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Swiss-born director and designer Marcel Barelli will receive the Locarno Kids Award at the 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival this summer.

He will be awarded the honor, presented by la Mobiliare, on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 12. During the festival, Barelli will present the Swiss premiere of Mary Anning, chasseuse de fossiles, his new animated film dedicated to the British paleontologist and fossil pioneer “who revolutionized the discipline in the early decades of the 19th century.”

The fest also unveiled the lineup for this year’s Locarno Kids Screenings, the section dedicated to younger audiences. The program includes Arco, a French animated feature about unexpected friendship and the fate of a world impacted by climate change that won the best film award at this year’s Annecy film festival and counts Natalie Portman among its producers.

“Barelli has established himself as one of the most promising and original...

Exclusive: John Wick and Nobody franchise scribe Derek Kolstad’s Planet Death from Bad Idea and Lunar Distribution has sold 655,000 copies before hitting store shelves, a milestone for an independent comic book and the best sales since 1992’s WildC.A.T.s #1 from Jim Lee.

Planet Death #0 arrives in stores April 30 and is timed to Free Comic Book Day, which falls on Saturday, May 3.

The current total represents orders from stores that have taken a position early; the number of copies could skyrocket by April 30. Major orders have been placed by New Dimension Comics, Third Eye Comics, Bedrock City Comics, Collector’s Paradise, Borderlands Comics and Games, Dcbs and Atomic Empire, we’re told.

Planet Death was co-written with New York Times bestselling writer Robert Venditti with artist Tomás Giorello and 10-time Eisner Award-winning colorist Dave Stewart.

“We’re absolutely blown away and frankly humbled...

This Saturday, Open House presents the episode titled “Habitat,” where two deserving families get the chance to tour their dream homes. In this heartwarming episode, viewers will follow the journey of these families as they step into spaces designed to fit their unique needs and hopes for the future. The show provides a glimpse of some truly stunning homes, highlighting the creativity and care that goes into making a house a home.

Throughout the episode, the families will explore these homes, discovering features that make them feel truly special. From spacious kitchens to cozy living areas, each home offers something unique that will leave viewers inspired. Open House showcases not only the beauty of these dream homes but also the personal stories behind each family, making this episode a must-watch for anyone who enjoys seeing families take the next step in their journey toward building a better life.

Don’t...

Daniyar Salamat’s The Divorce was the first film from Kazakhstan to win the best film prize at the Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff)’s Golden Goblet Awards. It also secured the best actress award for Omarova Amira.

The 1920s-set film revolves around a husband and wife who are in a relationship crisis, while depicting the social realities that repress the role of women.

The jury praised the film for “the sophisticated form of its story which mixes comedy, farce and tragedy and moves fluidly from public sphere to the intimate relationship of a couple in crisis” and for “the...

A jury headed by French Vietnamese director Tranh Anh Hung awarded its Golden Goblet (Jin Jue) prizes for the Shanghai International Film Festival’s main competition.

The top prize for best feature went to “The Divorce,” directed by Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Salamat. The jury praised the film for its sophisticated story-telling which mixes comedy, farce and tragedy, and “which moves fluidly from public sphere to the intimate relationship of a couple in crisis” and its feeling of innocence.

The other jury members were Rolf de Heer (Australia), Matthias Glasner (Germany), Tony Leung Ka Fai (Hong Kong), Santiago Mitre (Argentina), Sonthar Gyal (China) and Zhou Xun (China).

In the separate Asian New Talents section, the best film prize went to “Friday, Funfair,” while double honors were accorded to Abhilash Sharma’s “in the Name of Fire.”

Prizes for the festival’s Siff Project market for co-financing scripts and works in progress...

Six first or second-time directors from China take up the majority of the 11 slots in the Shanghai International Film Festival’s Asian New Talents section.

While family drama is the dominant genre, Variety takes a look what they are serving up:

Adapted from the book of the same name, Wang Xinrui’s “Dreaming of Mother and Home” depicts the drama of an adult daughter and her mother who is struggling through the last stages of life.

Zeng Zhi, previously a commercials director, puts the focus of his debut feature “Friday, Funfair” on the struggles of a young woman who was abandoned by her husband and is left to take care of her entire family and her sick only daughter.

Zhang Xuyu has made a series of short films and documentaries – including 2019 documentary short “Mr. Darcy,” was selected for the Brussels Independent Film Festival – before turning to fiction. His Shanghai feature,...

The Shanghai International Film Festival has unveiled a selection that is weighted heavily to world premieres and Chinese, local titles.

That gives the festival showcase screenings for the newest works by established Chinese directors Gu Changwei, Wei Shujun and Guan Hu (“Old Fish”).

Guan was rewarded in Cannes only last week for his Un Certain Regard-winning picture “Black Dog,” but will unveil his next effort “The Hedgehog in Shanghai’s main competition.

All but two of the 14 competition section films are world premiere screenings – only “Un Homme en Fuite” recently released in France, and “Le Seconda Vita,” recently released in Italy are international premieres – and all 11 films selected in the Asian New Talent Competition are debut screenings.

That makes the Shanghai lineup have little in common with other international festivals being held at this time of year. Most of those, typically, find house room for a sprinkling of standout titles from Sundance,...

Last year, Attack on Titan fans in Japan got to see Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert take to the stage in a lively new adaptation of Hajime Isayama's iconic shonen manga. Now, the live-action stage show is headed to New York for its debut run in North America.

Via Oricon, the showrunners for Attack on Titan: The Musical have announced that the show will have its first U.S. run at the New York City Center Theater on October 11-13. This high-quality production utilizes high-tech stage effects, along with "analog theatrical techniques," to bring the world of Attack on Titan to life in an entirely new way. According to franchise creator Hajime Isayama, the show also presents a narrative that slightly deviates from previous versions, stating, "The actor's actions and songs have made this Attack on Titan a new one that is different from both the original work and the anime.

Trisha Yearwood will be the inaugural recipient of CMT’s June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award, as well as performing a new song, on the “CMT Music Awards” telecast, airing live April 7 on CBS.

The singer will get the honor for her philanthropic work, which extends across many charities but most visibly includes two decades of involvement with Habitat for Humanity, which she’s long supported alongside husband Garth Brooks. (They were jointly given the org’s Habitat Humanitarians honor in 2016.)

Yearwood will use her first appearance on the annual awards show in five years to premiere “Put It in a Song,” the first preview of a forthcoming album that will be a first in her career, in that it’ll be the first collection in which she co-wrote all the songs.

The new award, named for June Carter Cash, doesn’t mark the first time a member of that country...

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) raised $925,000 to help fuel the organization’s efforts to build and preserve affordable housing during the 2023 Los Angeles Builders Ball Presented by City National Bank, the organization’s largest annual fundraiser, on Wednesday, March 8 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Aptly themed “Rise Up,” the annual ‘party-with-a-purpose’ featured red carpet arrivals, a spirited live auction and exciting live entertainment by Award-winning singer, songwriter and actress, Andra Day.

As the evening celebrated the work of individuals and companies who are helping to transform the landscape of Los Angeles, Global Habitat Humanitarians Drew and Jonathan Scott (Property Brothers) — recipients of the Dream Builder Award — expressed gratitude and appreciation for their role in helping Habitat empower families and build strength and stability in our communities through homeownership.

“You know we have the best job in the world,” said Drew. “There’s nothing better than that...

Earlier this summer, Etta Friedman was visiting her family in Yerington, Nevada, when she crashed her cousin’s motorcycle and broke both wrists. “I let go of the clutch on the bike and popped a wheelie,” the 21-year-old musician says. “And then immediately went vroom! and went into the front of my aunt’s trailer and crashed directly into it.” Friedman was taken to the local hospital, where she was wrapped in splints. “They gave me this really old-school-looking baggie full of Percocet,” she adds. “I was like, ‘Very cool.