Camerimage Chief Calls for ‘Renaissance’ After ‘Plague’ as In-Person Film Festival Opens

Berlin Film Festival is forging ahead with plans for an in-person celebration this February, though the new Omicron COVID-19 variant is forcing conversations about contingency plans, multiple individuals familiar with the matter told Variety.While festival insiders described the group as “determined” to gather in-person, there have been talks about pushing the event as far out as June from its current scheduled run of February 10-20, 2022.

Liza Foreman Opening this year’s Horizons of Arab Cinema section at the Cairo Film Festival, the omnibus film “Becoming” shows just how far the Saudi filmmaking community has come in supporting female filmmakers.Playing in an Out-of-Competition slot, directors Sara Mesfer, Fatima Al Banawi, Jawaher Alamri, Hind Al Fahhad and Noor Alameer collaborated to create this 70-minute fiction film, which seeks to amplify female filmmaking visions from the region.The filmmakers looked to “explore the

Naman Ramachandran Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFor the upcoming 43rd edition of the Cairo Film Festival, which is the grande dame of Arab film events, fest chief Mohamed Hefzy and his team have assembled a rich mix of top notch Arab and international titles, including the world premiere of Tunisian star Dhafer L’Abidine’s directorial debut “Ghodwa” and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) premiere of “House of Gucci.” They have also recruited high-caliber talents and industry personalities such

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Torino Film Festival, the pre-eminent event for young directors and indie cinema — now being revamped after going virtual due to the pandemic — will somewhat symbolically kick off its upcoming 39th edition with the international premiere of “Sing 2” with director Garth Jennings in tow.“It’s a hymn to going back into movie theaters,” says Torino artistic director Stefano Francia di Celle on choosing the animated musical comedy, featuring more

Jill Arul Even through the tumultuous times marked by interrupted shoot schedules and travel restrictions, the tenacity and drive to create authentic stories continues to propel Asian media far beyond any barriers.Now, after not convening in-person for a year — in some cases, two years — media conferences and festivals are springing back to life, including the Asia TV Forum & Market and ScreenSingapore (ATF|SS), Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), VidCon Asia Summit and the Singapore

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michaela Coel, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Colin Firth, Florence Pugh and other top talent.It was, as Mbatha-Raw puts it, “so un-British.” In a good way.The U.K. had its own reckoning with race following the murder of George Floyd on May 25 in America, and the local film and TV industry was quick to make declarations of allyship and engage in untold commitments.

A scene from I Am Samuel, the closing night film

Naman Ramachandran Italy’s Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes winning film “Cinema Paradiso,” will preside over the features competition jury at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec. 6-15).

George Bird Two of the most acclaimed climbing films of the year, Max Lowe’s “Torn” and The Alpinist, from Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, have taken big awards at this year’s Kendal Mountain Film Festival, held in the U.K.’s Lake District.Its hybrid edition proved once more a dazzling showcase of mountain and sports films whose subjects, themes and emotions went far beyond the adrenalin-rush thrills of reportage.Awards for the festival’s main international film competition were unveiled

Lizzo and BTS have shared photos of them attending a Harry Styles concert together.On November 19, members of BTS met up with Lizzo at The Forum in Inglewood, California, where they watched a concert by Harry Styles.

Looking back. Though Eddie Redmayne received an Oscar nomination for his role of Lili Elbe in 2015’s The Danish Girl, he caught flak from critics who felt he was the wrong choice for the transgender character.

Will Tizard ContributorCinematographer Haris Zambarloukos has taken on ambitious visions for his longtime director comrade Kenneth Branagh, from the opulent pre-war world of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” and “Murder on the Orient Express” to the excesses of “Sleuth.”But for the duo’s new film “Belfast,” based on Branagh’s childhood home and his family’s encounters with “the Troubles” of sectarian conflict there, they took a different approach, Zambarloukos says.“In this case it really

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentActor Alec Baldwin, an actor in “Rust” as well as a producer, fired the prop gun during a scene rehearsal and has told investigators he had no idea the weapon was loaded with a dangerous round. He has since been sued by a crew member over safety issues on set, an issue that has also prompted the ire of George Clooney, who has called the shooting “insane and infuriating.” Brooks, also a mother, confessed the news of Hutchins death hit her hard.

Marta Balaga Acclaimed cinematographers and ASC members Michael Chapman and Allen Daviau, who both died last year, were the focus of a legacy panel at EnergaCamerimage Film Festival on Monday, led by the likes of Lawrence Sher (“Joker”), Xavier Pérez Grobet (“Watchmen”), Amy Vincent (‘Footloose”) and Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”).Nominated for five Oscars for his work on “Bugsy,” “Avalon,” “Empire of the Sun,” “The Color Purple” and “E.T.

Joss Stone delighted fans on Monday with a rare UK TV appearance as she joined Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning for an interview. Dressed chicly in a pair of black flared trousers and a black velvet blouse with cut-out panelling, the Devon-born singer looked effortlessly sophisticated as she sat on the couch.

A beloved mother-of-two died after waiting ‘almost an hour’ for an ambulance to arrive, having been ‘struggling to breathe’ and heard screaming ‘help me, I’m dying, I can't breathe’ in heart-wrenching 999 call recordings.

Hilary Duff, 34, says that she’s expecting people to brand her a “child abuser” after getting her seven month old daughter’s ears pierced.The mum of three shared a sweet snap of her youngest child, Mae, on social media where the baby can be seen wearing small diamond earrings. She captioned the photo: “Yes! I pierced her ears today.