The Busan International Film Festival will further honor its co-founder and former programmer Kim Jiseok, who died suddenly in 2017, by expanding the existing prize in his name into a fully-fledged competitive section. Previously, the Kim Jiseok Award was given to one of ten films selected from the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ sidebar which
The star studded Variety and Hotel Danieli pre-festival cocktail party on Aug. 30 was a taster of the riches in store at the Venice Film Festival that kicks off the following day. Head of the jury Julianne Moore and fellow jurors, “A Separation” actor Leila Hatami and filmmakers Audrey Diwan, Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo
The Zurich Film Festival has selected some of the year’s most anticipated auteur films and high-brow Hollywood movies in its Gala Premieres section. Among other films, the fest screens the European premieres of “The Woman King,” with Viola Davis, and “Bros” by Nicholas Stoller. It also plays “The Son” by Florian Zeller. “Of the 145
Julianne Moore, who is presiding over the Venice Film Festival jury, spoke at a press conference on Tuesday morning that kicked off the 79th edition of the movie gathering that kicks off awards season for Hollywood on the Lido. She reminisced about how she first came to Venice as an actress on the American soap
Sandro Fiorin’s Figa Films has snapped up international sales rights to Pavel Giroud’s “El Caso Padilla,” which, selected for the San Sebastian highly competitive Horizontes Latinos, bids fair to become one of the most notable Latin American doc features of 2022. Variety has also shared in exclusivity a first trailer to the film. The follow-up to
FAMILY HISTORY Keira Knightley, Kit Harington, Emeli Sandé and Toby Jones are among the celebrities who’ve signed up to explore their family histories in Wonderhood Studios show “My Grandparents’ War.” The second season of the show, which airs in the U.K. on Channel 4, will explore how the stars’ grandparents navigated global conflicts from the
David Bowie is to be posthumously honored on London’s Music Walk of Fame. Bowie, who is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, will join other British music legends including Amy Winehouse, The Who, Soul2Soul and Madness by getting a stone inlaid into the pavement near Camden Town tube station in London. Bowie died
MPM Premium has picked up Firas Khoury’s coming-of-age drama “Alam,” ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. The film centers on Tamer, a Palestinian teenager living in Israel. He and his friends lead a typical high-school student’s life until the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa’. To impress her, Tamer agrees to take
Mediawan Rights has boarded the highly anticipated “Zorro” series reboot, produced by leading Spanish company Secuoya Studios. Mediawan Rights is set to distribute the event series internationally. The show started shooting on July 25 in Spain and will be filming until the end of the year. Written by Carlos Portela (“Velvet Collection”), the modern reboot
French production and distribution firm Oble is to handle international licensing of Canadian hit drama series “Aller Simple” or “No Return.” Produced by French-Canadian firm Sphere Media, the six-episode psychological thriller premiered on prime-time earlier this year in Canada and has been a hit with critics and audiences. It plays on Noovo, where it has
The delayed 46th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival wrapped Wednesday with the award of 13 prizes for its young filmmaker, documentary and shorts competitions. Hailed by the jury as “one of this year’s most distinguished films both creatively and artistically,” Qiu Jiongjiong’s “A New Old Play” was named best film for the Young Cinema Competition
Among the world premieres set for the BFI London Film Festival are Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pinocchio” and Emily Blunt series “The English.” Others include “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical,” Asif Kapadia’s ballet-infused “Creature,” family animation “My Father’s Dragon” from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Nora Twomey, Jez Butterworth’s “Mammals,” which stars James Corden and
Visual effects and animation company Cinesite has acquired a majority stake in Balkans-based visual effects studio FX3X. FX3X, which works on both feature film and episodic television projects, has offices in Skopje and Belgrade. It was founded by Milivoje Gjorgjevikj and Kristijan Danilovski in 1997 and is one of Eastern Europe’s largest VFX houses. It
Taiwan at Venice 2022 — Venice Immersive Competition “All That Remains” – Director: Craig Quintero Among the latest explorers in the VR realm is Riverbed Theatre, a “total theater” company that was formed in Taipei in 1998 and combines visual and performing arts. “All That Remains” is directed by the company’s artistic director Craig Quintero.
Venice Production Bridge – Venice Gap-Financing Market “Mirror” – Director: Wu De-Chuen“Mirror” is a story of three men from different generations of the same family. They live in different eras and have starkly different jobs —as an engraver, a tailor and a trader. But their lives are oddly similar. They share the same ambition to
Taiwan’s ambition to impress has not dwindled despite its being the center of geopolitical struggle following Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit. The island is still generating large amounts of content on the technological cutting edge. It returns to the Venice Film Festival with a slate of productions ranging from the restored version of the late Edward
Smart phone usage is key to music listeners in parts of East Asia, but only a minority of users are committed subscribers to streaming services. That apparent contradiction may explain the rise of mini-subscriptions in the region. “Some 81% of music listeners in Malaysia use smartphones as their go-to music listening devices in a typical
Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson have teamed up once again — this time to throw cyber criminals against walls. The two stars appear in a new cybersecurity awareness PSA from Amazon as a part of the company’s protect and connect program, which aims to teach Internet users how to protect themselves from phishing and
“Ivy and Bean” director Elissa Down gushed over working with “Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson, describing him as her “spirit animal,” at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on Monday. “We were shooting [during] a heat wave in Canada. The set was hot, but [Jesse] wasn’t waiting in his trailer — he came straight
Earlier this month, “iCarly” star Jennette McCurdy’s bombshell memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” detailed alleged abuse she experienced while working at Nickelodeon. Now, several former child actors and Nickelodeon staffers are speaking out against Dan Schneider, creator of “Zoey 101,” “Victorious,” “iCarly” and “Drake & Josh,” who reshaped the network and kids’ television at
Ingrid Andress is, by most measures, one of the most successful upstarts in mainstream country music over the past few years. After her debut album, “Lady Like,” came out in 2020, the Michigan native was nominated for best new artist at the Grammys as well as by the CMAs and ACMs. She’s a thoughtful live-wire
The upcoming “Spiderwick Chronicles” TV series at Disney+ has cast Joy Bryant, Variety has learned exclusively. Bryant joins previously announced cast members Lyon Daniels and Noah Cottrell as well as Christian Slater. The show is based on the popular book series of the same name by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. In the show, upon
The success of “Fleabag” loosed a glut of shows about young women tottering – heels broken, mascara smeared – in the vague direction of adult responsibility. Few have been as purely enjoyable as “Everything I Know About Love,” Dolly Alderton’s adaptation of her own memoir, which debuts on Peacock this week after winning plaudits on
When “Trees of Peace,” a drama set during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, surged into the top 10 English-language films on Netflix in June, some may have been amazed that a low-budget, albeit critically acclaimed indie was among the most-watched movies of the week. But executive producer Nicole Avant (“The Black Godfather”) wasn’t among them. “It
Hot on the heels from making out with himself in this spring’s ludicrous “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Nicolas Cage is now taking on another comedy role. The iconic actor is set to star in “Dream Scenario,” an upcoming A24 comedy produced by “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” director Ari Aster, Variety has confirmed. Beyond the
Tucker Wiard, who served as editor for TV series including “Murphy Brown,” “The Carol Burnett Show” and “The Scarlet Letter,” died on Aug 28 in Los Angeles after complications from heart failure. He was 80. Throughout Wiard’s decades-long career, he won five primetime Emmys for editing. Wiard won for his work in editing the final
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos (pictured above, left) thanked “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne at the U.K. premiere of the Amazon Prime Video series on Tuesday night – for ignoring his notes on the show. “Every showrunner’s dream – and I mean every showrunner – their
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Amazon Studios’ hotly anticipated “Lord of the Rings” series is one of the streamer’s most ambitious (and reportedly most expensive) projects to date. Although the new fantasy series, based off J.R.R Tolkein’s seminal book
Snap is reportedly getting ready to make a major round of layoffs, as Snapchat advertising sales have hit turbulence. The social messaging and media company is set to cut 20% of its workforce, with layoffs set to begin Wednesday, the Verge reported, citing anonymous sources. A Snap spokesperson declined to comment. As of the end
Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian politician who served as the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 91, according to the Associated Press. The Central Clinical Hospital in Russia provided a statement to Russian news organizations that Gorbachev died after suffering from an undisclosed, long-term illness. Gorbachev served as