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In the inaugural year of his mandate, Directors’ Fortnight (aka Quinzaine des cinéastes) Artistic Director Julien Rejl could point to Caméra d’Or Award winning Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell as his north star for his curation vision. While some critics noted a sense of status quo continuity in year two, he nonetheless curated a noteworthy handful of titles such as À son image, The Other Way Around, To a Land Unknown, Une langue universelle and the international premiere to Good One. As we look ahead, we envision Rejl once again tussling with programmer Christian Jeune (Un Certain Regard) to secure some high-profile auteur titles and hidden gems debuts or sophomore films—to round out the selection of just under two dozen feature films.…...

Timely doc “The Encampments,” which delves into the Columbia University Gaza Solidarity Encampment that grew into a wave of international student activism and subsequently sparked the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump, is now set for release in U.S. movie theaters.

Watermelon Pictures has announced a March 28 theatrical launch at the Angelika Film Center in New York, with a nationwide theatrical expansion to follow. “The Encampments” features Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil (pictured below), a recent Columbia graduate who was detained earlier this month by federal immigration agents in New York as part of Trump’s crackdown on students who have protested against the war in Gaza. A judge has ordered the Trump administration not to deport Khalil pending a legal fight over his detention.

Mahmoud Khalil in “The Encampments.”

The doc — produced by Grammy-winning rap artist Macklemore and directed by BreakThrough News journalist and producer Kei Pritsker and...

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light took top honors at the 2025 International Cinephile Society (Ics) Awards, winning best picture, director, and ensemble. The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix, has continued to receive recognition, earning nominations at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs.

The Ics recognized Kapadia’s film for its portrayal of “the voices, the faces, the night-lit trains of modern India.” The story follows women from different generations who form a quiet bond as they navigate personal and cultural challenges.

Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross’s Oscar-nominated drama about Black teenagers trapped in an abusive reform school, won best adapted screenplay for Ross and Joslyn Barnes, who based the script on Colson Whitehead’s novel. The film also received the cinematography award for Jomo Fray’s work.

Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths won multiple awards, including best actress for Marianne Jean-Baptiste,...

Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” triumphed at the 2025 International Cinephile Society (Ics) Awards, winning best picture, director and ensemble.

“All We Imagine as Light” world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the grand prize of the festival, along with a flurry of international awards. It also went on earn nominations at the Golden Globes and the BAFTA’s, among others.

The International Cinephile Society praised Kapadia’s film for highlighting “the voices, the faces, the night-lit trains of vibrant modern India.” The film revolves around a trip of women from different generations who form a quiet sisterhood to find their own peace amidst daunting personal and cultural issues.

“Nickel Boys,” RaMell Ross’s Oscar-nominated drama about Black teenagers caged in an abusive reform school, took best adapted screenplay honors for Ross and Joslyn Barnes, who wrote the script based on the book by Colson Whitehead.

The Joburg Film Festival returns to the heart of South Africa’s entertainment industry from March 11 – 16, with a seventh edition that organizers say is designed to celebrate “the shared experiences and emotions that unite us through the art of storytelling.”

Building on Johannesburg’s reputation as the “city of gold,” the festival is organized around the theme of a “golden thread” running through its selection of nearly 100 feature-length and short films and documentaries. Among them is a mix that includes festival hits from the likes of Sundance, Berlin and Cannes, alongside films from the host nation and the African continent that will be reaching audiences for the first time.

“I wanted to find films that would resonate on an emotional and sympathetic level,” says Joburg Film Festival curator Nhlanhla Ndaba, “to remind us that we are a global village and to spread a little love whilst we face the reality of what is happening globally.

A Palestinian refugee drama has achieved remarkable international success, securing distribution deals across 40 territories ahead of its United Kingdom and Ireland release this Friday. The film “To a Land Unknown,” which first premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, has captured global attention through strategic partnerships with international distributors.

The movie, directed by Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel, tells a gripping story of two Palestinian cousins, Chatila and Reda, trapped in Athens and desperately seeking a better life in Germany. Their journey takes a dark turn when Reda’s drug addiction causes them to lose their passport savings, forcing Chatila to devise an extreme plan involving taking hostages.

Sales company Salaud Morisset has been instrumental in negotiating distribution agreements worldwide. Recent deals include partnerships with Imovision for Brazil, Vertigo Media for Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and Joint Entertainment for Taiwan. Additional territories include Germany, former Yugoslavia, Greece, Austria, Spain, Portugal, and Indonesia.

Paris- and Berlin-based sales and production house Salaud Morisset has sold Palestinian-Danish director Mahdi Fleifel’s Palestinian refugee drama “To a Land Unknown,” which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, to 40 territories. The film is released in the U.K. and Ireland on Friday.

Salaud Morisset has signed new deals with Imovision (Brazil), Vertigo Media, Joint Entertainment (Taiwan), Real Fiction (Germany), Five Stars (Ex Yugoslavia), Filmtrade (Greece), Filmladen (Austria), Filmin (Spain), Portugal (The Stone & The Plot) and Falcon Pictures (Indonesia).

Previously announced deals include Conic (U.K.), Wildcard (Ireland), Eurozoom (France), Watermelon Pictures and Film Clinic (Arab territories).

“To a Land Unknown” screened at more than 100 festivals including San Sebastian, Toronto, London, Thessaloniki, New Horizons and Sarajevo, and won more than 20 awards.

The film tells the story of the desperate attempts of two Palestinian cousins stranded in Athens to find a way to reach Germany. Chatila and Reda are saving...

Director Mahdi Fleifel’s tale of displacement, desperation and the lengths one man will go to survive makes for suspenseful, melancholic viewing

There are strong performances and storytelling energy in this fiction feature debut from Danish-Palestinian film-maker Mahdi Fleifel, a graduate of the UK’s National Film and Television School, known for his 2012 documentary A World Not Ours, about the Lebanese refugee camp where he was born. To a Land Unknown is a drama-thriller with real suspense, but also a melancholy showcase for Mahmoud Darwish’s poem Praise for the High Shadow.

The setting is modern-day Athens, where Chatila (Mahmood Bakri) is a watchful Palestinian refugee, with enough money from the Greek state to eat and charge his phone, drifting on the margins of crime and dreaming of escaping to Germany with the wife and son he left behind in Lebanon. Bakri’s excellent performance shows Chatila to be smart,...

Universal’s “Dog Man” barked its way to the top of the U.K. and Ireland box office this weekend, debuting with a commanding £3.2 million ($4 million), according to Comscore.

The family-friendly animated adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s best-selling book series proved to be a major draw, delivering one of the biggest opening weekends of the year so far.

Last week’s leader, Disney’s “A Complete Unknown,” slid to second place, adding $1 million in its fourth weekend. The Timothée Chalamet-led Bob Dylan biopic has now reached $12.4 million. Also holding strong is Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which took third place with $869,889 in its eighth weekend. The prequel has now crossed $37.6 million, cementing itself as one of the highest-grossing family films of the season.

Trafalgar Releasing’s “Macbeth: David Tennant And Cush Jumbo,” the filmed stage production of Shakespeare’s tragedy climbed to fourth place with $858,637, bringing its total to $1.9 million.

Indian director Payal Kapadia’s festival favouriteAll We Imagine As Light is one of the many films backed at an early stage by the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf).

Underlining Hbf’s reach, Wei Liang Chiang and You Qiao Yin’s Cannes Camera d’Or winner Mongrel, Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel’s To a Land Unknown, Trương Minh Quý’s Viet and Nam and Wang Bing’s Youth (Hard Times) and Youth (Homecoming) were other 2024 festival titles to receive development support from the fund.

At a time when industry finance is ever tighter, Hbf has received a welcome boost this year,...

Netpac is happy to announce the nominees for the inaugural Netpac Aruna Vasudev Award for the Best Asia Pacific Film 2024. The Award winner will be announced on 18th February 2025 at the closing ceremony of the 31st Fica (Festival International des Cinémas d’Asie), Vesoul, France. The Award consists of an artwork, designed by the well known Iranian artist Keivan Beiranvand.

The Award winner for the 1st Netpac Aruna Vasudev Award for Best Book published on Asia Pacific Cinema will also be announced at the same venue.

Netpac has instituted these annual Awards to honour the memory of its founder Ms. Aruna Vasudev. In her lifetime Ms Aruna Vasudev worked tirelessly for the promotion of Asian Cinema across the globe. Cinemaya, the magazine she published and edited for over 20 years, was a first of its kind, bringing a rich history and critique to Asian Films and Filmmakers. In 1989, she established Netpac...

Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” leads a diverse slate of nominees for the first-ever Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (Netpac) Aruna Vasudev Award for Best Asia Pacific Film 2024, celebrating the region’s emerging cinematic voices.

The winner will be unveiled at the 31st Fica (Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema) in Vesoul, France, on Feb. 18.

The nominees, culled from over 600 features screened in 2024, represent a cross-section of contemporary Asian and Pacific cinema. Alongside Kapadia’s India-European co-production are Mahdi Fleifel’s “To A Land Unknown” (Palestine-Denmark), Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “April” (Georgia-France-Italy), Lan Pham Ngoc’s “Cu Li Never Cries” (Vietnam-Philippines-France-Singapore-Norway) and “My Favorite Cake” from Iranian directors Behtash Sanaie Ha and Maryam Moghadam.

The award, featuring an artwork by Iranian artist Keivan Beiranvand, honors Netpac founder Aruna Vasudev’s legacy in championing Asian cinema.

In addition to the film honor, Netpac will present...

Jeanne Balibar Photo: Richard Mowe

Everywhere you go during the Premiers Plans festival of first films in Angers (on the river Maine and the gateway to the Loire valley) you cannot escape the influence of legendary figure of French cinema Jeanne Moreau.

Although she died in July 2017, her links to the Premiers Plans festival continue to make their presence felt. She had an association with the festival for more than ten years, becoming an unofficial 'godmother' to the event, as described by Claude-Eric Poiroux, artistic director and founder of the Festival and also the creator of the cinema and hub Les 400 Cents Coups (after François Truffaut’s classic The 400 Blows) in the heart of the town.

Top prize in Angers: Vers Un Pays Inconnu / To A Land Unknown by Mahdi Felafel, about two Palestinian cousins seeking a better life. Photo: Angers Premiers Plans

Poiroux, who was a close friend of the actress,...

Denmark-based firm LevelK has boarded international sales rights on Aaron Rookus’ Idyllic ahead of its world premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).

Idyllic will debut in the Big Screen Competition at IFFR on Saturday, January 1. The film depicts three generations of a Dutch family as they question their lives and relationships.

It is Dutch director Aaron Rookus’ second feature, after 2023 IFFR title Goodbye Stranger.

Idyllic is produced by Maarten van der Ven and Layla Meijman for the Netherlands’ Studio Ruba, in co-production with Xavier Rombaut of Belgium’s Polar Bear, Ivo Felt of Estonia’s Allfilm and Dutch broadcaster Bnnvara.

Goteborg Film Festival has unveiled the programme for its 48th edition, with 22 feature world premieres and four feature competition sections.

World premiere titles include Asier Urbieta’s Spanish thriller Pheasant Island in the international competition section. The debut feature from Spanish filmmaker Urbieta sees a young Basque couple’s relationship put to the test when a dead body is found on the mysterious titular island.

Scroll down for the feature competition sections

It is one of 18 films in the international competition, alongside 2024 festival favourites Santosh, To A Land Unknown and All We Imagine As Light.

The nine-strong Nordic competition includes three world premieres.

This year I lost my London Film Festival virginity and amongst some of the incredible films I was enthralled by I caught my number 1 for this year’s Top Ten. I am a woman who unashamedly wears her emotions very proudly on the surface but this is also the year I developed my tactical cry, where I had to rush to the bathroom after screenings to release the raw and unrestrained pouring of emotions films evoked in me so I was able to pass through Picture House Central and the BFI Southbank and network without being a snotty mess. Here at Directors Notes, we launched our BIFA partnership for The Douglas Hickox Award and I was truly blown away by the talent, execution and fucking formidable stories told by these debut feature filmmakers – none of which was even comparable to each other. I ended the year in a very traditional...

“The Possessed,” the third feature film from Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker Ena Sendijarević and her English-language debut, has been greenlit and is set to shoot in Spain at the start of 2026.

The project, which was selected for Cinemart last year, will be presented to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. International casting is underway. The project, which has 1.2 million Euros in place through the Netherlands Film Fund, has secured majority production funding.

Sendijarević’s second feature “Sweet Dreams,” which was in the main competition at Locarno, was chosen as the official Dutch submission for this year’s Academy Awards. The colonial satire was deemed a “startlingly accomplished sophomore film” by Variety’s reviewer. She signed with Black Bear’s management arm in January and was selected as one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch this year.

Sendijarević’s 2019 feature debut, “Take Me Somewhere Nice,” an absurdist European road trip movie, won...

Screenis listing the 2024 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 withScreenhere.Screenis also running a calendar for festival and market dates throughout 2025here.

January

Wednesday, January 1

Nosferatu(Universal),2073(Altitude),Vanangaan(DJ Tech),Game Changer(Dreamz),We Live In Time(Studiocanal)

Friday, January 3

Nickel Boys(Curzon),Rocco And His Brothers(BFI),Diabel(Magnetes)

Wednesday, January 8

A Real Pain(Disney)

Friday, January 10

Babygirl(Efd),The Girl With The Needle(Mubi),Maria(Studiocanal),The Damned(Vertical/Miracle),It’s Raining Men...

The world premiere of Arild Østin Ommundsen and Silje Salomonsen’sNorwegian family dramaEverything Must Gowill open the35thedition of the Tromso International Film Festival (TIFF), taking place inNorway fromJanuary 13-19, 2025.

James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown will close the festival.

Everything Must Go is aboutthree siblings who move back into their childhood home following their father’s funeral.

In the competition strand, 12 features are in contention for the €5,000 Aurora prize includingBrady Corbet’s The Brutalist,Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths,Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man,and Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays.

Tromso has introduced a special sidebar focused on...

The Fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) came to a crescendo with the naming of the winners of this year’s prestigious Yusr Awards.

The features jury, Tûba Büyüküstün, Minnie Driver, Daniel Dae Kim, and Abu Bakr Shawky, led by Jury President Spike Lee deliberated to finally select winners across 16 feature films in competition, while the shorts jury Hamzah Jamjoom, Ramata-Toulaye Sy, and Ke-Xi Wu judged across the short film offering of Rsiff 2024.

Red Path (Tunisia) directed by Lotfi Achour was awarded the prestigious Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film. An extraordinary journey into the wounded psyche of a child in a war zone, Red Path is the third feature film by director Lotfi Achour, and it had its world premiere at the Locarno Festival in Switzerland. With this film, we observe the development of Tunisian cinema, its craftsmanship, and its distinctive presence in this edition of the festival.

Tunisia’s “Red Path,” directed by Lotfi Achour, was awarded the Golden Yusr for best feature film Thursday at the Red Sea Film Festival awards ceremony, where honorary awards were bestowed on Viola Davis and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Sarah Jessica Parker, Dev Patel, John Boyega and Nick Jonas were among the star guests.

Johnny Depp’s “Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness” screened as the festival’s final gala screening, with Depp attending with star Riccardo Scamarcio.

“Red Path,” described as “a journey into the wounded psyche of a child in a war zone,” is the third feature film by Achour. It had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival. The Golden Yusr comes with a $100,000 cash prize.

Achour also took home Red Sea’s Yusr prize for best director, which comes with a $10,000 prize.

The awards were bestowed by a features jury led by its president Spike Lee,...

Tunisian director Lotfi Achour’s Red Path won the Yusr Award for best competition film and the best director honor at the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during its Thursday evening awards ceremony that also saw Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Viola Davis being honored.

The Silver Yusr Feature Film Award went to Mahdi Fleifel’s To A Land Unknown, a drama about young Palestinians caught in an eternal state of exile. Little Jaffna, starring and directed by Lawrence Valin, was honored with the AlUla Audience Award International Film, with Hobal from director Abdulaziz Alshlahei getting the Saudi film audience award.

“Ashraf, a shepherd boy working with his teenage cousin in impoverished northern Tunisia faces the unimaginable when Islamic State terrorists set on them and behead his cousin Nizar in front of him,” says a synopsis for Red Path. “Ashraf has no...

Tunisian drama Red Path, directed by Lotfi Achour, scooped the Golden Yusr for best film and the prize for best director at the 4th Red Sea International Film Festival on Thursday (December 12).

The main award was presented by jury head and Oscar-winning US filmmaker Spike Lee at a ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Scroll down for full list of winners

On stage, Lee declared that it was also Achour’s birthday, meaning the best film and director awards are quite the present, coming with cash prizes of $100,000 and $30,000 respectively.

The film, which premiered at Locarno, is inspired by the true...

Tunisia director Lotfi Achour’s Red Path has won best film and director at the fourth edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.

The drama was among 15 titles from the Middle East, Africa, and, for the first time, Asia competing for the festival’s Yusrs awards.

Red Path, which world premiered at Locarno, revolves around a shepherd boy who is traumatized when his teenager cousin is beheaded by Islamic State terrorists in front of him. He brings the head back to his family, but recovering the teenage boy’s body becomes a challenge with the terrorists remaining a threat in the backdrop.

This year’s jury for the main feature film competition was presided over by Spike Lee, with support from Egyptian director Abu Bakr Shawky, UK actor Minnie Driver, Turkish actress Tûba Büyüküstün and U.S. actor and producer Daniel Dae Kim

Thursday evening’s ceremony kicked...

There is a lesson in determination to be found in Danish-Palestinian Mahdi Fleifel‘s latest feature, To A Land Unknown. Remarkably, the film, which spent years in development, and bounced between producers, finally went into production in November 2023 and was premiering on the red carpet at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section six months later in May 2024. It speaks to Fleifel and producer Geoff Arbourne‘s unwavering commitment to getting this story told, and it’s a journey they shared at the Red International Film Festival.

To A Land Unknown follows Chatila (Mahmoud Bakri) and Reda (Aram Sabbah), Palestinians stuck in Athens, who are trying to scrape together money for passports, so they relocate to Germany and start a new life.…...

Exclusive: Dubai-based global management and production company 75East has signed Egyptian writer, director and producer Omar Hilal, director of feel-good drama comedy Voy! Voy! Voy!, which was Egypt’s 2023 Oscar submission.

The picture, which is Hilal’s first feature, is inspired by the true story of a man who fakes blindness to join a team of visually impaired footballers bound for Poland to fulfil his dream of escaping Egypt to live in Europe.

75East Principal and Talent Manager Antone Saliba announced the signing at the Red Sea Film Festival, where he is attending the Red Sea Souk market and joined FilmNation CEO Glen Basner and Mbc Studios General Manager Zeinab Abul Al Samh among others on an industry panel this week.

Voy, Voy, Voy! was Hilal’s first feature after a 20-year career as one of the preeminent advertising directors of the Arab world.

After topping the Egyptian box office...

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, CEO of Cairo-based production company Film Clinic, received the Variety International Vanguard Producer Award at the Red Sea Film Festival on Dec. 9, prior to the screening of his black and white silent film “Abdo & Saneya.”

Hefzy has just launched a Film Clinic outlet in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, and production is ramping up in the kingdom. Recent projects with Saudi Arabia include the Saudi-set adventure movie “Hajjan,” which had its world premiere at Toronto.

Film Clinic is one of Egypt’s biggest production houses and has played a key role in supporting emerging and independent talent, including Hani Khalifa’s recent thriller “Flight 404.” Egypt’s candidate for the 2025 International Feature Oscar, the film grossed over $4 million in Saudi Arabia alone.

Film Clinic has six films at Red Sea this year, including three in official competition: Khaled Mansour’s “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo,” Mahdi Fleifel...

Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy and Algerian director Merzak Allouache will be honored this week by Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival in the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Hefzy will receive the Variety International Vanguard Producer Award, while Allouache is being bestowed with the Variety International Vanguard Director Award. Both honors are given in recognition of their achievements over the course of their careers.

Hefzy will receive his award on stage on Dec. 9 before the Red Sea screening of his film “Abdo & Saneya,” which starts 5 P.M. Allouache will receive his award before the premiere of his film “Front Row” on Dec. 8, starting at 5.15 P.M. Both screenings take place in the auditorium in Culture Square in Jeddah.

Hefzy and his Cairo-based production company Film Clinic have a reputation for promoting emerging Egyptian filmmaking talents such as Abu Bakr Shawky (“Yomeddine”), Omar El Zohairy (“Feathers”) and Mohamed Diab...

“A Different Man” was named the best independent film of the year at the 2024 Gotham Awards, which took place on Monday night in New York City.

The win for the drama starring Sebastian Stan came as a surprise at the end of a show in which “Nickel Boys” and “Sing Sing” had been the big winners, and in which “Anora” came in with the most nominations but left empty-handed.

In the gender-neutral acting categories, Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin won the lead and supporting awards for “Sing Sing.” Domingo’s category also included Pamela Anderson for “The Last Showgirl,” Nicole Kidman for “Babygirl,” Marianne Jean-Baptiste for “Hard Truths” and Mikey Madison for “Anora,” while Maclin’s included Yura Borisov for “Anora,” Guy Pearce for “The Brutalist,” Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain” and Danielle Deadwyler for “Nickel Boys.”

“Nickel Boys” star Brandon Wilson won the award for breakthrough actor, while that film’s director,...

A24’s “A Different Man” won best feature at the 2024 Gotham Awards Monday night at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Meanwhile, “Sing Sing” swept the acting categories, with Colman Domingo winning for best lead performance and Clarence Maclin for best supporting performance.

Each category for nominations is decided by a different jury of critics, journalists and other industry professionals, and screening links must be provided to all its jury members. An entirely different group determines the winners. That’s in contrast with the Oscars or the BAFTAs, which are determined by actors, filmmakers and other artists who are in the entertainment industry.

In addition to the nominees, the Gothams bestowed special tributes to some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (Performer Tribute) for “Maria,” Emmy winner Zendaya (Spotlight Tribute) for “Challengers,” Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold (Visionary Tribute) for “A Complete Unknown,” and the...

When the 34th annual Gotham Awards took place in Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Monday, December 2, the Oscar race officially began. The Gothams traditionally occupy a spot on the awards calendar as the first major film-centric ceremony of the season, giving fans their first opportunity to see the year’s biggest stars on the red carpet. The event also marks awards watchers’ first chance to gauge the state of the race.

The night’s top prize went to “A Different Man,” Aaron Schimberg’s A24 body transformation comedy that premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which stars Sebastian Stan as a facially disfigured actor who undergoes an experimental surgery to boost his career, beat out Oscar frontrunners such as Sean Baker’s “Anora” and Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers.” The win could boost the award chances of both Schimberg and his stars Stan and Adam Pearson.

The Gotham Awards, honoring the best in American independent films, held their 34th annual event on Monday night, Dec. 2, launching the fall and winter awards season. So who were the big winners? Scroll down for the complete list of 2024 Gotham Awards champs in all categories, updating live throughout the night.

Nominees were decided by panels of film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. The winners were then selected by juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors, and others directly involved in filmmaking. Those small juries change from year to year and from category to category, so these awards can produce surprising results.

Telling the story of a young sex worker from Brooklyn who meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, “Anora” led the nominations with four bids including Best Feature, as well Sean Baker for Best Director, actress Mikey Madison for Best Lead Performance and actor...

Tonight, New York City celebrated the finest in entertainment with the 2024 Gotham Awards. It’s the first step on the long road to the Oscars and finally giving awards watchers something to live for. Though the Gothams focus on independent movies, the Gotham Awards give us some sense of what...

The Marrakech Film Festival, which opened Friday with Justin Kurzel’s timely thriller “The Order,” has more than 70 films in its lineup, which, as is customary, mixes known titles and fresh fare.

“The Order” is part of the event’s gala screenings that also comprise French-Moroccan auteur Nabil Ayouch’s feminist musical drama “Everybody Loves Touda,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” all of which will be accompanied by their directors.

The 14-title competition dedicated to first and second works includes Moroccan director Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s melodrama “Across the Sea,” about North African exiles in Marseilles, and Hind Meddeb’s doc “Sudan, Remember Us,” which pays homage to Sudanese people and culture by chronicling their 2019 revolution. “Sudan, Remember Us” is among films supported by the fest’s Atlas Workshops industry initiative, aimed at fostering and supporting the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan,...

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has announced its full industry programme. Running from December 7th to 11th, 2024, in Jeddah’s vibrant Al Balad district, this year’s expanded five-day program offers an exceptional line-up of activities bringing together new talent, emerging filmmakers and established regional and international industry leaders for a series of events, talks and networking opportunities. The Red Sea Souk activities will take place alongside the growing marketplace which features 142 exhibitors from 32 countries this year.

Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Rsiff’s Managing Director, said: “The Souk is a vital part of the Rsiff experience, serving as a hub for collaboration, innovation, and opportunity. This year, we are more committed than ever to creating an environment where filmmakers, producers, and industry professionals can come together to share knowledge, forge meaningful connections, and shape the future of cinema. We are excited to present this year’s events and thankful...

The Red Sea International Film Festival is now a Spike Lee joint.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker will preside over the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia film festival’s features-competition jury this year, Red Sea announced on Thursday via Instagram. Lee’s impressive filmography includes “Do the Right Thing” (1989), “Malcolm X” (1992), and “BlacKkKlansman” (2019), for which he won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. “BlacKkKlansman” was also nominated for Lee’s directing and for Best Picture.

The 2024 Red Sea Film Festival will take place in Jeddah’s Old Town of Al Balad from December 5-14.

Not in competition but newly announced to play at Red Sea 2024 is Thierry Frémaux’s “Lumière: Le Cinema,” the sequel to “Lumière: The Adventure Begins,” which debuted at the inaugural Red Sea festival. “Le Cinema” is a cinephile’s dream, described as “an unparalleled journey through the early days of celluloid,” it features 100 newly restored films. Frémaux is the director of...

The UK Global Screen Fund’s (Ukgsf) next round of awardees from its distribution strand of support includes The Penguin Lessons, Bring Them Down, The Salt Path and Kneecap.

The Ukgsf has issued 18 new awards, administered by the BFI, to support international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector. Ukgsf is financed through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms), and the awards see a further £413,995 allocated through the £7m per year fund’s international distribution strand.

The international distribution strand is now managed by Jordan Allwood, who joined the team in October from UK sales agent Independent Entertainment and replacesFrancesca Walker.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)’s Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) has selected 12 feature film projects for its 2024 Development Support scheme.

The 12 projects, which will receive a grant of €10,000 to support their development, were selected from a record 1,150 submissions.

Scroll down for full list

They include Christopher Murray’s Piedras Gigantes which will be among the first Chilean national fiction feature films shot on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), the remote Pacific Ocean island.

Piedras Gigantes tells the story of the archaeologist Katherine Routledge arriving on the island in 1914, who played a conflicted role amidst an indigenous uprising. Murray’s The...

The International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR) Hubert Bals Fund has picked twelve feature films for its development support scheme, backing each project with €10,000 ($10,500) in production financing. The selection comes after the fund received more than 1,150 submissions, a new record.

Several IFFR alumni filmmakers are among the recipients. Brazilian filmmaker Lillah Hallah, whose Levante won the Youth Jury Award at IFFR 2024, will receive support for Colhões de Ouro, a dark musical comedy. Midhun Murali, who won a Tiger Special Jury Award for Kiss Wagon, secures backing for his new project MTV i.e. Mars to Venus.

Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan, known for The Reports on Sarah and Saleem and A House in Jerusalem, receives funding for Conversation with the Sea. The film follows a Palestinian man ordered to pay his deceased son’s debt.

Christopher Murray’s Piedras gigantes will be one of the first Chilean fiction features shot on...

Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (Dfi) is planning to launch the inauguralDoha Film Festival in November 2025, revealed Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, CEO of the Dfi, at the opening ceremony of the Dfi’s Ajyal Film Festival on November 16.

Full details will be announced at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025.

Alremaihi, also the festival director of Ajyal, said the new event will “echo the dreams and aspirations of filmmakers and creative storytellers from near and far, as we mark the next chapter of our cinematic journey”.

This year is the 12th edition of Ajyal, following the decision to pause the event...

Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays has won the Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which ran from October 31-November 10.

The family drama centring on an Arab-speaking Israeli family premiered earlier this year in Venice’s Horizons strand, winning best screenplay. Copti had previously won the best film and screenplay prizes at Thessaloniki in 2009 for his Academy Award nominated Ajami.

The Silver Alexander for best director went to Belgian Leonardo van Dijl for his debut feature Julie Keeps Quiet, winner of the Sacd award in Cannes Critics’ Week sidebar.

The jury of the international competition,...

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has announced details of this year’s selection of films screening in its prestigious Red Sea: Competition strand, the projects which will vie for the coveted Yusr Awards.

The Competition values all cinematic forms, from narrative to animation and documentary, featuring films from Asia, Africa, and across the Arab world. Mahdi Fleifel‘s To A Land Unknown will have its Mena premiere, a powerful drama that traces the heartbreaking story of two Palestinian refugees stranded in Athens that received funding from Rsiff. Also debuting as Mena premieres are Sima’s Song directed by Afghan filmmaker Roya Sadat, a drama that explores the evolution of women’s rights during the Russian occupation in the 1970s, and Indian director Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, a critically acclaimed comedy based on the true story of a group of amateur filmmakers who come together to create a film that honors their city.

Viola Davis will be honored by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, where the Oscar winner and four-time nominee will also be holding a master class highlighting her career.

On Monday, the festival — which will run Dec. 6 to 14 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore — announced the main lineup of its fourth edition, which will open with the world premiere of Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s musical drama “The Tale of Daye’s Family.” The film follows an 11-year-old Nubian albino with a beautiful voice “who faces adversity due to his unique appearance,” as the provided synopsis puts it.

“For us, this a perfect representation of where this region is headed and what’s happening here,” said the fest’s managing director Shivani Pandya Malhotra at a press conference, noting that the inspirational film is a co-production between Egypt and Saudi.

The Red Sea fest – which is...

From December 5–14, the Red Sea International Film Festival will present its most ambitious lineup yet, turning Jeddah’s historic Al Balad area into a lively movie-going spot. After two years at the Ritz-Carlton, this fourth version will bring 120 films from 81 countries to the city’s heritage quarter, a big move back to this area.

Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s play “The Tale of Daye’s Family” will open the festival. It’s about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who wants to try out for “The Voice” in Cairo. Better Man, Michael Gracey’s unusual biopic of Robbie Williams, which shows the pop star as an ape, will be the last movie shown.

The event is sure to have many big names. Viola Davis, an Academy Award winner, and Mona Zaki, an Egyptian actress, are both set to receive special awards. Davis will do more than just accept the award. Through her production business,...

The fourth editon of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (December 5-14) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition strand and has selected Egypt-Saudi co-productionThe Tale Of Daye’s Family as its opening film.

The Tale Of Daye’s Family by Egyptian filmmaker Karim Shenawi tells the story of an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who faces adversity due to his unique appearance and who gets a chance to audition for an Egyptian version of talent show The Voice.

Scroll down for full Competition line-up

Speaking at a Red Sea press conference this morning, the festival’s managing director...

The Red Sea Film Festival has unveiled the bulk of the line-up for its fourth edition, which will showcase 120 films from 81 territories from December 5 to 14 in the port city of Jeddah.

The festival will open with Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s The Tale Of Daye’s Family (aka Light) about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy with a beautiful voice, who faces adversity due to his unique appearance.

Abandoned by his father and bullied by his peers, he dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, singer and actor Mohamed Mounir. When he gets a chance to audition for The Voice, Daye and his family embark on a perilous 1,000-mile journey from Southern Egypt to Cairo.

Michael Gracey’s semi-biographical feature Better Man, inspired by Robbie Williams and portraying the pop icon as a chimpanzee, will close the festival.

Johnny Depp’s Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness...

Honors for and onstage appearances by Viola Davis and Egyptian star Mona Zaki (Perfect Strangers, Flight 404, Aserb: The Squadron, The Spider), Johnny Depp’s new movie as a director and a biopic about Robbie Williams will be part of this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, organizers said Monday.

They also unveiled the competition lineup for the fest’s fourth edition. Organizers said that the overall lineup features 49 world and international premieres, also highlighting that six female filmmakers will be featured in the competition program.

Among the 15 competition titles announced are Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon, which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the special jury prize.

The Rsiff on Monday also added several galas to its lineup, plus unveiled its International Spectacular and its Families & Children programs.

Mahdi Fleifel is a Danish-Palestinian film director who graduated in 2009 from the UK National Film & TV School. In 2010 he set up the London-based production company Nakba FilmWorks with Irish producer Patrick Campbell. His debut feature documentary, A World Not Ours (2012), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and picked up over 30 awards, including the Peace Film Prize and the Panorama Audience Award at the 2013 Berlinale and the Edinburgh, Yamagata and Doc:nyc Grand Jury Prizes. Mahdi’s 2016 short film, A Man Returned, won the Silver Bear and the European Film Nomination at the Berlinale and his latest film, A Drowning Man, formed part of the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival 2017 and was nominated for a BAFTA award. His fiction feature film debut, a co-production of UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece (Homemade Films), Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Palestine, “To A Land Unknown” had its world premiere at the 2024 Quinzaine...

Happy Holidays, the latest feature from Palestinian Filmmaker Scandar Copti, has taken the top prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece.

Copti’s film won the Best Feature Film Award, which comes with a 10,000-euro cash prize. Awarding the prize, the jury, headed by Sara Driver, praised the film for “intricately weaving different narratives and perspectives that fully expose the complexity of national, gender and class dynamics that can divide societies and for seeing the future in the face of a young woman the Golden Alexander goes to Happy Holidays by Scandar Copti.”

Happy Holidays debuted at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The story open after a minor accident sets off a chain of events, unraveling lies and unspoken truths that sow division within a multifaceted patriarchal society.

The festival’s Best Director Award, which comes with a 5,000-euro cash prize, was picked up Leonardo Van Dijl for Julie Keeps Quiet.

Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti’s Israel-set family drama “Happy Holidays” won the top prize Sunday at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, taking home the Golden Alexander for best feature film.

Copti’s sophomore feature, his first film since his Oscar-nominated 2009 debut “Ajami,” premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons sidebar, winning the best screenplay prize. Variety’s Siddhant Adlakha described it as “a piercing, realistic family drama, the inflection points of which reveal deep cultural and political dimensions surrounding gender and ethnicity.”

“Happy Holidays” follows four interconnected characters who share their unique realities, highlighting the complexities between genders, generations and cultures. The ensemble cast — comprised of Arab and Jewish characters alike — creates a multifaceted portrait of life in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city.

The Thessaloniki jury, which included filmmaker and producer Sara Driver (“Boom for Real”), filmmaker Denis Côté (“Vic + Flo Saw a Bear”) and producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis (“How to Have Sex...