A young pickpocket is locked up amongst hardened criminals in the notorious MACA prison on the outskirts of Abidjan. As a red moon rises, he’s chosen by the prison boss to be the new “Roman” who, in keeping with tradition, must tell a story to the other inmates. Uncertain what grim fate awaits if he
Colombia’s Fidelio, one of the fastest growing companies in Latin America, has made its third big unveil at Spain’s Conecta Fiction, revealing this time round a multi-title co-development alliance for Spain and Latin America with Barcelona-based Amor y Lujo, headed by Andrea H. Catalá, Javi Ferreiro y Almudena Monzú. First title up is “Picadero” a neo
With a diverse lineup of series coming out this year, HBO España is making its mark in Europe with top tier productions that differentiate themselves from the current crop of shows currently on the market, according to the service’s head of original programming. Discussing the pay TV outlet’s strategy and upcoming productions at this year’s
Since 2015, a growing number of animation studios and post-production houses have been landing in Spain’s Navarre, driven by a 40% tax deduction for R&D and tech innovation activities. Spanish productions and co-production also have access to a 35% tax credit. Pamplona-based Dr. Platypus & Ms. Wombat, co-founded by Carlos Fernández de Vigo and Lorena
It is generally not good critical form to lift a film’s publicity materials when writing about it, but the official logline for Quentin Dupieux’s “Mandibles” is such a masterpiece of the form that it merits quoting, and admiring, in full: “When simple-minded friends Jean-Gab and Manu find a giant fly trapped in the boot of
An enigmatic man from the East arrives in a drab, anonymous Eastern European city one foggy morning, bearing little more than a massage bed. As he earns the confidence of the residents of an exclusive gated community, he becomes equal parts confessor and healer, his Russian accent carrying hints of a longed-for past, his therapy
Five Madrid-based companies, led by leading Spanish production house Tornasol Films, producer of Oscar-winner “The Secret in Their Eyes,” are teaming to launch services consortium Centro Navarro para la Producción Cinematográfica in Navarre, Northern Spain. Based out of the Sarrio industrial park in Berrioplano, a town near Pamplona, CNPC will provide production services, develop R&D
Paris-based Kinology has acquired world rights for Finnish director Aino Suni’s psychological thriller “A Girl’s Room.” Cannes-based Adastra Films is teaming on the project with Hamburg shingle and “System Crasher” producer Oma Inge Film and Helsinki-based Made. Suni’s feature debut follows Elina, a 17-year-old aspiring Finnish rapper forced to leave her home for the south
“We are all sick of COVID-19, but it had a significant impact on the industry,” Guy Bisson, one of the founders of Ampere Analysis, said Friday during a discussion on VOD at the Venice Production Bridge, the industry section of the Venice Film Festival. “For VOD and streaming, that impact has been positive,” he added.
The puzzles in “Enola Holmes” are not especially difficult, but they’re enough to stump the great Sherlock Holmes (played here by “Man of Steel” star Henry Cavill). To solve this particular mystery — which involves the disappearance of the detective’s mother, Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) — will require an even sharper intellect than Sherlock’s, which
NENT Group, the Nordic region’s leading streaming company, has ordered “Furia,” an original drama series created by Gjermund Stenberg Eriksen (“Mammon”) exploring the underworld of right-wing extremism in Europe. A co-production between Norway’s Monster Scripted and Germany’s X Filme Creative Pool Series and ZDF, “Furia” will premiere exclusively across the Nordics on NENT Group’s Viaplay
Thriller film, “Kidnapped” is close to wrapping up one of the latest movies into production in Australia, following the disruption caused by the coronavirus and stay-at-home restrictions. Production is now under way in and around Port Douglas in the far North of Australia’s Queensland state, with a shoot that runs Aug. 17 to Sept. 9.
Nick Cordero, the Broadway actor who died in July of coronavirus at the age of 41, was remembered Sunday as a mega-talent with a commanding presence and husky baritone, who remained humble about his many successes when not taking center stage. The Tony-nominated star of “Bullets Over Broadway,” “The Toxic Avenger” and “Waitress” was honored
Production has been suspended on AGC Studios’ film “Geechee” in the Dominican Republic after police officers injured a crew member on the night of Sept. 2. Agents from the Dominican Drug Control Forces injured a crew member who was scouting locations for the film, according to a statement obtained by Variety from the Dominican production
An international body supporting global filmmakers facing severe risks in the field has officially launched at the Venice Film Festival. The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) was formed by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, International Film Festival Rotterdam and the European Film Academy. First announced in late 2019, the org held an
Oscar-winning Czech director, writer and actor Jiri Menzel died Saturday following a long illness. Menzel’s death was confirmed by his wife, Olga, who posted the news on Instagram and Facebook late Sunday. Menzel was 82. Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign-language film for the 1966 bittersweet Nazi occupation story “Closely Watched Trains,” Menzel
President Donald Trump has lashed out at Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionaire business executive and widow of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, due to her majority stake in The Atlantic. “Steve Jobs would not be happy that his wife is wasting money he left her on a failing Radical Left Magazine that is run by
Back at the Venice Film Festival with Andrew Garfield starrer “Mainstream,” presented in the Horizons section, Gia Coppola took part in the “Life Through a Different Lens: Contactless Connections” talk on Friday – following in the (virtual) footsteps of Demi Moore and Nadine Labaki. During the chat, hosted by the festival and Mastercard, she looked
British moviegoers will be able to feel like royalty thanks to a drive-in film series hosted at Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham Estate. Starting on Sept. 25, the 20,000-acre private home of Queen Elizabeth and several previous monarchs will screen award-winning movies, like “1917,” “A Star Is Born,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and more. Sam Mendes’ Oscar-winning war
You know him from “The Farewell,” “Rush Hour,” “Arrival,” “Tigertail” and recently as”Mulan’s” father in the Disney live action adaptation. Actor and activist Tzi M’s goes deep into his journey into acting on Variety’s “#Represent: Legends” revealing that he used acting and martial arts training as a way to ward off racist bullies. Today, the
A woman who briefly escaped the custody of two undercover officers in San Diego had a seizure as they chased her down … a wild scene that played out on camera. It happened Saturday during protests near the San Diego County Jail. At one point, you see an unmarked, civilian-style car posted outside a gate
“Got Live if You Want It,” the Rolling Stones promised in a 1966 album title. And oh, do we want it, in 2020, when the pandemic has rendered the live concert experience unavailable, in a total blackout that once would have seemed purely the province of science-fiction. Fortunately, we still have access to the thousands
A shy, introverted farmer’s wife in Schoharie County, New York, Abigail has stopped going to church since the death of her young daughter Nellie. “I no longer derive comfort from the thought of a better world to come,” she says, in one of the many narrated diary entries that give Mona Fastvold’s period drama its
After months of delays, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic “Tenet” finally arrived in U.S. theaters and generated $20.2 million over Labor Day weekend. Ticket sales, though difficult to dissect given the uncharted waters of the coronavirus era, are roughly in line with expectations for a new release during a pandemic. The espionage thriller is already nearing
Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has been hailed by the Western film industry as a savior of the in-person theatrical experience around the world, but this weekend in China it lost out repeatedly to the local savior of Chinese cinema, Huayi Brothers’ war film “The Eight Hundred.” The Chinese title bested “Tenet” each day of its three-day
Los Angeles-based Menemsha Films has acquired North American rights from Italy’s Intramovies to Venice Critics’ Week title “Thou Shalt Not Hate,” ahead of the racial hatred-themed drama’s premiere Sunday on the Lido. The film has also been picked up for Australia and New Zealand by Moving Story Entertainment. Directed by Italian first-timer Mauro Mancini, “Thou
Watching Iranian director Majid Majidi’s “Sun Children,” I was reminded of “The Florida Project.” One of the best films about children of the 21st century, “The Florida Project” takes place within a stone’s throw of Walt Disney World, where it seems a dream too much for its neglected kid characters to visit, until, in the
Feltrinelli Editore, which is behind Roberto Saviano’s bestselling novel “ZeroZeroZero,” which was adapted into a TV series for Sky Atlantic, Canal Plus and Amazon Prime, is one of 18 prestigious publishers from across Europe attending Venice Film Festival’s Book Adaptation Rights Market (BARM). The first two episodes of the “ZeroZeroZero” series, which offers a gritty
New York and Oslo-based writer/director Mona Fastvold made her directorial debut with “The Sleepwalker,” which unlocked secrets between two sisters and made a splash in 2014 at Sundance. Her ambitious followup “The World to Come” stars Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby as two farmers’ wives in 1856 Upstate New York who fall in love but have no template,
Hungarian stage and screen director Kornel Mundruczo and partner/screenwriter Kata Weber collaborated closely on “Pieces of a Woman,” in which Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf play a Boston couple devastated by the loss of their newborn baby during a home birth. The film had its world premiere on Saturday in the main competition section of the