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Paris-based Loco Films has boarded worldwide sales on Mehrnoush Alia’s feature debut 1001 Frames ahead of its world premiere in Berlin’s Panorama strand.

The feature was previously with French sales agent Alpha Violet, who said it withdraw after a disagreement.

1001 Frames will debut on February 15 and centres on an audition in a black box studio where a famous filmmaker is considering young women for the role of Scheherazade in a horror version of 1001 Nights (Aka Arabian Nights).

The process becomes something more disturbing as the questions asked of the auditioning actors become deeply personal, the camera more voyeuristic,...

Paris-based company Alpha Violet has acquired worldwide sales to Mehrnoush Alia’s feature debut 1001 Frames ahead of its world premiere in Berlin’s Panorama strand.

The feature centres on an audition in a black box studio where a famous filmmaker is considering young women for the role of Scheherazade in a horror version of 1001 Nights (Aka Arabian Nights).

Gradually the process turns into something more disturbing as the questions become deeply personal, the camera more voyeuristic, and the arrival of the director’s ex-wife, one of his friends, and a mysterious woman confirms there is more at play. As...

Sinbad adaptations vary in quality and reception, from cult classics like "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" to box office bombs like "Legend of the Seven Seas". The portrayal of Sinbad ranges from ancient to modern, with attempts at Harryhausen homages that sometimes fall flat with audiences. Some adaptations, like the Sinbad Anime Film Series, stay true to the original story while others, like "Son of Sinbad," focus more on Hollywood glamour.

The story of Sinbad has been adapted multiple times over the years, but some versions rank higher than others, whether on Rotten Tomatoes or by audience opinion. Whether it's a Japanese anime film series or an American film from the 1980s, movies about the famous sailor have retold his story numerous times. Many of the stories have been recognized for their value, such as the Ray Harryhausen cult classics, while others have slowly faded into obscurity.

Unlike other real-life pirates and sailors,...

Putting a twist on the 1,001 Nights story, the Bucchigiri?! anime comes out of the gate swinging hard and throwing down punches. Ahead of its full release tomorrow, the first three episodes premiered at Toho Cinema Roppongi in December featuring the latest anime from acclaimed director Hiroko Utsumi at studio Mappa, giving us a taste of the gang-filled antics. The story features Arajin, who transfers into the roughest school in Hama Bay filled with delinquents and gangs. While his day starts chatting with the most seemingly normal girl in the class, it ends with him learning that his childhood friend is one of the toughest guys in the school. That is until Arajin is running from another of the three gangs and is saved by a magical Djinn who just adores fighting. With the power of a Djinn who just loves punching by Arajin's very reductive side, the transfer student...

With 42 short films across six programmes representing 23 countries, this year’s Short Cuts lineup at the Toronto International Film Festival continues its tradition of profiling a wide variety of world cinema from new and established filmmakers. And like in prior years, we were lucky enough to watch this year’s selection and report on some of the best short films playing at TIFF this year. Here are ten shorts that constitute some highlights from this year’s programme.

1001 Nights (Rea Rajčić)

In Rea Rajčić’s documentary, two octogenarian women get together every day to sit down and watch Turkish soap operas, a routine that proves to be more than just appointment viewing. Cutting between gorgeous shots of peacocks roaming the streets of their city and the two women seated in an apartment living room––sleeping, commenting, and bickering as they watch their stories––Rajčić highlights the strong connection between her subjects.

The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled its Short Cuts showcase counting 42 live action narrative, documentary, and animated shorts from global filmmakers repping 23 countries.

That’s comprised of 21 World Premieres, 13 North American Premieres, and five International Premieres presented in 19 different languages.

More than half of this year’s selections are directed or co-directed by female and female-identifying filmmakers. TIFF alumni directors with new films at Short Cuts include Yann Demange (White Boy Rick), Jasmin Mozaffari, Miryam Charles, Farnoosh Samadi, Halima Ouardiri, Renee Zhan, Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto, and the team of Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan. Among the directors with short films at the Festival for the first time are Malia Ann and Canadian actor Mackenzie Davis. Among the notable performers in this year’s slate of new shorts are Riz Ahmed in Dammi and Kaniehtiio Horn in Redlights.

Animated films in Short Cuts include the...

Forty-two short films from 23 countries will screen in the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival’s Short Cuts section, TIFF organizers announced on Wednesday.

The shorts include “Dammi,” which stars Riz Ahmed and was directed by Yann Mounir Demange, an Emmy nominee in 2021 for “Lovecraft Country”; “Electra,” a new film by Czech director Daria Kascheeva, who was nominated for an Oscar for the animated short “Mother”; “27,” for which director Flora Anna Duba won the Short Film Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; and “Woaca,” the directorial debut of Canadian actor Mackenzie Davis.

According to TIFF, more than half the films are directed or co-directed by female or female-identifying filmmakers. Almost half the films, 19 out of the 42, are by Canadian filmmakers. Twenty one of the films will have their world premieres at TIFF.

The 2023 Toronto International Film Festival will run from Sept. 7 through Sept. 17.

The Short Cuts lineup, separated...

The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled 42 short films to feature as part of its Short Cuts program in September, led by the Riz Ahmed-starrer Dammi and Redlights, toplined by Kaniehtiio Horn and Ellyn Jade.

Ahmed, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Sound of Metal and last year earned a Oscar for the live-action short The Long Goodbye, toplines Dammi, a short directed by French auteur Yann Mounir Demange and set to world premiere in Locarno before landing in Toronto. The film also stars Isabelle Adjani, Souheila Yacoub, Sandor Funtek and Suzy Bemba and is produced by Ami, the French fashion brand, which teased a trailer for the film in Cannes.

Demange has TV series credits that include Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Dead Set, and movie credits like ’71 and White Boy Rick. Renee Zhan, who earned the Jury Award for best animated...

Mumbai, April 21 (Ians) Adnan Khan and Aditi Dev Sharma, who are seen playing the lead roles of Viaan and Katha in the show ‘Katha Ankahee’, thanked the viewers for their support as their show completed 100 episodes.

‘Katha Ankahee’ is a Hindi remake of the Turkish drama ‘Binbir Gece’ (1001 Nights in English) which is inspired by Arabian Nights and the original series features actors such as Halit Ergen, Berguzar Korel, Tardu Flordun, and Ceyda Duvenci. It started in 2006 and wrapped up in 2009.

Adnan, who essays the role of Viaan, said: “Time really flies by fast, it feels like it was only yesterday when I was approached for Viaan’s role and now we’ve already completed 100 episodes. Over the course of this narrative, Viaan’s character has also evolved and I enjoy bringing alive this complex young man who has successfully managed to touch many hearts.”

On the other hand,...

Some 25 productions have shot in the region in Saudi Arabia over the past 18 months.

Neom, a futuristic megacity being built in northwestern Saudi Arabia, has announced its anticipated incentive for productions in the region that consists of a cash rebate of at least 40.

The rebate will apply to feature films, TV drama, reality series and documentaries as well as commercials, with producers able to secure a higher percentage based on their “industry development contributions”.

These contributions include elements such as hiring of local production crew and investment in infrastructure, such as set building that can remain behind for use on future projects.

Some 25 productions have shot in the region in Saudi Arabia over the past 18 months.

Neom, a futuristic megacity being built in northwestern Saudi Arabia, has announced its anticipated incentive for productions in the region that consists of a cash rebate of at least 40.

The rebate will apply to feature films, TV drama, reality series and documentaries as well as commercials, with producers able to secure a higher percentage based on their “industry development contributions”.

These contributions include elements such as hiring of local production crew and investment in infrastructure, such as set building that can remain behind for use on future projects.

Spain’s Bendita Films (“The Clash”) has scooped international sales rights to twisted and suspenseful production “The Uncle” (“Stric”) ahead of its market screening at the Toronto Festival.

“We’re thrilled to represent the brilliant debut feature from David Kapac and Andrija Mardešić, a captivating, oppressive thriller with humorous notes that will surely surprise international audiences with its unsettling atmosphere and inventive narrative structure,” stated Luis Renart, CEO-sales & acquisitions at Bendita Films.

Written and directed in tandem by Kapac and Mardešić, the project garnered a special jury mention in July at the Proxima strand which has replaced East of the West at the Karlovy Vary Festival. It marks the first feature effort for the Croatian duo who’ve previously paired to create several festival-showcased short films, including post-war noir comedy “Iris.”

“The Uncle” is a near-claustrophobic depiction of a Yugoslavian family in the late ‘80s as they hastily prepare to gather for Christmas Eve dinner.

Ten-part adventure-fantasy series is made by Mbc Studios.

Mbc Studios, the production arm of leading Saudi media company Mbc Group, has begun filming Rise Of The Witches – the biggest ever TV series to be made in the country.

The 10-part adventure-fantasy series is being shot on purpose-built sets at Neom, a 500bn megacity that is under construction in the northwest province of Tabuk, and holds the largest ever budget for special effects for a Saudi production, according to Mbc.

The series will feature a predominantly Saudi cast, led by local stars Ida AlKusay and Sumaya Rida, and tells the story...

Dubai-based broadcaster and streamer Mbc is ramping up production with several new high-end shows.

These include “Rise of The Witches,” being touted as the biggest-budget Saudi Arabian TV series to date, “The Devil’s Promise,” created by U.K. writer Tony Jordan, and crime thriller “1001 Nights.”

Mbc Group CEO Sam Barnett in an interview said Mbc Studios now has 65 projects in various stages and reiterated the the Saudi-owned company is committed to serve as a driver to help kickstart the kingdom’s nascent industry.

“Rise of The Witches” is based on a Saudi novel described by Barnett as “a fantasy novel set 1,500 years ago in a time of witches” with a strong female empowerment theme.

The storyline of the show, written by British actor and writer Charlie Higson (the “Young Bond” novel series), who worked in tandem with two female Saudi writers on “Witches,” tracks the rise of two...

New initiative is organised in collaboration with the TorinoFilmLab.

The Red Sea International Film Festival, which is due to take place for the first time in the Saudi port city of Jeddah from March 12-21, 2020, has unveiled the 12 projects that will participate in its inaugural Red Sea Lodge feature film development lab.

The selection comprises six Saudi projects as well as six productions from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon, by both emerging and established filmmakers.

They include new films by Lebanese director Hadi Ghandour, Palestinian producer and filmmaker Amira Diab and Jordanian director Amjad Al-Rasheed

Ghandour will attend with...

Back by popular demand for its 30th anniversary, the original soundtrack to Heathers from director Michael Lehmann with music by composer, David Newman, is being re-released on "very" neon green vinyl. The LP soundtrack will be available starting August 23rd, 2019.

A cult-classic in the truest sense of the term, (it grossed only 1 million at the box office), Heathers stars a 15-year-old Winona Ryder, who is currently enjoying a notable return of her own on the immensely popular Stranger Things series. Ryder's agent at the time famously begged on her knees for Ryder to pass on the role. The dark comedy which pits a powerful high school clique against a murderous sociopath also features Christian Slater in one of his first major roles and a pre-Beverly Hills 90210, Shannen Doherty.

Discovered by legions of fans on cable TV and video rental stores, the success of Heathers took a decidedly unexpected turn as...

by Sharofat Arabova, a film historian, member of Netpac (Tajikistan)

The first film shootings on the territory of modern Tajikistan were carried out by visiting cinematographers, amateur photographers and travelers during the first decades of 20th century and were mostly ethnographic by nature. Similar to other former Soviet republics, the development of the cinema in Tajikistan was associated with the State Tajikfilm Studio from its foundation up to 1990s.

The Tajikfilm studio was founded on the premises of a small film-processing lab that initially produced newsreels assembled monthly under the title Soviet Tajikistan. The founders of this lab—Artem Shevich, Nikolay Gezulin and Vasiliy Kuzin—would go down in history as the pioneers of Tajik cinema when their memorable footage of the arrival of the first train in Dushanbe (1929) was exhibited during the proclamation of the Tajik Ssr on 16 October 1929. The following year, the Soviet Government subsidized the renovation of the lab and established Tajikkino,...

“A Thousand and One Nights” was released by Mushi Productions as part of the short lived “Animerama” series, which were erotic/experimental adaptations of some classic stories. While obtaining some success within Japan, when it was attempted to be brought into American theaters the film did not meet with much success, rendering the dubbed version of this film lost. The production now seems to serve more as an interesting side note in film history, given it predating the cult classic “Fritz the Cat”.

The film is an adaptation of the Arabic collection of stories by the same title. Since the film is adapted from a novel that contains various stories from different authors over a long period of time, it is hard to give a simple plot synopsis, The film is tied together by the character “Aldin” who lives the life of a poor merchant before embarking...

Exclusive: Jackie Chan, Fresh Off the Boat star Constance Wu, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Will Yun Lee (The Good Doctor), Nico Santos (Superstore), Jimmy Wong, and Bobby Lee are set as the U.S. voice cast of Wish Dragon, an animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, Beijing Sparkle Roll Media Corporation, and Base Animation. John Cho and Silicon Valley‘s Jimmy O. Yang are also in talks to join the feature which is begin directed by Chris Appelhans.

The pic is a modern re-telling of the classic Genie in a bottle tale from 1001 Nights. The core of the story reminds us that the most important things in life – hard work, honesty, friends, and family – cannot be wished for.

Shrek franchise and The Book of Life producer Aron Warner is producing the film with Chris Bremble, while Ian Sugarman will serve as exec producer.

The studio is aiming for a 2019 theatrical...