Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Unveils New Selection Committee

ITVX and Viaplay four-partner Litvinenko, which will see David Tennant playing the doomed Russian dissident, has sold into 80 territories ahead of its launch. AMC+ and Sundance Now have taken rights in the U.S., while Prime Video bagged Canada from distributor ITV Studios. 

Marta Balaga Emily Blunt left her mark on Cannes, and not just with her acclaimed performances.  The actor, in town for the pre-Mipcom premiere of the first episode of her six-part series “The English,” also left a handprint in wet concrete, joining the likes of Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep or David Lynch. Blunt was joined on the red carpet by co-star Chaske Spencer, as well as writer and director Hugo Blick, the latter also behind Maggie Gyllenhaal starrer “The Honorable Woman.”  In “The English,” Blunt plays an aristocratic Englishwoman, Lady Cornelia Locke, who comes to America in the 1890s. It’s hardly a welcoming place, but she joins forces with Pawnee Scout Eli Whipp. She is hoping to track down a man who is responsible for her son’s death. He wants to reclaim his land. 

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

“peg the patriarchy,” shirt to the 2021 Met Gala, and she has said she identifies as pansexual.“Growing up as a queer child was isolating and hard to navigate at times,” she told the Sunday Times. “My sisters did their best to be there for me but it was something I had to go through myself to truly know who I was.

Weeks before The Walking Dead reaches its series finale, AMC’s zombie apocalypse series today offered a glimpse and a sort of premiere date for its forthcoming Lauren Cohan and Jeffery Dean Morgan-starring, New York-set spinoff at New York Comic Con.

Paramount+ today debuted the official mid-season trailer for season one of its original animated kids’ series, Star Trek: Prodigy. The trailer was introduced by executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman, during the “Star Trek” universe panel at New York Comic Con.

“Never a dull moment,” proclaims Star Trek: Discovery’s Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) in the just released trailer for the upcoming fifth season of the Paramount+ series.

Today Focus Features opens Tár, the strikingly original return of Todd Field, in four locations in NY and LA. The film premiered at Venice winning star Cate Blanchett Best Actress as musician and conductor Lydia Tár. Early this week, it seemed to mesmerize a sold-out Allice Tully Hall at the New York Film Festival.

Manori Ravindran International Editor It may officially be the year of the tiger in the Chinese Zodiac calendar, but in the world of film, it’s definitely the year of the wee donkey. The humble equine features in films such as Searchlight’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” and even Neon’s “Triangle of Sadness,” but nowhere is this loyal beast of burden in the spotlight more than Janus Films and Sideshow’s “EO,” from legendary Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. The film — which shared the Cannes Jury Prize with Félix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s “The Eight Mountains” — shares a vision of modern Europe through the prism of a gray donkey, EO, who is torn away by animal activists from his beloved circus performer owner, and passed from hand to hand in the service of humans. On his life’s path, EO meets all sorts of people and experiences joy and pain, as well as disasters and unexpected bliss.

Beyoncé stars in an irresistibly energetic new ad campaign for Tiffany & Co.

The Only Way is Essex star Demi Sims has unveiled a gigantic new back tattoo in new topless snaps posted to her Instagram page. Demi, 26, removed her top and bra as she showed off her new and extravagant inking to her 580k followers.

Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver are stepping out to promote their new movie.

Em merdale fans were left distracted on Tuesday's episode as they noticed that Chas Dingle, played by Lucy Pargeter, had a new hairdo and fringe. During the latest instalment, Faith Dingle, who is tragically dying from cancer, wanted her family to have a day of fun as Chas attempted to keep positive while Cain Dingle, as his mother's power of attorney, wanted to talk about her end of life care.

An upcoming unauthorized biography takes a look inside the final painful days leading up to Anthony Bourdain’s death.

Russia has opted not to submit a film in the Best International Feature category at the 95th Oscars. The decision, revealed late Monday night, was made by the Russian Film Academy and comes as the country’s ties with the west have deteriorated amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

David E. Kelley’s investigative drama series “The Calling” were released Monday by Peacock, offering a glimpse into the show ahead of its Nov. 10 debut on the streamer. Adapted from a series of novels by author Dror Mishani, the show’s plot follows a New York Police Department detective named Avraham Avraham (Jeff Wilbush), who typically relies on spirituality to guide his pursuit of truth until one investigation makes him rethink his beliefs. The series stars Wilbush, Juliana Canfield, Karen Robinson and Michael Mosley. One image highlights a particularly tense, yet slightly absurd moment where Wilbush is locked hands with a man wearing a hotdog suit in what looks like the context of an interrogation.

A true story about a creep who stalks a family in their New Jersey home is now the subject of The Watcher, a Netflix limited series from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan that premieres Oct. 13.

This year “All That Breathes” became the first film to win both Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema) and Cannes’ Documentary Prize. Directed by Shaunak Sen, the documentary follows two brothers in Delhi on their journey to protect a bird known as the black kite in an urban environment overrun with pollution and civil violence.

Naman Ramachandran The British Film Institute (BFI), the U.K.’s lead organization for film and the moving image, has set out a new, wide-ranging 10-year strategy along with a funding plan that covers the period’s first three years. The Screen Culture 2033 strategy, which will see the BFI through to its centenary in 2033, has six major ambitions. As part of this, the BFI aims to transform its relationship with U.K. audiences and become known as an open house for the discovery of screen storytelling; advocate for the full breadth of screen culture, including video games and interactive work; and create a cutting-edge screen archive of the future. In addition, the BFI aims to be digital-first in delivering cultural programming through streamer BFI+; champion screen culture in school curricula, and build a skilled and sustainable workforce that reflects the U.K. population; and support the sector in delivering national lottery funding, policy work and evidence.

Ime Udoka, the fiance of actress Nia Long, could reportedly face a one-year suspension from the NBA.