Annecy World Summit Program Unveiled by Women in Animation

K.J. Yossman “Old” star Vicky Krieps and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” director Mike Newell are among the stars set to appear at the Galway Film Festival in Ireland next month.Krieps will be on hand to present her new film “Hold Me Tight,” by Mathieu Amalric (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”) while Newell will attend as part of the 30th anniversary for his 1992 feature “Into the West,” which starred Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin.

Variety watches the shorts in Annecy’s main competition selection and picks 10 of our favorites. We’re not saying these are the best 10 shorts this year, though four won prizes, but we believe each brings something that shouldn’t be missed.“Anxious Body,” (Yoriko Mizushiri, France, Japan)Screening at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Mizushiri’s fourth short and the first project co-produced by Japanese New Deer and France’s Miyu Productions.

Lise Pedersen Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) has unveiled his first-ever animation film project at the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival.Entitled “The Most Precious of Cargos,” it is an adaptation of the eponymous best-selling book by acclaimed French playwright and children’s books author Jean-Claude Grumberg, who is co-writing the film with Hazanavicius.Told in the form of a classic fairy tale in 2D animation, it is set during World War II, and tells the story of a poor woodcutter and his wife who live deep in the Polish forest.

Emmerdale star Paige Sandhu has shared a "hilarious" behind-the-scenes secret from her character Meena Jutla's chilling barn scenes earlier this year. Viewers will recall that in January Meena locked Manpreet Sharma and Vinny Dingle in an abandoned barn and planned to kill them both in a horrific double murder plot. However, Manpreet and Vinny were thankfully saved by Liam Cavanagh with Meena managing to escape before she was eventually caught months later and sentenced to a minimum of 75 years in prison.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorBefore there were Jon & Vinny’s sprinkled across Los Angeles, there was Animal. Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo’s nose-to-tail minimalist restaurant (435 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles) put the catering duo on the culinary map and launched a slew of spinoffs before becoming a pantry goods store during the pandemic.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentSkip City International D-Cinema Festival, a leading launching pad for emerging Japanese and world filmmakers, has unveiled the line-up for its 19th edition, which will be held July 16-24, 2022, at venues in Kawaguchi, a Tokyo suburb. In addition to its first physical screenings in three years, the festival will present an online segment July 21-27.The president of the international competition jury is Terajima Shinobu, winner of the best actress silver bear at the 2010 Berlinale for her performance in the Wakamatsu Koji’s WWII drama “Caterpillar.” The president of the Japanese film competition jury is cinematographer Ashizawa Akiko.The opening film is “Deadly School,” a coming-of-age ensemble drama about high school girls prepping for their school festival, directed by three-time Skip City winner Isobe Teppei and adapted from Asakusa Kaoru’s hit play.

Tyler Perry is making it clear that he didn’t comfort Will Smith after the actor slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.As part of the Directors Series With Gayle King during the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, the 52-year-old film mogul spoke candidly about witnessing Smith slapping Rock, and him chatting with the actor just after the shocking incident.“I was there close up, I left early to go and check on Chris because it was wrong in no uncertain terms,” Perry said about the aftermath. “I made sure I said that to Will, and when we walked over to him, he was devastated.

Lise Pedersen An enthusiastic crowd took a sneak peek at Skydance Animation’s first feature length film, “Luck,” showcased as part of the Annecy International Animation Festival’s Work in Progress section on Tuesday.The panel was composed of the film’s director Peggy Holmes (“The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning,” “The Pirate Fairy”), screenwriter Kiel Murray (“Cars,” “Finding Nemo,” “Ratatouille”), producer David Eisenmann (“Pearl,” “Son of Jaguar”), director of animation Yuriko Senoo (“Tangled,” “The Pirate Fairy”) and VFX supervisor Javier Romero (“Wonder Park,” “Planet 51”).“Luck” tells the story of Sam Greenfield, probably the unluckiest girl in the world, who one day finds a lucky penny. She decides she wants to give the penny to her best friend Hazel, but her bad luck means she loses the coin.

The British Soap Awards returned with a bang on Saturday night after a two year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Emmerdale actress Paige Sandhu stole the red carpet ahead of tonight's British Soap Awards at Hackney Empire in London.The actress played evil serial killer Mean Jutla on the ITV soap, but the star couldn't be less villainous if she tried as she arrived in the most incredible mint green gown. Strolling the red carpet with a ginormous grin ahead of the highly-anticipated ceremony, the first in the three years, Paige looked like a true goddess.The star's gown featured a plunge neckline, thousands of tiny glittering sequins, and synched in at the waist.

K.J. Yossman In the run up to Annecy festival, Netflix has unveiled a powerful slate of talent-driven animated films and series, including “That Christmas” based on BAFTA winner Richard Curtis’s children’s books, and “Ember,” Sergio Pablos’ follow-up to the Oscar-nominated “Klaus.” Netflix’s roster of animated features also boasts the musical “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” which features songs by Leslie Bricusse; an untitled animated film by Steve Box, the Oscar-winning “Wallace & Gromit” alumni.

An animated Christmas Carol, follow-up to Academy Award-nominee Klaus, adaptation of Richard Curtis’ That Christmas and untitled project from Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit’s Steve Box feature on an eight-strong slate of Netflix animated films and TV series.