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Before Michael J. Fox starred in one of the best movies of the 1980s, "Back to the Future," and before he would become a television wunderkind on "Family Ties" as Alex P. Keaton, the Republican son of former hippies, he first got his start on Canadian television. As a smily 16-year-old with a bowl cut, he starred in "Leo and Me," about an orphan who goes to live with his laissez-faire uncle on a yacht. Hijinks ensue. The sitcom only ran for 12 episodes. After moving to Hollywood when he was 18, Fox appeared in guest spots on the shows "Kids," "Lou Grant," "Here's Boomer," and "Trapper John, M.D." before landing a more prominent recurring role on "Palmerstown, U.S.A."

Even though it only aired for 17 episodes in 1980-1981, "Palmerstown, U.S.A." is thought of fondly by audiences and critics. It was created by Alex Haley, who had previously made "Roots," a television...

Lifetime’s latest “Ripped From the Headlines” movie unearths a chilling true crime story that hits close to home—literally. Kidnapped By A Killer: The Heather Robinson Story, airing Saturday, June 7 at 8 Pm Et, follows the unsettling journey of a teenage girl who discovers her uncle is not just a criminal, but a serial killer—and […]

Kidnapped By A Killer: The Heather Robinson Story, Lifetime Premiere, Saturday, June 7...

The Young and the Restless spoilers for the week of February 24, 2025, are here! Next week, expect Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver) to set some boundaries. Damian Kane (Jermaine Rivers) lays down roots.

Plus, Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) are in dire circumstances. Keep reading and let’s talk about what is coming up next week in the CBS soap opera.

Audra Charles’ Boundaries

During the week of February 24, fans can expect Audra to put down boundaries. When Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic) mentioned Holden Novak’s (Nathan Owens) interest in Audra, she decided to tell her boyfriend the truth.

Later, Audra will have to put down boundaries with Holden. So, it sounds like Audra will tell Holden that he’s being too pushy. Audra might also inform Holden that she told Nate the truth. Although Audra can handle herself, it would be easy to see Nate jumping in if Holden keeps pursuing her.

One of the biggest twists in Lostwas when the mysterious Henry Gale turned out to be Ben Linus, leader of the island's Others. However, perhaps only with the aid of hindsight, the show foreshadowed this big reveal from the moment the character appeared on-screen. What makes this even more impressive is the knowledge that Michael Emerson wasn't necessarily supposed to be as important a character at first.

While much of Lost was planned since the pilot, the writers were not afraid to change course or wait to define specific mysteries. The importance of "Henry Gale" was one such audible. The producers liked Emerson's performance so much they decided to keep him in the series. Still, from the moment the character appeared on-screen, there were signs he was much more important to the story than he seemed.Ben Linus was one of Lost's most incredible characters, and the seeds for his nefarious journey,...

French-Moroccan multi-hyphenate Roschdy Zem (“Days of Glory,” “The Innocent”) and Italy’s Barbara Ronchi (“Kidnapped”) are set to star in psychological drama “Elisa — Io la volevo uccidere” by Italian director Leonardo Di Costanzo.

Zem, who is one of France’s most bankable actors, will play a compassionate criminologist named Alaoui, whose life intersects with a young woman named Elisa, played by Ronchi. Elisa comes from a middle class family and has been in prison for 10 years for brutally killing her sister.

Rounding off the cast is Diego Ribon (“Doc”), who plays Elisa’s father.

Shooting is set to start March 1 on “Elisa — Io la volevo uccidere,” which is the film’s Italian working title and translates as “Elisa — I Wanted to Kill Her.”

Carlo Cresto-Dina and Manuela Melissano are producing “Elisa” via Cresto-Dina’s Tempesta shingle with backing from Italy’s Rai Cinema. The film is being co-produced with Michela Pini...

“Primavera,” a film about Antonio Vivaldi, the Italian Baroque composer and violinist who penned “The Four Seasons,” has been bought by a flurry of major distributors.

Represented by Memento International, the movie shot in Rome and Venice, and marks the feature debut of Damiano Michieletto, a leading opera director.

Warner Bros. will release the movie in Italy while Diaphana Distribution will release it in France. The pre-sales closed by Memento International are Benelux (Cineart), Germany and Austria (X Verleih), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Switzerland (Frenetic) and Poland (M2 Films). Several other territories are in negotiations.

“Primavera” was penned by Ludovica Rampoldi, the award-winning screenwriter of movies such as “The Traitor” and “Gomorrah – the series,” among others. The script is loosely adapted from Tiziano Scarpa’s critically acclaimed novel “Stabat Mater.”

Set in 18th century Venice, “Primavera” follows Cecilia, a 20-year-old violin virtuoso who lives at the Pièta orphanage. Despite her talent,...

Exclusive: Double-bafta winning Mood creator Nicôle Lecky has cast her BBC thriller series, which has been given the title Wild Cherry.

House of the Dragon star Eve Best and The Penguin’s Carmen Ejogo are leading Wild Cherry, which has rolled cameras in south England after being teased at last year’s Edinburgh TV Festival. Lecky is creator, star and producer.

Ejogo is Lorna, a self-made, successful Black businesswoman from South London who has worked hard to get to where she is. Best plays her closest friend Juliet, a woman born into the privileged gated community they both call home. The safe haven is a place where bad things never happen until their kids are implicated in a shocking scandal at their exclusive private school and Juliet and Lorna are forced to take sides. The show is described as a “provocative and deliciously honest look at mother/daughter relationships in a haze of social media,...

Exclusive: Veteran actor Mykelti Williamson has signed with More Medavoy Management for representation.

Known for his iconic role as Bubba in the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, Williamson will next be seen in the Amazon feature Unstoppable, alongside Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez, produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. He most recently wrapped director Jon Avnet’s feature The Last Rodeo in the lead role of Charlie Williams – a former bull rider and bullfighter who steps back in the ring one more time. He’ll also appear in the Apple TV+ series Bonneville, opposite David Oyelowo.

His recent film credits include Mark Amin-directed Emperor, Butter with Mira Sorvino and The 24th, based on the historic Houston Riot of 1917, directed by Oscar winner Kevin Willimott.

Williamson also appeared in Blumhouse’s Don’t Let Go, directed by Jacob Estes and opposite David Oyelowo, Alfred Molina, and Brian Tyree Henry, as well as Saint Judy with Michelle Monaghan,...

Chloe Ayling’s harrowing real-life kidnapping serves as the inspiration for BBC Three’s new limited series Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story. Spanning six tightly-paced episodes, the show delves into both the horrors of Chloe’s abduction ordeal and the ongoing struggles she faced long after in the publicity storm that engulfed her.

Aspirations model: at just 20 years old, Chloe traveled to Milan for what she believed was a photoshoot. Instead, masked men attacked her, injecting her with drugs before spiriting her away to a remote farmhouse and six days as an unwilling captive.

Though she survived the kidnapping physically unharmed, hard times were yet to come as talking heads and tabloid articles rushed to cast doubts on Chloe’s troubling tale. Kidnapped takes an unflinching look at both how truth can become twisted in a sensationalist media circus and the resilience of one young woman determined to have her say.

Veteran Italian director Marco Bellocchio has revealed details of his new drama series Portobello, which is based on the real-life story of Enzo Tortora, the Italian TV celebrity journalist falsely accused of being a Mafia member and drug runner in the early 1980s.

“He [Tortora] was convicted and sentenced to prison because of a huge judiciary mistake,” Bellocchio said of his subject who hosted hit TV show Portobello but ended up receiving a 10 year prison sentence. “They [the authorities] literally destroyed his family, his life, his professional career - and he died out of sheer grief.”

Bellocchio didn’t know Tortora personally but...

Exclusive: After Netflix got slapped with a $170M Baby Reindeer lawsuit, Deadline hears that the scandal’s blast radius has been felt on other drama projects inspired by real events.

Sources said the BBC has been fielding a surge in duty of care compliance questions in recent weeks from producers of factual dramas keen to avoid a similar crisis on their shows.

The BBC is currently working on a number of sensitive projects, including a Netflix co-production about the Lockerbie bombing and Kidnapped, a BBC3 series about the abduction of model Chloe Ayling.

Only this week, Deadline revealed that the BBC is working with Dancing Ledge Productions to tell the story of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe‘s arbitrary detention in Iran. Production begins this month.

One person said there was “increased awareness” about duty of care issues following the Baby Reindeer scandal and the BBC is helping producers with compliance inquiries. The...

Rome-based Intramovies has clinched further key sales on the Swedish pic “Paradise is Burning” for which rising talent Mika Gustafson won best director and writer at the 2023 Venice Orizzonti.

The coming-of-age drama was sold to Conic in the U.K. and Ireland, HBO Max for Eastern Europe (TV and VOD rights), Leopardo Filmes in Portugal, Providence/Belas Artes Grupo Brazil, and Mongsang in South Korea.

The story turns on young siblings Laura, Mira and Steffi, who live a totally free and wild life with no parental supervision. When social services intervene, the eldest sister, Laura (Bianca Delbravo-best actress for her role at Lisbon & Estoril Fest), tries to convince the recently befriended Hanna (Ida Engvoll of Netflix’s “Love & Anarchy”) to be the sisters’ stand-in mother.

“The very talented Swedish director Mika Gustafson has brilliantly captured a portrait of adolescence,” commented Mongsang’s CEO Jihyun Min. “Paradise Is Burning...

Marco Bellocchio is the 84-year-old Italian director behind films like “Fists in the Pocket” from 1965, “Vincere” from 2009, and “Devil in the Flesh” from 1986. His strict Catholic upbringing has led him to make films that take a critical eye toward the Church, condemning its politics and documented history of abuse. Now, he is taking the Church to task once again with his latest film, “Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara,” out May 24 from Cohen Media Group. Watch the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.

Here’s the official synopsis: “In 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do...

A story once in the hands of Steven Spielberg to adapt, 84-year-old Italian director Marco Bellocchio’s latest film Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara follows a seven-year-old Jewish boy who was taken from his family in Bologna to be raised Catholic in the actual arms of Pope Pius IX. Conveyed in sweeping operatic fashion, Kidnapped is a feat of production design and compelling study of both political and religious power, even when certain stagnant passages leave something to be desired. Ahead of a theatrical release from Cohen Media Group starting May 24, preceded by a director retrospective at NYC’s Quad Cinema beginning next week, the U.S. trailer has now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “From one of Italy’s most revered directors, Marco Bellocchio, comes Kidnapped, the true story of Edgardo Mortara. Mortara was a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, when in 1858, after being secretly baptized,...

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated drama “Io Capitano,” about the odyssey of two young African men who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe, and Paola Cortellesi’s feminist dramedy “There’s Still Tomorrow” were both the big winners at Italy’s 69th David di Donatello Awards.

“Io Capitano” won Davids for best picture, director, producers, editor, and cinematographer, among other prizes, while “Still Tomorrow,” which is about the plight of an abused housewife in post-war Rome and had 19 nominations scored six statuettes, including best directorial debut, actress, non supporting actress, screenplay, and audience award.

“Still Tomorrow,” which marks the directorial debut of popular Italian actor Paola Cortellesi, who also stars, is shot in black-and-white and riffs on Italy’s neorealist past, albeit with a contemporary female empowerment angle.

“I made this debut at the brink of menopause,” Cortellesi, who is 50, said while accepting the statuette for best debuting director. “I hope...

Matteo Garrone’s refugee drama Io Capitano, an Oscar nominee this year for Italy in the best international feature category, was the big winner of this year’s 2024 David Di Donatello Awards, Italy’s equivalent to the Oscars, winning best film and director for Garrone.

Io Capitano also picked up prizes for best cinematography, editing, sound, and visual effects.

Paola Cortellesi’s There’s Still Tomorrow, a black-and-white feminist dramedy that became the top-grossing film in Italy last year, won Cortellesi the Donatello honors for best actress, directorial debut, and original script for the screenplay she co-wrote with Furio Andreotti and Giulia Calenda.

“I want to thank those who gave me the opportunity to write this role as I wanted it,” she said, accepting her actress honor.

Cortellesi’s film, a dramedy about an abused woman in post-wwii Rome that manages to combine serious social drama with situational comedy, sight gags and even a musical number,...

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated drama Io Capitano triumphed in Italy’s David di Donatello film awards on Friday evening, winning best film and best director.

The film about the trials and tribulations of two Senegalese teenagers as they try to make it to Europe via the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea, also won best producer for companies Archimede, Rai cinema, Pathé and Tarantula as well as best sound, special effects, cinematography and editing.

Io Capitano premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, where it won best director for Garrone and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor for Seydou Sarr.

The movie went on to enjoy a buzzy awards season, securing a Golden Globe nomination for best non-English language film and an Academy Award nomination for best international film.

“This film tells the stories of those who are not listened to,” said Garrone, on receiving the best director award.

A month so staggering in quality new releases that a new Mad Max film from George Miller barely cracked the top five, May kicks off the summer movie season with a bang. From the best American film of the year to a long-awaited U.S. release from the director who topped last month’s list, and much more, check out my picks of the best movies arriving this month below.

17. Aggro DR1FT (Harmony Korine; May 10-16 in theaters)

Though a film I almost actively hated in the moment, reflecting back on Harmony Korine’s Aggro DR1FT, it’s certainly a nightmare that has stayed with me. Rory O’Connor said in his review, “Is it possible to leave your enfance without losing your terrible? The one-and-only Harmony Korine, now 50 years young, returns with Aggro Dr1ft, a premiere out-of-competition at the Venice Film Festival this week and, by my count, the only...

Kidnapped imagines every parent's nightmare: what happens when your child is taken from you? And even worse, what if that horrifying reality is enshrined in law, the very thing you’d hope would help you receive justice? It’s hard not to get swept up in the emotions of Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped and the story of young Edgardo Mortara (Enea Sala), taken from his family and forced into a life of Catholicism. Writer-director Bellocchio’s visual language is essential to the storytelling: this is a staggeringly beautiful film, and its vast sense of scale effectively highlights the overwhelming struggle of the Mortara family and Edgardo’s personal crisis of faith.

Based on a true story, Bellocchio’s script manages to make a thorny and complicated history feel accessible, tracing decades of conflict into an accessible two-plus hours. A historical drama about conflicting faiths might sound daunting, but this is immaculately paced and emotionally driven,...

Descúbrelo todo sobre el thriller emocional producido por J.A. Bayona. © Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures ha publicado el tráiler y el póster de “Caída Libre”, un thriller emocional producido por Juan Antonio Bayona que promete ser una adición más al tropo del ‘artista obsesionado’ (ese tropo que vemos en “Whiplash” o “Cisne Negro”).

El filme está protagonizado por Belén Rueda en el papel de una autoritaria entrenadora de gimnasia rítmica cuya vida personal se resquebraja. A sus 60 años, Marisol (Rueda), Es una entrenadora emblemática de gimnasia rítmica de élite, la mejor. Es metódica, controladora, autoritaria, dominante, se irrita con facilidad y carece de la más mínima capacidad de autocrítica. Ha construido un mundo a su medida, que se resquebraja el día en que Octavio, su marido, le confiesa que se marcha de casa para rehacer su vida con una mujer más joven a la que ha dejado embarazada. Ella se embarca...

Marco Bellocchio excels at grand gestures. The Italian title of the filmmaker’s latest, Kidnapped, appears on screen in large, blood-red letters, like the screaming headline of a tabloid news article. Yet it’s placed over a deceptively serene scene, circa the late-1850s, of servant woman Anna Morisi (Aurora Camatti) strolling into a store across the street from her Bologna-residing employers, the Jewish Mortara family. The clashing juxtaposition of words and images is apt, for none of the characters suspects that history is about to be made.

The Mortara case is one of the most egregious stains on the legacy of the Catholic Church. It captured the world’s attention at a particularly fraught moment, right as the Papal States (occupied Italian territories that had for centuries been under the direct rule of successive popes) were close to permanent dissolution, and global antisemitism was on a genocidal rise.

In...

Further Cannes titles to be selected include ’Firebrand’ and ’The Old Oak’.

The first titles in the running for the 2023 European Film Awards have been revealed by the European Academy, including Cannes premieres Anatomy Of A Fall, How To Have Sex, The Old Oak and Firebrand.

Anatomy Of A Fall won the Palme D’Or for French director Justine Triet at Cannes. The Hitchcockian mystery thriller is about a woman, played by Sandra Hüller, accused of murder when her husband dies of suspicious causes. Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion produce.

How To Have Sex won the top Un Certain Regard...

The European Film Academy has fired the starting gun in the race for the European Film Awards. It has recommended 19 films to its members who will then select the nominees from this list, as well as some additional titles from the summer festivals, which will be announced next month.

Among the selected films are Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall,” and the winner of its Jury Prize, “Fallen Leaves,” along with fellow Palme d’Or contenders “Kidnapped,” “Firebrand,” “La Chimera” and “The Old Oak.”

Other titles include “How to Have Sex,” which won the Un Certain Regard Award in Cannes, “The Animal Kingdom,” which also played in Un Certain Regard, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight titles “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” and “The Goldman Case,” and “Close Your Eyes,” which played in the Cannes Premiere section.

Also selected are “Afire,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale,...

Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi, 2023).The lineup is being unveiled for the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, starting with 60 selections from the Gala and Special Presentations programs. The festival takes place from September 7–17, 2023.Gala PRESENTATIONSConcrete Utopia (Um Tae-Hwa)Dumb Money (Craig Gillespie)Fair Play (Chloe Domont)Flora and Son (John Carney)Hate to Love: Nickelback (Leigh Brooks)Lee (Ellen Kuras)Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi)Nyad (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin)Punjab ’95 (Honey Trehan)Solo (Sophie Dupuis)The End We Start From (Mahalia Belo)The Movie Emperor (Ning Hao)The New Boy (Warwick Thornton) The Royal Hotel (Kitty Green)The Holdovers.Special Presentationsa Difficult Year (Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache)A Normal Family (Hur Jin-ho)American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)Close to You (Dominic Savage)Days of Happiness (Chloé Robichaud)The Rescue (Daniela Goggi)Ezra (Tony Goldwyn)Fingernails (Christos Nikou)Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania...

Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal in ‘All of Us Strangers’

The 61st New York Film Festival will feature 32 films in its Main Slate, with the chosen slate of films representing 18 countries. The lineup includes Cannes winners Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone Interest, Fallen Leaves, About Dry Grasses, and Perfect Days.

The 2023 festival runs September 29th through October 15th.

“The unsettled state of the industry is an unavoidable talking point these days, but my hope is that our festival, as it has done through its 61-year history, will serve as a reminder that the art of cinema is in robust health,” stated Dennis Lim, Artistic Director of the New York Film Festival. “The filmmakers in this year’s Main Slate are grappling with eternal questions—about how movies relate to the world, about what it means to make art from life, about the most interesting ways to approach the contemporary...

After unveiling a few titles, the Toronto International Film Festival has now dropped the initial 60 films taking part in their Galas and Special Presentations line-up when the festival takes place from September 7-17.

Highlights include Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast, Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, Lukas Moodysson’s Together 99, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, Michel Franco’s Memory, Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel, Christos Nikou’s Fingernails, and Ethan Hawke’s Wildcat.

The festival will also feature a number of acclaimed films from earlier this year, including Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, Catherine Breillat’s Last Summer, Chloe Dumont’s Fair Play, John Carney’s Flora and Son, and Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped, and more.

See the lineup below.

Gala Presentations 2023

*Previously announced

Concrete Utopia Um...

Films directed by actors Michael Keaton, Chris Pine, Viggo Mortensen, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ethan Hawke, Tony Goldwyn and Anna Kendrick will screen at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Monday as they unveiled the first group of films in the festival’s Gala and Special Presentations sections.

Keaton, Goldwyn, Kendrick, Mortensen, Pine and Thomas will present the world premieres of their films – Keaton with “Knox Goes Away,” Goldwyn with “Ezra,” Kendrick with “Woman of the Hour,” Mortensen with “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” Pine with “Poolman” and Thomas with “North Star.” Hawke’s film, “Wildcat,” will make its international premiere in Toronto, meaning it will likely screen at the Telluride Film Festival just before TIFF.

Films that will receive their world premieres in Toronto include Craig Gillespie’s “Dumb Money,” with Paul Dano and Pete Davidson; Ellen Kuras’ “Lee,” with Kate Winslet; David Yates’ “Pain Hustlers,” with Emily Blunt...

The 76th edition of the Cannes film festival concludes today with the Closing Ceremony and presentation of the coveted award, the Palme d’Or which was awarded to Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall.

The Jury, presided over by director Ruben Östlund and includes director Maryam Touzani, actor Denis Ménochet, writer/director Rungano Nyoni, actress/director Brie Larson, actor/director Paul Dano, writer Atiq Rahimi, director Damián Szifron and director Julia Ducournau, selected the winners from the 21 films in Competition this year.

The Closing Ceremony marks the end of the 76th Festival de Cannes, and was followed by the screening of Peter Sohn‘s film Elementary in the Grand Théâtre Lumière.

Related: Cannes Film Festival Winners Announced

The last 2 weeks the Croisette has been a buzz with extravagant parties and bold fashion statements captured at the 21 world premieres on the Palais des Festivals red carpet.

Johnny Depp’s period...

Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama The Eight Mountains and veteran Marco Bellocchio’s Exterior Night topped the 68th edition of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards on Wednesday evening.

The Eight Mountains won best film as well as best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.

Based on the novel of the same name by Paolo Cognetti, it stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as two men from different backgrounds who form a life-long bond during summers spent together as children in a remote mountain village.

The film world premiered in Competition at Cannes last year where it co-won the Jury Prize. Read the Deadline review here.

It is the second time in the history of the awards that a film by non-Italian directors has clinched the best film prize.

The last time was in 1971 when the Dino de Laurentiis-produced epic Waterloo by Russian director Sergei Bonderchuk,...

“The Eight Mountains,” Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama about friendship, mountains and growing up, scored the top prize at Italy’s 68th David di Donatello Awards.

Besides winning best picture, the film also scooped statuettes for best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.

Given that the directors are not Italian, it was a particularly significant victory for “Mountains,” which was praised as “quietly magnificent” by Variety critic Jessica Kiang. The film, which is currently playing well on the U.S. arthouse circuit, tracks the decades-long friendship between two Italian boys named Pietro and Bruno — one from the city, the other a shepherd boy from the Alps.

“It’s pretty incredible,” commented a visibly moved Van Groeningen. “Two Belgians who win this prize in Italy for an Italian movie.” “Thank you for this declaration of love,” added Vandermeersch, his partner in life. “We love Italy very much.

Sales agency The Match Factory is launching the trailer (below) of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in Competition.

This gentle tragicomedy is the fourth part of Kaurismäki’s working-class quartet, following “Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel” and “The Match Factory Girl,” which The Match Factory, the company, is named after.

The film tells the story of two lonely people (played by Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen) who meet each other by chance in the Helsinki night. They then try to re-find each other: the first, only, and ultimate love of their lives. Their path toward this goal is clouded by the man’s alcoholism, lost phone numbers, not knowing each other’s names or addresses, and life’s tendency to place obstacles in the way of those seeking their happiness.

Ahead of the festival, The Match Factory has secured sales in...

Finnish director’s latest secures sales to key territories in Europe and Asia.

Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves has secured sales in multiple territories through The Match Factory ahead of its world premiere in Cannes Competition this month.

The Match Factory has sold the gentle tragicomedy to: Diaphana for France, Eurospace for Japan, Lucky Red for Italy, September Film for the Benelux, A-One for the Baltics, McF for ex-Yugoslavia, Cinobo for Greece, Cirko for Hungary, Lev for Israel, Midas for Portugal, Folkets Bio for Sweden, Arthause for Norway and Filmcoopi for Switzerland. Pandora Film is releasing the film...

Exclusive: There’s more movement in Amazon’s programming team with unscripted exec Chris Castallo moving to the streamer’s scripted division.

Castallo joined the company in 2018 as Head of Unscripted Television for Amazon Studios, focused on non-scripted series for Amazon Prime Video. However, a restructure last year, saw him oversee alternative programming across both Prime Video and its free streaming service Freevee, reporting to Lauren Anderson, Head of AVOD Originals, Unscripted, and Targeted Programming for Amazon Studios.

He will now move into the scripted team. No immediate word on whether he will be directly replaced in the unscripted team.

Anderson, whose team has had a breakout hit with James Marsden prank improv comedy Jury Duty, will continue to oversee unscripted. Her team also includes senior unscripted creative executive Jenny Falkoff.

Castallo was responsible for series such as Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, which won the Emmy...

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Marco Bellocchio’s “Kidnapped” (Rapito), which has its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The film starts in 1858 in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, when the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education.

Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.

The film stars Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala (as the...

The Match Factory has acquired international sales rights on U.S. cinematographer and filmmaker Sean Price Williams’s feature directorial debut The Sweet East ahead of its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight in May.

Written by the film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton, the movie is described as a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the United States undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C.

Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions that proliferate the present-day unreality of contemporary life.

Williams’s credits as a cinematographer include Owen Kline’s Funny Pages (2022), Abel Ferrara’s Zeros and Ones (2021), Michael Almereyda’s Tesla (2020), Alex Ross Perry...

Film is directorial debut of prolific cinematographer Sean Price Williams.

The Match Factory has boarded Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East which world premieres next month in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.

Written by the film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton, it is the first feature film directed by cinematographer Price Williams, whose credits Owen Kline’s Funny Pages (2022), Abel Ferrara’s Zeros and Ones (2021), Michael Almereyda’s Tesla (2020), Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell (2018) and the Safdie brothers Good Time (2017).

The Sweet East is billed as picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the US undertaken by Lillian,...

The Match Factory has boarded Sean Price Williams’s “The Sweet East,” which has its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival in May.

It is the first feature film directed by Price Williams, the cinematographer of Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages” (2022), Abel Ferrara’s “Zeros and Ones” (2021), Michael Almereyda’s “Tesla” (2020), Alex Ross Perry’s “Her Smell” (2018) and the Safdies’ “Good Time” (2017).

The screenplay is by film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton.

“The Sweet East” is a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina, who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C.

“Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy-tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions...

New films from Wes Anderson, Todd Haynes, Jonathan Glazer, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Alice Rohrwacher will premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Cannes President Iris Knobloch and General Delegate Thierry Fremaux announced at a press conference in Paris on Thursday morning.

The Main Competition, the most prestigious section at the festival, will include films by Anderson (“Asteroid City”), Haynes (“May December”), Glazer (“The Zone of Interest”), Kore-eda (“Monster”), Ceylan (“About Dry Grasses”) and Rohrwacher (“La Chimera”). Other directors in the competition, which is a mixture of Cannes veterans and relative newcomers, include Ken Loach, Aki Kaurismaki, Nanni Moretti, Catherine Breillat and Wim Wenders, who has two different movies at the festival, one a documentary about artist Anselm Kiefer and one a fiction film set in Japan.

Cannes had already confirmed four high-profile films that will premiere at the festival. Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” will...

It’s Christmas morning for cinephiles. As per tradition, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its 2023 selections in a press conference early this morning––at least for those of us stateside. Now in its 76th edition, this year’s event will take place May 16-27.

With Killers of the Flower Moon and Indiana Jones’ fifth and supposedly final outing previously confirmed, both out of competition, new highlights in competition include Todd Haynes‘ May December, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Alice Rohrwacher’s La chimera, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses, and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves. Additional selections include Víctor Erice’s long-awaiting return to filmmaking Cerrar los ojos, Steve McQueen’s documentary Occupied City, Takeshi Kitano’s Kubi, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Pictures of Ghosts, plus two films from both Wang Bing and Wim Wenders.

While more announcements will be made in the coming weeks, and there...

Exclusive: The headline-grabbing abduction of British model Chloe Ayling is to be dramatized for the BBC by Killing Eve writer Georgia Lester.

The BBC’s youth channel BBC3 has greenlit the six-part true-crime series, which will be produced by BBC Studios. Casting is underway ahead of production beginning later this year.

Ayling is working with BBC Studios to tell her story after she was abducted in Italy in 2017, having traveled to Milan for a photo shoot. She was freed unharmed after six days.

The series, working titled Kidnapped, will follow her ordeal from the kidnap to her resilience in captivity, and the subsequent court case that put her captors in jail.

Ayling’s experience dominated the headlines in the UK and Ayling was accused of staging the abduction to raise her profile, despite the conviction of her assailants.

Lester, who was the lead writer on Idris Elba’s Netflix series Turn Up Charlie,...

“El agua,” (Elena López Riera)

A Directors’ Fortnight title, the feature debut of Locarno winning López Riera (“Los Que Desean”), a fantasy-laced village-set critique of gender violence. S.A. Elle Driver

“Alcarràs,” (Carla Simón)

The 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner, Simón’s follow-up to “Summer 1993” and the flagship title for Catalonia and Spain’s newest filmmaking generation. S.A. MK2 Films

“Amazing Elisa,” (Sádrac González-Perellón)

The next from 2017 BiFan Grand Jury Prize winner González-Perellón (“Black Hollow Cage”), once more mixing fantasy and family dynamics as Elisa, 12, plans revenge after her mother’s tragic death. S.A. Filmax

“The Beasts,” (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)

One of 2022’s most awaited Spanish titles, playing Cannes Premiere, a Galicia-set thriller from Oscar-nominee Sorogoyen (“Mother”), produced by Arcadia, Caballo Films and Le Pacte. S.A. Latido Films

“The Communion Girl,” (Víctor García)

A revenge thriller involving an urban legend about a girl in a communion dress. S.

Billy Watson, a child star who was one of the famed Watson Family, the only acting family that has their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, died February 17 of natural causes at age 98 in a Spokane, Washington hospital.

Only one member of the family troupe, brother Garry. survives. William “Billy” Watson was remembered in an online announcement on March 1.

“He was loving and kind; he could light up a crowded room with his laughter and exuberance. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him,” his family said in a statement.

The Watson Family were all child actors who appeared in hundreds of films starting in the silent era. Billy’s credits included such as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “The Little Minister,” “The Winning Ticket,” “Kidnapped” and “Young Mr. Lincoln.” He shared screen time with such Hollywood legends as James Stewart, Will Rogers, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.

Billy Watson, a child star who appeared in some Old Hollywood film classics such as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “In Old Chicago” and one of the last members of The Watson Family of childhood actors, has died. He was 98.

William Richard Watson, or “Billy,” died on February 17 of natural causes at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, his family announced in an obituary on March 1.

“He was loving and kind; he could light up a crowded room with his laughter and exuberance. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him,” his family said in a statement.

Watson was the sixth of nine siblings as part of the Watson family, all nine of whom were child actors who between them appeared in hundreds, if not thousands of films between the silent era and the talkies era of Old Hollywood. They are the only family that together has...

Longtime cult home video heroes Severin Films will become the latest boutique label to make the jump from Blu-ray to 4k Uhd in March of 2021 with the release of two Álex de la Iglesia's '90s classics. The 1995 heavy metal satanic Christmas movie, The Day of the Beast, and 1997's Perdita Durango will usher in this new and exciting era for Severin, also marking both films' worldwide Uhd debut. Also coming to Blu-ray that month will be Nosferatu in Venice, a late career effort from the controversial Klaus Kinski as well as Harry Novak (Axe. Kidnapped Co-ed) produced super sleazy thriller, A Scream in the Streets. We've long been advocates for de la Iglesia as one of the most underappreciated filmmakers working anywhere in the world,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Miah Madden, Georgia May-Davis, Sana’a Shaik, Mercy Cornwall and newcomer Aubri Ibrag lead the cast of Network 10/Netflix’s teen mystery drama Dive Club, now shooting in Port Douglas.

Joining them is model Joshua Heuston in his screen debut, as well as Alexander Grant and Joseph Spanti.

The Steve Jaggi Company series follows four 16-year-olds who are skilled divers: Maddie (Madden), Lauren (Davis), Anna (Ibrag) and Stevie (Shaik).

After a cyclone, Lauren, the group’s charismatic trailblazer, goes missing. With the mystery of her disappearance, the arrival of a new friend, Izzie (Cornwall) and suspicious holes in the official investigation, the girls are plunged into a desperate search of their own that raises more questions the deeper they dive.

Netflix co-commissioned the show with Network 10, who has the first window in Australia.

Steve Jaggi is the showrunner and series creator, producing with Spencer McLaren, with Kelly Son Hing and Kylie Pascoe co-producing.

“Dive Club,” a 12-episode teen mystery drama will start filming in Queensland, Australia, from next month. The show will play on global streaming platform Netflix, and on a local Australian commercial broadcaster from 2021.

“Dive Club” follows a group of skilled teenage divers as they strive to uncover a mysterious disappearance that will change their small town and each other, forever. Northern Queensland seaside town Port Douglas will stand in for the fictional Cape Mercy. Hayley McFarlane, Rhiannon Bannenberg and Christine Luby are set as the show’s directors.

The show is produced by The Steve Jaggi Company. Post-production is also to be handled in-state by Brisbane company Serve Chilled. The production received finance from the Queensland government through Screen Queensland.

“Supporting this production is one component in our delivery of The Far North Queensland Screen Production Strategic Plan, which is successfully generating positive economic impact in the region,” said state premier Anna Palaszczuk.

Madrid — As the world’s international TV distribution goes virtual, these are a pick of Spanish TV shows – at project stage, in production or completed, and mostly drama series – being brought onto the market, or available for partnering for production or straight acquisition:

24 Land

(Ficción Producciones, Ukbar Filmes)

A Spain-Portugal co-production from Pablo Iraola and Pandora Da Cunha, this WWII mystery drama follows a high-society woman willing to do anything to save her homeland from a foreign invasion. Selected to participate at Canneseries’ in development sidebar, the series will launch April 8 in Portugal.

Back Home

(CTV, SPi, Rtp)

A co-production between Galicia’s CTV and Portuguese broadcaster Rtp, this dramedy kicks off when Caetano (45), the CEO of a telecom company, tells his wife and two children’s mother that “it’s over.” In pre-production.

Barcelona Trilogy

(El Estudio)

A propulsive Jihadist terrorist thriller set in Barcelona, written by Xavi Puerta...

Netflix’s announcement of new Spanish series late last month underscored the platform’s intent to diversify its palette in the country while betting once again on one of their own, Carlos Montero. After co-writing “Elite” Season 2, and with a third set soon to bow, Montero has made the jump to the director’s chair for the small-screen adaptation of his novel “The Mess You Leave Behind.”

The novel, which won Montero a Primavera Literature Award, is the story of a lit teacher who takes a substitution position in a small town in the interior of Galicia. She soon finds out that her predecessor, Elvira, committed suicide. But, as Raquel gets more involved with those who knew Elvira, the truth about her death becomes murkier. A thriller unfolds amidst themes of personal lose, grief and guilt.

Starring Inma Cuesta (“Arde Madrid”) as Raquel and Barbara Lennie (“Magical Girl) as Elvira,...

Stars: Fernando Cayo, Manuela Vellés, Ana Wagener, Guillermo Barrientos, Dritan Biba, Martijn Kuiper, Xoel Yáñez, Luis Iglesia | Written by Miguel Ángel Vivas, Javier García | Directed by Miguel Ángel Vivas

This Spanish film is the figurative definition of ‘thriller’ (I get told off by my housemate for misuse of literality). Jaime (Fernando Cayo) has just moved to an a beautiful new house with his wife, Marta (Ana Wagener), and daughter, Isa (Manuela Vellés) and already arguments are starting as Isa wants to skip the families first meal together in her new home to meet her boyfriend. None of that matters, however, as the house is broken into that night be three masked men. The leader takes down the card details of each of them and takes Jaime on a drive to get money out while Marta and Isa are left with the other two; one of them a bit crazy and the other very skittish.

Since I’m heading down to Austin for Fantastic Fest in less than a week, I thought I would write up a post with some of my recommendations from last year’s festival. Bonus-Fantastic Fest announced over the weekend that it has opened up an official shop on iTunes, making it even easier to access some of the best offerings from past festivals. The new shop features selections from 2005-2010, and you can rent or buy the titles. Film offerings include Sin City, Wolf Creek, Bug, The Host, Pan’s Labyrinth, There Will Be Blood, Trick ‘R Treat, The Human Centipede, 13 Assassins, Monsters and many more. Visit the Fantastic Fest iTunes page to browse the full selection. Many of the films from last year’s festival are also now available via Netflix or DVD, so you can watch them now. Keep in mind that most of these are very low budget,...