‘Disco’s Revenge’ Filmmakers Talk Nile Rodgers, Archive Troves and the Genre’s Fall and Rise (EXCLUSIVE)

Christopher Vourlias Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa arrives at the Cannes Film Festival this week with his latest documentary, “The Invasion,” worried that the world’s attention has largely drifted from the Ukraine conflict in the two-plus years since Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion. The film premieres with a special screening May 16. Yet from the movie’s powerful opening sequence, which follows a funeral procession for four soldiers killed in battle, Loznitsa reminds us that the war continues to extract a devastating cost from its victims.

EXCLUSIVE: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired Northern American rights for Joachim A. Lang’s historical drama Goebbels and The Führer (aka Führer and Seducer) for a fall 2024 theatrical and digital release.  

The next bank holiday takes place on May 27 which means some people will receive their scheduled State Pension or benefit payment early. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has already published updated payment date details for Tax Credits and Child Benefit, while the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Social Security Scotland are expected to announce similar changes soon.

Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd has opened up about how Shane MacGowan and The Pogues have influenced his work.Gadd’s recent Netflix series claims to tell the “true story” of his real-life stalking experience and reached the top of the streaming charts after going viral online.In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gadd opened up about his inspirations and in particular, the music of The Pogues and the late Shane MacGowan.The Irish musician and iconic frontman died “peacefully” in hospital from pneumonia on November 30. He was 65 years old.

Eurovision Song Contest 2024.This year’s competition, which was ultimately won by Switzerland’s Nemo, was surrounded by controversy for allowing Israel to compete amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.A statement shared by the EBU to both The Mirror and The Irish Times read: “We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts. We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention.It continued: “The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.A post shared by European Broadcasting Union (@ebu_hq)“Individual cases will be discussed by the event’s governing body, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group made up of representatives from participating broadcasters, at its next meeting.”The statement’s release comes after the slew of controversies that took over this year’s edition of the song contest.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large At the NBCUniversal upfronts, they saved the best for almost last: “Late Night with Seth Meyers” host Seth Meyers hit the Radio City Music Hall stage to throw out a few quips before introducing NBCUniversal ad sales chief Mark Marshall. Meyers came out swinging: “Hello and welcome to the NBC upfronts. If you’re looking for the Fox News upfronts, that’s happening outside a lower Manhattan courtroom,” he said to chuckles.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy horror movie starring Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore, has sold to one of France’s biggest distributors, Metropolitan FilmExport, ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The Match Factory is handling international sales on the female-powered movie, and MUBI just acquired the rights in North America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Latin America and Benelux, where they will release the film theatrically this year. MUBI has also acquired the movie for Turkey and India.

Husband and wife David and Victoria Beckham both took to their Instagram stories to share beautiful photos of the Northern Lights on Friday 10 May.The couple posted photos of the stunning natural light display, with one image featuring David with his arms outstretched, looking up at the purple and pink streaked sky, and another featuring the stunning night sky with the caption: “This is incredible!” The Northern Lights – also known as aurora borealis – are more commonly spotted in areas such as Alaska, Canada, Iceland and Scandinavia, but on Friday they were clearly visible throughout the UK, with many people taking to social media to post their photos of pink, green and pink lights in the sky. In case you missed the natural phenomenon, it is expected the lights will also be visible tonight (Saturday 11 May), with the Met Office saying there is a good chance of sightings in Scotland and the north of England, Ireland and Wales, especially if the skies are clear.

Eurovision is set to take place tonight (May 11) – check out the full running order and list of contestants below.Altogether, 37 countries entered the contest and were split in half to compete for a place in the finals across two semi finals on Tuesday (May 7) and Thursday (May 9). Tonight, 26 of them will perform in the final, with Big Five nations France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the UK and the host nation Sweden all going straight through.Representing the UK this year is Olly Alexander, who will be performing his song ‘Dizzy’ which has been compared to the likes of the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘It’s A Sin’.According to Eurovision World, the favourites to win the competition is Croatia, whose entry Baby Lasagna currently has a 42 per cent chance at snagging the crown this year with their song ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’.The full running order for Eurovision 2024 is:1. Sweden | Marcus & Martinus – ‘Unforgettable’2. Ukraine | alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – ‘Teresa & Maria’3. Germany | ISAAK – ‘Always On The Run’4. Luxembourg | TALI – ‘Fighter’5. Netherlands | Joost Klein – ‘Europapa’6. Israel | Eden Golan – ‘Hurricane’7. Lithuania | Silvester Belt – ‘Luktelk’8. Spain | Nebulossa – ‘ZORRA’9. Estonia | 5MIINUST x Puuluup – ‘(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi’10. Ireland | Bambie Thug – ‘Doomsday Blue’11. Latvia | Dons – ‘Hollow’12. Greece | Marina Satti – ‘ZARI’13. United Kingdom | Olly Alexander – ‘Dizzy’14. Norway | Gåte – ‘Ulveham’15. Italy | Angelina Mango – ‘La Noia’16. Serbia | TEYA DORA – ‘RAMONDA’17. Finland | Windows95man – ‘No Rules!’18. Portugal | iolanda – ‘Grito’19. Armenia | LADANIVA – ‘Jako’20. Cyprus | Silia Kapsis – ‘Liar’21. Switzerland | Nemo – ‘The Code’22. Slovenia | Raiven – ‘Veronika’23. Croatia | Baby

Coronation Street star James Laurenson, renowned for his long-standing career in TV and film, has sadly passed away at the age of 84.

Coronation Street and The Crown actor James Laurenson has sadly passed away at the age of 84 after a remarkable 50-year career in TV and film. Laurenson made his film debut back in 1969 with a minor role in Ken Russell's Women In Love, and also starred in The Crown in 2016. In the popular Netflix series about the Royal Family, he appeared as Doctor Weir – a Scottish physician and homeopath who served as the royal physician.The talented actor also made history by performing the first gay kiss on television alongside Ian McKellen.This groundbreaking moment occurred in a 1970 TV adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, three years after homosexuality was decriminalised.

EXCLUSIVE: British writer, director, and producer Alex Marx will make his feature debut with The Queen of Fashion, a long-gestating biopic of fashion editor, stylist, and iconoclast Isabella Blow, with Academy Award nominee Andrea Riseborough set to produce and play the lead role.

One of the North West's most influential gangsters saw his empire come crashing down following a violent raid on a stash house.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent New Dubai-based distribution and production studio The Plot Pictures is headed for the Cannes Marche du Film after snapping up Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) rights to a slew of indie titles across different genres. They include “Locust,” a first feature film from Taiwanese American multidisciplinary artist Keff that is playing in Critics Week, and Nick Hamm’s epic “William Tell.” The Plot Pictures CEO Pratixa Shah and head of sales Ozge Conduroglu – who was previously with Starz Play Arabia – are assembling a slate spanning “different genres, regions, and languages,” as Shah put it in statement.

The Traitors and Married at First Sight stars have been spotted in a popular Glasgow eatery.

A once-buzzing Scottish nightclub that hosted the likes of Kylie Minogue and other music legends is now nothing more than an empty shell.

Anitta didn’t think much about her death. Despite growing up in the notorious favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian multi-hyphenate just knew that her life would be as glamorous as she always imagined: she would sing, dance and act her way to global stardom.

The Wanted's Max George and Siva Kaneswaran have thrilled their fans by revealing that they will be reunited on stage later this year. The pair will be embarking upon tour dates across India in May, with Max sharing the news on Instagram with a video that showed where they will perform and when.

Disney+ has revealed new images for the upcoming documentary series Camden, which will feature the likes of Dua Lipa, Chris Martin, Mark Ronson, Boy George and more.Premiering on Disney+ exclusively in May, the docuseries, which is executive produced by Dua Lipa, will go behind the scenes with some of the world’s biggest music stars, revealing untold stories of how their lives and careers were shaped by Camden.The new images released today (April 26) feature Dua Lipa, Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, Little Simz, Nile Rodgers, Boy George and Yungblud. Also confirmed to feature in the series are Pete Doherty and Carl Barat of The Libertines, Mark Ronson, Questlove, Black Eyed Peas, Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B, Chuck D and Sister Bliss from Faithless.The upcoming series is produced by Lightbox, the production company founded by Academy-Award-winning producer Simon Chinn and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn in association with Day One Pictures, the production company co-founded by Amy Winehouse’s original manager Nick Shymansky and Radical22.Asif Kapadia is the series director, while the individual episodes will be directed by Toby Trackman, Yemi Bamiro and Sarah Lambert.Check out the first-look images of ‘Camden’ below.Camden is a four-part series and will premiere exclusively on Disney+ in May 2024.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang will star in Bleecker Street and Shivhans Pictures’ remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy “The Wedding Banquet” from director Andrew Ahn. Kelly Marie Tran, Oscar winner Yuh-jung Youn and Joan Chen are also attached to star. The reimagination of Lee’s Oscar-nominated film is based on a screenplay by Ahn and James Schamus.