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Sho Miyake’s “Two Seasons, Two Strangers” has won Locarno’s top award, its Golden Leopard for titles playing in the Swiss festival’s main International Competition.

As noticed by Variety, the film was warmly received at the festival, charming the critics with its tale of two people who meet by the sea. Based on the manga “Mr. Ben and His Igloo, A View of the Seaside” by Yoshiharu Tsuge, it’s sold by Bitters End.

Jury president Rithy Panh and jury members Joslyn Barnes, Ursina Lardi, Carlos Reygadas and Renée Soutendijk also recognized “White Snail” by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, which scored Locarno’s Special Jury Prize and best performance for Marya Imbro and Mikhail Senkov. The film, about a Belarusian model dreaming of a career in China, slowly transforms into a love story between two outsiders.

Another acting award went to Manuela Martelli and Ana Marija Veselčić,...

"The enemy knows we're here. Is that not clear to you?" Amazon MGM Studios has revealed the official trailer for a WWII tank movie called Der Tiger, a German movie that will be playing in German cinemas. It'll eventually be streaming on Prime Video, but this trailer (including English subtitles) is announcing that it'll play in movie theaters first in September. The five-man crew of a German Tiger tank is sent on a secret mission far beyond the Nazi's front line. Fueled by the Wehrmacht's drug addiction, their mission becomes a journey into the heart of darkness. As they journey eastward, the soldiers not only find themselves deeper in enemy territory but must also face their own fears and inner demons. Made by Pantaleon Films along with Amazon MGM Germany, from the same director of the German hit The Wave (Die Welle). Starring David Schütter, Laurence Rupp, Leonard Kunz,...

Paradise City Sales has boarded “A Sad and Beautiful World,” Lebanese filmmaker Cyril Aris’s movie which is slated to world premiere at Venice Days.

“A Sad and Beautiful World” is headlined by Lebanese stars Mounia Akl as Yasmina, and Hasan Akil (Memory Box”) as Nino.

A love story spanning three decades, the film revolves around Nino and Yasmina who find themselves drawn together and faced with an impossible choice as they must decide if they want to build a family despite the tragedies ravaging the country. The cast is completed by Julia Kassar, Camille Salameh, Anthony Karam, and Nadyn Chalhoub.

The film is produced by Georges Schoucair at Abbout Productions, one of Lebanon’s top producers whose credits include “Costa Brava,” “Lebanon” and “Memory Box.” The film is also

produced by U.S. banner Diversity Hire (“Joyland”), alongside Reynard Films in Germany.

“A deeply charming film that blends a...

It’s officially that time of year again – when creativity, talent and career-changing opportunity come together in a big way. We’re talking about the Imaginar Producers Residency.

Film Independent, in collaboration with Searchlight Pictures and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (Nalip), is back for round two of the residency that’s all about giving indie producers the tools, mentorship and industry access they need to thrive in the studio world. This year’s Fellows are Jesus Garcia, Diego Nájera and Daniel Tantalean.

So, what does the residency entail? First off, each Fellow will receive an unrestricted grant of $50,000 each to fuel and sustain their creative work. On top of the grant, Fellows will receive creative and strategic mentorship tailored to their unique projects and career goals including professional coaching from Renee Freedman & Co., as well as business and financial coaching from The Jill James. Guest speakers include...

Exclusive: Film Independent has named the three filmmakers selected as Fellows for the second annual Imaginar Producers Residency, kicking off the week of July 21. They are Jesus Garcia, Diego Nájera, and Daniel Tantalean.

Over the course of the program, made possible by Searchlight Pictures in collaboration with the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, the Imaginar Fellows will receive creative and strategic support to propel their careers and projects forward. They will also collaborate with Searchlight execs to gain insight on how to package projects for studios, bridging the gap between producing independent and studio features. Each Fellow will receive professional coaching in partnership with Renee Freedman & Co., and financial and business advice and coaching in partnership with The Jill James, as well as a $50,000 unrestricted grant to support their endeavors.

“Building on the success of our inaugural year, the Imaginar Producers Residency continues to champion independent producers with the tools,...

Abbout Productions, the independent Beirut-based production house led by Georges Schoucair and Myriam Sassine, will be handed the Raimondo Rezzonico Award for producing at this year’s Locarno Film Festival.

The duo will receive the award on August 7. They will also present two of their titles, Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia Akl, and Memory Box by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige.

Georges Schoucair became the CEO of Abbout Productions in 2004, and Myriam Sassine joined as lead producer in 2010.

In recent years, Schoucair and Sassine have produced films such as Costa Brava, Lebanon, Memory Box, and works by local filmmakers like Ahmad Ghossein, Mohamed Malas, Ghassan Salhab, Oualid Mouannes, Cyril Aris, Ely Dagher, Rana Eid, and Myriam El Hajj, whose Diaries from Lebanon premiered in Berlinale Panorama in 2024.

Schoucair and Sassine have also been prominent advocates for cinema in the Mena region. Schoucair played a pivotal role...

Beirut-based Abbout Productions, led by Georges Schoucair and Myriam Sassine, will receive Locarno Film Festival’s producing prize, the Raimondo Rezzonico Award, at its upcoming 78th edition, which runs August 6-16.

Schoucair and Sassine will also present two of their films, Costa Brava, Lebanon by Mounia Akl and Memory Box by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, at the festival.

Schoucair took over as CEO of Abbout Productions in 2004, with Sassine joining as lead producer in 2010. They have since shepherded an array of Arab and Lebanese feature films into existence and onto the international distribution marketplace.

In recent years, Schoucair and...

The Arab Cinema Center (Acc) has announced the nominations for the 9th Critics Awards for Arab Films, the ceremony which will take place on the fringes of the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Four films are in the lead, making it into five categories each: Laila Abbas’ Thank You For Banking With Us (Palestine), Nabil Ayouch’s Everybody Loves Touda (Morocco); Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail (Tunisia) and Khaled Mansour’s Seeking Haven For Mr. Rambo (Egypt)

Mehdi Barsaoui’s Aïcha (Tunisia) follows with four nominations. Other films in the running include Mo Harawe’s The Village Next To Paradise (Somalia) Mahdi Fleifel’s To A Land Unknown (Palestine); Omar Hilal’s Voy! Voy! Voy! (Egypt) and Tawfik Alzaidi’s Norah (Saudi Arabia)

This year’s winners will be revealed during a ceremony on May 17 in Cannes. The event is organized by the Acc in collaboration with Mad Solutions and...

Disney’s live-action Snow Whitereboot, starring Rachel Zegler as the titular Snow and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, has seen its share of struggles since it debuted in theaters on March 21. The film, which had a mega-budget of around $270 million, has yet to make back even half of that at the domestic box office, per Collider.

Thus far, the Marc Webb-directed Snow White has earned $84.5 million in the U.S., per Box Office Mojo. Overseas, the film has done a bit better, taking in $100.3 million. But, with a worldwide box office haul of less than $185 million, the film seemingly has no hope of turning a profit.

Snow White has also garnered terrible critical reviews, and its Rotten Tomatoes score has dropped to 39% as of this writing. Critics have, on the review aggregator site, called the film “misguided” and “miscalculated,” and that Gadot’s performance is “the biggest failure of the movie.

Midway between Paris and the Mediterranean coast, France’s Clermont-Ferrand has become the world’s preeminent hub for short-form cinema, hosting both a festival and a market with unparalleled international reach.

Now celebrating its 46th edition – which runs Jan. 31 – Feb. 8 – the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival has long been a springboard for emerging auteurs, once upon a time shining a spotlight on little-known names like Jane Campion, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Chloé Zhao and Denis Villeneuve.

“We’re not here to ‘discover’ anyone but rather to support and highlight talent, creating opportunities for filmmakers to connect with production houses, distributors, and other festivals,” says Clermont-Ferrand programmer and coordinator Julie Rousson. “And as a short film spotlight, we really feel like we’re capturing a snapshot of the entire world in a single week.”

Rousson and her fellow programmers – all of them sharing equal footing in an expressly non-hierarchal organization – culled through more than...

Exclusive: Managing Director of Neom Media Industries Wayne Borg, Monica Ciarli of Minerva Pictures, and former EFM head Dennis Ruh will serve on the jury of the Venice Film Festival’s work-in-progress event Final Cut In Venice.

The Final Cut in Venice programme will run from September 1-3. The first two days are dedicated to the works-in-progress screenings. On the third day, one-on-one meetings are organized and the awards are presented in the afternoon. The jury will hand out a prize of €5,000 for the best film in post-production.

The seven selected productions include four fiction features: Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away (Egypt), Nadim Tabet’s In This Darkness I See You (Lebanon), Mohamed Siam’s My Father’s Scent (Egypt), and Ique Langa’s The Prophet (Mozambique).

Related: Venice Lineup Interview: Festival Chief Alberto Barbera Says ‘Joker 2’ Is “One Of The Most Daring Films In Recent...

‘Midwich Cuckoos’ Composer Hannah Peel To Curate Mentor Program

Exclusive: The European branch of First Artists Management (Fam)—the international talent agency representing composers, music supervisors, and music editors— has announced a second edition of its UK Composer Assistant and Mentor Programme (C.A.M.P.). Ivor Novello award-winning composer Hannah Peel (Midwich Cuckoos) will be the C.A.M.P. 2024-25 ambassador and is co-curating the program. Composer Mentors already signed up include Alex Baranowski, Natalie Holt (Loki) and Ré Olunuga (Girl), with others to be announced. The initiative is designed for young music makers from underrepresented groups wanting to break into the industry, with the aim of launching new voices and creating new role models. “C.A.M.P. was created to both demystify the Music for Screen industry and to offer practical tips, mentoring and, most importantly, real-life working experience to help new voices to break into the industry,” said Hamish Duff,...

Netflix introduces us to its latest offering from Kuwait, featuring stars Mahmoud Boushahri and Nour Al-Ghandour. While the film may not break new ground in the cinematic world, it endeavors to mirror the grandeur of Hollywood productions and concurrently showcase the tourism appeal of Lebanon. Despite its ambitious intentions, the end result falls somewhat short, presenting a lukewarm addition to both the worldwide cinema landscape and its specific genre.

The film, a romantic comedy, struggles to strike the right balance between romance and humor.

Plot Overview of “Honeymoonish”

The storyline follows a man obliged to marry to fulfill his father’s wishes (and secure his inheritance) and a woman desperate to tie the knot after her boyfriend marries someone else. Their story unfolds into a honeymoon riddled with complications, where truth is a rare commodity.

Characters: Hamad and Noor

A successful romantic comedy hinges on the audience’s ability to...

Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters lead the nominations for the 8th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which will be held during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

Both features picked up seven nominations apiece for the awards, focused on Arab films that were produced and premiered outside of the Arab world in 2023. Overseen and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), it was voted on by 209 critics from 72 countries and the winners will be announced during Cannes on May 18.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

This year’s nominees range from Sudan,...

Miss World Trivia: Do You Know How Many Winners Have Come Out Of India? (Photo Credit – Instagram/IMDb)

The Miss World 2024 title was achieved by Czech Republic’s Krystyna Pyszkova on Saturday. It is one of the most prestigious and the oldest beauty pageant. From Aishwarya Rai to Priyanka Chopra, it has paved the way for aspiring beauty queens. But do you know which country holds the highest number? Miss World wins, and it stands to an impressive six title wins. Scroll below to find out.

About Miss World 2024 –

Krystyna Pyszkova was crowned by the Reigning Miss World Karolina Bielawska from Poland. She has dual degrees in Law and Business Administration. Krystina also works as a model and has established the Krystyna Pyszko Foundation.

India hosted Miss World 2024 after 28 years, and the Grand event took place in Mumbai on Saturday. Film producer Sajid Nadiadwala; actors Kriti Sanon and Pooja Hegde...

Arab distributor Mad Solutions has taken world sales on Lebanese director Myriam El-Hajj’s timely feature documentary “Diaries From Lebanon” ahead of its upcoming premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.

El-Hajj’s new doc features three characters from different generations who are looking for their place in Lebanon, a country “haunted by a past that continues to pollute the present,” as the doc’s synopsis puts it.

The protagonists, named Georges, Joumana and Perla Joe, have different perspectives on whether to change Lebanon’s dismal national narrative “through war, politics or revolution,” the description continues.

But as Lebanon’s ongoing mayhem prompts personal quests for meaning and survival, they are all confronted with the same basic question: “Is it possible to sustain our dream in the face of a crumbling world around us?”

El-Hajj’s previous doc “A Time to Rest” examined Lebanon’s Civil War and premiered at...

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman Of The Hour and family drama Mother Couch, starring Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn, are headed to the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, running from November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah.

The titles will play in the Festival Favorites sidebar which was announced on Thursday alongside the event’s Red Sea: Treasures strand.

Kendrick directs and stars in Netflix-acquired drama Woman Of The Hour as a woman whose path crosses notorious serial killer Rodney Alcala, whilst in Niclas Larsson’s first film Mother Couch, McGregor plays a man whose mother squats the family furniture store.

Further films in the line-up – showcasing 21 buzzy festival titles from the last 12 months – include the David Oyelowo produced documentary Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story; Women’s World Cup doc Copa 71, executive produced by Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Esposito’s Fresh Kills,...

Kino Lorber has launched a new subscription streaming outlet, Kino Film Collection.

The $6-a-month destination for recent theatrical releases and hundreds of other films drawn from the company’s vast library will be available in the U.S. on Prime Video Channels.

Kino Lorber also operates Kino Now, a platform for rentals and purchases of arthouse and specialty films. The company has made several streaming moves of late. In 2022, it acquired MHz Choice and installed AMC Networks veteran Ed Carroll and former IFC Films head Lisa Schwartz in key management roles. Schwartz, Kino Lorber’s Chief Revenue Officer, will oversee Kino Film Collection. Last spring, Kino Lorber also formed a joint venture with First Look Media to operate both MHz Choice and First Look’s streaming service Topic.

Films available on Kino Film Collection at launch include new 4K restorations of The Conformist as well as key works by contemporary...

Labaki kicked off the TIFF Visionaries strand of on-stage discussions.

Lebanese director Nadine Labaki has discussed the modern challenges of cancel culture and restrictive regimes, saying “it’s becoming difficult for artists to spread their wings.”

Speaking at a Visionaries on-stage conversation at Toronto Film Festival, Labaki was asked about any backlash she had received to her films, especially in the context of portraying the queer Lebanese community.

“When you’re living in such a difficult situation – social pressure, religious pressure, religious authorities getting involved in everything, especially arts, and censoring whatever we need to say – there’s always backlash,...

Elsa Zylberstein, the French César-winning actor and producer whose popular movie “Simone: Woman of the Century” recently opened in the U.S., is preparing a biopic movie of fashion icon Christian Dior.

The film is being penned by Julien Teisseire (“The Hookup Plan”) and is being developed by Zylberstein’s banner Sonia Films and Odile McDonald (“Ransom”).

Zylberstein, who is in Venice to participate in the Impact Jury along with Nadine Labaki (“Costa Brava Lebanon”) and Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”), among others, told Variety that the film will open in 1947, in Paris, after World War II. Spanning a decade, the film sees Dior forging an empire alongside Raymonde Zehnacker, and falling madly in love with a much younger man, Jacques Benita.

“Christian Dior was a fiercely private man so people know very little about him and he was not a flamboyant character like other fashion designers or popular cultural icons, but he was no less fascinating,...

The nominations are out for the 44th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and CNN leads the way with a commanding 45 noms ahead of Vice (30) and ABC and PBS (26 each). See the list of nominees in all 62 categories below or click here.

Vice’s Vice News Tonight — which wrapped its eight-season run in May — scored a dominant 28 noms, more than doubling its closest program rival, CBS stalwart 60 Minutes, which landed 11. ABC’s Nightline, PBS’ Frontline and National Geographic’s Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller are next with nine apiece, followed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and PBS’ Pov with seven apiece.

As for the marquee categories, vying for Outstanding Live News Program are ABC World News Tonight with David Muir (ABC), Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell (CBS), CBS Mornings (CBS) and Nightly News with Lester Holt (NBC). Up for Best Documentary are Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain...

Mike Batayeh, who portrayed the laundromat manager Dennis Markowski in Breaking Bad and performed comedy sets around the world, has died. He was 52.

The actor died June 1 of a massive heart attack, his family told The Hollywood Reporter.

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that my sisters and I announce the passing of our dear brother,” his family wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. “He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and his great ability to bring laughter and joy to so many.”

Batayeh is perhaps best known for his work on Breaking Bad, in which he played the manager of the Lavandería Brillante laundromat. The company served as Gus Fring’s (Giancarlo Esposito) cover for the huge meth lab that Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) used when they worked for the Pollos Hermanos owner/drug kingpin. His character was burned alive...

Italian sales agent strikes key sale for Israeli feature at Cannes.

Menemsha Films has acquired North American rights to Noam Kaplan’s The Future, which was selectively screened to market participants at Cannes by Rome-based Intramovies ahead of its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June.

The second feature from Israeli director Kaplan is produced by Yoav Roeh and Aurit Zamir for Gum Films and centres on a world-renowned profiler investigating a young Palestinian woman accused of having assassinated an Israeli minister.

The film stars Reymonde Amsellem, known for HaBayit Berechov Fin (2021), Lebanon: The Soldier’s Journey (2009) and Rendition...

Italian seller unveils Cannes market slate.

Italy’s Illmatic Film Sales arrives in Cannes with a slate led by Gianluca Manzetti’s debut feature Roma Blues.

Set in Rome, it’s the story of a serial dreamer whose discovery of a phone containing proof of a crime changes his life forever.

Produced by Art Film Kairos, Eliofilm, Rai Cinema, the feature film stars lead actor Francesco Gheghi – as seen recently in Paolo Strippoli’s Flowing (Piove) – together with Mikaela Neaze Silva and Mino Caprio.

Illmatic is also at Cannes selling Francesco Carnesecchi’s thriller-horror Resvrgis, about a bored young girl...

Eitan Mansuri, who attended Series Mania Festival to pitch season 2 of “No Man’s Land” (pictured), is re-teaming with award-winning Israeli director Samuel Maoz on his next film “It’s Good to Die For Your Country.”

The project will mark Maoz’s follow up to “Foxtrot” and “Lebanon” which won Venice’s Silver and Golden Lion awards, respectively. Mansuri told Variety that “It’s Good to Die For Your Country” will be like the third opus of a trilogy on war, completing “Foxtrot” and “Lebanon.”

“‘Lebanon’ was about being a soldier, ‘Foxtrot’ was about the implication of war on families and ‘It’s Good to Die For Your Country’ will be about trauma itself,” said Mansuri, whose produced Maoz’s last two movies.

While the exact plot remains under wraps, Mansuri revealed that it will revolve around two childhood friends in their late 50’s and 60’s who grew up believing that...

Lebanon is a country with a complicated political situation and a deep history and culture. However, it’s not a country known for its heavy metal music. Let alone heavy metal music made by women. Maybe the upcoming documentary, “Sirens,” will help change that perception.

“Sirens” follows an all-female metal band as they wrestle with friendship, sexuality, and destruction in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal stars. They’ll also have to deal with the weight of being the first and only female group to come out of Lebanon.

Continue reading ‘Sirens’ Trailer: Lebanon’s Only Female Metal Band Are Coming To The Big Screen In New Doc at The Playlist.

The 66th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express has announced the contenders for the Best Film Award; this year’s Official Competition selection is presented in association with Sight and Sound.

The 2022 nominated films showcase a remarkable range of filmmaking talent from across the world with 13 countries represented across the selection. From a thrilling and uncompromising Argentinian political drama to a chilling British folk horror tale; and a breathtaking story of brotherly love to the poignancy of family displacement during the Syrian conflict in Damascus, the films selected for Official Competition celebrate passionate and inspired global filmmaking.

Established in 2009 and first won by Jacques Audiard for A Prophet, recent winners of the Best Film Award include Sudabeh Mortezai’s Joy, Alejandro Landes’ Monos and, in 2021, Panah Panahi’s Hit the Road.

Also in news – Stephen Graham to joins period drama series ‘A Thousand Blows’

The 8 films in the Official Competition are:

 Argentina,...

Click here to read the full article.

Kino Lorber has picked up North American rights to Costa Brava, Lebanon, a darkly comic tale set against the current political and environmental crises in Lebanon.

Mounia Akl’s directorial debut, which premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti Extra sidebar last year, stars actress/director Nadine Labaki (Capernaum) and Saleh Bakri (The Band’s Visit). Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release for Costa Brava, Lebanon on July 15.

Aki’s intergenerational family story focuses on the free-spirited Badri clan, who, in an effort to escape the toxic pollution and social unrest of Beirut, build a mini-utopia off the grid. But the world intervenes when the Lebanese government begins construction on a garbage landfill right outside their fence. The country’s trash and corruption is literally being brought to their doorstep. The Badris are forced to either stay true to their ideals and live outside the...

Regev has been the CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque since 2013.

Jerusalem Cinematheque CEO Noa Regev has been appointed as the new CEO of the Israel Film Fund (Iff) and is due to take up the role at the beginning of April.

She replaces veteran producer and broadcast executive Lisa Shiloach-Uzrad, who spent two-and-a-half years in the role having succeeded long-time executive director Katriel Schory in 2019.

Regev has been CEO of the Jerusalem Cinematheque since 2013. She took over the organisation at a delicate point in its history as its hands-on founder Lia Van Leer, who was then in her late 80s,...

Earlier, Sundance announced that its 2022 edition will be hybrid. Most titles will be available online while their in-person festivities start up again in Park City. Their main slate has just gone live as well. Though the festival has a tendency to update their lineup as the festivities grow closer, their competition categories have at least been set in stone.

Naturally, we compiled all of the Asian and Asian diaspora-directed ones we could find so far. Like last year, most Asian titles tend to be in the documentaries. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, at least 4 entries span from different corners of the continent: India (“All That Breathes”), Myanmar (“Midwives”), Lebanon (“Sirens”), and Israel (“Tantura”). 4 entries revolving around or by Asian diaspora filmmakers make their mark in the US Documentary Competition as well. “Free Chol Soo Lee”, “Jihad Rehab”, “Tiktok.Boom” and “The Exiles” cover fex-Al-Queda extremists, Tiananmen Square exiles, a wrongly-convicted Korean immigrant,...

After opening the Venice Film Festival and continuing on to the New York Film Festival, Oscar winner Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers from Sony Pictures Classics will have a red-carpet premiere at this year’s AFI Fest at the Tcl Chinese Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 13.

In the movie, two women, Janis and Ana, played respectively by Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way. Cruz won the Volpi...

Documentary Exposure from The Babushkas Of Chernobyl director Morris gets its world premiere.

The 57th Chicago International Film Festival has unveiled its international competitions line-up, a roster that includes Venice Silver Lion winner The Power Of The Dog, Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers For The Stolen, and the world premiere of Holly Morris’s documentary Exposure.

The programme includes the international premiere of Franziska Stünkel’s The Last Execution. The festival runs October 13-24 and is the longest running competitive festival in North America.

The International Feature Competition line-up comprises: Péter Kerekes’s 107 Mothers (Slo-Czech-Ukr); Mohammed Diab’s Amira (Egy-Jor-uae-Saud...

Institute allocates $590,000 in unrestricted grant support for projects from 20 countries and territories across five continents.

Projects from Rithy Panh and Laura Poitras are among a diverse roster of 18 Sundance Institute Documentary Fund grantees announced on Tuesday (June 8).

There is a strong focus on Bipoc and women directors as the Institute announced a total of $590,000 in unrestricted grant support for projects from 20 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

All of the US projects are directed by at least one Bipoc filmmaker. Some 72% of granted projects are directed by women, and the same proportion are working...

There's a polished quality to the look and feel of Jimmy Keyrouz's debut feature  - an expansion of his award-winning short Nocturne In Black and Lebanon's submission for this year's International Film Oscar - and it is also lent a docureal element by the fact it was partially shot in the genuine conflict zone of Mosul, which had only recently been liberated from Isis. Broken Keys is a tale of quiet resistance and hope for a better future in the face of conflict, which though a little broad brush in its strokes and tending towards sentimentality in places, nevertheless packages its difficult themes well for a mainstream audience.

The story centres on Karim, an accomplished pianist who is living under the repressive regime of Islamist extremists in a Syrian city, where music, among many other things, is banned. In defiance of this, he bolsters...

The Berlin Film Festival has revealed 12 titles from 16 countries that will compete in the festival’s Encounters strand, including Denis Côté’s “Social Hygiene” from Canada, Alice Diop’s “We” from France, and Fern Silva’s “Rock Bottom Riser” from the U.S.

The selections also take in “As I Want” (Egypt/France/Norway/Palestine) by Samaher Alqadi; “Azor” (Switzerland/France/Argentina) by Andreas Fontana; “The Beta Test” (U.S./U.K.) by Jim Cummings, Pj McCabe; and “Bloodsuckers (Germany) by Julian Radlmaier.

Also competing will be “The Girl and the Spider” (Switzerland) by Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher; “District Terminal” (Iran/Germany) by Bardia Yadegari, Ehsan Mirhosseini; “Moon, 66 Questions” (Greece/France) by Jacqueline Lentzou; “The Scary of Sixty-First” (U.S.) by Dasha Nekrasova; and “Taste” (Vietnam/Singapore/France/Thailand/Germany/Taiwan) by Lê Bảo.

The Encounters strand supports new or innovative voices in cinema. A jury will choose winners for best film,...

Netflix, as it ramps up Middle East operations, has announced two initiatives to reach out to Lebanon’s film and TV community: an emergency fund providing grants to below-the-line crew facing economic hardship, and a “Made in Lebanon” package of films playing on the giant streamer.

The $500,000 relief fund set up by Netflix in collaboration with the Arab Fund for Arts & Culture (Afac) will be open for applications starting next week. It will provide financial support in the form of individual grants worth $2,000 per grant, a sum that, especially given Lebanon’s current economic constraints, is worth plenty more locally than it would be in the U.S.

From Oct. 26 until Nov. 9, below-the-line crew, craftspeople, and freelancers in the Lebanese film and television industry can apply for the fund by filling out an online application form. They must provide supporting documentation including a list of the five most recent projects they worked on,...

When it comes to reviewing TV shows, you can imagine how different covering a season premiere is from a Blu-ray release. In the case of premieres, you may be afforded one to five episodes from whatever network it may be, whereas the home video set will have the entire season at your disposal – and you’re viewing it in hindsight. Obviously, the former option has you screening something for the first time, so it’s understandable the producers and other folks want some cards held close to the vest. But the double-edged sword here is that the more a critic is given, the better they’re able to formulate an informed opinion of the final product.

To be entirely honest, I was actually hoping that I’d eventually get to review Supernatural: The Complete Fourteenth Season on Blu-ray. For those of you in the “Spn Family” who’ve read my critiques before,...

Rising folk artist J.S. Ondara made his U.S. television debut for CBS This Morning‘s Saturday Sessions, where the Kenyan-born singer-songwriter delivered three tracks off his recent album Tales of America.

For the performance of “Lebanon,” “Saying Goodbye” and “Torch Song,” Ondara – one of Rolling Stone’s Artists You Need to Know –was backed by Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg along with Dawes’ Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith.

Ondara’s Tales of America arrived in February 2019; a deluxe reissue, dubbed Tales of America: The Second Coming, is out September 20th.

Before its 15th and final season of Supernatural airs on The CW, you can catch up with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's Blu-ray and DVD release of the 14th season this September, complete with a gag reel, deleted scenes, and audio commentaries:

Press Release: Burbank, CA – Reunited, and it feels so good! Or does it? The thrilling and terrifying journey of the Winchester brothers continues as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings you Supernatural: The Complete Fourteenth Season on Blu-ray and DVD on September 10, 2019. The sets contains all 20 exhilarating episodes from Season 14 - including the landmark 300th episode “Lebanon,” featuring the return of Sam and Dean’s father John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)! The discs are loaded with over two hours of bonus content including two all-new featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and audio commentaries from the cast and producers. Supernatural: The Complete Fourteenth Season is priced to own at...

Burbank, CA – Reunited, and it feels so good! Or does it? The thrilling and terrifying journey of the Winchester brothers continues as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings you Supernatural: The Complete Fourteenth Season on Blu-ray and DVD on September 10, 2019. The sets contains all 20 exhilarating episodes from Season 14 – including the landmark 300th episode “Lebanon,” featuring the return of Sam and Dean’s father John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)! The discs are loaded with over two hours of bonus content including two all-new featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and audio commentaries from the cast and producers. Supernatural: The Complete Fourteenth Season is priced to own at $44.98 Srp for the DVD (C$52.99/Canada) and $49.99 Srp for the Blu-ray, which includes a Digital Copy (C$57.99/Canada – Digital Copy not available in Canada). Supernatural: The Complete Fourteenth Season is also currently available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers.

The Winchester brothers...

Catch up on the adventures of the Winchester boys when Supernatural: The Complete 14th Season arrives on Blu-ray/DVD on September 10th courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment. The set contains all 20 exhilarating episodes from Season 14, including the landmark 300th episode “Lebanon,” featuring the return of Sam and Dean’s father John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)! […] The post The Journey Continues When Supernatural: The Complete 14Th Season Hits Blu-ray/DVD This September appeared first on Dread Central.

Earlier this year, Supernatural fans got their longtime wish granted when Jeffrey Dean Morgan reprised his role as John Winchester for the beloved horror series’ unforgettable and highly emotional 300th episode. Long story short, he was plucked from 2003 by the necessary sci-fi means and was able to see the men his boys grew up to become. But in order for the timeline to stay intact, he had to return to his native period. Luckily, Sam and Dean will remember the experience for the rest of their lives, but John remembered it only as a pleasant dream.

Not giving the “Spn Family” a chance to recover was The CW themselves, as they opted to finally pull the plug on one of their prime time staples. Like many of those reading this, I, too, was shocked to learn that season 15 will be the last. But as they say, all good things must come to an end.

Supernatural takes a look back at its monster myth while Jack learns how to make friends.

This Supernatural review contains spoilers.

Supernatural Season 14 Episode 16

In Season 14, Episode 16 “Don’t Go Into the Woods” Supernatural seems to take a page from an earlier chapter of its life, turning back to a traditional monster-eating-people-in-the-woods story.

When we started getting the setup for a Native American monster I thought immediately “Wendigo” but that’s a blast from the Supernatural past, and they decided to mine some more Native American folklore for a unique monster. A monster that originally wasn’t a monster. The origin story was sufficiently creepy enough, and I think I’m going to picture the monster’s human face far longer than the monster’s tree bark like creature form.

Meanwhile, our B story is about Jack on a shopping trip and meeting some new friends. I enjoyed the reintroduction...

Hey, Supernatural fans. Unfortunately, this is another one of those reports where we have to let you know that your favorite TV show is getting delayed for a bit. It turns out that the next, new episode will not be airing next Thursday night, March 28, 2019. No, no, no. Instead, the CW has currently scheduled it to air on Thursday night, April 4, 2019. So, be sure to mark that very important date down on your TV show schedules. Why is The CW doing this? Unfortunately, we can't answer that question with an official reason. If we had to guess, we would have to say it probably has to due with the scheduling. They probably want to make sure the season finale episode lands somewhere in the middle or end of May 2019. If they air these episodes too fast, they will end up showing the full season before the middle or end of...

Ai Weiwei film is a companion piece to Human Flow.

Copenhagen-based documentary festival Cph:dox (March 20-31) has revealed its line-up of competition titles for 2019.

Notable world premieres include The Rest, the latest feature from Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. His previous feature, refugee crisis doc Human Flow, premiered at Venice in 2017 and won multiple awards.

The Rest is a parallel work to Human Flow, again focusing on the refugee crisis, but this time in line with the voice and experience of an individual refugee. Edited down from 900 hours of footage, the film depicts those living in political limbo in Europe,...

Produced by Germany’s Gringo Films, “Stitch Head” will pitch at March’s Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux, a leading European event for animation coming down the pipeline. Fellow German studios Lavalabs and Studio Rakete co-produce.

“Stitch Head” will be a stereoscopic 3D animated feature directed by Toby Genkel, co-director –alongside Reza Memari– of the successful “A Stork’s Journey,” a German production from Ulysses Filmproduktion which secured a U.S. release through Grindstone and Lionsgate, and was sold by Global Screen.

“Stitch Head” is a family entertainment adventure-comedy intended for mainstream audiences. According to its producers, it’s a fun take on the Frankenstein myth, where the monsters are the good guys, and the humans are scary.

“It’s based on a simple premise: If a mad professor is obsessively bringing monstrous creatures to Almost-Life in his castle’s laboratory… then who takes care of the monsters? Who keeps them fed and clean?...

Supernatural celebrated 300 episodes with "Lebanon," a treat for long-time fans of the series. Thanks to an ancient Chinese pearl, which granted whoever held it whatever their heart desired, the Winchesters were reunited... well, almost all of them. John Winchester was plucked out of time from back when Sam was still at Stanford, John and Dean were hunting (separately), and Mary was dead.

Related: How John Winchester Came Back in Supernatural's 300th Episode (& Why It's Tragic)

The family reunion couldn't last because it changed the timeline and who Sam and Dean became. However, while it did, fans were treated to plenty of easter eggs, memorable moments and even another long-dead character return.

Bridget Lamonica Feb 7, 2019

We speak with Supernatural showrunner Andrew Dabb about making it to the 300th episode and the return of a very special actor.

Supernatural premiered in 2005 as a show about two brothers who grew up hunting evil. As adults, they reunite in order to save their dad who went away on a hunting trip and never came back. Fourteen years later, and our Winchesters are tested to their furthest limits. They’ve faced monsters thought unheard of, done battle with demons and angels alike, and even had a heart-to-heart with God. The longest running American sci-fi/fantasy series has come so far from just a traveling monster hunt show, which, if we’re being honest, it never really was at its core.

The heart and soul of the show has always been family. The search for John Winchester, the vengeance for Mary Winchester, and Dean and Sam constantly...

For its 200th episode milestone in 2014, “Supernatural” went deeply meta, delivering “almost a pure homage to the #SPNFamily and the crazy things that happened to the show, from the books being written about it to the Clue games to the Funko figures,” series star Jared Padalecki recalls. Now five years later the show is hitting its 300th episode and Padalecki says the focus is on creating “an homage to the Winchester family.”

For the episode entitled “Lebanon,” executive producers Bob Singer and Andrew Dabb “wanted to go for something that had a lot of heart to it,” Singer says. In that regard, having Jeffrey Dean Morgan reprise his role of Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam’s (Padalecki) dad John Winchester was the “centerpiece of the story.”

In looking for ways to rid Dean of the Archangel Michael, who has possessed him on and off since the end of the 13th season,...

In just a little over one week, the moment that fans of Supernatural have seemingly waited an eternity for will arrive. We are, of course, talking about Jeffrey Dean Morgan returning as John Winchester, something that’s been itching to be crossed off many wishlists since the conclusion to season 2.

Since being initially announced, Morgan himself expressed amazement at how far the horror series has come, even saying he had “a blast” filming the milestone. And if that weren’t enough, it was also confirmed that Kurt Fuller will return as the villainous Zachariah. For those keeping tabs, he bit the dust during season 5.

By now, I’m guessing you’re ready to begin browsing the gallery of new images promoting “Lebanon.” Found below, it offers new looks at the complete, reunited Winchester clan. In fact, I imagine at least one member of the “Spn Family” out there will frame...