Arab Cinema Rises on International Stage

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian multi-hyphenate Ilaria Borrelli’s Arabic-language feminist drama “The Goat” – featuring Mira Sorvino and John Savage, alongside a stellar Egyptian cast – is set for back-to-back launches at Egypt’s upcoming El Gouna Film Festival, followed by the closing film slot at the Rome Film Festival. A rare, if not unique, case of an Arab production directed by an Italian, “The Goat” stars young Egyptian TikTok star Jessica Hosam as an 11-year-old pregnant orphan named Hadya who after being forced into marriage becomes the target of a western corporation that seeks to control the only water source in her village.

Fox News Bret Baier sat down with Saudi Arabian leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tonight and, to Baier’s credit, asked some pointed questions which MBS – as he is known – answered in turn with degrees of candor and deflection.

Egypt has selected comedy Voy! Voy! Voy! as its candidate for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent A lavish Arabic-language film titled “Sukkar,” that draws inspiration from U.S. writer Jean Webster’s epistolary novel “Daddy-Long-Legs” and is being touted as the Arab world’s first musical movie in the Western canon, is set to release in cinemas across the Middle East and North Africa.

A first-time filmmaker has claimed the top prize at the 19th Annual Camden Film Festival in Maine, one of the country’s foremost all-documentary festivals.

EXCLUSIVE: S.S. Rajamouli is currently assembling a production team for a new movie about the birth and rise of Indian Cinema.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”) will preside over the main jury of the 6th edition of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, which has announced its full lineup, featuring a rich mix of Arabic and international titles making their Middle East premieres as they compete for top prizes. Following a one-year hiatus, the Oct.

Organizers of the Camden International Film Festival in coastal Maine are moving ahead with regular programming today, as Hurricane Lee – downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone – aims further north towards Nova Scotia.

In what’s being billed as the Saudi leader’s “first interview with a major American news network since 2019,” Fox News announced that Bret Baier will sit down with Mohammed bin Salman for a “no holds barred” conversation.

Making a grand entrance into the world of directing, Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard present their feature debut, Hell of a Summer. With the vibes reminiscent of Friday the 13th and Sleep Away Camp, this film delivers nostalgia that captures the essence of the golden age of horror slasher cinema. Each character checks off the 1980s horror trope boxes, ensuring that every campy moment feels both authentic and delightfully over the top. Bryk and Wolfhard also star.

Here are your Manchester City evening headlines for Friday, September 8.

Fans of the “NCIS” franchise better prepare to pack up and step foot onto a flight down under.

On its surface, a comedy about a college professor who becomes a phony hitman for the police department to catch criminals hoping to whack a stubborn spouse or bothersome business associate might seem an odd fit for a European festival noted for heavy dramas and extended runtimes. It helps, of course, that Hit Man, which premieres at Venice Film Festival this evening, is directed by Richard Linklater, a noted master of independent filmmaking for more than 30 years, and that initial reactions to it have been universally effusive.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rani R. Raad, a former president of CNN Commercial Worldwide, has been appointed CEO of Abu Dhabi-based media company International Media Investments.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is adamant about his decision to place six Italian movies in this year’s 23-title festival lineup. “Nobody accused the French of chauvinism because they had seven French films in competition in Cannes this year,” Barbera quipped to a snarky Italian reporter when the Venice lineup was announced in July, though he did concede, “It’s true that in the past I have not done this.” Indeed, Barbera’s previous limit on Italian movies in competition for the Golden Lion was five titles last year, which some local critics considered a stretch.

Though Labor Day is upon us domestically — and its somewhat equivalents in many overseas markets to mark the end of summer — the hits keep coming as holds this session were strong on the season’s leaders while a new entry surprised. To wit, and starting with the latter: Sony/Escape Artists’ The Equalizer 3 blazed to a $60.6M global start this weekend, to clock the franchise’s best opening ever. Of that, the $26.1M debut in 49 international box office markets was also a new record bow for the Denzel Washington-led series.

Con-Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider director Simon West will shoot his upcoming historic drama Antara in Saudi Arabia in the country’s growing production hub of Neom.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British Hollywood director Simon West (“Con Air,” “Lara Croft:Tomb Raider”) is set to direct Saudi Arabia-set epic “Antara” that will be shot in Neom, the sprawling production hub in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern corner. The English-language blockbuster based on Arab history is the tale of Antara ibn Shaddad, a slave warrior who was propelled to mythical status in the sixth century after winning his freedom and becoming a beloved knight and a widely celebrated Bedouin poet in the region. “Antara,” which was announced during the Venice Film Festival – where there is a strong Saudi industry presence – is co-produced by Irish entrepreneur, writer and producer Alexander Amartei.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “City of Wind” depicts a version of Mongolian everyday life that is both traditional and modern. Ulaanbaatar is shown as messy and sprawlingly urban in a fashion that will be familiar to millions of city dwellers in Asia — even if there are yurts in the front garden. Presented in Venice’s Horizons section, and then Toronto, “City” starts as a story of a shaman, who is still of school age.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While at the Venice Film Festival to pay tribute to Ruggero Deodato, “Drive” and “The Neon Demon” filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn participated in a masterclass and bashed streamers for being “overfunded and rotten with money and cocaine.” The director, who previously infuriated some in the film biz by claiming that “cinema is dead,” said he has somewhat changed his mind and will now fight for cinema to continue on because streamers have “kind of saturated everything” and “devalued content to just a swipe.” Refn, who last directed the series “Copenhagen Cowboy” for Netflix, said “it’s incredibly sad and terrifying because art is essentially the only thing – besides, you know, sex, water and happiness — that makes us exist.” “Even though I projected it was dead a few years ago, it has changed into something we have to fight for,” he added. “Theatrical movies are part of what makes us human and experience creativity.” The director, who lives in Copenhagen with his wife and children, went on to tie streamers to the dangers of artificial intelligence saying that it’s “certainly something affecting our industry.” “AI is not an artist,” Refn proclaimed.