Athens-Based Intl. Emerging Film Talent Foundation Launches to Support ‘Unseen and Unheard Talent’ (EXCLUSIVE)

This year’s Britain’s Got Talent winner, singer Sydnie Christmas, has written a tense statement on Instagram in response to social media allegations from viewers that the result of the hugely successful talent show was fixed in her favour. Fans were quick to spot that it received support from judge Amanda Holden, who pressed her Golden Buzzer for Sydnie and secured her a spot in the semi-final. Posting alongside a photo of the email she received inviting her to her original BGT audition, Sydnie began by thanking those who supported her: “How do I even start to write this.To my dear family and friends near and far.There is not a word out there that is big enough to describe my love, and gratitude to every single one of you who believed in me.

Jack Dunn The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival has slated two world premieres and one international premiere for its 2024 edition, which runs July 18-Aug. 4. This year’s full lineup, which will be announced June 18, will highlight the diversity of Jewish experience across the globe.

Addie Morfoot Contributor “La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that premiered at the 2024 Berlinale, is among four feature films that will screen at the inaugural Croatian International Film Festival beginning Aug. 8. The four-day event, set in the coastal city of Sibenik, will also feature 18 documentary and narrative shorts, giving the struggling independent film market an additional international venue to screen movies and launch careers.

Teri Hayden, a trailblazing talent agent whose work in early 1980s Ireland helped launch the onscreen careers of Gabriel Byrne and Brendan Gleeson, as well as his son Domhnall Gleeson, died April 18 after a long illness. She was 75.

Peter Andre made a shock appearance on the final of Britain's Got Talent. The 90s hitmaker made a cameo during magician act Trixy's performance tonight during the final of the ITV talent competition.

Peter Andre surprised fans with an unexpected cameo during the Britain's Got Talent final.The Mysterious Girl singer popped up in magician Trixy's act, leaving the audience and judges gobsmacked.The magic began when Simon Cowell was asked to pick a number between one and 52, with the TV personality choosing number 34. Trixy then revealed his phone list pairing musicians with numbers, and under 34 was none other than Peter Andre.

Selena Kuznikov The Inevitable Foundation, a non-profit organization that invests in disabled writers and filmmakers, is launching its Visionary Fellowship for disabled filmmakers, supported exclusively by Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity. The fellowship is a year-long program that provides disabled filmmakers with funding, mentorship and community to make a short film and leverage it into their debut future.

Katcy Stephan Diablo Cody and Mason Novick are teaming with Wattpad Webtoon Studios to produce an adaptation of the popular Webtoon webcomic “Death of a Pop Star” as a film. The script will be written by rising screenwriter and producer Isa Mazzei (“Cam,” “Faces of Death,” “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”).

Tina Knowles is defending Kelly Rowland after that red carpet incident at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival earlier this week.

Tom Holland was feeling the love from his Marvel family, especially girlfriend Zendaya, when he took the stage for opening night of Romeo and Juliet at the Duke of York’s Theatre on Thursday night (May 23) in London, England.

calendar—is in full swing, and you better believe the A-listers are posing up a storm in the south of France.A luminous made an appearance with her daughter, Marlowe; swapped diamonds for an affordable ensemble; and supermodel just sailed into port. But we couldn’t help but notice that the women making the biggest splash are all 50-plus.By GlamourPerhaps it’s the confidence that comes with getting older, or maybe it’s just the fact that each and every one of them looks absolutely incredible, but the likes of (61), (53), (61), Isabelle Huppert (71), Julianne Moore (63), (57), Uma Thurman (54) and Jane Fonda (86) have all owned the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.Salma HayekMichelle YeohIt’s an exhaustive list of women who, in a different era, would have been subtly sidelined in the industry.

Naman Ramachandran Athens-based sales and production outfit Heretic has sold key territories on the Cannes Film Festival‘s ACID sidebar opening film, Greece’s “Kyuka: Before Summer’s End.” Heretic has sealed distribution deals for France with The Dark, Benelux with Gusto Entertainment and Greece with Cinobo. Directed by feature debutant Kostis Charamountanis, who previously directed several acclaimed shorts, the film follows a family of three, a single father, Babis, and his twin children on the verge of adulthood, Konstantinos and Elsa, who sail to the island of Poros on the family boat for their holidays.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Manila-based production outfit Parallax Studio and entertainment company Saga Film Studios have formed a joint venture that will distribute the two-part Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga” in the Philippines. The deal is the first of a number of acquisitions planned by the joint venture. The “Horizon: An American Saga” films are directed by and star Academy Award winner Kevin Costner.

Marta Balaga The “Mavka” franchise is just getting started. Ukraine’s FILM.UA Group is now developing a live-action film based on the character already spotlighted in “Mavka. The Forest Song,” Variety has found out.

Selena Kuznikov Renovo Media Group has launched a new studio and facility in Clear Lake, Iowa, set to be led by Lisa Crnic as president, Aaron Wiederspahn as head of scripted, and Ben Parrish as head of unscripted. The group is led by chairman David Kingland. Renovo Media Group will develop, finance and produce feature films, scripted and unscripted docs and series and commercial productions.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent French-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch is in Cannes for the third time with “Everybody Loves Touda,” launching out of competition. The film tells the story of a young poet and singer steeped in an ancient Moroccan form of folk song called aita, but forced to perform trashy pop songs in bars filled with abusive men. Below, Ayouch speaks with Variety about what “Touda” says about Morocco today.

Marta Balaga Following “The Zone of Interest,” Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” and Berlinale offering “Treasure,” about a Holocaust survivor, the latter starring Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham, Poland might be welcoming more foreign shoots in the future. “I would always be willing to return and shoot in Poland,” says “Treasure” director Julia von Heinz. “Our co-producer Mariusz Włodarski from Lava Films realized that during the tenure of the Law and Justice [PiS] government, there was no chance of obtaining public funding for a story where Polish people are portrayed not just as victims and heroes, but as complex human beings.

EXCLUSIVE: Vue founder and CEO Tim Richards caused a stir last month with an intriguing appearance in front of the UK Parliament’s British Film & High-End TV Inquiry. 

K.J. Yossman Israel’s foremost documentary market CoPro has unveiled its main slate ahead of the event next month.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Female stunt performer Wiriya Caesar will step up into the lead performer role in upcoming Thai action film “The 24.” The film project is being launched this week in the Cannes Market by new international sales firm Boz Pictures. Wiriya (aka Porntip Wiriya, aka “Fan”) has previously been a stunt double for Mary-Elizabeth Winstead in “Kate” and Golshifteh Farahani in “Extraction,” and has other credits on “Thirteen Lives” and “Hidden Strike.” In “The 24” she will star as an assassin who wakes up with a time bomb strapped to her body. She has clear instructions to kill a hit list of 24 members of the Bangkok underground, with each successful hit buying her more time alive. Caesar is joined in the cast by Japan’s Sakaguchi Tak (“Re:Born,” “One Percenter,” “Versus”), Dan Chupong (“Ong Bak 1 &2,” “Born to Fight”), Sunny Pang (“The Night Comes for Us,” “Headshot” and Gareth Evans’ upcoming “Havoc”) and Simon Kook (“Ip Man 3,” “Mayhem”). The film, which will shoot in the fourth quarter of this year, is written and directed by Lee Thongkham (“The Maid,” “The Lake,” “Kitty the Killer”).