Chinese superstar actor and producer Fan Bingbing will be the 2023 recipient of the Singapore International Film Festival‘s (SGIFF) Cinema Icon Award. The festival will screen three of Fan’s films, curated by her – the recent “Green Night,” “Buddha Mountain” and “Double Xposure” – and the star will walk the red carpet on opening night,
Leading Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou has a tough guy exterior – leather jackets, black shirts and a square jaw that has earned him acting awards alongside his top-level credentials as cinematographer and director of “Hero,” “The Road Home” – but on a visit to the Tokyo International Film Festival this week he was all smiles
Following musical sequences in her latest doc “Vika!,” Polish director Agnieszka Zwiefka will turn to animation for an upcoming project under the working title “Runa.” “What can I say? I really like fusion cuisine,” she laughs. “I like hybrid films, because this division between documentary and fiction is completely pointless. I see documentary as a
Péter Kerekes will follow “107 Mothers” – which won Venice’s Horizons Award for best screenplay – with “Marathon,” currently in production and eyeing a winter 2024 release. Set in his Slovak hometown and revolving around the Košice Peace Marathon, established in 1924, the doc will clock in at exactly 2 hours and 7 minutes, mirroring
New Philippines anime franchise “Solemn Vow” has set several partnerships across the Southeast Asian region. Conceptualized as an anime series with a strategy for spinoffs into manga, games, music and merchandise, the franchise, created by Lawrence Panganiban, has formed partnerships with Philippines-based Enigma Kai and media startup Fire and Ice, and Singapore-based companies Anito Studios
Abramorama has acquired North American theatrical rights for Leslie Shampaine and Pip Gilmour‘s feature documentary “Call Me Dancer.” The deal was revealed on the sidelines of TIFFCOM, the film market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival. The film follows Manish Chauhan, a young and talented street dancer from Mumbai who struggles against his parents’ insistence
In too many thrillers to count, the key scene, and the most suspenseful one, arrives when the hero or heroine, investigating a chemical spill or a murder or what have you, sits down at the computer and deep dives into a web search, the information-age detective work culminating in that inevitable “Aha!” moment of discovery.
It was “Most Memorable Year” week on “Dancing With the Stars” — which meant the most emotional. In addition to a heartbreaking and beautiful tribute to the late Len Goodman, each of the celebrities looked back at an important moment in their lives. Mira Sorvino paid tribute to “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” with
Samuel L. Jackson, Gabrielle Union and more have paid tribute to “Shaft” icon Richard Roundtree, who died Tuesday afternoon after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81. Jackson, who first portrayed detective John Shaft’s (Roundtree) nephew in the 2000 sequel to Gordon Park’s 1971 action thriller “Shaft,” posted a photo of the two
Ichiyama Shozo assumed control of the program of the Tokyo International Film Festival after a long programming career that included Tokyo and the slightly more indie Tokyo Filmex events. He is also a regular producing partner of Chinese art-house darling Jai Zhangke. These influences have shaped his approach to this year’s Tokyo IFF lineup, he
Negotiations on a new SAG-AFTRA contract are set to continue on Wednesday, as the studios aim to salvage the 2024 summer box office. The union resumed bargaining on Tuesday for the first time in almost two weeks. The studios delivered a new offer on the most contentious issue — streaming residuals — that they hoped
“Chicago P.D.” is losing another member of Intelligence. Tracy Spiridakos, who portrays Hailey Upton, will be leaving after Season 11, multiple sources confirm to Variety. It is unknown how many episodes she will appear in in the upcoming season. Spiridakos joined the NBC procedural in Season 4, first as a recurring character. She was up
“Dancing With the Stars” is honoring their forever head judge. During the show’s “Most Memorable Year” week, multiple former pro dancers reunited with current pros for a number dedicated to Len Goodman. The dance was choreographed by married duo and current pros Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson. The number, which paid homage to Goodman’s love
With “Leo,” Indian director Lokesh Kanagaraj adds another “badass” to the growing network of formidable action heroes he calls the “Lokesh Cinematic Universe.” How do we know this guy’s a badass? Because the Tamil film’s techno soundtrack tells us so, chanting “Leo Das is a badass!” before even establishing who Leo Das is. By this
Aaron Sorkin has dropped CAA over controversial social media posts regarding Israel from agent Maha Dakhil, Variety has confirmed. The “Social Network” and “West Wing” writer is returning to WME, which he had been previously repped by until his move to CAA in 2017. “Maha isn’t an antisemite, she’s just wrong. She’s a great agent
Richard Roundtree, an icon of Blaxploitation film who starred as detective John Shaft in Gordon Parks’ 1971 action thriller, died Tuesday afternoon after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old. His death was confirmed by Patrick McMinn, his manager since 1987. “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for
Devo was, and is, the ultimate future-proof band. When they first entered the public consciousness in the late ‘70s, Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald Casale and company seemed impossibly ahead of their time — in a primitive-futurist kind of way — and they still do. There’s very little that you could consider dated about the 50 cuts
Charity Changing Faces has written to the chief content officers at a range of streamers and broadcasters such as Netflix U.K., Amazon Prime Video, BBC IPlayer and Apple TV urging them to include a disclaimer on their horror films featuring villains with visible differences this Halloween. Penned by Changing Faces CEO Heather Blake, the letter
Within a week of the 146-day Writers Guild of America strike ending, all seven writers in the Paramount Writers Mentoring Program for 2022-2023 have landed jobs. “Now that writers’ rooms have resumed, our Paramount Writers Mentoring Program has demonstrated remarkable success, with all seven 2022-2023 season participants securing staff positions in a matter of days. This
“The Masked Singer” goes whole Hogwarts on this week’s episode with a “Harry Potter” theme, and Variety has a first look. On the “Harry Potter Night,” tied to Halloween (of course), a new costumed Wildcard celebrity joins the competition: The Sea Queen. Below, panelist Ken Jeong — dressed as “Harry Potter” character Professor Snape —
Japan’s Nikkatsu studio is pitching “River” at the top of its TIFFCOM sales slate. The film – on which it shares rights with Third Window Films – is a time loop comedy from Yamaguchi Junta, director of “Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes.” The one-hundred-year-old Fujiya inn stands in a quiet region of Kyoto. An employee
Aizhan Kassymbek‘s Kazakh film “Madina,” world premiering at the Tokyo International Film Festival‘s Asian Future strand, aims to shatter patriarchy both on and off screen. On screen, the film is based on the real life story of Kassymbek’s friend Madina Akylbek, who also plays the lead role. Set in the harsh Kazakhstan winter, the film
Everyone loves a villain. The series premiere of “House of Villains,” which aired on E! on Oct. 12, reached an audience of 1.2 million viewers over a course of seven days of multiplatform viewing. This statistic accounts for viewing across E!, Bravo, Syfy, USA, VOD, TVE, NBCU cable apps and YouTube. 500,000 of those viewers
Max has released the trailer for Season 2 of “Julia,” the streamer’s series about the life of Julia Child, which will have a three-episode premiere on Thursday, Nov. 16. One episode will release weekly following the premiere, through Dec. 21. Returning series regulars include Sarah Lancashire, David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Bradford, Fran
America has long reveled in the destruction of young women. Here’s a short and not comprehensive list: Judy Garland was given amphetamines at age 16 on the set of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1938. Frances Farmer was institutionalized against her will in 1942, and Dorothy Stratten was murdered by her ex-manager in 1980 at
A24 spent $35 million to bring “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” director Ari Aster‘s third feature, “Beau Is Afraid,” to life on the big screen. The film flopped at the box office with a global gross just over $10 million and became one of the most divisive releases of the year. In a new interview with Vanity
TIFFCOM, the film market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival, is set to be more international and more diverse in its first full comeback year after the COVID hiatus. It should also be more pleasant and convenient, having re-located to a more modern venue that is close to the film festival. “Bringing the in-person
“Barbie” and “The Boys” were lauded as top film and streaming series at the 6th annual Silver Pixel Awards, which recognize achievements and innovation in Hollywood digital marketing. Amazon Studios’ Jessica Thurber Hemingway, Lionsgate’s Eric Dachman and Division 13’s Jim Evans were the industry executive honorees at the event, held Oct. 19 at Candela La
French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung spoke about the making of “The Taste of Things” (previously titled “The Pot-au-Feu”) the food-themed romantic drama that won him best director award at Cannes this year, at the master class held Tuesday at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Screening in TIFF’s Gala section, the film stars Juliette Binoche
Without Taylor Swift and Martin Scorsese, the October box office would have been a ghost town long before Halloween hit. It was thanks to two unconventional releases — “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” one distributed by an exhibitor and the other backed by a major streaming service — that