‘Cinnamon,’ ‘A Song From the Dark’ Win at American Black Film Festival

“Next Goal Wins” will have its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Wednesday.Waititi’s Oscar-winning feature “Jojo Rabbit” also premiered at TIFF and won the festival’s People’s Choice Award in 2019. His most recent film was “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022) for Marvel/Disney.A sports comedy starring Michael Fassbender, “Next Goal Wins” is based on the story of the 2014 American Samoa soccer team, which lost a FIFA match 31-0 and then hired a Dutch-American coach, Thomas Rongen, to help them prepare for World Cup qualifiers.

Melissa Etheridge will not be inviting Rolling Stone to come by her window anytime soon.

In exciting news for movie lovers and soccer enthusiasts alike, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced that Taika Waititi’s soccer comedy, “Next Goal Wins”, will have its world premiere at the 48th edition of the festival.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Taika Waititi’s sports comedy “Next Goal Wins” will have its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. “We’re thrilled to welcome Taika back to the Festival and share his audacious take on the most popular sport in the world,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF. “’Next Goal Wins’ is perfect for TIFF fans of the beautiful game looking for their football fix until the 2024 World Cup arrives.” Waititi, who most recently directed Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” was last at the festival in 2019 with “Jojo Rabbit.” The offbeat comedy, about a 10-year-old Hitler Youth member whose imaginary friend is the Führer himself, won the TIFF People’s Choice Award and an Academy Award for adapted screenplay. Waititi is also known for “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” “Our Flag Means Death” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Two-time Oscar-winning editor Pietro Scalia will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Vision Award honoring technical achievements and advancements in film. Scalia, who was born in Sicily but grew up in Switzerland and studied film at UCLA, has won Oscars for “JFK” and “Black Hawk Down.” Over the past two decades he’s collaborated closely with top directors such as Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Gus Van Sant, Rob Marshall, Sam Raimi and Michael Mann. His recent work includes Mann’s upcoming “Ferrari.” Scalia will receive the Locarno award on Aug. 3 during a ceremony on the Swiss fest’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande, followed on Aug. 4 by an onstage conversation and screenings of two standout titles from his career: “Good Will Hunting” (1997) and “Black Hawk Down” (2001).

The Weeknd and BLACKPINK‘s Jennie have shared a new song that appears in The Idol – listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.The Idol is made by Euphoria-creator Sam Levinson and follows the plot of a pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) who develops a controversial relationship with self-help guru and cult leader Tedros (Abel Tesfaye).Depp also appeared on two new The Weeknd songs ‘World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak’ and ‘The Lure’ from the show’s soundtrack, which were released earlier this month.Now, Tesfaye has teamed up with Jennie, who also appears in The Idol as one of Depp’s backup dancers, Dyanne, for a new track.Listen to ‘One Of The Girls’ below.The first single taken from the HBO drama was titled ‘Double Fantasy’, and hears The Weeknd (now going by his birth name Abel Tesfaye) team up with Future. Like ‘The Lure’, the collaborative single featured production from The Weeknd and Mike Dean, and arrived accompanied by a music video that featured clips from the show.More recently the singer-songwriter and actor released the single ‘Popular’, which saw him join forces with Playboy Carti and queen of pop, Madonna.

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City has been released – check it out below.Set during a junior stargazer convention in 1950s America, the film stars a mix of new and frequent collaborators from Anderson’s past works, including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton.The comedy-drama had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, where it competed for the Palme d’Or prize. It was later released in cinemas on June 23.Alexandre Desplat created the film’s score, who has previously worked with Anderson on Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle Of Dogs and The French Dispatch.His other notable credits include Guillermo Del Toro’s Shape Of Water, Little Women directed by Greta Gerwig and both parts of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.Desplat’s score is joined by various other country-orientated songs, including tracks by The Springfields featuring Dusty Springfield, Slim Whitman and Bing Crosby.Jarvis Cocker, who has a cameo in the film, contributes two original songs to the soundtrack titled ‘Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)’ and ‘You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep’.

Ben Croll “The Fragile Colossus,” “Ten Pound Poms” and “The Seed” ruled the roost at this year’s Monte-Carlo Television Festival, with the three programs collecting two prizes each at a small-screen showcase that ran June 16 – 20 in the Monaco capital. Produced by Make It Happen Studio and Shoot Again Productions in partnership with TF1 France, telefilm “The Fragile Colossus” took home Monte-Carlo’s Golden Nymph for best film and the special jury prize. The French drama follows a one-time rugby star (played by soccer player-turned-actor Eric Cantona) confronting his history as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, and is based on the life and memoires of rugbyman Sébastien Boueilh.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Mother of all Lies, a docu-drama film that probes the secrets of Morocco’s 1981 Bread Riots, was Sunday named the best picture at the Sydney Film Festival. The jury, headed by Anurag Kashyap, called the Asmae El Moudir-directed film “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous.” It presented the A$60,000 ($41,100) cash prize film ahead at the State Theatre ahead of the Australian premiere screening of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The film, which uses doll-like figurines, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, where it earned the section’s best director prize. “Juxtaposing evidence from barely existent public materials with private family memory, this film reconstructs the history of the state, the family and the individual, in three distinct levels,” said the jury of Kashyap, actor Mia Wasikowska (Australia), film curator and journalist Dorothee Wenner (Germany), writer and director Larissa Behrendt (Australia) and filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram (Australia – Sri Lanka).

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix on Friday announced its acquisition of The Dads, a documentary short billed as a quiet meditation on fatherhood, brotherhood and manhood that counts 13-time NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade amongst its EPs.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry platform has unveiled 27 film projects that will be showcased during its Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch and First Cut+ Works in Progress presentations. The most promising projects, selected by international juries, will receive awards with a total value of 115,000 EUR.  The showcasing of projects to industry professionals will take place in Karlovy Vary, during this year’s KVIFF Industry Days on July 3 (Works in Progress and Works in Development – Feature Launch) and July 4 (First Cut+ Works in Progress). For Works in Progress, 11 fiction and documentary feature films in the late stage of production or post-production from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa have been selected.

Angelique Jackson Growing up in South London, “They Cloned Tyrone” star John Boyega would sit on his mattress watching Jamie Foxx act up on “The Jamie Foxx Show” or his Oscar-winning portrayal of Ray Charles in “Ray.” So, getting the opportunity to team up with Foxx for the conspiracy caper “They Cloned Tyrone,” was a dream come true. “That’s someone that I’m very much inspired by,” Boyega told Variety on the red carpet at the American Black Film Festival, where the Netflix movie was the opening night selection. “He’s definitely been one of the major hands behind my career that helped me to get roles, get opportunities and I appreciate it.” Of course, Boyega has come a long way from watching movies and TV in his bedroom. After breaking onto the scene in “Attack the Block” and then playing Finn in the latest “Star Wars” trilogy,” Boyega has starred as King Ghenzo in the critically acclaimed film “The Woman King,” portrayed a military veteran with PTSD in “Breaking,” and delivered a Golden Globe-winning performance in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology series. But watching Foxx’s process up close made a major impression.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Scottish actor Ewan McGregor and Swedish actor Alicia Vikander will be honored at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where they will receive the President’s Award, and present their latest films. The festival will open with “Firebrand,” in which Vikander has the leading role of Katherine Parr. McGregor will present “You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder,” in which he stars alongside his daughter Clara McGregor. McGregor’s role in Danny Boyle’s dark comedy “Shallow Grave” (1994) earned him an Empire Award for best British actor, and their next joint film, “Trainspotting” (1996), was an international sensation. McGregor and Boyle teamed up again for the 1997 romantic comedy “A Life Less Ordinary,” in which McGregor appeared alongside Cameron Diaz.

Naman Ramachandran International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has appointed former BFI London Film Festival director Clare Stewart to the position of managing director, taking over from Marjan van der Haar. Stewart was most recently interim CEO at Sheffield DocFest and commences in the role at IFFR on June 21. IFFR has a dual leadership structure where the managing director and festival director oversee the commercial and creative elements of the organization respectively, working in partnership. Stewart previously consulted with the IFFR board of directors in 2021 in its first phase of re-evaluation prior to her joining DocFest, with a focus on the IFFR program structure and content strategy.

Amber Heard’s next movie is on the way.

Please note, the following interview was done outside of the FYC event series as there was no cast panel or screening. 

Luke Evans and Billy Porter showed off more than just their acting skills at the premiere of their new film, “Our Son”.

Premiering Saturday night in the Tribeca Film Festival’s Spotlight Narrative category, Eric Larue is an intense and devastating account of the after effects of a school shooting, but the focus is almost entirely on the parents of that boy who shot and killed three male classmates and is now in prison. Adapted by Brett Neveu from his own 2002 stage play, it has taken on new weight in the two decades since it was first presented at Chicago’s Red Orchid Theatre in light of the seemingly endless numbers of school shootings and the fact that the number one cause for deaths of young people is now by gun. But for his feature film directorial debut actor Michael Shannon was most interested in looking at the effects of this traumatic life-changing incident from the point of view of the parents, those of the kids killed, and particularly the pair of the young teen who murdered them.

A casual queen!

wearing flip-flops on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival last month, Jennifer Lawrence is setting the record straight about the fashion statement that had the internet abuzz.«Ok, thank you for bringing this up. I would really like to straighten this out,» Lawrence told ET's Nischelle Turner while promoting her new film,  alongside co-star, Andrew Barth Feldman.