Wes Anderson won’t be taking any questions in Cannes because “The French Dispatch” isn’t getting a press conference. Variety has confirmed with festival sources that the movie’s creative team won’t be made available to the press. The film has been missing from the press screening and conference schedule since Cannes kicked off earlier this week,
Swiss director Jela Hasler’s first fiction film “On Solid Ground,” one of the shorts to have been selected for Cannes’ sidebar Critics’ Week, charts the micro aggressions experienced by a woman living in a city, following her peaceful morning swim. While some of the incidents could be read as minor annoyances, a more dangerous encounter
Tristan Thompson‘s pockets could get a little more swollen soon … he’s just been awarded a nice chunk of change in the libel case against his paternity accuser. According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the court has entered a default judgment in favor of Tristan against Kimberly Alexander for the amount of $50k …
Tekashi69 is a reputation slayer … so says a Japanese tattoo artist in a new lawsuit claiming the rapper jacked his name and defamed him by calling him a heroin addict. The tattoo artist, Takashi Matsuba, filed legal docs in NY claiming his reputation is in danger thanks to Tekashi69. According to docs, obtained by
India’s Payal Kapadia is back at Cannes with her debut feature, “A Night of Knowing Nothing,” a Directors’ Fortnight selection. A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Kapadia’s 2017 short “Afternoon Clouds” premiered at Cannes as a Cinéfondation selection. For “A Night of Knowing Nothing” Kapadia and the film’s cinematographer and editor
The first single from the upcoming film “Gunpowder Milkshake” has been released. Composed by Frank Ilfman (“Big Bad Wolves”), “Goonfight at Gutterball Corral” fuses indie-rock with a spaghetti Western style, further mixed with a large orchestra and soprano vocal. Directed and co-written by Navot Papushado (also known for”Big Bad Wolves”), the film debuts on Netflix
Olivia Rodrigo and her main collaborator, songwriter-producer Daniel Nigro, have given Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent a songwriting credit on “Deja Vu” — the second song from Rodrigo’s blockbuster debut album “Sour” to receive such a non-collaborative credit, after “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back.” The addition to the album’s credits was first
President Biden is signing an executive order Friday urging federal agencies to more aggressively police conduct by Big Tech — including to more closely review acquisitions that thwart competition. The action comes amid a growing backlash by lawmakers and regulators against massive Silicon Valley firms. Biden’s order doesn’t name the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon
Matt Damon went deep into red state identity politics to build his character in Tom McCarthy’s Cannes premiere “Stillwater.” To portray Oklahoma oil rig worker Bill Baker — a father who sacrifices everything to help free his daughter from a French prison, after she is convicted of murdering her roommate while studying abroad —— Damon
The BBC has appointed Jon Petrie as its new head of comedy. In the role, he will report to chief content officer Charlotte Moore and be responsible for commissioning all scripted comedy on the BBC, iPlayer and the BBC Comedy Association. Petrie moves over from Broke and Bones, the Netflix-invested indie owned by “Black Mirror”
Andrea Arnold has refused to speak about her experience on season 2 of “Big Little Lies” — her last major credit before her Cannes-premiering documentary “Cow” — despite subtly hinting that all was not kosher in post production. Asked how long she was editing on “Cow,” Arnold said there was “a lot of stopping and
BBC Studios Productions and Directors U.K. have launched a mentorship scheme to encourage and support under-represented voices in the British entertainment industry. Mentees on the scheme will have the opportunity to work across BBC Studios productions including “EastEnders,” “Holby City,” “Casualty” and “Doctors.” Applicants to the scheme, which launches later this year, will be expected
“Postman” by Russian filmmaker Klim Tukaev has won the first prize at the sixth Nespresso Talents global short film competition. “Bagman,” by Jan Kellner, took the second prize, while “Speaking in Flowers,” by Nicolina Sterbet, took third. Both are from the Czech Republic. The winners were selected by the competition’s international jury, which includes actors
On the 30th anniversary of Creative Europe’s Media Programme, the European Commission in association with the advocacy group 50/50 is launching a big diversity and inclusion campaign aimed at ramping up the representation of women in the film and news media sector. Dubbed CharactHer, the campaign was designed to foster inclusion, empower women and highlight
Black Swan Tales, a Blumhouse-inspired genre film label launched by French producer Noor Sadar and Belgian banner Entre Chien et Loup, is rolling out its first roster of four French- and English-language horror films. A Mediawan company, Black Swan Tales was also created in partnership with the sales company WTFilms. Black Swan has just wrapped
One of the biggest conundrums for many working in the fledgling XR sector is how to make money in the medium. As part this week’s Cannes XR program, Jingshu Chen, co-founder of VR entertainment platform VeeR will deliver a keynote that seeks to address the issue. Beijing-based VeeR distributes, produces and invests in narrative VR
Fabrice Aragno is sitting at a desk in his studio in Lausanne, Switzerland, pouring over images of a lake in which the water and the sky meet in dramatic fashion. The filmmaker and frequent Jean-Luc Godard collaborator is simultaneously preparing to pitch his feature directorial debut, aptly titled “Le Lac,” at Cinéfondation’s Atelier this week,
Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun returns to the sun-scrubbed Sahel region of West Africa for his latest feature, “Lingui, the Sacred Bonds,” which competes for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Set on the outskirts of the capital city of N’Djamena, “Lingui” is the story of a single mother, Amina (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane), whose
As he set out on “The Worst Person in the World,” which premiered July 8 in competition at Cannes, director Joachim Trier wasn’t looking to expand what he informally calls the Oslo Trilogy. Having worked stateside with 2015’s “Louder Than Bombs” and in genre with 2017’s “Thelma,” the Norwegian filmmaker just felt the need for
The Playmaker Munich, formerly known as ARRI Media Intl., has picked up Stefan Jäger’s “Monte Verità,” which world premieres in August in the Piazza Grande section of the Locarno Film Festival. The historical drama, written by Kornelija Naraks and based on true events, focuses on Europe’s first eco-community. Set in 1906, “Monte Verità” is centered
Paris-Based Loco Films has boarded “The Business Women’s Club,” the next film from Brazilian writer-director Anna Muylaert Muylaert’s “The Second Mother” won a 2015 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and a Berlin Panorama Audience Award, and it notched up fulsome sales for the Match Factory. “The Business Women’s Club” will be introduced to buyers at this
New Europe Film Sales has picked up “Reflection,” the next film from Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych, who won best film in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival for “Atlantis” in 2019. “Reflection” was a hot title in the works in progress section of Les Arcs last year, and is considered as a frontrunner
“It was pretty crazy. It’s real, too,” Billie Eilish told Zane Lowe of her self-directed video for “NDA,” released Thursday night. “Real” meaning: No, that’s not a green screen behind the singer as she walks down the dotted center line on a nighttime roadway like some lost refugee from David Lynch’s “Lost Highway,” courting disaster
Na Jiazuo, one of the few Chinese directors to make it to the Cannes Film Festival this year, says he learned from the best in the business. His “Streetwise” (aka “Gaey Wa’r”) unspools in Un Certain Regard and is eligible for the Camera d’Or, reflecting Na’s status as a rookie feature director. The picture is
SUN VALLEY, Idaho – Only at the Allen & Co. conference are you likely to stumble on the sight of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg – No. 4 and No. 5 on the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest people — taking a leisurely stroll on a street as aptly named as Dollar Road. The
In an interview with New York magazine, Saweetie addresses questions about having embattled producer Dr. Luke as a collaborator on her upcoming album — suggesting she probably won’t do it again, but expressing no desire to not have the tracks on her album. Interviewer Hunter Harris first quotes from an interview he did with the
Netflix hired N’Jeri Eaton, previously head of content for Apple Podcasts, to lead podcasting for the streaming giant’s marketing division. Eaton is joining Netflix as director of podcast programming, according to a spokesperson. She will be part of the company’s editorial and publishing team, which will be headed by Michelle Lee, former editor in chief
At a table in his house, Georges, an aging movie star with a reputation for uninsurable off-set shenanigans — played in a staggering coup of against-type casting by Gérard Depardieu — is running lines with his private security guard Aïssa (“Divines” breakout Déborah Lukumuena). While they rehearse, Georges cracks walnuts under heavy whomps from his
Sunshine and noir are antithetical, as probably anyone who knows even a word of French could tell you. Sunshine and film noir, nearly as much so. Yet summer’s here and the time is right for skulking in the murderously foggy streets, thanks to a three-day festival of vintage ’40s and ’50s crime dramas being presented
iHeartRadio Music Festival have added J. Cole and Finneas to the 2021 lineup. The announcement adds to J. Cole’s growing string of festival dates this year. He is also set for Rolling Loud in New York and California. Earlier this spring, Cole released his first album in three years, “The Off-Season.” At the end of