excellence in filmmaking should be celebrated every month — but Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Max and Disney Plus have created special sections curating their offerings and highlighting Black History Month. Given we’ve been without live music for nearly a year, it would be a good time to watch Beyonce’s Coachella concert-movie “Homecoming.” Sure,

“My child, Shiloh brought the book to me, she had read it and she loved it,” Angelina Jolie says recalling the first time she had seen “The One and Only Ivan,” written by Katherine Applegate. Exploring why her child was affected by the book, why she loved Ivan, a silverback gorilla, and why he spoke

While many films were being delayed during the summer as a result of the pandemic, Pete Davidson and Judd Apatow decided to release “The King of Staten Island” on VOD in June. “This is kind of about trauma and these types of disasters and first responders so maybe it’s supposed to come out now,” Apatow

Despite taking place virtually and over a shorter duration, the 2021 Sundance Film Festival nabbed its largest audience ever this year, the Sundance Institute announced Monday. The 2021 festival took place from Jan. 28-Feb. 3 and was hosted online and in-person in 20 cities across the United States. This year’s audience was 2.7 times larger

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be announcing its shortlist on Tuesday in nine Oscar categories. The categories and number of films to be revealed include documentary feature (15), documentary short subject (10), international feature (15), makeup and hairstyling (10), original score (15), original song (15), animated short film (10), live action