Canada Selects Four Debut Feature Length Films for Cannes Docs-in-Progress Showcase

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Primetime Emmy nominee David Oyelowo will star opposite Kaley Cuoco in the Studiocanal and Picture Company high-concept thriller Role Play, which we hear will roll cameras in four weeks in Berlin. We also hear that Amazon Prime Video is in final talks to take the US and several major offshore territories.

Chloe Okuno’s feature debut Watcher recorded the biggest opening weekend grosses ever for IFC Films and its IFC Midnight/Shudder label on 764 U.S. screens — also one of the distributor’s widest ever releases.

The 16 year old son of Madonna, David Banda, showed off his eclectic sense of style in a bright red dress as he stepped out with his famous mother at the Davis vs Romero fight event for the WBA World Lightweight Championship on Saturday. David showed off his sartorial sense of style at the match in Brooklyn, USA, in the long-sleeved, ankle length T-shirt dress from the highly-anticipated Adidas x Gucci collection, which will officially launch on 7 June.The dress had a plunging v-shaped neckline, and David made the most of the skin space, donning a number of pendant necklaces. He also wore blue-tinted shades, a graffiti-printed bag and, of course, Adidas trainers to complete the look.

David Foster received an incredible honor this weekend in his native Canada and his wife Katharine McPhee was there to help celebrate!

The sweet and friendly Teletubbies from the beloved children’s television show left Teletubbyland and headed straight to the London Palladium to audition for “Britain’s Got Talent.”

Joe Wicks has revealed that he featured in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films and spilled some behind-the-scenes secrets about filming.The 36 year old took to Instagram on Friday to answer questions from fans about his life, family, and fitness. One fan asked a question, "Where you an extra on one of the Harry Potter films?". Joe, also known as The Body Coach, revealed that he had two minor roles in the films after one of his friends worked on the sets of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One and Part Two.The fitness coach was a Death Eater and a Snatcher during the movies, which were filmed in 2009 and 2010.

Top Gun: Maverick” are both surprising and confusing: “Music by Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer. Score produced by Lorne Balfe.”That may sound like a musical mess, but aside from Gaga, all the players have connections to the original “Top Gun” or each other through previous collaborations.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorOn Saturday, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg celebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival.These were Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” in Competition, Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider,” in Competition, Emily Atef’s “More Than Ever,” in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Un beau matin,” in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s “The Natural History of Destruction,” in Special Screening, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ “Mariupolis 2,” in Special Screening.Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding the films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.” Speaking about the type of films Medienboard likes to fund, she said: “Not very original but true – we prefer films that bring something original to an audience. That goes for mainstream as well as young talent and arthouse.

Lise Pedersen The top IEFTA (Intl. Film Talent Assn.) award for docs-in-progress at the Cannes Film Market’s documentary-focused industry sidebar Cannes Docs has gone to “Twice Colonized” by Lin Alluna.The film was developed by the Circle Women Doc Accelerator, a training program for female-identifying documentary filmmakers.The win marks a hat-trick for Circle since they started their partnership with Cannes Docs in 2020: previous IEFTA Docs-in-Progress Award laureates at the industry event include “Beauty of the Beast” by Anna Nemes, produced by Circle 2018 alumna Ágnes Horváth-Szabó, and “Cent’anni” by Circle 2020 alumna Maja Prelog, produced by Rok Biček.“Twice Colonized” tells the story of renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter who has led a lifelong fight for the rights of her people.

Neon has acquired North American rights to Ruben Östlund’s buzzy satire, Triangle of Sadness, following its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentREinvent International Sales has closed major territory sales on “UFO Sweden,” a science fiction movie adventure from Crazy Pictures, a Swedish film collective whose past credits includes the 2018 hit movie “The Unthinkable.”Described as a mix between “X-Files” and “Stranger Things,” “UFO Sweden” is set in a small town and follows a teenage rebel placed in foster care, who suspects that her father is not dead, but has been kidnapped by UFOs. With the help from a UFO association, she is determined to find out the truth.

At a press conference for his new film “Crimes of the Future” at the Cannes Film Festival, Canadian director David Cronenberg was asked about the film’s politics and the abortion debate in America.

In David Cronenberg’s latest genre twister, Crimes of the Future, Viggo Mortensen and Lea Seydoux plays partners who are performance artists, engrossed in performing surgery (largely on the former) for public nightclub spectacle. They’re enthralled with the freedom they can take on each other’s bodies. All of this in a governing society that’s not too fond of it.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentSaudi Arabian filmmaker, actress and activist Fatima Al-Banawi (“Barakah Meets Barakah”) is set to make her feature film directorial debut with “Basma,” a bold drama that will tackle the theme of mental illness in her country.The pic, which she also wrote, is set to start shooting in Jeddah in October.Besides writing and directing “Basma,” Al Banawi will be its titular star, playing the 26-year-old daughter of a man who suffers from paranoid delusions. Upon returning from the U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: MUBI has picked up U.S. and Canadian rights to Ricky D’Ambrose’s The Cathedral starring Top Gun: Maverick’s Monica Barbaro.

Emilio Mayorga From Berlin Golden Bear winner ‘Alcarrás’ to Cannes Competition title ‘Pacifiction,’ these projects will represent Catalonia at Cannes.Alcarràs Director: Carla Simón The 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner, a family farm drama marking the flagship title for Catalonia’s newest generation of cineastes. Sales: MK2 FilmsAmazing Elisa Director: Sadrac González-Perellón The next from 2017 BiFan Grand Jury Prize winner González- Perellón (“Black Hollow Cage”), once more mixing fantasy and family dynamics as Elisa, 12, seeks revenge after her mother’s tragic death. La Charito Films produces.

Facebook after being informed by Gardiner’s widow Virginia Scott.Iggy Pop wrote a touching tribute to his friend on Twitter upon hearing of his death. “Dearest Ricky, lovely, lovely man, shirtless in your coveralls, nicest guy who ever played guitar. Thanks for the memories and the songs, rest eternal in peace.”Gardiner was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1948 and became a self-taught musician from a young age.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentEight years after “Maps to the Stars,” David Cronenberg is coming back to the Cannes Film Festival with what looks to be a big bang. Weaving together equal parts body horror and dystopian panache, “Crimes of the Future” instantly became one of the most buzzed-about competition films after Neon dropped the trailer on April 14, the day of Cannes’ press conference. The lushly-lensed film, which reunites Cronenberg with his muse Viggo Mortensen (“A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises”) along with Kristen Stewart and Lea Seydoux, could prove as divisive as the Canadian master’s 1996 cult film “Crash” which went on to scoop Cannes’ very first Special Jury Prize for “its audacity, daring and originality.” Ahead of the start of the festival, Cronenberg sat down with Variety in Paris to talk about the long-gestating “Crimes of the Future,” the making of the picture, its underlying themes, while speaking candidly about the difficulty of financing challenging films, as well as his stance on streamers and  U.S.