Greek filmmaker Yorgos Zois, who’s set to bow his sophomore feature, “Arcadia,” in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival Feb. 18, is developing his first TV series. “Play” follows a lone cinephile who joins a mysterious group of strangers that reenact scenes from movies in real life. The eight-part mystery-drama series tells
“Delhi Crime” creator Richie Mehta‘s India-set Prime Video series “Poacher” could become a global franchise. The Amazon original is produced by QC Entertainment, led by partners Sean McKittrick, Raymond Mansfield and Edward H. Hamm Jr., who backed Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning “Get Out” and “Us” and Spike Lee’s Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes-winning “BlacKkKlansman. It is executive
Launching in competition in Berlin, Mati Diop’s “Dahomey” traces the path of 26 royal treasures purloined by French soldiers in 1892 and restituted to the country of Benin in 2021. Moving from Paris to Cotonou, the inventive documentary allows the artifacts to speak for themselves, reflecting on their journey in Fon-language dialogue often set against
Three years ago, in an awards season narrowed and clouded by the global pandemic, the BAFTA awards acted as an unprecedentedly accurate Oscar bellwether, matching the U.S. Academy’s eventual selections in all but one of 19 feature-film categories — from “Nomadland’s” best film victory to acting wins for Anthony Hopkins and Frances McDormand. (In the
When Laila Stieler’s script for “From Hilde, With Love,” which world premiered Saturday in competition at the Berlinale, first came to director Andreas Dresen he was a little reluctant to take the project on. The issue was not the script but the subject-matter: set in Nazi-era Berlin, “From Hilde, With Love” is a love story
In Christine Angot‘s documentary “A Family,” which premieres Sunday in the Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival, the French novelist explores how various members of her family reacted to the revelation that she was repeatedly raped by her father from the age of 13. The film starts with a startling confrontation between Angot and
Despite being significantly hit by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, U.K. film studios and production facilities are looking to pick back up where they left off after a record-breaking year for film and high-end television production spend in 2022. When asked what the industry can expect in terms of business in the year
Production firm Movierock and rights sales outfit Hive Filmworks are in advanced production on “Hear Me: Our Summer,” a Korean remake of hit 2009 romance film “Hear Me” from Taiwan. The story involves a motorbike delivery man who falls in love with a hearing-impaired younger woman. Comparing themselves with water birds and trees the pair
Prolific Singapore-based production firm Akanga Film Asia has come on board Indian director Rima Das’ upcoming “Malati, My Love.” Das, who is known for her touching dramas from Assam in Northeast India, has become a regular of the international festival circuit. Recent titles include “Village Rockstars” and “Tora’s Husband.” The new film, which was launched
It was over an awkward meeting in a fancy London hotel room in late 2021 that Rose Glass first pitched Kristen Stewart her then rough idea for “Love Lies Bleeding,” a wild romantic thriller set amid the bodybuilding scene in 80s New Mexico. The director, whose debut feature “Saint Maud” released the previous year, admits
Georgian-Swedish director Levan Akin is again winning over audiences with his latest film, “Crossing,” which opened the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section. The touching drama is about retired teacher Lia (Mzia Arabuli), who sets off with a young companion, Achi (Lucas Kankava), on a journey from the Georgian city of Batumi to Turkey, where she
Africa’s growing screen industries are making their mark on the global stage, with three titles in the main competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, but how to unlock the continent’s still-untapped potential was a question on the minds of many at a conference hosted on Saturday by the European Film Market. A partnership between
Sony Pictures Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” swung its way to victory at the 51st Annie Awards, snatching up seven prizes, including best feature. It was also a good night for Netflix, whose projects earned a total of nine awards, with period revenge series “Blue Eye Samurai” snagging six of those, including best TV/Media –
Georgian producing duo Nino Chichua and Anna Khazaradze, whose 1991 Prods. is among the co-producers of Levan Akin’s Berlinale Panorama opener “Crossing,” have set their next feature, a political drama from rising director Uta Beria, as the company launches a new London arm with an eye toward fostering more collaborations between the U.K. and mainland
A tale of magical realism slowly stripped of its magic, Raam Reddy’s gorgeously photographed, politically subversive “The Fable” trades in idyllic memories, but reveals their hidden dimensions. Set in 1989, on a lush Himalayan orchard in northeastern India, Reddy’s second feature follows a family of four, whose patriarch runs the once-colonial estate with the help
Farcical and viscerally upsetting in equal measure, P.S. Vinothraj’s “The Adamant Girl” masterfully exposes the nature of superstition by zeroing in on gendered expectations. A story of a betrothed woman being shepherded by her fiancé’s family between sites of religious ritual, the rural Tamil-language drama plays like an extension of “Pebbles,” Vinothraj’s remarkable 2021 debut
Former Rep. George Santos has filed a civil lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel, claiming that the late-night television host used fake names to request Cameo videos from the ex-congressman and then misused the clips on his talk show. Santos sued Kimmel on Saturday for copyright infringement, fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and is seeking
While “Stranger Things” Season 5 star Linda Hamilton may be preparing to venture into Hawkins, Ind. — hopefully by blasting some of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” on her Walkman — she will not be watching the final season despite being a fan of the 80s-infused, “Dungeons and Dragons”-inspired Netflix drama show. In an
When you have the SAG Award nominated ensemble of “American Fiction” – John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Tracee Ellis Ross and Jeffrey Wright (also individually nominated in male lead and Oscar nominated for the film) you have to ask them where it all began. In discussing their first jobs for the union, Ross revealed that, like
Over the past few years Italian cinema has been making strides in the global arena and 2024 looks likely to bolster its international standing. New works by top auteurs Paolo Sorrentino and Luca Guadagnino will be launching from the festival circuit just as a fresh crop of directors comes to fore, starting with Margherita Vicario,
Sony Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” a fantasy romance starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, in the first major deal of the European Film Market in Berlin. The film will be directed by Kogonada, who also helmed the TV series “Pachinko” and the sci-fi drama “After Yang.” “The
If any part of you has been curious as to how French filmmaker Olivier Assayas spent the early days of the global pandemic, along comes “Suspended Time” to answer your question, with very much the answer you might expect: pretty comfortably, thanks for asking. Alternating a thinly fictionalised portrait of the artist isolating at his
Here are five things you need to know before watching ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’. ► Learn more about Avatar: The Last Airbender: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/avatar_the_last_airbender_2024/s01 Subscribe to the channel and click the bell icon to be notified of all the hottest trailers: http://bit.ly/2CNniBy ► Shop Rotten Tomatoes: http://bit.ly/3KvCU1M Music: Courtesy of Extreme Music Watch More: ► Rotten
In the history of Black leading actresses at prestigious award shows, Halle Berry’s triumph for “Monster’s Ball” at the Oscars stands prominently, while the BAFTAs lack a similar honoree, and the upcoming Sunday ceremony seems unlikely to change that. This year’s roster of lead actress nominees boasts a diverse array of talents. Vivian Oparah garnered
A low-budget romp set in contemporary London against a curdled cultural backdrop of racist politics, Bruce LaBruce’s “The Visitor” pays explicit homage to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s sexually provocative last feature, “Teorema.” The cheeky Canadian director’s graphic reimagining sees various mysterious suitcases appearing here and there, each of which turns out to contain an identical naked
Randy Sparks, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and founder of the folk music group the New Christy Minstrels, died Feb. 11 at an assisted-living facility in San Diego. He was 90. His son, Kevin, confirmed the news to the New York Times, adding that Sparks was living on his 168-acre ranch in Jenny Lind, Calif., northeast of San
After several years working in German TV and locally-oriented film projects, Julia von Heinz had a significant breakthrough with “And Tomorrow the Entire World” — a taut, punchy political thriller with a youthful spirit of anti-fascist revolt, vigorous enough to land a Venice competition slot. Its success evidently raised the status of the director’s long-held
Paramount’s “Mean Girls” musical made fetch happen after surpassing $100 million at the global box office. The oh-so pink movie musical has generated $101.2 million worldwide after six weeks of release, including $71.2 million in North America and $30 million from 31 international territories. Based on the Broadway adaptation of the 2004 comedy classic, “Mean
Aslı Özarslan’s “Elbogen” (“Elbow”), an adaptation of Fatma Aydemir’s award-winning novel of the same name, tells the story of Hazal (played by Melia Kara), a young woman in Berlin struggling to find a job and start a life of her own. After a violent incident on her 18th birthday, she flees to Istanbul, a strange
Highland Film Group shared a first look at “London Calling,” an action-comedy that reunites director Allan Ungar with star Josh Duhamel after the success of the action heist thriller “Bandit.” Film also stars Jeremy Ray Taylor (“It,” “and “It: Chapter Two”), Rick Hoffman (“Billions,” “Suits”) and Aidan Gillen (“Game of Thrones”) Written by Omer Levin