At the heart of the Spanish Screenings are its market premieres, new titles coming onto the market post-San Sebastian, sometimes with fest runs at other smaller festivals. Variety drills down on a score of titles at this year’s event, including a clutch of 2020 Malaga fest winners. “Amateur,” (Martin Gutiérrez, Spain).A 2020 Malaga WIP entry,
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MONDAY, Nov. 16 Netflix Drama Vies for Best International Award Mexico has chosen Fernando Frías de la Parra’s drama “I’m No Longer Here” as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film to the 93rd Academy Awards. “I’m No Longer Here” premiered in the 2019 edition of the Morelia Film Festival, where it was
The Kazakh American Association is requesting the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Directors Guild of America Awards and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards bar Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” from awards consideration for what it deems racist portrayal of Kazakhs. The petition follows a request to cancel the release of
Add marketing executive at WarnerMedia to the endangered species list. In the space of two weeks, the media and entertainment giant has bid farewell to a dizzying array of marketing gurus, leaving major holes in the top executive ranks. In short order, Jim Gallagher stepped down from his Warner Bros post as executive vice president
Finn Cole gets to channel Bonnie and Clyde in “Dreamland,” a Depression-era drama that finds the “Animal Kingdom” actor playing a naive teenager who falls for Margot Robbie’s bank robber on the lam. It’s familiar territory for Cole, who previously played gangsters in “Animal Kingdom” and “Peaky Blinders,” but “Dreamland” also represented a big step
Cinemark and Universal Pictures have forged a landmark agreement to bring theatrical movies more quickly to home entertainment. The deal follows a recent and unexpected arrangement that Universal struck months ago with AMC Theatres, the world’s largest theater chain. That pact gave Universal the option to put new movies on digital rental services after 17
Gus Van Sant may have just collaborated with Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele on a seven-part film series presentation of the fashion house’s next collection, but he isn’t looking to up his wardrobe anytime soon. “I do have a bathrobe that Alessandro sent me, but that’s all,” Van Sant tells Variety. The first episode of
Judd Apatow is developing a pandemic comedy for Netflix and will direct, produce and co-write the untitled project through his Apatow Productions. The film will follow a group of actors and actresses stuck inside a pandemic bubble at a hotel attempting to complete a film. Apatow will co-write the script with “South Park” writer Pam
Variety has selected its 10 Actors to Watch for 2020, an honor the publication has bestowed since 1998. Past honorees include over 35 now Oscar winners and nominees, such as Mahershala Ali, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Brie Larson, Lupita Nyong’o and Melissa Leo. The list includes actors enjoying a breakthrough year, appearing in
The International Documentary Association has announced that Executive Director Simon Kilmurry will step down in mid-2021. Kilmurry joined IDA in 2015 after serving as executive director of American Documentary and executive producer of the PBS series’ “POV” and “America ReFramed.” The IDA announced the move Monday and noted that during his tenure at IDA, the
In a release plan fitting for a movie about a deadly pandemic that’s forced everyone into lockdown, STX’s sci-fi thriller “Songbird” won’t play in theaters and instead will debut on home entertainment. Starting on Dec. 11, audiences can rent the film for $19.99 for a 48-hour period. STX said “Songbird” will land on a streaming
In a year that has given us many large film ensembles, Netflix’s “The Prom” is another awards season hopeful that could crack multiple acting categories. In an exclusive to Variety, Netflix has confirmed the acting submissions for the upcoming Academy Awards. Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep and newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman will campaign for lead
Stand-up comedian Sinbad is recovering from a recent stroke, his family told Variety in a statement on Monday morning. “It is out of sincere love that we share Sinbad, our beloved husband and father, is recovering from a recent stroke,” his family said in a statement. “Sinbad is a light source of love and joy
The fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards announced the 2020 winners Monday morning, honoring “Dick Johnson Is Dead” for best documentary feature as well as the film’s Kirsten Johnson for best director. The film focuses on Richard Johnson, the director’s father, who suffers from dementia and imagines different ways in which he could die with
Cairo-based film marketing and distribution outfit MAD Solutions is launching MAD Rising Celebrity, a new unit dedicated to launching up-and-coming film and TV acting talents from across the Arab world. The new MAD Solutions subsidiary has recruited a rich roster of rising Arab actors comprising Saudi Arabia’s Fatima AlBanawi (pictured) – who starred in groundbreaking
Bukky Bakray, star of Brussels, Dublin and San Sebastian-winning film “Rocks,” Aleem Khan, director of Cannes Critics’ Week Label title “After Love,” and Kate Byers and Linn Waite, producers of British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) debut award-winner “Bait,” are among 34 participants of the 2020 BAFTA Breakthrough initiative. Supported by Netflix, the
Ryan Murphy saw a January 2019 Broadway production of “The Prom” at the Longacre Theatre, and he knew right away that he wanted to make a film adaptation under his production deal at Netflix. Very quickly, it received the green light. By early February he had all the actors, producers and a plan to begin
The holiday season is a full-circle moment for Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. They began dating after they were guests of Ralph Lauren at the 2017 Met Gala, and the now-married couple star in the holiday campaign for Feed, the lifestyle brand from Lauren Bush Lauren, who is married to Ralph’s son David. Since Lauren
Italy-based sales outlet TVCO has acquired international rights to Jonas Kærup Hjort’s Danish black comedy “The Penultimate” ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Tallinn Black Night Film Festival. Described as a “Kafkaesque tale” by Tallinn festival, “The Penultimate” follows an insignificant clerk (Joen Højerslev), who gets trapped inside a secluded building facing
Anthony Michael Hall is heading back to high school, starring as the assistant principal and executive producing the independent drama “The Class,” Variety has learned exclusively.. Hall broke out as high school brainiac Brian Johnson in the 1985 classic “The Breakfast Club,” which focused on five students serving high school detention on a Saturday. “The
In today’s Global Bulletin, Atresmedia commissions a Spanish version of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock” trailer drops, Lightbox will produced a three-part docu-series about Sophie Toscan du Plantier for Netflix, Hardcash announces a new coronavirus doc for ITV, and the Seville and Zagreb festivals announce their 2020 winners. FORMAT ¡Hola Hola Hola! Media
After being caught in successive regulatory delays for nearly two years, France’s new streaming service Salto finally launched at the start of November, right in time for a second national lockdown due to the pandemic. In an ironic twist of fate, Salto, a joint initiative between TF1, France Télévisions and M6, came out in France
This summer a new board of directors took the reins at the Greek Film Center (GFC), the body that oversees all aspects of the country’s film policy, from bolstering the development and production of local cinema to luring international film and television shoots to the Mediterranean nation. Despite recent years in which the GFC has
Iranian multi-hyphenate Babak Karimi is an actor, film editor, and academic who won the Berlin Silver Bear in 2011 for playing the judge in “A Separation,” one of several films in which he stars directed by his friend Asghar Farhadi. Karimi also appears in the drama “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness” by Massoud Bakhshi, which
SF Studios has inked a distribution deal with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) to release the studio’s film and television content across the Nordic and Baltic regions. Starting on March 1, the deal will cover a board range of content from Universal, notably the new instalments of the “Trolls World Tour,” the “Jurassic World” and
A New York man was arrested on Saturday in connection to last month’s unprovoked attack on “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” star Rick Moranis. On Saturday afternoon, the New York Police Department tweeted that a suspect had been “apprehended and charged,” attributing the discovery to “an eagle-eyed” NYPD Transit sergeant. Thanks to an eagle-eyed sergeant
In the age of streaming, the phrase “TV-movie” has been rendered all but meaningless. It now encompasses everything from a Disney Channel musical like “Zombies 2” to “My Dinner with Hervé” to “Mank.” But 30 or 40 years ago, the phrase “TV-movie” meant something specific — a two-hour drama made for one of the big
HBO Max has released the first trailer for Meryl Streep and Steven Soderbergh’s highly anticipated film “Let Them All Talk.” The comedy follows a renowned author, Alice Hughes (Streep), who embarks on a journey with old friends in the hopes of healing old wounds. Her nephew also comes along to accompany the ladies, until he
“The Ride” begins with a scene of unexpected brutality, engineered by a racist, feral kid. Even so, its “inspired by a true story” promise at the start rings a little tinny. And early on, the BMX-meets-“love wins” drama about a boy whose white supremacist roots and abusive home life land him in juvenile detention has
Kevin Dillon will portray Warner Bros. Studios founder Jack Warner in Dennis Quaid’s upcoming “Reagan” biopic, Variety has learned. Production on “Reagan” in Oklahoma was halted for two weeks in late October and early November due to a COVID-19 outbreak among crew members. Shooting resumed on Nov. 5 and will be moving to California, according