Worldwide sales of French TV content set an all-time record last year despite severe challenges caused by the continued pandemic, according to the annual report on domestic programming exports by the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC) and film and TV promotional org Unifrance. The COVID-19 crisis, the report notes, had many
U.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has formally resigned, less than a year into her role. Dorries told ITV News that she’d been offered to stay in the role by the country’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss, but decided to pass “after a lot of soul-searching.” It’s still unclear whether Dorries will relinquish her position as
Arian Vazirdaftari, whose debut feature “Without Her” (“Bi roya”) was picked up by Berlin-based sales company Picture Tree Intl. and is screening as part of Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra section, is no stranger to international festivals. He was a part of Berlinale Talent Campus and his short films screened in Busan, Brussels and Cannes
Prominent arthouse sales company The Match Factory has closed multiple sales on Italian auteur Gianni Amelio’s Venice competition title “Lord of the Ants” ahead of its Venice premiere on Tuesday. The Match Factory has sealed deals on Amelio’s latest work – which is a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968
New Zealand rugby icon Jonah Lomu and former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel will be the subjects of two new documentaries from U.K.-based sales agent and distributor Dogwoof and Sylver Entertainment. The companies previously collaborated on “McEnroe,” a documentary about the tennis great John McEnroe, which was released in U.K. cinemas in July and premiered
With its pulsing burble of Blondie music and its chilly aesthetic, the 1980 Paul Schrader film “American Gigolo” is a showpiece of what would soon be the Reagan decade. Some 42 years later, a TV adaptation feels lost in time, and searching for an argument for its existence. Starring Jon Bernthal and with a pilot
Academy Award-winner Eddie Redmayne will be awarded a Golden Eye for his career achievements during the 18th Zurich Film Festival (Sept. 22-Oct. 2). The British actor will receive the award in person on Sept. 25 prior to presenting the European premiere of Tobias Lindholm’s thriller “The Good Nurse,” in which he plays a nurse who
Venice Film Festival’s Final Cut, dedicated to films in post-production from African and Arab countries, wrapped its anniversary 10th edition on Sept. 5. As fest director Alberto Barbera welcomed the audience to “the final stage of the Final Cut,” La Biennale di Venezia Prize – and cash award of € 5,000 – went to “Inshallah
A cross-section of works from revered masters and fresh faces will take center stage at Poland’s American Film Festival (AFF), whose 13th edition takes place Nov. 8 – 13 in Wrocław, Poland. Established in 2010 as the sister event of the New Horizons Film Festival, a showcase of independent and arthouse cinema launched in 2001,
One year before its upcoming premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section, Polish director Damian Kocur’s feature debut “Bread and Salt” screened for a select audience of industry tastemakers in Wrocław, Poland. In 2019, Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi” played in the same showcase for upcoming Polish films before launching its campaign for best international
Building a bridge between American independent filmmakers and the European market is the goal of U.S. in Progress, which is hosted each year during the American Film Festival (AFF) in Wrocław, Poland. The event presents a carefully curated selection of roughly half a dozen American indie titles in the final stages of production to sales
France TV Distribution is ratcheting up global sales for the hit Gallic crime series “Bright Minds,” with deals ranging from Japan to the U.S., Canada and Latin America. In its third season, the show, which airs on France 2, follows a police detective who finds a brilliant partner in a young autistic woman with encyclopedic
ONLINE CONCERT RECORD A weekend concert by Hong Kong acting and singing superstar Andy Lau Tak-wah attracted a record-breaking 350 million viewers on Douyin, the mainland Chinese sister company of TikTok. The concert ran for two hours and attracted 100 million viewers in the first 30 minutes, with tens of millions more joining by the
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched the Sept. 5 episode of “The Bachelorette.” Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia are back together again. The co-Bachelorettes reunited in Mexico after separating for hometowns, where they compared stories from the past week (Rachel lamenting that her once front-runner Tino Franco’s family didn’t like her,
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “How’s It Going to Be?,” the Sept. 5 series finale of “Roswell, New Mexico.” In May, The CW pulled the plug on seven shows, including “Roswell, New Mexico,” which was airing its fourth season. On Monday night, the drama aired its final episode — one
Kehlani is partnering with nonprofit organizations HeadCount and Up to Us to incentivize her fans to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. The singer will be accommodating one lucky fan with free airfare, lodging and tickets to see her perform in Paris on Nov. 30. Fans can enter for a chance to win the sweepstakes
There’s no denying Olivia Wilde can direct the hell out of a movie. And with her latest behind-the-camera effort, “Don’t Worry Darling,” the actress turned filmmaker constructs a sexy and suspenseful thriller. It’s a film that should resonate with moviegoers, who may show up to check out an easy-on-the-eyes ensemble that includes Florence Pugh, Harry
The process behind “Seduce & Scheme” was heavy on the scheming. “We snuck in the writers room and the studio when they were having the sessions for the soundtrack. We wasn’t even supposed to be in there!” says KaMillion, who plays Mia in the Issa Rae-created comedy series “Rap Sh!t” on HBO Max. The series
Roughly a year ago, Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” launched out of Telluride, and there was something about that film’s emotional expansiveness and the irresistible pull of its unapologetic nostalgia that made it clear it was going to be a force to be reckoned with at the Oscars. I got the same sense watching Sam Mendes’ “Empire
On Monday night, Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde both attended the world premiere of the drama “Don’t Worry Daring” at the Venice Film Festival, but they kept their distance — almost as if they weren’t even in the same film together. Pugh had skipped the press conference for the film earlier in the day. When
If Colin Farrell doesn’t get an Oscar nom this year for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” he never will. That was all I could think after watching his work in Martin McDonagh’s latest dark comedy. And who would have thought that Farrell and Brendan Gleeson would become the perfect comedic duo of our day? I thought
Jay-Z waxed outraged, last Thursday on social media, at having been called a ”capitalist” for his diverse business ventures and their wild fiduciary successes — this after having once famously said, “I’m not a businessman. I’m a business, man.” But watching the fruit of Hova’s labors where his Made in America music festival was concerned, if
Ben Stiller and Sean Penn have been permanently banned from entering Russia, the Kremlin announced Monday. The actors are listed among 23 other United States citizens newly barred from the country, including Senators Kirsten Cinema, Richard Scott, Patrick Toomey Jr. and Mark Kelly, as well as Deputy Ministers of Trade Matthew S. Alexrod, Don Graves,
“Tár” is a musical, but not in the way you might think. Set to a rhythmic beat of classical orchestration, writer and director Todd Field triumphantly returns to the director’s chair some 16 years after “Little Children” (2006) and 21 years after his debut “In the Bedroom” (2001). In the process, Field proves the third
Olivia Wilde doesn’t sound like someone who is beefing with Florence Pugh … shooting down the narrative there’s infighting between director and actor. Olivia addressed the elephant in the room Monday at a press conference for the movie she directed, “Don’t Worry Darling,” throwing cold water on the notion there’s bad blood with the leading
Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling” is a movie that, in recent weeks, has been besieged and consumed by offscreen dramas, none of which I’ll recount here, except to note that when a film’s lead actress seems actively reluctant to publicize the film in question, that’s a sign of some serious discord. Yet it would be
From “Nomadland” to “Birdman,” Searchlight Pictures always finds itself in the thick of the awards race, and the indie studio may have just secured itself another ticket to the Oscars with “The Banshees of Inisherin.” The darkly comic fable from Martin McDonagh had a sensational debut on Monday at the Venice Film Festival, where it
BBC journalist Clive Myrie has called on whoever is appointed the new secretary of state for culture under Liz Truss to “make a renewed commitment to quality public service broadcasting, at the BBC and Channel 4.” Truss was appointed Prime Minister earlier today, replacing Boris Johnson. She is expected to appoint a new cabinet, including
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.” After playing Randall Pearson on NBC’s “This Is Us” for six seasons, Sterling K. Brown was ready to play a completely different character. So, he took on Lee-Curtis Childs, a closeted pastor accused of sexual misconduct who’s relaunching his church,
Tiffany Haddish has spoken out in response to the child sexual abuse lawsuit that was filed against her and comedian Aries Spears. “I know people have a bunch of questions. I get it. I’m right there with you,” Haddish wrote on Instagram. “Unfortunately because there is an ongoing legal case, there’s very little that I