A payment system claiming to automate the collection, tracking and allocation of film company revenues, as well as predicting future box-office success, was the second tech firm to pitch at the Zinemaldia Start Up Challenge, which broadcast live from San Sebastian Film Festival online Friday. A regular on the international film festival circuit, the U.K.-based
Movies
Film Movement has acquired North American rights to “My Little Sister,” a poignant drama that will represent Switzerland in the international feature film race at the Oscars. “My Little Sister,” penned and directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond, is handled in international markets by Beta Cinema. The Swiss drama world premiered at the Berlinale
Basque filmmaker Ángel Amigo has drawn inspiration from courtroom sketch techniques for his documentary “Voces del pasado imperfecto” (Voices From the Imperfect Past), about the 1970 trial of ETA militants in Burgos, Spain under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Making a virtue out of necessity, because of the lack of visual material, the documentary applies
“In 2016, after the final trial took place about my case, I looked at the big box of correspondence sent to me during almost three years in prison,” recounts writer and director Arantza Santesteban in a cafe at the San Sebastian film festival. “I opened the box and looked at the letters. It was at
Producer Juan Segundo Álamos was in San Sebastian to showcase “Los restos fósiles” (The Fossilized Remains), the debut feature film from award-winning Argentinian director Jerónimo Quevedo. At WIP Latam, the new San Sebastian Industry initiative focused on Latin American productions at the post-production stage, a half-hour taster of the film was screened. It’s inspired by
The firestorm over controversial Netflix film “Cuties,” which led to a huge spike in U.S. customer cancellations following its debut earlier this month, burned out after a few days, according to new data. “Cuties” tells the story of an 11-year-old Senegalese girl living in Paris who struggles to find her identity, torn between her family’s
Viggo Mortensen is in San Sebastian this week with his directorial debut “Falling” to receive one of this year’s prestigious Donostia awards. On Thursday afternoon, the multi-hyphenate filmmaker held a press conference ahead of the evening’s award ceremony. Admitting nervousness, the actor graciously thanked the festival for the double honor of the career achievement award
In an emerging landscape marked by dynamism and evolution, it doesn’t take long for new actors to become old stalwarts. Which goes a long way in explaining how Montreal’s Phi Centre – a multidisciplinary arts and culture organization with a gallery front in the city’s historic core – has gone from VR novice to one
The 40 projects (see link here) presented at NewImages’ XR Financing Market go before a panel of industry professionals, who offer their unvarnished advice, critiques and praise. To get a better sense of what moved the industry this year, Variety spoke with two participating decision makers. Paul Bouchard, Diversion Cinema, head of XR acquisitions and
Speaking via live stream at NewImages Festival on Thursday, Tony Parisi, global head of AR/VR ad innovation at Unity Technologies, and one of virtual reality pioneers, made his point clear: real-time technologies that entertain us today will be used to help us work and communicate in the future. During his keynote speech “The Real-Time Revolution
Historical novel “Suheldev – The King Who Saved India,” by bestselling Indian author Amish Tripathi, who goes just by Amish as a pen name, will be adapted as a feature film. The film, set in the 11th century, when Turkic armies led by ruler Mahmud of Ghazni repeatedly invaded northern India, will follow Suheldev, an
Chinese authorities have registered and approved a new project written by Hong Kong-based auteur Wong Kar-wai, listed as “Chungking Express 2020.” According to an official filing on the National Film Bureau’s website, the script was submitted for government approval in Shanghai in April, and was approved on Wednesday, Sept. 23. This means it can now
There are plenty of dramas that look different with time, but it’s the peculiar fate of “The Boys in the Band,” Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking 1968 play, to have been so buffeted by changing times that the play keeps changing its identity. At this point, in fact, I’d say that there are five stages of “The
By now, there have been enough movies and TV dramas focused on the fraying ties between individuals gradually diminished by Alzheimer’s disease and their supportive but increasingly stressed loved ones to constitute an entire subgenre. If “The Artist’s Wife” stands apart from the pack, it’s largely because this familiar but affecting drama spends less time
Suzanne Lindon, the 20-year old star and filmmaker of “Spring Blossom,” was born into French cinema royalty, being the daughter of famed French actors Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain; but the spirited young woman was determined early on to plow her own path towards acting. While Lindon initially wrote “Spring Blossom” as a vehicle to
Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s Cultural Revolution-set film “One Second” has at long last passed government censorship, clearing it for a theatrical release in China, local reports and an image of the approval document circulating online show. No release date has yet been set for the film, but it is listed on Chinese ticketing platforms as
As of Monday, “The Eight Hundred” became the highest-grossing movie of 2020 at the global box office, overtaking “Bad Boys for Life.” To date, the Chinese war epic has raked in $425 million and continues to exceed all expectations. The film is based on a true story, depicting a Chinese battalion who mounted a determined
It’s a curious thing that in the movie culture of the last 50 years, you can count on one hand (or maybe one middle finger) the good dramas that have been made about the political counterculture of the 1960s. The turbulence of that era has never stopped casting a shadow over our own. Yet there’s
All paths lead to an unavoidable outcome, at least that’s the conclusion demonstrated by the teenage motley crew facing a nightmarish problem in director Alessio Liguori’s “Shortcut.” If only someone had course-corrected the filmmakers on their own route to making this letdown of a horror road-movie, which gets off to a good start before losing
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group has announced a first-look deal with Vertigo Entertainment, the production company behind the “It” franchise and “The Lego Movie.” The wide-ranging deal covers all media other than television, including motion pictures, stage, location-based entertainment, podcasts and video games. With this new pact, Vertigo will become a prime provider to the Lionsgate’s
HBO’s Asian Pacific American Visionaries winners will premiere their work on Sept. 25 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET as part of the virtual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. The three short films will be available to stream on HBO’s website. The winning pictures from APA creators — “Si” by Thomas Percy Kim, Tiffany
A major awards overhaul by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is being heralded by the U.K. industry as a “bold plan” that may finally spark enduring change. In an interview with Variety, BAFTA chair Krishnendu Majumdar described the new rules as a “wholesale cultural change” that has been in the works
Set partly in Ivory Coast’s “Mad Max”-like MACA correctional facility and partly in the imagination of its newest inmate, “Night of the Kings” feels radically different from most films set behind bars, and not just because of its one-of-a-kind location. Naturally, the wild plots and power games one typically associates with the genre still feature,
Gkids has released a teaser trailer for its latest film, “Lupin III: The First,” written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. The animated feature is based on the popular manga series by Monkey Punch and focuses on the origin story for gentleman thief Lupin III as he and his criminal companions scramble to unlock the mysteries
Wakanda forever. Disneyland unveiled a Chadwick Boseman mural in its Downtown Disney shopping district. The artwork from Nikkolas Smith shows the late Marvel star giving the Wakanda salute to a young fan wearing a “Black Panther” mask. Smith shared photos of his work on Thursday via Instagram, in which he is giving the Wakanda salute in
As organizers prepped the third edition of the NewImages Festival, they looked to expand the new media event’s international footprint. In previous editions, the festival hosted expansive foreign delegations while organizing VR residency programs with partners from that year’s country of honor. In 2020 they were supposed to build even further, presenting the fruits of
Though Canada’s National Film Board has invested in interactive projects for well over a decade, 2020 has proven to be a banner year for the publicly funded organization, as three of their VR productions made waves across the international festival circuit. This past January, director Randall Okita’s “The Book of Distance” premiered at Sundance, kicking
Brittany-based outfit Ten 2 Ten Films, an independent house run by producer Gwenaëlle Clauwaert, brings an eyebrow raising, and entirely uncommon, project to this year’s NewImages’ XR financing market. Currently in development, the animated project “369” is described as an “immersive erotic experience,” set during the Roaring 20s, about a temple dedicated entirely to female
Hong Kong police on Thursday arrested prominent democracy activist Joshua Wong for his participation in a protest last October and for wearing a mask at the time. He was released the same day on bail. Wong, 23, has been an outspoken supporter of the global call to boycott Disney’s new live-action “Mulan,” tweeting on its
Former Fifth Harmony member Ally Brooke will star in CDW Films’ “High Expectations,” an upcoming drama about a soccer player’s journey toward success after rejection by his father. Brooke’s starring role as Sofia, the main character’s ex-girlfriend, will mark the singer’s acting debut. She stars alongside Taylor Gray, Kelsey Grammar and Briana Scurry, a US