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While the official lineup of films at the Cannes Film Festival taking place in May won’t be made public until mid-April, there are already some early rumblings of what projects we should expect to see on that list and there are plenty of reasons to get excited.

That group of potential entries as compiled by Deadline includes directorial debuts with Kristen Stewart‘s “The Chronology Of Water” (still a chance it might not be completed in time), and Scarlett Johansson‘s “Eleanor The Great.”

Read More: Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Potentially Eyeing Cannes Film Festival Screening

Notable and high-profile films that are expected to screen at Cannes, pending official confirmation: Jim Jarmusch‘s latest effort “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother,” Spike Lee‘s “Highest 2 Lowest” (a remake of the Akira Kurosawa kidnap drama that stars Lee’s longtime muse Denzel Washington), Wes Anderson‘s...

Exclusive: With one of Europe’s three flagship film festivals approaching half way stage, minds are already beginning to focus on the shape of the next two: Cannes and Venice. The former will be upon us before we know it.

As ever, there is no shortage of anticipated movies in contention. Indeed, one leading producer we spoke to remarked that 2025 is looking like “a particularly tough year, a much stronger year than 2024”. The surprise to us during our research for this piece is just how many big movies look like they will push to fall rather than launch on the Croisette. That’s not to say that Cannes won’t be box office. It remains the gold standard. The importance of both Cannes and Venice as launchpads is at an all-time high. Just look at how many Oscar nominees now start out at those two festivals — five of this year...

Carla Simon’sRomerïa andIldiko Enyedi’sSilent Friendare among the 15 features to have received grants fromEurimages’ inaugural Film Marketing & Audience Development Support Programme.

The recipients also include two Berlinale films: Ameer Fakher Eldin’s Competition titleYunan andIdo Fluk’s Köln 75, which will have its world premiere as a Berlinale Special title.

Scroll down for the full list

The films will each receive a non-repayable grant of up to€50,000. Films must have signed a deal memo or contract with an international sales agent to be eligible for the yearly programme.

In total, the 15 features will receive €729,900.

The programme aims to encourage...

Two key German production incentives, the German Federal Film Fund (Dfff) and the German Motion Picture Fund (Gmpf), have been extended for a year. The rebate on approved German production costs has also increasing to 30% for both schemes.

The changes were unveiled by minister of state for culture and media (Bkm) Claudia Roth as part of the final readings of the new German Film Law (Ffg) which was passed by in the Bundestag late on Thursday evening.

After consultations with chancellor Olaf Scholz and federal finance minister (Bmf) Jörg Kukies, minister Roth said that the 30% rebate will be introduced from...

Hungarian film director Ildiko Enyedi heaped praise on the film and talent discovery functions of major film festivals like the Tokyo International Film Festival, where Tuesday she started her role as a jury member.

“Festivals are the allies of the filmmakers. They help to uncover the truth of our work as filmmakers. It is a sort of game, shining light on the hidden gems. The press too are allies [and part of this process],” said Enyedi at a jury-meets-media encounter Tuesday in the Japanese capital.

“It is not easy to have a strong and important festival and at the same time find hidden treasures. In programming, it’s much easier just to pick the big names. [ Rather] it is a refined and delicate work to find the hidden gems. And thanks to this festival [some] films can have a brave and successful journey.”

The Tokyo main competition jury is headed by Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung Chiu-wai...

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much common cause between Pablo Larraín’s anticipated Maria Callas biopic, “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie as the titular opera singer, and Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” a 215-minute epic about a Holocaust survivor forging a new life in America. Though both films will premiere on the Lido at this year’s Venice Film Festival, where they’re competing for the Golden Lion, they are in most ways worlds apart.

Yet both owe a good deal to the contributions of Hungarian talent, joining a roster of recent awards bait and blockbusters to film in the Central European country that includes Yorgos Lanthimos’ multi-Oscar winner “Poor Things” and both chapters of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi tentpole “Dune.” While an attractive 30% cash rebate is undoubtedly part of the draw, it’s also a testament to a long history of artistry and technical craftsmanship in...

French actor Chiara Mastroianni and iconic Hong Kong director Johnnie To are among a pack of heavyweight names joining Tony Leung Chiu-wai on the main competition jury of this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. The festival is set to run Oct. 28 – Nov. 6.

Completing the judging panel are Hungarian screenwriter and director Ildiko Enyedi and Japanese star actor Hashimoto Ai.

The festival’s full lineup of films and events will be outlined at a presentation in late September.

The selection of Enyedi, who won the 2017 edition of the Berlin festival with her “On Body and Soul,” cannot be a coincidence. She is directing Leung in upcoming title “Silent Friend,” a picture which marks Leung’s first European movie role.

“Being in a jury is always an exceptional, very intense experience. This is not a field for small talk. Jury work is a series of unusually deep and revealing meetings,” said Enyedi.

Tokyo International Film Festival has unveiled the international competition jury for its 37th edition.

Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To, French actress Chiara Mastroianni, Hungarian writer/director Ildiko Enyedi and Japanese actress Ai Hashimoto will join Hong Kong star Tony Leung, who was previously named this year’s jury president.

The full line-up of this year’s programme will be announced in late September ahead of the festival, which is set to run October 28 to November 6.

To is the acclaimed director of films such as Breaking News and Drug War and sat on the Berlinale international competition jury in 2023. He is also a regular at Cannes,...

The full competition jury for the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival has been revealed.

On Friday, festival organizers announced that Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To, Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, Japanese actress Ai Hashimoto and French actress Chiara Mastroianni will be members of the 2024 main competition jury alongside previously announced jury president Tony Leung.

To, like Leung a legend of Hong Kong cinema, is famed the world over for his action and crime films. The veteran and prolific filmmaker’s credits include Breaking News, Exiled, Mad Detective, Drug War and the Election films (Election, Election 2 (a.k.a. Triad Election). To, a regular feature of the international film festival circuit, has had six films screen at the Cannes Film Festival, two in competition, as well as had four films selected to compete at the Venice Film Festival.

Enyedi is best known for writing and directing the Hungarian drama On Body and Soul,...

The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) is pleased to announce that one of Asia's most internationally acclaimed actors, Tony Leung, will serve as the President of the International Competition jury at the 37th TIFF.

TIFF Chairman Ando Hiroyasu expressed his delight that the renowned actor would be returning to TIFF again after last year's wonderful masterclass and screening. (See further comments below)

Tony Leung has an extensive list of awards throughout a career that began in the 1980s, and has gained international recognition for collaborations with director Wong Kar-wai, with whom he has worked on seven films including In the Mood for Love (2000), which earned him the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actor Award, and 2046 (2004). He also appeared in three films that won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival: A City of Sadness (1989), directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Cyclo (1995), directed by Tran Anh Hung, and Lust, Caution (2007) by director Ang Lee.

Films Boutique has taken on international sales for Berlinale Golden Bear winner Ildiko Enyedi’sSilent Friend now filming in Marburg in Germany.

Written and directed by Enyedi, Silent Friend stars acclaimed Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Luna Wedler and Enzo Brumm.

The film marks Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s first time acting in a European film following credits including In The Mood For Love, Lust, Caution, and Shang Chi And The Legend Of The 10 Rings.

Enyedi’s On Body And Soul won the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2017 and an Oscar nomination 2018 for best international film, while The Story of My Wife...

Leading Hong Kong actor Tony Leung has been set as the president of the jury that will decide the main competition prizes at the Tokyo International Film Festival later this year.

“Japan is close to my heart in more ways than one. And to be involved in celebrating film in this way, is a big deal for me. From the age of 12, growing up in Hong Kong, I remember going to see all the classic Japanese movies from that time. These exciting trips to the cinema were the start of a great love affair between Japanese film, people and its culture for me, that has just grown and grown. I’m already expecting the festival to be full of surprises and a lot of fun to preside over, I’m sure. What I hope is that it will be a bit of an adventure, with an audacious line up of quality films.

Hong Kong star Tony Leung is set to serve as president of the international competition jury at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

The actor, who won best actor at Cannes in 2000 for his performance in Wong Kar-wai’s In The Mood For Love, will take part in the 37th edition, which runs from October 28 to November 6.

”From the age of 12, growing up in Hong Kong, I remember going to see all the classic Japanese movies from that time,” Leung recalled. ”These exciting trips to the cinema were the start of a great love affair between Japanese film,...

Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme has been awarded the lion’s share of the more than €20m paid out by the German Federal Film Fund (Dfff) to 25 film projects in the first four months of 2024.

Studio Babelsberg’s service production arm Zweite Film Service Babelsberg received a grant of over €10.4m from the Dfff II fund for Anderson’s film which has been shooting on sound stages at the studios near Potsdam as well as in the surrounding region since the beginning of March.

The fund, which focuses on supporting production service providers if their film’s budget exceeds...

Hong Kong’s biggest ever local hit A Guilty Conscience was named best film at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards (Hkfa), while Mad Fate’s Soi Cheang took best director and The Goldfinger swept six awards including best actor for Tony Leung.

A Guilty Conscience producer Bill Kong received the top award on stage from acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. That was the only win on the night for the courtroom drama, which went into the awards ceremony with 10 nominations.

Scroll down for full winners list

Murder mystery Mad Fate scooped three awards comprising best screenplay, best editing and best director for Cheang.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSUntil Branches Bend.Amidst a widespread debate on the merit of U.S. state financial incentives for film and television productions, a Georgia bill that would have limited the sale of tax credits was rejected by the Senate Finance Committee. In recent years, those credits have exceeded $1 billion despite findings that the state makes back only 19¢ on the dollar. Four of the thirteen labor guilds bargaining with IATSE have now reached tentative agreements with the AMPTP: Locals 600 (cinematographers), 729 (set painters), 800 (art directors), and 695. IATSE president Matthew Loeb has threatened to strike if a new contract is not in place when the current one expires on July 31.Due to financial constraints, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be...

It flew under the radar that Ildikó Enyedi had suited a role for Tony Leung in her new feature, Silent Friend, which “tells three stories connected to a tree over a period of more than 100 years” and rather ambitiously centers on “radical shifts in human perception of plants, animals and humans.” Last summer’s news offered an April 2024 start date, and––whatever radio silence since––things appear on-track. A press release from German superentity Pandora Film announces a production commencement for next month with Léa Seydoux starring alongside Luna Wedler, Enzo Brumm, and Sylvester Groth.

Variety’s initial story revealed Leung will play “a renowned neuroscientist traveling from his hometown of Hong Kong to the Marburg Faculty”; no word yet of how Seydoux or her co-stars fit in, but Pandora’s official synopsis suggests they, sadly, won’t intersect. We should know more soon: as cameras roll next month, so shooting finishes in May,...

Renowned Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai ditched his quiet, brooding persona on Saturday in Venice, where he is to receive a Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award.

Instead, at a press conference in his honor, Leung positively gushed about his upcoming first European movie role and about the strengths of the “golden era” acting training he received in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Leung has made a speciality of saying little in many of his films. In his first Venice film, “City of Sadness,” Leung pays a mute. In “The Grandmaster” he lets his fists and feet do the talking. In “In the Mood for Love,” Leung’s facial expressions are far more expressive than words.

And on many public occasions, Leung keeps the repartee to a minimum, amps up the soulful glare and goes long on banal gratitude. Awarded the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at Busan in October,...

Tony Leung Chiu-wai has starred in three movies that have scooped the top prize Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and today he is receiving his very own Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

The 61-year-old Hong Kong actor and singer is one of Asia’s most successful and internationally recognized stars. Among his major global credits are Wong Kar-wai’s 2000 romantic drama In the Mood for Love, for which he won the Best Actor prize in Cannes. His other collaborations with Wong include Chungking Express, Happy Together and The Grandmaster.

Leung also starred in the Academy Award-nominated film Hero by Zhang Yimou, and the box office hits Hard Boiled by John Woo and Infernal Affairs by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. The latter trilogy formed the basis for Martin Scorsese’s Oscar winning The Departed.

Talking with the press today, Leung beamed of the Lifetime Achievement Lion, “Finally I can have it for myself,...