Briarcliff Acquires 'Icarus' Director's Khashoggi Film 'The Dissident'

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn “Spagat,” his feature film debut, Swiss director Christian Johannes Koch tells the story of a high school teacher whose double life begins to come apart while also examining the difficult life of an immigrant laborer with no papers.Set in rural Switzerland, the film follows Marina, a married mother and teacher who is having an affair with Ukrainian immigrant Artem.

Sudan documentary maker Hajooj Kuka, a new member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and one of five artists recently jailed in Khartoum, has received a call for an immediate release by the Toronto Film Festival. "Hajooj Kuka is an exceptional filmmaker.

Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco Entertainment (BNEE) is acquiring Montreal-based developer Reflector Entertainmentfrom Lune Rouge. The deal, which also includes the subsidiary Reflector Interactive, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year and will see Reflector founderAlexandre Amancio stay on as chief creative officer.

Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui, one of Venice’s two Career Golden Lion recipients this year alongside Tilda Swinton, brings prewar Hong Kong to exquisite if restrained life in her latest historical drama, Love After Love (Di Yu Lu Xiang).

Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa nabbed another career honor Sunday, winning the Venice Film Festival's best director award for Wife of a Spy, the first period drama of his prolific filmography. Set in 1940 Kobe, Japan, the film stars Issey Takahashi (Kill Bill, Shin Godzilla) as a debonair silk merchant whose cosmopolitan world view is on a collision course with Japan's advancing militarism and stifling social conformity.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentVariety spoke with Kiyoshi Kurosawa the day after the world premiere of his World War II suspense drama “Wife of a Spy” in competition at the Venice Film Festival. A frequent invitee to Venice, Cannes and other major festivals, Kurosawa did the interview via Zoom from the Tokyo office of his Japanese distributor.

Brandon Choe Photo EditorShowtime’s documentary Kingdom of Silence examines the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as a backdrop to the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

according to Business Insider.Business Insider obtained a copy of Woodward’s forthcoming book, “Rage,” and reported Thursday that Trump said during one of his interviews for the book, “I saved his ass. I was able to get Congress to leave him alone.

Alissa Simon Film CriticThe winner of Karlovy Vary’s East of the West prize for her debut, “The Wednesday Child” (2015), Hungarian multihyphenate Lili Horvát screens “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival after its world premiere in Venice Days.

Also Read: 'The Father' Starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman Acquired by Sony Pictures Classics Ahead of SundanceFlynn will play Winton as a young man working to do his humanitarian work, while Hopkins will play Winton 50 years later when he has a surprise reunion with the now grown children whose lives he helped save, all of which was captured on the BBC TV show “That’s Life.”Canning, Sherman and Joanna Laurie are producing “One Life.” The film will be executive produced by Rose Garnett

Ed Meza @edmezavarParis-based Kinology has acquired world rights for Finnish director Aino Suni’s psychological thriller “A Girl’s Room.”Cannes-based Adastra Films is teaming on the project with Hamburg shingle and “System Crasher” producer Oma Inge Film and Helsinki-based Made.Suni’s feature debut follows Elina, a 17-year-old aspiring Finnish rapper forced to leave her home for the south of France after her mother finds a French boyfriend.

Ben Croll Viewed in a certain light, the noirish romantic thriller “Lovers,” which premiered on Sept.

An international crime is coming into focus.

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticShowtime will premiere its original documentary Kingdom of Silence about the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2 – the two-year anniversary of Khashoggi’s death.Directed by Emmy-winning Documenting Hate filmmaker Rick Rowley and exec-produced by Alex Gibney in collaboration with Lawrence Wright, Kingdom of Silence examines the relationship between the U.S.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaUtopia Distribution has acquired “Turning Point,” a documentary that follows researchers in their quest to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s. It will premiere on Altavod, Utopia’s new distribution platform on Sept.

Hillary Clinton attended the premiere, as did Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz.But perhaps because of global media companies who feared the wrath of the authoritative Saudi Arabian regime that the film alleges was behind Khashoggi's murder, no distribution deal followed. Nearly eight months later, one has finally materialized.

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmOne of the best reviewed hot-button documentaries of last Sundance has finally been claimed and given an opportunity to be seen. Briarcliff Entertainment acquired U.S.