Aya Films Acquires U.K. Rights to Sundance Award Winner ‘Mami Wata,’ Teaser Debuts (EXCLUSIVE)

Acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, The Boy And The Heron (aka How Do You Live?), hit Japanese theatres on Friday, July 14 with no advance publicity apart from a title and a poster. 

Amazon Prime Video‘s Mr. & Mrs. Smith series has been revealed, offering us our first look at Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) and Maya Erskine in the titular roles.The clip – which accompanies previews of other upcoming Prime Video shows – was released over the weekend on Prime Day.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Les Films du Losange has unveiled the trailer for “Un Silence,” Joachim Lafosse’s thought-provoking film starring Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Devos that will world premiere in competition at San Sebastian Film Festival. Tackling themes of abuse, the timely film revolves around Astrid (Devos), the wife of an acclaimed lawyer (Auteuil). Silenced for 25 years, her family balance suddenly collapses when her children initiate their own search for justice. One of Belgium’s leading filmmakers, Lafosse is best known internationally for 2012’s “Our Children,” a heart-wrenching drama based on a true story starring Emilie Dequenne and Tahar Rahim. “Our Children” represented Belgium in the Oscars race. “Un Silence” will mark Joachim’s follow up to “The Restless,” which competed at Cannes in 2021 and also explored imploding family dynamics.

Some of the biggest names in sports are expected to take home a silver statue at this year’s ESPY Awards.  

Brent Lang Executive Editor The American Theatre Wing has unveiled the panel of judges and eligibility details for the 2023 edition of the Obie Awards. The annual celebration of the best of Off and Off Off Broadway is now in its 67th year. The jury will be co-chaired by Obie-winning director David Mendizábal (“Sanctuary City”) and veteran theater critic Melissa Rose Bernardo.  New 2023 Obie judges are Dede Ayite, an Obie-winning and Tony-nominated costume designer who has worked on “Topdog Underdog” and “American Buffalo”; Ty Defoe, writer and Grammy Award winner; Ann C. James, Broadway’s first Black intimacy coordinator for Antoinette Nwandu’s “Pass Over”; Florencia Lozano, actor, writer, performance artist who has appeared in “Rinse, Repeat” and “Devil of Choice”; Dael Orlandersmith, playwright of “Stoop Stories” and “Yellowman”; and Carmelita Tropicana, an Obie-winning downtown performance artist.

“The Old Oak” with a planned release in early 2024. Zeitgeist and Kino Lorber previously released Loach’s 2020 film “Sorry We Missed You” and will first release “The Old Oak” at the Film Forum in New York before expanding it to arthouses nationwide.

Naman Ramachandran Jaadugar Films and Sameer Raj Sippy Productions have teamed to remake 1970s Hindi-language Indian classics “Mili,” “Koshish” and “Bawarchi” that were produced under N.C. Sippy’s banner. Directed by Gulzar, who would go on to win an Oscar for “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Koshish” (1972), an homage to 1961 Japanese film “Happiness of Us Alone,” starred Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bachchan (nee Bhaduri). It followed a deaf-mute couple who fight against the odds to live a life of dignity. Kumar won best actor and Gulzar best screenplay at India’s National Film Awards. “Bawarchi” (1972), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, was a remake of Tapan Sinha’s 1966 Bengali-language film “Galpo Holeo Satti” and starred Rajesh Khanna and Jaya Bachchan. In the film, Khanna plays a talented domestic helper who transforms a dysfunctional middle-class family.

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has concluded yet another wonderful week of cinematic discoveries. Previously announced awards were given to a variety of contributors to global cinema.

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 – July 8) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that bestowed two key prizes to contemporary Bulgarian drama Blaga’s Lessons (Urotcite Na Blaga) by director Stephan Komandarev.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter ESPN Films is working on a docuseries about the legendary Gracie family, Variety has learned exclusively. Titled “Gracie,” the series will delve deep into the family’s history and dissect how they became the founders of Brazilian jiu jitsu, which serves as a major cornerstone of modern mixed martial arts (MMA). The official description of the series states: “Featuring larger-than-life personalities, triumphs and tragedies, deep loyalties, passionate loves and deadly feuds, ‘Gracie’ will explore the essence of family, honor, legacy, and humanity’s innate desire to fight. Told through the eyes of key Gracie family members, the series will dive deep into an epic family saga that takes audiences from Scotland and Japan, to Brazil and America.”

She really is one of the girls and Love Island host, Maya Jama, proved this further by admitting the one thing that she asks show producers not to tell her while she's filming. The gorgeous host took to her Instagram to give fans a sneaky snippet about how she likes to host the show best - and her secret is genuinely not knowing what's about to happen next either, just like fans watching at home.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry strand has unveiled the winners of it’s project showcases, which took place at the fest from July 2-4.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Films Boutique will handle international sales on Filipino master Lav Díaz’s “Essential Truths of The Lake,” one of the highest-profile titles in the just announced main International Competition at this year’s Locarno Festival.  The Berlin and Lyon-based production-sales company’s fifth collaboration with Diaz following, among others, Venice Golden Bear Winner “The Woman Who Left” and Berlin Silver Bear Winner “Lullaby To A Sorrowful Mystery,” “Essential Truths of The Lake” marks a prequel to Diaz’s ‘When The Waves Are Gone’ that premiered out of competition at Venice last year. It reprises the character of the ethically conflicted police lieutenant Hermes Papauran, one of the best investigators of the Philippines. When asked what drives a man to search for the truth, Papauran says dejectedly that maybe he just wants to keep inflicting pain on himself. 

Naman Ramachandran SonyLIV has acquired exclusive streaming rights to acclaimed Bangladeshi films “Hawa” and “Saturday Afternoon” from Reliance Entertainment and Continental Entertainment PTE Ltd (CEPL). Directed by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, “Hawa” follows the journey of an all-men team on a fishing trawler, whose routine is disrupted when they haul in a mysterious catch. The cast is led by hugely popular star Chanchal Chowdhury and includes Nazifa Tushi, Sariful Islam Razz, Sumon Anowar, Nasir Uddin Khan and Shohel Mondol. The film was Bangladesh’s entry to the Oscars and is one of the highest grossers from the country having also found distribution in India, Singapore and the Middle East. It will premiere July 7 on SonyLIV.

In three weekends, Greta Gerwig‘s “Barbie” squares off against Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” for this summer’s big box-office battle. So which film will walk away victorious? Both movies boast stacked ensemble casts, but given its soundtrack, premise, and Margot Robbie as its lead, “Barbie” may be 2023’s movie to beat.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The board of the European Film Academy – the organization behind the European Film Awards – has decided to restructure board membership for 2024. The change will ensure an equal voice for different parts of Europe in strategic decisions. From the upcoming elections onwards, representatives on the board will be chosen from 15 regions in Europe. The move is designed to give a more equal distribution of voices from across Europe on the board. The restructuring will take place in two stages, allowing current board members elected in December 2022 for a two-year period to finish their mandate until the end of 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has signed a five-year deal with Japanese screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto, winner of the Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s competition title Monster. 

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has picked up rights to the crime thriller Mother’s Milk, directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte (As You Are), with plans to distribute it in North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The film in which two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) stars opposite Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon) and Jack Reynor (Midsommar) will hit theaters across North America beginning September 1, debuting in the other territories shortly thereafter.

Sideshow and Janus Films have snapped up all US rights to Wim Wenders’ Cannes title Anselm, a 3D documentary about the celebrated contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Samuel Goldwyn Films has unveiled the trailer for “Simone: Woman of the Century,” a biopic of Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who became health minister of France and championed the 1975 law that legalized abortion in France.  Directed by Olivier Dahan, best-known for his Oscar-winning Edith Piaf biopic “La Vie en Rose,” “Simone” boasts powerful performances by Elsa Zylberstein and Rebecca Marder. The key cast is completed by Elodie Bouchez, Sylvie Testud and Olivier Gourmet. The film was a box office hit in France, where it was released by Warner Bros and ranked as 2022’s third highest-grossing French-language hit with over 2.5 million tickets sold. Samuel Goldwyn Films is planning to release the film in U.S. theaters, opening in New York and Los Angeles on Aug. 18, followed by a wider rollout.