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“Where’s Wanda?” Apple TV’s first German series, proved a major hit for the streamer. The show’s creative team at UFA Fiction have now raised the stakes with Season 2. Set in the town of Sundersheim, the series’ first season followed parents Carlotta (Heike Makatsch) and Dedo (Axel Stein) Klatt on their desperate search for their […]
LYON, France — French distributor Malavida has picked up Wang Chao’s “A Woman,” the Chinese filmmaker’s 2022 drama that won the screenplay prize at San Sebastián but has never received a theatrical release in France. Malavida is also preparing a wider retrospective of his work for spring 2027. The acquisitions, announced during Lyon’s International Classic […]
Brazil’s Maeve Jinkings, renowned for her pivotal role in Walter Salles’ Oscar-winning “I’m Still Here,” leads the cast in the upcoming prison convent escape drama “Cabildo 71,” which is selected to participate in Ventana Sur’s Proyecta Co-Production Forum. Jinkings is also best known for her roles in “The Secret Agent” director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s lauded […]
France’s Luxbox and Spain’s Amore Cine have boarded the Peruvian drama “Portrait Huaco” (“Huaco retrato”) by Melina León, best known for her debut feature “Song Without a Name” (“Canción sin nombre”), which world premiered at the 2019 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. “After the incredible journey we shared with ‘Song Without a Name,’ I’m thrilled to continue […]
A new Philippine-Italian sales alliance aims to put independent films in front of buyers in Asia, Europe and North America. Fire & Ice Media, the Philippine producer and sales agent, and Italy’s Coccinelle Film Sales unveiled the strategic partnership at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market. The pair will work together on a handpicked group […]
“Little Princess,” the British pre-school animation classic, is heading to Sky UK, in a deal struck with Banijay Kids & Family which sees the pay TV buying its complete catalog. Further new distribution deals on “Little Princess,” a four-time BAFTA nominee, have been struck with Nordisk Film, RTV Slovenia and Italy’s TIM. Based on the […]
LYON, France — When Mexican costume designer Anna Terrazas told Todd Haynes that the most important thing about a costume was what it smelled like, the filmmaker had just one response: “You’re hired.” The Oscar-nominated director shared the anecdote about his upcoming Pedro Pascal-starring romantic noir drama “De Noche” at the Lumière Film Festival on […]
The latest season of French hit “Bright Minds” marks a major milestone for France TV Distribution’s light crime series, with part of the filming taking place in Tokyo for the first time due to its huge popularity in the country. The unprecedented co-production between JLA Productions and NHK Enterprises of Japan was made possible thanks […]
Finnish production company Whatever Pictures has signed a new global sales deal with ORF-Enterprise, part of Austrian braodcaster ORF, which has acquired international distribution rights to the comedy drama “Crème de la Crème.” Commissioned domestically by Finnish broadcaster YLE, the show is written and directed by showrunner Jukka Vidgrén, Topi Koljonen, Henna Rinnekangas, Juuso Laatio […]
Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky” has won the Audience Award in the Galas & Special Presentations category at the 2026 Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). The film, which tells the underdog story behind Sylvester Stallone’s journey to make and star in “Rocky,” was among 10 titles selected by audiences as favorites across the festival’s programming […]
For Andrew Jackson, the key to making the monsters of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” convincing was often simple: put something real in front of the camera, whether that meant a giant Cyclops hung from cables or Samantha Morton reshaping silicone faces with her hands. In a pre-recorded conversation with VFX magazine Befores & Afters editor […]
The Durban FilmMart wrapped its 17th edition on Oct. 12 with a boisterous awards ceremony that offered a fitting exclamation point to a four-day event whose rousing turn-out — with more than 1,100 industry delegates in attendance from 56 countries — cemented its position as the leading lynchpin of the African screen industries. The mood […]
Taiwan is getting a dedicated national focus at the International Classic Film Market (MIFC), the industry arm of Lyon’s Lumière Festival, the first for a non-European country, according to the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI). A new 4K restoration of Chen Kun-hou’s “Osmanthus Alley” leads the Taiwan in Focus program, which runs alongside this […]
French giant Gaumont is launching a new 4K restoration of Louis Malle’s 1958 classic crime thriller “Elevator to the Gallows,” starring Jeanne Moreau. The special edition is being released in celebration of this year’s 70th anniversary of the French New Wave, the upcoming 70th anniversary of the film in 2028 and, in the same year, […]
Two films have won five of the prizes at the Busan Asian Project Market (APM). Indonesian director Aditya Ahmad’s “Goldfish” took three and Indian filmmaker Tribeny Rai’s “A Chronicle of Minor Things” (working title) took two. The awards were part of the Asian Contents & Film Market’s (ACFM) first combined ceremony. “Goldfish” won the QCinema […]
Netflix-owned Eyeline Studios is using generative AI to replace locations, rebuild crowds and change lighting after filming, while developing tools that could even let directors reposition the camera once an actor’s performance has been captured. “We’re not prompting our way into shots and movies. That’s not who we are,” Mohsen Mousavi, Eyeline’s VP of Virtual […]
Les Films du Jeudi has unveiled new classic film releases from Jean Renoir, Raymond Lamy, Pierre Gaspard-Huit and a little-known comedy starring Jean-Paul Belmondo by Jean Becker. Les Films du Jeudi managing director Laurence Braunberger shared in exclusivity with Variety the company’s latest lineup ahead of the Classic Film Market’s annual Catalogue Holders’ Premiere Presentation […]
Dutch international distributor Skoop Media has launched a new crime label Dutch Noir. Bowing at Mipcom, it’s a new international label for premium Dutch crime content spanning organized-crime drama, psychological thrillers, urban crime and heist series. The label kicks off with 17 titles from six producers, including four new Videoland Original series. “As one of […]
Upcoming BBC-ZDF series ‘Honey,’ which had its world premiere Monday evening at Mipcom, isn’t your usual Cold War thriller. In the show, sold by Fifth Season, a young MI6 agent Martha (Ann Skelly) becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle in East Berlin in 1982, where she navigates a shadowy world of counterespionage. “Romance and […]
In what looks like a coup for both parties, Skydance and Movistar Plus, the biggest Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator, are expanding their strategic alliance, strengthening Skydance’s deal in distribution on Movistar Plus and taking it to the next level by including co-branded orginal series. The two-year deal continuation of the distribution of HBO Max and […]
