‘Colonies in Conflict,’ Rajani Mani’s Documentary About Threat to Honeybees, Picked Up by ZDF Studios (EXCLUSIVE)

Elephant Kind made a huge leap: uprooting from their home country of Indonesia to move to London for their music. It’s a move that’s the subject of their new documentary, From Indo to England, which NME is hosting exclusively here along with a chat about their new EP ‘Superblue’ and more.

Elizabeth Olsen and husband Robbie Arnett are enjoying a day out together.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent London-based Sideways Film has taken world sales on British director Carey Born’s “Cyborg: A Documentary” about a man who was born color blind and has an antenna embedded in his head to help contend with this condition. Filmed in the U.K., Spain, Denmark, Australia and across the U.S. in New York, Los Angeles, San Jose and New Jersey, the doc about the world’s first officially recognized cyborg premiered last month at the CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen and was selected by the fest to screen online on its PARA:DOX platform. “Cyborg” centers on “cyborg artist” Neil Harbisson who was born with a rare condition called achromatopsia, which means he sees only in black and white. In 2003 Harbisson had an illegal operation. A so-called “eyeborg” antenna was implanted in the back of his head enabling him to “hear colour” as waves that are translated into sound frequencies and transmitted to his auditory cortex. Since then Harbisson started touring the world talking about being a cyborg.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent SF Studios, the leading Scandinavian banner behind “Snabba Cash” and “A Man Called Otto,” has boarded “Kingmaker,” the sequel of the 2004 Danish hit movie “Kongekabale.” The political thriller is an adaptation of Niels Krause-Kjær’s second novel “Mørkeland” about the adventures of an investigative journalist, Ulrik Torp. The initial movie was a local blockbuster, selling over 550,000 tickets in Danish theaters. The film, directed by Mikkel Serup, brings back Anders W. Berthelsen in the lead role as Ulrik Torp, starring alongside Danish star Nicolas Bro (“Riders of Justice”) and Charlotte Munck (“Open Spaces”) also returning in their roles. Penned by Marie Østerbye, “Kingmaker” is produced by Sara Namer and Morten Kjems Hytten Juhl at Meta Film, and executive produced by Meta Film’s Louise Foldager. SF Studios distributes the film in the Nordics, while REinvent handles international sales.

Lise Pedersen Toronto-based outfit Syndicado has acquired world rights for Daniel Kötter’s “Landshaft,” which is competing in the Burning Lights sidebar of Swiss international documentary film festival Visions du Réel. In Germany, the film will be distributed by Arsenal Filmverleih. Shot in the form of a road movie as the director travels across Eastern Armenia in an old Lada, the film offers a striking contrast between the region’s peaceful-looking mountains and the voice of his passengers, its inhabitants, who live in the shadow of the threat of war. They speak about the six-week conflict waged in 2020 by neighbouring Azerbaijan over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Although this disputed region is located further to the south, the conflict has now moved further up the border, and runs through the Sotk gold mine, whose concession has been granted to a Russian company by the Armenians.

Alex Joseph Grayson is giving a breakout performance in the Broadway revival of Parade and we caught up with him to learn some fun facts about him that fans might not already know!

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The trailer (below) for “Draw for Change!” – which was named best documentary series at Canneseries this week – has debuted. The feature film version of the first of its six episodes, “Behind the Lines,” will world premiere at Visions du Réel Film Festival on April 28. The series, from creators Guillaume Vandenberghe and Vincent Coen, profiles six female cartoonists working in six geographic areas of the world, in six individual films and broadcast episodes. Female directors with close connections to each of the societies represented were chosen to tell the stories. Autlook Film Sales is handling international sales.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The trailer (below) has launched for documentary “Planet B,” which will have its world premiere at Visions du Réel film festival as part of its Grand Angle strand. In the film, director and climate activist Pieter Van Eecke follows 13-year-old Bo, who has a seemingly perfect life: She lives in a peaceful neighborhood in Belgium, has a loving family and lots of friends, and is doing well at school. Like many young people, Bo questions everything and has a rebellious streak. As she follows the news, she becomes increasingly aware of the perilous state of the planet. She decides to take up the fight against climate change and joins Extinction Rebellion, along with her close friend Luca.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor ZDF Studios, the commercial arm of German broadcaster ZDF, is to create the position of director international content partnerships with effect from May 1. The position will be taken by Jeffrey Haverkamp. The core tasks of this position, which has an interface between ZDF Studios and ZDF, will include initiatives to strengthen ZDF’s international programming partnerships, the exploration and initiation of framework and partnership agreements with new international programming partners of ZDF, and the evaluation of current programming offers with regard to the broadcaster’s programming needs. The position is located in the acquisitions and co-productions department, which provides services for ZDF. For the ZDF Studios Group, the creation of the new role is also intended to generate additional impetus for the distribution business from the development and expansion of international content partnerships.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The trailer (below) has debuted for “An Owl, a Garden and the Writer,” which is having its world premiere as part of the Burning Lights Competition of Visions du Réel, the documentary film festival, which runs April 21-30 in Nyon, Switzerland. Sara Dolatabadi’s film previously won the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award at Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2021, and was presented at the IDFA Forum that same year. The film is produced by Dolatabadi and Farhad Mohammadi for Dolatabadi’s production outfit Petit Duc Doc, in association with Fondation Jan Michalski. The film is executive produced by Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi (“Vegas,” “Manhattan by Numbers,” “The Runner”), who received the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award at the Venice Film Festival in 2016, an award dedicated to a personality who has made an original contribution to innovation in contemporary cinema.

Ed Meza @edmezavar ZDF Boots Factual Entertainment ZDF Studios is boosting factual entertainment with the establishment of new company Content Laden. Founded with managing director Tom Gamlich and creative director Jan Fritzowsky, the Munich-based subsidiary will focus on the development and production of innovative and high-quality formats. Gamlich and Fritzowsky most recently served as the long-standing management team at South&Browse, where they oversaw development and production of successful factual entertainment formats for broadcasters and streamers. ZDF Studios President and CEO Markus Schäfer said the foundation of Content Laden was “an investment in creativity and innovation. We want to create outstanding formats and in doing so, achieve long-term, sustainable growth.”

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent CANNES  — Burgeoning Israeli film-TV studio Sipur and cable channel HOT, behind the original versions of “In Treatment” and “Euphoria,” are introducing at MipTV “Everybody Loves…,” a new global dating reality format. The news comes just days after France’s Mediawan Rights has pounced on international distribution of another Sipur format, “Hungry for Love,” and partners Sipur and MGM’s winning five Israeli Emmy Awards for chilling doc series “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes.”Tel Aviv-based Sipur has also moved into post on “Bad Boy,” a scripted series from Ron Leshem, creator of the original Israeli “Euphoria” and an exec producer on its U.S version.  

The secret world of modern witches will be revealed in “Coven”.

Canadian R&B duo Manila Grey recently with ET Canada’s Keshia Chanté to celebrate the release of their latest album, SOUND DRIFT, which dropped Thursday.

Ethan Shanfeld An animated television series based on the digital collectible RPG game Momoguro is in development from Baobab Studios. The independent interactive animation studio is working on the series in collaboration with Momoguro directors Martin Allias and Nico Casavecchia. While Baobab has not yet decided on a distributor, the Emmy-winning studio recently announced two upcoming projects with Disney+. With the streamer, Baobab is developing an animated anthology series titled “The Witchverse,” based on the short VR film “Baba Yaga” written by Eric Darnell, and a feline workplace comedy series called “Intercats,” created by Darnell and Pamela Ribon.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The global impact of traditional tattooing and the need to end its stigma is explored in upcoming feature-documentary “Treasure of the Rice Terraces,” directed by Filipino-Canadian Kent Donguines. The film sees Donguines embark on a journey of self-discovery and record the oral history recounted by 106-year-old Indigenous tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od, who was recently an unlikely cover star of Vogue Philippines. The film explores how the old practises in the Kalinga region, once banned and despised in Philippine society, have now evolved into a chic and in-demand type of body art that has become a source of pride and belonging for many Filipinos. It also delves into the issues of stolen mummified bodies, cultural appropriation, stigmatization, and discrimination faced by tattooed individuals.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jio Studios, the content arm of Reliance Industries Limited, has unveiled a huge slate of 100 new films and TV shows that will play on Reliance’s streaming platforms. They range from the previously-announced Shah Rukh Khan-starring Bollywood movie project “Dunki,” through Adil Hussain’s Bengali-language art-house picture “The Storyteller,” which appeared at the Busan Film Festival last year, to a range of web originals and mini-series. Contents are made as originals in a range of local languages including Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and Bhojpuri. Genres range from action, drama, thriller and romance to horror and musicals.

Joey King is welcoming a new member to her family!

Stray Kids have added concerts in Los Angeles, Japan and the Philippines to the upcoming 2023 leg of their ‘Maniac’ world tour.On November 7, the group shared a string of announcements unveiling additional dates for their 2023 ‘Maniac’ world tour. These include a series of “encore” shows in Los Angeles and the cities of Tokyo and Osaka in Japan.

Mary Harron has tackled all sorts of difficult subjects over her nearly thirty-year career. Audiences may know her best for her 2000 adaptation of Brad Easton Ellis‘ “American Psycho” with Christian Bale.