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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...

The process of shepherding an independent movie from ideation to completion is like carrying an armful of eggs through a minefield on the edge of a slippery cliff overlooking a lake of fire: There are numerous ways it can go catastrophically wrong at any moment, and it’s almost guaranteed that some shells are going to crack.

On Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” — about a dying filmmaker (Richard Gere) who gives a former student (Jacob Elordi) a final demythologizing interview — the life-flashes-before-you moment came on the last day of shooting when it looked like production was going to have to shut down.

“We didn’t have all of our financing, and we had to pay the crew,” recalls Tiffany Boyle, president of packaging and sales at the Los Angeles-based law firm Ramo, who served as a producer on the movie.

Fortunately, Boyle was able to call on a trusted financier,...

A samurai travels through time and winds up on the set of a samurai TV show in A Samurai in Time.

The Japanese sci-fi comedy will be released August 5 on Fandor and VOD.

At the end of the Edo period in Kyoto, a samurai prepares to fight against an opposing clan member when a flash of lighting hits. He wakes up to find himself transported through time to the present day, and the location where he was about to duel is now a samurai TV show set.

He is mistaken for an extra and immediately thrust into the world of period drama productions. Due to his very ‘authentic’ look and speech, he starts working on many productions and finds himself playing the role of a “kirareyaku,” a swordsman whose job is to die spectacularly on film.

Junichi Yasuda writes and directs. Makiya Yamaguchi, Norimasa Fuke, Yuno Sakura, Rantaro Mine, Ken Shonozaki,...

The Pakistan Crescent Collective made a triumphant return to the Cannes Film Market this week, presenting a powerhouse panel that positioned filmmaking as an act of creative defiance against decades of limiting stereotypes.

The collective’s “New Wave Pakistan: Telling Global Stories, Rooted at Home” panel drew industry attention to a cinematic movement that’s rewriting the rules of Pakistani storytelling.

The event was introduced by Rohi Mirza Pandya of Rasa Film Group. Panel moderator Mohammed Ali (Mo) Naqvi, the acclaimed filmmaker and Crescent Collective co-founder, who also serves as chair of the Pakistan Oscar selection committee, set the tone with a pointed observation about narrative liberation. “For so long, the only stories we were allowed to tell were filtered through a Western lens: terrorism, trauma, poverty,” Naqvi said. “We’re finally claiming the freedom to tell our own stories – joyful ones, horrifying ones, romantic ones – on our own terms.

“Prometheus” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” star Noomi Rapace and “Past Lives” breakout Teo Yoo are set to star in the espionage action thriller “Stratagem.”

The film will be directed by novelist and filmmaker Michael Idov and written by Michael and Lily Idov, the writing team whose credits include the German spy series “Deutschland 89” and the Cannes title “Leto,” also starring Yoo. It’s being produced by Oscar-nominee David Lancaster and Matt Leipzig.

Highland Film Group is handling international rights, with CAA Media Finance repping the U.S.

“Stratagem” is set an exclusive cybersecurity summit nestled in the Swiss Alps. The story follows CIA agent Stella Turner (Rapace) as she goes undercover to seduce and recruit enigmatic tech savant Daniel Sim (Yoo), whose genius may be the key to stopping a catastrophic leak of U.S. defense secrets. But the tables turn fast: Daniel is no ordinary...

Daphne Schmon is no stranger to Cannes, having launched her non-profit, Breaking Through the Lens, at the fest in 2018. The focus of the group is on helping any filmmakers who experience marginalization due to their gender get their projects financed.

While Breaking Through the Lens is now a presence at festivals from Sundance to Venice, Schmon is familiar with the ins and outs of the Croisette.

Below, she shared her dos (pack Waterproof Blister Band-Aids) and don’ts (eat at hotel restaurants) of the French fest.

Best bargain in Cannes?

It’s nearly impossible to find a bargain in Cannes, especially during the festival — but a few years ago, I discovered Taqueria Lupita. As a Mexican food lover, I was genuinely impressed — authentic, flavorful, and surprisingly affordable. The service is quick and the tacos are spot-on, making it the perfect pit stop between meetings or before a big night out.

By closing the book on 2019’s The Institute, The Losers’ Club have finally reached the end of Stephen King‘s eclectic run in the ’10s. That means it’s time to hand out some awards.

Constant Listeners, you are cordially invited to another round of The Kingies – a night where the Losers celebrate the best (and not so best) of King’s output from 2010 to 2019. From Best Novel to Best Protagonist, Tastiest Poundcake to Scariest Moments, it’s a whimsical conversation that hits upon nearly every title in this slice of King’s ouevre.

Those titles include Full Dark, No Stars, 11/22/63, The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole, Joyland, Doctor Sleep, Mr. Mercedes, Revival, Finders Keepers, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, End of Watch, Gwendy’s Button Box, Sleeping Beauties, The Outsider, Elevation, and The Institute.

So, put on your denim best and attend the only Stephen King awards show that matters below.

Exclusive: The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has appointed four to its Board of Directors: Daniela Federman, TV Scripted agent at WME; Erika Kennair, Head of Scripted, US and Canada at The Mediapro Studio; Al Madrigal, actor, writer, and comedian; and Gina Reyes, an agent at United Talent Agency.

Nalip is an organization that supports the advancement of Latino Excellence across all creative media platforms. Since its founding in 1999, membership has become a supportive community of diverse storytellers – including producers, performers, writers, directors, and industry professionals.

“We welcome our new Board members, who bring a wealth of expertise, leadership, and vision to Nalip,” said Karla Pita Loor, Chair of Nalip’s Board of Directors. “Their extensive experience in varied sectors of our business will drive Nalip’s growth and impact as we work to ensure that the entertainment industry more accurately reflects the diversity of our audiences,” she added.

Horror legend Stephen King has written a fair few books over the years. Ever since he burst on the scene with "Carrie" in 1974, he's given fans at least one book nearly every year. Since most of his work has been extremely popular, he's also established himself as a bit of an authority on the horror front -- and isn't shy about commenting about either the genre or his craft as a writer.

Thanks to King's status as a horror luminary and extensive work in many other genres, we've analyzed his work many times before. You may have seen us discuss why King's endings have a reputation for being disappointing, look into his biggest career regret involving (of all things) a forgotten TV commercial, and examine the one Stephen King book that will never get a film adaption due to the author voluntarily scrubbing it from his catalog.

However, in order...

Death has always been on Stephen King's macabre mind, so it's difficult to say whether, at the age of 77, he's more engaged with the subject than usual. The author has stared the Reaper down at least a couple of times in his life, via the stranglehold of addiction earlier in his career and, in 1999, the car accident that left him in a Maine hospital for a month with life-threatening injuries (and gave us the delirious howl that is "Dreamcatcher"). If nothing else, he respects the notion of dying to know he doesn't want to do it, but that he will and there's no guarantee it'll go down peacefully.

When he was interviewed in 2013 while writing "Joyland" for the Hard Case Crime imprint, King was asked if he'd planned for his death as an author -- by which his questioner meant had he socked away a finished book or two...

Author Stephen King has been at the center of the horror genre for decades now, and among his catalog of amazing books, some of his best stories are those about ghosts. Like any other genre, horror has many tropes and storylines to choose from, and ghost stories are one of them. Typically, a traditional ghost story will see a person being haunted by a ghost or many ghosts, and this leads them into spooky scenarios. Sometimes, these tales get even scarier when the ghost inhabits a person or object. Either way, ghost stories can definitely keep readers up at night.

Over the years, King has written more than 70 novels, which means he has explored pretty much every trope in the book. From demons to psychic abilities to horrifying curses, King's books often get to the core of humanity's scariest folktales and fears, all in very unique ways. Therefore, King has...

It’s true that queer representation in cinema has come a long way from what it used to be, and society has evolved enough to make way for important and timely conversations on the LGBTQ+ community. Now, if you take a look at the highest-rated queer movies of all time, you’ll come across titles like Bpm, Moonlight, God’s Own Country, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Shiva Baby, The Half of It, The Handmaiden, Dog Day Afternoon, Love Lies Bleeding, The Power of the Dog, Carol, and more. Upon closer examination, you’ll realize that a lot of these films are very White or they are centered around stories set in first-world countries because they are either more marketable and more accessible than queer tales from the disenfranchised sections of society. This phenomenon is not only hindering the queer discourse but also preventing the queer cinema of third-world countries from progressing.

Payal Kapadia’s Grand Prix-winning “All We Imagine as Light” just had its premiere at the Mami Film Festival 2024. The excitement was predictably through the roof. Of course, it was partially related to the recognition it received which an Indian film had not even stood a chance for in several years. However, another tissue connects the film specifically to Mumbai, the city that was excited about it. It’s the supposed ‘Mumbai Spirit’. In the post-screening Q&a session, Kapadia briefly spoke about the same phenomena.

Mumbai is a city filled with contradictions. Many people come to this ‘city of dreams’, looking at it through their rose-tinted glasses. They go on a journey akin to the ‘American dream.’ They assume their efforts or skills are enough to let them rise up the ladder. So, they tolerate its inescapable sweat and dust, the massive rent prices, and the crowded trains. While living there,...

Pakistan superstar Fawad Khan has signed onto two projects while Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor has joined veteran director Jahnu Barua’s latest film at the inaugural Tasveer Film Market. The Seattle-based South Asia-focused market concluded recently.

“Behind the Scenes,” a newsroom thriller, is being developed by producers Bilal Sami, Raza Namazi and Suri Gopalan of Film Lab++, in collaboration with Khan. Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s Modoxy Media has joined as executive producer. The dark comedy will feature talents including Mehreen Jabbar (“Jackson Heights”), Sarmad Khoosat (“Joyland”) and Mohammed Ali Naqvi (“Insha’Allah Democracy”) behind the camera.

The actor is also set to play a key role in “The Prisoner,” a crime thriller series for Awedacious Originals. Based on Omar Shahid’s bestseller, the 1990s-set Pakistani drama is created by Parisa Siddiqi and Ahmer Khan. Khan will play one of the two daring cops who embark on a covert mission...

Shaping the world into a better place has been an active mission for Malala Yousafzai. As an activist for girls and human rights globally recognized since age 12, the Nobel Peace Prize winner — the youngest in history to receive the award — is no stranger to cameras in her own life. After her acclaimed 2015 documentary He Named Me Malala, inspired by her bestselling memoir I Am Malala, she produced the Oscar-nominated short doc Stranger at the Gate. At the 2024 Toronto Film Festival, Yousafzai premiered the Apple doc The Last of the Sea Women, from her production company Extracurricular, which premieres on Apple TV+ on Oct. 11. The film examines the world of South Korea’s all female haenyeo divers, whose centuries-long tradition of harvesting sea life in the waters off Jeju Island is endangered.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg spoke with the 27-year-old Yousafzai as part of the annual TIFF Industry Conference’ Visionaries conversation series.

It’s hard to imagine a year going by without one of Stephen King’s horror stories being adapted for the big or small screen.

Some of those adaptations have gone on to be some of the most recognizable movies around – films like “The Shining,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” and “The Green Mile” to name a few – but a disturbing trend lately is circling back to certain stories for new attempts at adapting.

“It” got split into two movies at the end of the 2010s, “Pet Semetary” has had multiple films, “The Stand” has received multiple limited series adaptations, and now “Salem’s Lot” has been done for the third time. It’s time for something new.

King is one of the most prolific American writers to live. He’s penned more than 65 novels, to say nothing of the countless short stories. There’s a gold mine of horror, sci-fi and everything...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 2, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2, 2024.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

The inaugural Tasveer Film Market has unveiled over 40 projects selected from more than 300 submissions across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, the U.K., the U.S., Canada and Australia. The initiative, positioning itself as a new hub for South Asian and diaspora filmmakers, is set to launch as part of the 19th Tasveer Film Festival in Seattle.

Notable talents presenting projects include Radhika Apte (“The Sleepwalkers”), the Cannes-winning “Joyland” team of Apoorva Charan and Saim Sadiq, Sarvnik Kaur (“Against the Tide”), Q (“Garbage”), Nabeel Qureshi (“Na Maloom Afraad”) and Hania Chima (“Laal Kabootar”). The lineup also features the adaptation of Soniah Kamal’s “Pride and Prejudice” adaptation “Unmarriageable,” led by Sadia Ashraf and James McMillan.

Industry leaders scheduled to attend include filmmakers Deepa Mehta and Pan Nalin, along with representatives from Amazon MGM Studios, Blumhouse, HBO, Est N8, Creativeland Studios, NBCU, CAA and WME. The market has partnered with organizations such as NBCU,...

On Sept. 8, 2017, New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. Pictures released It: Chapter One, the first of two movies based on the classic 1986 novel by Stephen King and a film destined to go down in cinema history as the highest grossing horror movie of all time, earning $701 million worldwide against a measly budget of $40 million or so.

It: Chapter One proved that a mainstream, high-quality, studio-backed picture could still be made from King’s work, after a nearly 20-year period in which many adaptations either did moderately well (1408), bombed outright (Dreamcatcher), or vanished into VOD hell.

Naturally, eager studios and producers unveiled a new wave of King adaptations in It’s wake, for theaters, cable, and hungry-for-content streamers. For a while, it seemed like every week brought the announcement of a new King title. But seven years, one global pandemic, and two industry strikes later, many of these projects have yet to...

Exclusive: Oscar, BAFTA, WGA and Emmy nominee Ramin Bahrani has signed with Grandview.

Bahrani is the writer, director and producer of such films as Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo, 99 Homes and The White Tiger. His films have all premiered at the Venice or Cannes film festivals and additionally screened at Telluride and Toronto. His debut feature documentary, 2nd Chance, premiered at Sundance and was released by Showtime.

Additionally, Bahrani has directed TV pilots for Universal Studios and Apple, and he won the PGA Award in 2019 for his work on the HBO movie Fahrenheit 451.

Bahrani’s films also include Alex Camilleri’s Sundance- and Spirit Award-winning feature Luzzu (2020) and his forthcoming Zejtune; and Alexandre Moratto’s Spirit Award-winning Brazilian debut feature Socrates (2018, and his Venice-winning 7 Prisoners (2021), Saim Sadiq’s Cannes-winning Pakistani debut Joyland (2022), Angus MacLachlan’s Sundance premiere A Little Prayer (2023) and Joshua Oppenheimer’s forthcoming debut feature The End.

Updated: The global and international box office were extra animated this weekend with the expansion of Illumination/Universal’s Despicable Me 4 to domestic as well as another 52 overseas markets. At the same time, Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 continues to jump for joy having reached $1,216.9M globally. It’s also now the No. 5 animated film of all time worldwide and No. 10 internationally. A notable new record places IO2 as the biggest film of all time in Mexico.

DM4, which began a staggered overseas release pattern a few weeks back, now counts $229.5M globally with several key majors still to come including France, Germany, China, UK, Japan, Korea and Italy. The international cume to date is $107M.

Although Inside Out 2 had a slightly bigger overseas weekend ($78.3M) than DM4 ($73M), let’s start with the latter as there were a host of new openings.

In a total 73 markets,...

Kanopy – the no-fee, ad-free film and TV show streaming service that’s available to some 45 million people in the United States with a library card and through more than 85% of large American colleges and universities – is featuring movies selected by GLAAD in celebration of Pride Month in June. The GLAAD Pride Month Picks include films that feature “fair, accurate and inclusive LGBTQ+ representation” as part of the service’s full Pride Month collection of 107 movies and documentaries.

GLAAD is the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer media advocacy organization. Its Pride Month choices (including the 2023 Oscar Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) are below:

“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” (1994) “The Aggressives: The World of Lesbian Subculture” (2005) “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” (2022) “Bodies Bodies Bodies” (2022) “The Blue Caftan” (2022) “But I’m a Cheerleader” (1999) “Call Her Ganda” (2018) “Changing the Game” (2019) “Everything Everywhere All at Once...

In Banel & Adama, writer-director Ramata-Toulaye Sy expresses the delirium that comes with love and the downfall that’s doomed to follow it. This fable-like film about ephemeral bliss takes shape in a remote village in Senegal, where gender expectations are particularly pronounced. Crucial to the story isn’t only the expiration date that comes with feverish infatuation and society’s disciplinary powers, but the lack of synchrony between lovers—that is, when one lover’s allegiance to the relationship never seems to last as long as the other’s.

Per local tradition, Banel (Khady Mane) marries her deceased husband’s younger brother, Adama (Mamadou Diallo). If she’s to be left in peace, Banel is expected to excel as a wife. Which means doing the laundry, always sitting gracefully, working alongside the other women, and getting pregnant before her mother-in-law (Binta Racine Sy) threatens to find Adama a second wife.

Cannes-do

The imminently upcoming Sydney Film Festival has added eight titles that premiered at Cannes to its lineup. They are: Guan Hu’s “Black Dog”; Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”; Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project “Megalopolis”; Guy Maddin, Evan and Galen Johnson’s “Rumours,” starring Australia’s Cate Blanchett; documentary “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” Jia Zhangke’s “Caught by the Tides”; “The Girl with the Needle”; and revenge thriller “Ghost Trail.”

Due to demand, the Sff organizers have also added additional screenings of “The Substance,” the Demi Moore-starring film already set as the festival’s closing night title. The festival runs June 5-16.

Filmmaker On The Move

Nishikawa Miwa, the Japanese director behind “The Long Excuse” (2016) and “Under the Open Sky” (2021), has been set as the mentor to the Tokyo International Film Festival’s Teens Meet Cinema, film production workshop for teenagers. Selected...

The 15th anniversary edition of the London Indian Film Festival will open on June 26 with the European Premiere of U.S. indie, tear-jerker drama “Paper Flowers,” directed by Mahesh Pailoor (“Brahmin Bulls”), starring “Deadpool’s” Karan Soni. It will close on July 3 with a screening of ultra-violent Indian actioner “Kill,” which is produced by Karan Johar and Guneet Monga and which represents Lionsgate’s first foray into South Asian film production.

In between, the festival will operate across five additional cities and thematically extend itself across feature film, TV series, short films, Xr and gaming.

“It’s been an incredible journey marking 15 years this year and we are delighted to expand into new U.K. cities, welcoming Bradford and Liverpool into our 6-city reach. It’s also personally exciting to have such a talented team and innovative partners, as we push ahead to explore new frontiers of South Asian gaming...

It’s been 30 years since a film from India has been selected in the main competition at Cannes, but that finally changed this year.

Recent editions of Sundance, Tribeca, and Toronto have included riveting and even Oscar-nominated documentaries and features. In fact, Mira Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding” won the Golden Lion at Venice more than two decades ago. Granted, Cannes has recently programmed South Asian gems in other sections, such as the Queer Palm-winning “Joyland” from Pakistan in Un Certain Regard in 2022, or Anurag Kashyap’s “Kennedy” in Midnight last year. But would the South Asian drought in the main competition ever end?

Many were ecstatic last month when “All We Imagine as Light”, Mumbai-based Payal Kapadia’s narrative directorial debut, was announced in the competition lineup alongside legendary Cannes regulars: European heavyweights such as Jacques Audiard and Yorgos Lanthimos, American auteurs David Cronenberg and Paul Schrader, and Asian visionary Jia Zhangke.

Paul Schrader hit Cannes this weekend with Competition title Oh, Canada, reuniting him with American Gigolo star Richard Gere in the role of a terminally ill documentarian who reveals secrets as his life nears its end.

Lead producer David Gonzales says the fact that the film was ready for a Cannes splash was a miracle on a number of fronts.

Development began just 18 months ago after Schrader learned that his good friend, writer Russell Banks, was suffering from cancer.

Schrader, who previously adapted Banks’ novel Affliction to the big screen, felt compelled to make a new film based on Banks’ penultimate 2021 book Foregone, which the writer had originally wanted to title ‘Oh, Canada.’

“He said, ‘This is my next film, I can see the film in my head.’ We’re going back to the end of 2022,” says Gonzales, who secured the rights.

Banks died in January 2023 as Schrader was mid-screenplay.

After the well-received “Joyland” in 2022 and “In Flames” last year, Pakistan is debuting a central hub at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

The Pakistan Crescent Collective, set up by Modoxy Media, will represent the country’s official presence at the festival, with a mission to “discover and nurture the next generation of talent, preserve film, and

promote Pakistani and diaspora films globally, thereby advancing Pakistan’s visual culture.” The collective consists of a global team of film industry professionals based in London, Karachi, New York and Los Angeles.

Saim Sadiq’s “Joyland” won the Un Certain Regard jury prize in 2022, while Zarrar Kahn’s “In Flames” was a Directors’ Fortnight selection. Both films were Pakistan’s official submissions to the Academy Awards. Usman Riaz’s animated film “The Glassworker,” which is selected at Annecy, is an homage to films in the style of this year’s honorary Palme d’Or winner Studio Ghibli.

Exclusive: The Gotham Film & Media Institute (The Gotham) announced today the 2024 fellows for the Festival De Cannes Producers Network Program. They are Deidre Backs (Fancy Dance), Apoorva Guru Charan (Joyland), Gabriel Mayers (A Different Man), Jhane Myers (Prey), Giancarlo Nasi (The Settlers), Stephanie Roush (Stress Positions), and Pierce Varous (The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed). This year’s Producers Network Fellows will be participating in person at Cannes, May 15 – 20.

As the sole U.S. Partner Organization for the Festival de Cannes Producers Network, The Gotham annually selects U.S. fiction and nonfiction producers to participate. Running concurrently with the Cannes Film Festival and the Marche du Film, the program is specifically designed for experienced producers to build up their international networks and learn more about international production, financing, legal and packaging.

In addition, The Gotham is proud to support the Gotham Edu partners Colgate University...

Paul Walter Hauser has added another project to a packed upcoming slate.

The Emmy and Golden Globe winner, who in the last few weeks alone has been tapped to play Chris Farley in Josh Gad’s biopic and has joined the cast of both “Fantastic Four” and the “Naked Gun” reboot, is to lead “Press Your Luck,” a drama-thriller based on the true story of Michael Larson. Protagonist Pictures has unveiled the drama-thriller — from Plenty Good in co-production with Fabula — alongside a first look image and will handle international sales, while CAA Media Finance represents North American rights.

Set in 1984, “Press Your Luck” follows Larson, an unemployed truck driver from Ohio who stepped onto the game show “Press Your Luck” harbouring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak gets threatened when the executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.

The...

After releasing The Colorado Kid and Joyland via the Hard Case Crime imprint, Stephen King made his grand debut into the world of hard-boiled crime fiction with Mr. Mercedes. The first in a trilogy, the 2014 novel introduced readers to Bill Hodges, a crusty, retired detective who finds his golden years interrupted by the taunts of a psychopathic killer he failed to apprehend.

A divisive book among the King faithful, Mr. Mercedes is nonetheless an important one, as it introduces Holly Gibney, a recluse-turned-investigator King would go on to feature in four subsequent novels (and one novella), including last year’s Holly.

Join The Losers’ Club’s Randall Colburn, Jenn Adams, Ashley Casseday, and Rachel Reeves as they detail the book’s origins, how it differs from the author’s previous forays into crime, and the ways in which it reflects evolving societal fears about domestic terrorism. They also discuss the...

Between Joyland and The Queen of My Dreams, Pakistani films have started to assert their own identity in a sea of culturally authentic films. Drawing inspiration from the country’s diverse traditions and folklore, these films often manage a strong dialogue around identity, sexuality, womanhood, and patriarchy. Though the subject matter is usually taboo to discuss openly in its native country, these films boldly explore the local heritage through some very controversial dialogues that give more of an attentive focus to oppressed voices. One such film is Pakistani-Canadian director Zarrar Kahn’s eerie debut In Flames, Pakistan’s official entry for the Best International Film category at the Academy Awards. While the film offers strong, artistic visuals through striking direction and cinematography, In Flames doesn’t lean into mainstream horror, but it fiercely nails an unnerving ambiance for a deeply affecting psychological thriller.

The Losers head down to North Carolina for a summer job at Joyland circa 1973, a time when Rod Stewart was still in Faces, Dark Side of the Moon was the cutting edge new album, and moments could only be captured by Hollywood Girls and their professional cameras. It was also a time when local legends could flourish and remain mysterious enough to linger in our minds. And that’s of major interest to us today as we try to unravel the eerie murder within Stephen King‘s Hard Case Crime novel Joyland.

Published in 2013, King’s second Hard Case Crime novel brought the author even closer to his crime era with The Bill Hodges Trilogy, while also paving the way for his then-highly anticipated sequel to The Shining, aka Doctor Sleep. As they discuss in today’s book episode, Joyland has several connects to the entities, particularly The Shining. They...

In 2009, Stephen King asked his fans what they’d rather get first — a sequel to The Shining or a new Dark Tower book. They voted for Shining sequel, but the Dark Tower book came first anyway. That book? The Wind Through the Keyhole, a (relatively) trim tale that revisits our favorite gunslinger and his ka-tet in between the events of Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla. In it, Roland spins an eerie tale from his youth over a roaring fire as a starkblast rages outside. As far as Dark Tower stories go, it’s a cozy one.

Join The Losers’ Club‘s Randall Colburn, Dan Caffrey, and Dan Pfleegor as they palaver about its nesting story structure, fairy tale detour, and emotional peek at a young gunslinger in the throes of grief. More importantly, was this book the one that best presaged King’s drift towards crime fiction?...

Awards season is not over just yet.

The GLAAD Media Awards went down inside the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on Thursday, a ceremony that saw trophies handed out to winners across film, TV, music and media. Wayne Brady hosted the star-studded event at which Oprah Winfrey took home a Vanguard Award presented by Chilli Pepper and Paola Presta, and Niecy Nash-Betts was honored with a Stephen F. Kolzak Award for LGBTQ visibility from pal Sharon Stone.

In categories announced from the stage, Showtime’s steamy political drama Fellow Travelers starring Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey from creator Ron Nyswaner took the top prize as outstanding limited or anthology series. The Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, which introduced a gay soccer star this past season, bested the competition in the outstanding comedy series category. The Trace Lysette-starrer Monica from IFC Films was honored as outstanding film in limited release,...

Arclight Films has boarded Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” starring Jacob Elordi and Richard Gere, and will launch sales at the upcoming European Film Market.

Along with Elordi and Gere, who worked with Schrader on his cult movie “American Gigolo” more than 40 years ago, the cast of “Oh Canada” also includes Michael Imperioli and Uma Thurman. WME Independent is co-repping domestic rights with Gonzales.

“Oh, Canada” is based on the 2021 searing novel “Foregone,” written by bestselling author Russell Banks. The film depicts the story of famed documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife, an American leftist who fled to Canada as a young man to avoid the Vietnam War draft.

“As Fife battles cancer in Montreal during his twilight years, he agrees to a final interview,” the film’s synopsis reads. “Intent on revealing his long-guarded secrets and demystifying his mythologized life, Fife’s shocking confession unfolds amidst the presence of his wife,...

Willa, Astrakan Film and Cold Iron Pictures are set to join Argonauts Productions to produce “The Boy With the Light Blue Eyes,” a coming-of-age queer Greek tragedy.

Written by Thanasis Neofotistos and Grigoris Skarakis, and to be directed by Neofotistos as his debut feature, “The Boy With the Light Blue Eyes” follows teenager Peter as he navigates the suffocating confines of his superstitious and traditional Greek village community.

Peter is born with light blue eyes in a village that considers them a threat, but only his mother knows. She decides to cover their color with a mask at all times, claiming a threatening eye condition. In this blissful ignorance, Peter and his best friend Aemon embark on an adventure through which Peter learns the painful truth about his eyes and the lies he has been told.

The project participated in Cannes Focus CoPro, and the script has been developed through the Mediterranean Film Institute,...

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

All of Us Strangers, The Color Purple, Fellow Travelers, The Last of Us, and Our Flag Means Death (which was just canceled by Max) received nominations for the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. The annual awards recognize fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues in the media, and this year’s list includes 310 nominees.

“For 35 years, the GLAAD Media Awards has provided the global stage for LGBTQ creators, alongside industry talent and leaders to be celebrated and supported. At a time when the LGBTQ community is under attack by false narratives and misinformation, when less than half of American say they are familiar with transgender and nonbinary people, and when one in five Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ, this year’s nominees powerfully reflect the realities of LGBTQ existence today, in our communities and around the globe,...

For the third year in a row, Don Mancini’s “Chucky” television series has landed a GLAAD Media Awards nomination for “Outstanding Drama” series, and this year Chucky’s joined by a handful of other horror properties that were seen on screens big and small last year.

The full list of nominations for the GLAAD Media Awards 2024 – the 35th annual! – have been announced today, with this year’s winners being announced starting March 14.

The organization previews, “Join GLAAD for the largest, most legendary LGBTQ celebration in the world in 2024. Honoring those in the media who have shown exemplary achievements for fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of the LGBTQ community and the issues that affect our lives, the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards promises to deliver a sparkly mix of red carpet arrivals, iconic main stage moments, and an impactful message that demonstrates the value of representation and inclusion of LGBTQ...

GLAAD has announced the nominees for its 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards, with Variety earning two nods for outstanding online journalism (Tiana DeNicola’s piece on Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) and magazine overall coverage.

Other nominees include “All of Us Strangers,” “And Just Like That…,” “Bottoms,” “The Color Purple,” “Deadloch,” “Despierta America,” “Everything Now,” “Fellow Travelers,” “Heartstopper,” “Kokomo City,” “The Last of Us,” “Our Flag Means Death,” “Red, White and Royal Blue,” “Rustin,” “Sin Huellas,” “Ted Lasso” and “Yellowjackets.” These are a total of 310 nominees across 33 categories.

The GLAAD Media Awards honor media for fair, accurate and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues.

“For 35 years, the GLAAD Media Awards has provided the global stage for LGBTQ creators, alongside industry talent and leaders, to be celebrated and supported. At a time when the LGBTQ community is under attack by false narratives and misinformation, when less than half of Americans say they...

On the heels of picking up a Governors Award at Monday night’s Emmys telecast, GLAAD has unveiled the nominees for the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards.

It’s a huge list that singles out 310 nominees across 33 categories including some standouts of awards season like films All of Us Strangers and The Color Purple and buzzy TV shows Fellow Travelers starring Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey and The Last of Us toplined by Pedro Pascal. Beyoncé’s name is also in the mix, thanks to special recognition for her concert documentary, Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce from AMC Theatres. It’s not a new experience for the superstar as she was moved to tears in 2019 while accepting GLAAD’s Vanguard Award alongside Jay-Z.

All of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Anyone But You, The Blackening, Bottoms, The Color Purple, It’s a Wonderful Knife, Knock at the Cabin, Moving On and Shortcomings...

Two days after the Television Academy honored GLAAD with its 2023 Governors Award at the Primetime Emmys, the group has released the nominees for the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards. See the full list below.

The winning LGBTQ stories and artists will be honored at GLAAD’s dual 2024 ceremonies ceremonies March 14 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills and May 11 at the Hilton Midtown in New York City. The 33 categories span film, TV, music, theater, podcasts, video games, comic books and journalism.

The 10 movies vying for the Outstanding Film – Wide Theatrical Release prize are All of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Anyone but You, The Blackening, Bottoms, The Color Purple, It’s a Wonderful Knife, Knock at the Cabin, Moving On and Shortcomings.

On the TV side, the Outstanding Drama Series race will be among 9-1-1: Lone Star, The Chi, Chucky, Doctor Who, Good Trouble, Grey’s Anatomy, Quantum Leap, Riverdale, Station 19 and Yellowjackets.

Stephen King's fantasy novel The Eyes of the Dragon has been optioned multiple times for adaptation, but budgetary concerns have cancelled recent plans for a TV series. The Long Walk, one of King's early novels, has been rumored for adaptation since 1988, but it's now receiving promising updates with Francis Lawrence as director and Lionsgate's involvement. While Stephen King's novel Joyland received offers for adaptation into a series, no official updates have been announced, suggesting it may not be adapted anytime soon.

Stephen King has had dozens of movies and TV shows adapted from his books and short stories, making him the most adapted author alive. He is quickly catching up to the next most prolific author to be adapted, Agatha Christie. However, both are a considerable way off from the all-time most adapted writer, William Shakespeare. However, his work has a couple of hundred years advantage over Christie...

Bookmark this page for the latest updates in the territory.

Screen is listing the 2023 release dates for films in the UK and Ireland in the calendar below.

For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch with Screen here. Screen is also running a calendar for festival and market dates throughout 2023 here.

December

December 31

Berliner Philharmoniker Live: New Year’s Eve Concert 2023 (Trafalgar - event cinema)

Previous releases January

January 6

Piggy (Vertigo), The Enforcer (Vertigo), Alcarràs (Mubi), A Man Called Otto (Sony), Rashomon (BFI), Till (Universal)

January 7

Andre Rieu In Dublin 2023 (Piece of...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

Another year of films. Another year of depressingly hopeful favorites.

That’s not to say I didn’t love any comedies. The ones I did just had a tendency to punch you in the gut somewhere along the line. It’s a truth that probably says more about me than I could ever articulate on my own. Grief simply resonates—especially when it can hit hard while still allowing the affected character on-screen to smile in the face of it.

We need a little of that hope in the real world. An authentic, complex hope to mirror the dark, politicized era in which we currently reside. One where anyone who isn’t depressed twenty-four-seven is more than likely not paying attention to anything that’s happening beyond their own personal gain.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Cat Person (Susanna Fogel)

The talk of the internet in late 2017, Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker story about a date gone horribly awry lit a short-lived fire of discourse surrounding gender and power dynamics. About five years later does the big-screen adaptation arrive, and while it expands details of the original text in a few compelling ways, its new third-act addition calamitously renders the whole experience a pointless, heavy-handed, misjudged exercise that relies heavier on horror tropes than any sense of humanity. – Jordan R. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)

This film, in the best possible way, is a time machine. Comfortable, bittersweet, and very funny, it captures a moment that is nostalgic without the syrup. Paul Hunham...

A galaxy of 42 emerging creative talents from across the U.S., U.K. and India have been unveiled as the 2023 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort.

The selected talents have worked on some of the most lauded projects over the last several months including “The Last of Us,” “1923,” “Blue Jean,” “Rye Lane,” “Rocket Boys” and “Joyland.”

Breakthrough is BAFTA’s flagship new talent initiative in partnership with Netflix, drawn from creatives working in film, games and television. Awarded to those in the midst of, or on the cusp of their breakthrough moment, the year-long initiative includes one-to-one meetings and career guidance, full voting membership, access to BAFTA events and screenings, as well as networking events, both in the U.K. and internationally.

This year’s cohort comprises creatives spanning craft specialisms from hair and make up, production, editing and games design, to performance, directing and cinematography and is from diverse ethnic backgrounds and abilities.

Exclusive: Ahead of the 33rd annual Gotham Awards Ceremony, taking place live and in person on Monday, November 27, 2023 in New York City, The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced the winners of its fifth annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase.

The five winning filmmakers include:

Kevin Haefelin,

Xinying Lao

Sisa Quispe

James Ross

Mel Sangyi Zhao.

With the critical support of returning partners JetBlue and Focus Features as well as Soho House, The Gotham aims to discover and empower a diverse group of emerging filmmakers as well as foster multi-platform distribution of their work through the annual program.

“With both extraordinary talent and vision, these students...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Pakistan: “In Flames”

Zarrar Kahn’s horror film “In Flames” is Pakistan’s entry for the international feature Oscar. The film debuted at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight earlier this year.

In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them.

The film, produced by Anam Abbas and executive produced by Shant Joshi, Todd Brown and Maxime Cottray, is part of XYZ’s New Visions slate. As revealed by Variety, XYZ had boarded the title last year.

“‘In Flames’ has resonated profoundly with our committee members, as it beautifully encapsulates the essence of our culture, art, and cinematic craftsmanship. We believe that the narrative, performances, direction, and every element that went into...