Movies

At a crunch time for Europe’s film and TV industries, as it faces COVID-19 crisis and streamer-propelled sea change, the San Sebastian’s Festival European Film Forum will take both bulls by the horns at its Sept. 22 conference, Beyond COVID-19: Revitalizing the European Audiovisual Industry, Two panel discussions will be preceded by an in-depth analysis

This quality in this year’s crop of home-grown productions at the San Sebastian Festival is no surprise to anyone following the region’s growth in recent years, but it is impressive. Below, 20 Basque projects and finished films and series which stand out at this year’s event. “Akelarre,” (Pablo Agüero) A former San Sebastian Festival Co-Production

Robbie Amell, star of “Upload,” “Code 8” and “The Babysitter: Killer Queen,” is set to produce and star in “Float,” a movie based on Kate Marchant’s popular Wattpad teen-romance story. Wattpad has teamed with Collective Pictures — formerly Colony Pictures — to produce “Float.” Marchant’s “Float” has accumulated more than 25.5 million reads on Wattpad

Jackie Stallone, astrologist to the stars and mother to actor Sylvester Stallone, died on Monday. She was 98. Frank Stallone, the younger brother to Sylvester, made the announcement on Monday night, saying his mother had died that morning. “She was a remarkable woman, working out every day, full of spunk and fearless. She died in

Film designer and cartoonist Ron Cobb died Thursday of Lewy body dementia at the age of 83. Cobb was a significant influence on the look and aesthetics of films including “Alien,” “Star Wars” and “Back to the Future.” Cobb died on his birthday, Monday, after an illustrious career contributing to production design in Hollywood. He

‘Antebellum’ Leads Weekly Streaming Lists Janelle Monae horror thriller “Antebellum” has topped the the lists of the week’s movies streaming on Fandango’s streaming services Vudu and FandangoNOW. Lionsgate decided in early August to ditch a domestic theatrical release for “Antebellum” amid an uncertain outlook for launching movies at brick-and-mortar theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not seen “Antebellum,” now available on PVOD. Filmmakers Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz weren’t worried about pushing the envelope too far with “Antebellum,” their twisty tale of a contemporary Black woman, a slave living on a brutal Southern plantation and the way their fates are intertwined. In

Cinematographer and director Michael Chapman, known for his distinctive camera work on Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “The Last Waltz,” died Sunday of congestive heart failure. He was 84. His spouse, screenwriter and film director Amy Holden Jones’ Facebook page confirmed the news of his death, writing: “Michael Chapman ASC, love of my

Actor-auteur Maïwenn bills herself last in the principal cast credits for “DNA,” adding the distinguishing curlicue of an “and” citation when her name eventually pops up on screen. On the one hand, it seems a courtesy to the formidable ensemble of her fifth feature as director, stacked as it is with stars from Fanny Ardant

A screenwriter has filed a lawsuit against actor Gary Oldman and NBCUniversal, claiming that the film “Darkest Hour” lifted certain historical inventions from his unproduced Winston Churchill script. Ben Kaplan, a teacher and writer who has worked on several History Channel series, filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday. He alleges that

AFI Fest will close its 34th edition on Oct. 22 with the world premiere of Showtime’s Timothy Leary documentary “My Psychedelic Love Story,” directed by Errol Morris. The film explores the dark side of the Leary saga and how his doomed relationship with his former partner Joanna Harcourt-Smith served as the final nail in the coffin

Tiffany Haddish has joined Nicolas Cage in Lionsgate’s action-comedy “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.” Pedro Pascal and Sharon Horgan are also starring in “Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” in which Cage portrays a fictionalized version of himself as he accepts a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a super fan (played by

Two days ahead of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its new diversity and inclusion standards for the Oscars that will begin in 2024. Many top filmmakers, actors and talent weighed in on the decision at Variety’s Virtual Studio at TIFF, presented by Canada Goose. The

French actor Michael Lonsdale, who was known internationally for his roles as the villain Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film “Moonraker” and detective Claude Lebel in “The Day of the Jackal,” has died. He was 89. AFP confirmed news of the actor’s death, via his agent, on Monday. Lonsdale won France’s Cesar for

“All In: The Fight for Democracy,” a documentary that examines voter suppression in the United States, will be available for free on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 22 in support of National Voter Registration Day. Viewers will have access to the film in front of the paywall for 24 hours, without needing a Prime membership

DreamWorks has released a trailer for its upcoming animated film, “The Croods: A New Age.” The trailer begins with Emma Stone’s character, Eep, reintroducing the prehistoric Croods family as they search for the “perfect place to call home.” They soon discover an idyllic paradise that meets all their needs, except there’s one problem: A family

In today’s Global Bulletin, Netflix picks up four originals in Nigeria, Amazon Prime Video gets Noggin in several major European markets, Walter Presents buys three Polish series, and IWC Schaffhausen and the BFI announce finalists and jury for this year’s Filmmaker Bursary Award. STREAMING Netflix has announced a slate of new original series and films

João Paulo Miranda Maria’s debut feature “Memory House”  – a nuanced look at systemic racism in modern Brazil – is about to make its third appearance on this year’s festival circuit. The only Latin American film to be selected for the Cannes Label this year, “Memory House” has also premiered at Toronto and will run

The rate of coronavirus cases in the U.K. is growing exponentially, doubling every seven days, and if the current rate continues, it could reach 49,000 a day by Oct. 13, say the country’s leading advisers. In a briefing on Monday, Patrick Vallance, the government chief scientific adviser, and Chris Whitty, chief medical adviser, said the

Paris-based Bac Films has closed multiple territories across Europe and Africa as well as Canada on family adventure “Yakari,” an animated feature reboot of the cult 1970’s franchise. Based on the French-Belgian comic strip first published in 1969 and created by Job, Derib and Dominique, “Yakari” has also been adapted into two popular TV series,

The recent U.S.-brokered agreement under which Israel established diplomatic relations with two Arab states has rapidly prompted formal film industry ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Abu Dhabi Film Commission, the Israel Film Fund and Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel Film & Television School (pictured) on Monday announced a wide-ranging agreement with the

A double San Sebastian Golden Shell winner with “The Double Steps” (2011) and “Between Two Waters” (2018), Isaki Lacuesta is teaming with Tamara Iglesias’ Atekaleun and Víctor Iriarte’s Cajaconcosasdentro to co-produce “Reescritura” (“Rewriting”), Iriarte’s fiction feature debut. Lacuesta will co-produce out of his label La Termita Films. Catalan auteur Lacuesta has produced to date only one

Warner Bros. is to end its decades-old film distribution relationship in Australia and New Zealand with Roadshow Films. The studio has notified the Australian distributor that its current contract to handle the theatrical releases of Warner titles will not be renewed beyond its expiry at the end of December. Other sources report that theatrical distribution

In April, 39 companies in Spain joined together to create Alia, the Alliance for the Audiovisual Industry, a non-profit advocacy group including public and private institutions intended to negotiate and improve Spain’s production pipeline while presenting a unified front when dealing with governmental economic bodies. “Alia was an idea that we started on quite a

San Sebastian’s Nest program for student short films seeks out filmmakers from schools around the world, inviting them to screen their films in a dedicated competition at the Spanish festival. Students are also invited to participate in discussions and masterclasses given by industry professionals. Each year, the section jury, together with the students, chooses the

After having premiered at the First International Film Festival in Xining, China, “Slow Singing” now plays at San Sebastian’s prestigious New Directors section, its main sidebar. The debut film of Dong Xingyi is, as its title promises, a slow paced observation of the life of Junsheng, a former prison inmate who, after release, struggles to

Jessica Sarah Rinland’s “Collective Monologue” and Elena Martin Gimeno’s “Creature” are among the five projects selected this year at Ikusmira Berriak. The sixth edition of the training program is now in the second segment of its residency at San Sebastian, and a different world awaits its five participants since their first meeting in March. Rinland,

While international film and TV shoots have been halted in South Africa for the past six months due to a ban on foreign flights during the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the local industry have found a novel way to lift their spirits. On Thursday, hundreds of South African actors and crew members will come together

César Augusto Acevedo, director of Cannes’ Camera d’Or winning “Land and Shade,” has boarded Fidelio Films’ movie adaptation of “Noche sin Fortuna,” to be directed by Fidelio partner Mauricio Leiva Cock. Acevedo, Cock and Swiss-Colombian Lony Welter will now co-write “Noche sin Fortuna,” the big screen makeover of the bleak, nihilist novel that revered young

In “Spagat,” his feature film debut, Swiss director Christian Johannes Koch tells the story of a high school teacher whose double life begins to come apart while also examining the difficult life of an immigrant laborer with no papers. Set in rural Switzerland, the film follows Marina, a married mother and teacher who is having