Disney+’s ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Is a Solid Bridge Between Trilogies, With a Bonus Origin Story for Even the Most Casual ‘Star Wars’ Fans: TV Review

Lise Pedersen Alongside its annual World Summit at the Annecy Int’l Animation Festival, Women in Animation (WIA) has launched the inaugural edition of Stories x Women, a program aimed at increasing the diversity of voices in animation around the world.Six delegations of filmmakers selected among a pool of candidates from emerging animation communities in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America have presented their projects to industry experts in Annecy this week.The two-member teams, which have to include at least one woman leading the project as director, producer or screenwriter, benefited from mentoring sessions with internationally acclaimed animation experts as well as one-to-one coaching sessions ahead of the Annecy pitch. This first edition features filmmakers from Argentina, Colombia, Peru, South Africa, India and Thailand.“La Sombra del Altiplano (“Highland’s Shadow”) is an Argentine project led by first-time director Paula Boffo, co-directed and produced by Annecy regular Patricio Plaza (“El Empleo” Annecy 2010, “Padre” Annecy 2014) of Ojo Raro studios.Based on a graphic novel of the same name by Boffo, which won several national prizes in Argentina, it tells the story of Juana, an indigenous teenage girl from the Argentinian Highlands, whose sister is abducted by a trafficking ring.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThis year marks the 30th anniversary of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s “Brother’s Keeper,” which, as Berlinger says, is “one of the granddaddies of the true-crime docu movement.”It’s true that the 1992 film about the bizarre murder trial of Delbert Ward, who was accused of the “mercy killing” of his brother in rural upstate New York, was an early entrant in our collective societal obsession with the unscripted true-crime format, which in recent years has crossed over to the scripted side.As one of the founding fathers of the format that has piqued our interest in true crime to the point where limited series including “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” “The Staircase,” “The Dropout,” “Inventing Anna,” “Dr. Death,” “A Very British Scandal,” and several more are all competing in the same Emmys’ cycle, Berlinger has some unique insight into the nonfiction-to-dramatized evolution.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV+ has rounded out the cast of its original comedy series Mrs. American Pie with recurring stars Jordan Bridges (Old Man, Rizzoli & Isles), Kaia Gerber (American Horror Story), Jason Canela (The Rookie, Always Be My Maybe) Mindy Cohn (Facts of Life, A Nice Girl Like You), Julia Duffy (Newhart, Looking) and Claudia Ferri (Bad Blood, The Killing).

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA reporter for the National Enquirer testified Friday that she was angered when the publication refused to run a story about a sex assault allegation against Bill Cosby in 2005.Robin Mizrahi was called to the witness stand by Cosby’s defense lawyer in a civil trial underway in Santa Monica. Judy Huth is suing Cosby for allegedly assaulting her at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old.Mizrahi interviewed Huth about the incident in 2005, but the story never ran.

Selome Hailu Octavia Spencer and her production company Orit Entertainment have partnered with ID and Discovery+ as well as October Films to develop and executive produce a slate of true crime projects.Two projects are already in production, with more in development. “Highway 20” (working title) is the first project to come out of the deal.

EXCLUSIVE: The story of The Lazy Susans is in the works for the screen. TEG+ has acquired the film and television rights to adapt the story of the unlikely rock band formed by five suburban Boston-area moms.

Isabel Sandoval Days after my episode of “Under The Banner of Heaven” premiered, I received a private message on Twitter from a Mormon consultant on the show though we never managed to connect during the shoot. “I just wanted you to know how beautiful your episode turned out. The response here in Utah has been epic.

Two highly anticipated shows have added content warnings to their opening episodes, as scenes may remind viewers of the tragic events that occurred in Uvalde, Texas last Tuesday.

Similarities between a horrible mass school shooting in Texas this week and a Jedi school massacre in Disney+’s new Obi-Wan Kenobi series has seen a succession of warnings added to the Ewan McGregor-led show.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney+ added a warning to the page of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” that some viewers may find “certain scenes” in the Star Wars series “upsetting.”That appeared to be in response to the mass shooting earlier this week at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children dead.A message on some Disney+ accounts on the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” landing page on Friday read, “Although this fictional series is a continuation of the story from Star Wars movies filmed many years ago, some scenes may be upsetting to viewers in light of the recent tragic events. Warning: Contains violence involving children.”Later in the day, that message appeared to have been shortened, with the update on Disney+ now reading: “There are certain scenes in this fictional series that some viewers may find upsetting.” The details for “Obi-Wan” also includes a disclaimer that reads, “Some flashing light sequences or patterns may affect photosensitive viewers.”SEE ALSO: Disney+’s ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Is a Solid Bridge Between Trilogies, With a Bonus Origin Story for Even the Most Casual ‘Star Wars’ Fans: TV ReviewSeparately, Netflix added a content warning to “Stranger Things 4,” which bowed early Friday, explicitly referencing the Texas shooting.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi" is premiering on Disney+ a few hours earlier than planned, the "Star Wars" show announced Thursday night. West Coast viewers will be able to stream the first two episodes of the show, starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, starting at 9 p.m. PT.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticSPOILER ALERT: The penultimate paragraph of this review contains spoilers.Few of us are fortunate enough to have a friendship as intimate and effortless as the one shared by 13-year-old Belgian boys Leo (Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav De Waele) in “Close.” That connection, and the responsibility that comes with it, is at the heart of Lukas Dhont’s sophomore feature, so subtle and sensitive in the first half, so devastatingly false from its tragic twist on. This beautifully evocative film, which hails from an openly queer director, offers as pure a portrait of innocent, innocuous same-sex affection as we’ve ever encountered on film.

Late-night TV hosts addressed the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday night.

Six years ago today, the trailer for then-new NBC drama series This Is Us was blowing up, breaking records with about 80 million views in 12 days. It was a precursor to the show’s phenomenal six-season run which ended tonight with the series finale, titled “Us.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWhat if Bruce Wayne wasn’t an orphan — would there still be a Batman? And how would the superhero be different if Wayne were a Black man, instead of the rich white scion of one of Gotham’s elite families?Variety recently spoke with Winston Duke, star of “Batman Unburied,” the original podcast drama from DC/Warner Bros. exclusively on Spotify, and series creator and executive producer David S. Goyer about reimagining one of comic-dom’s most famous characters.“I really had no idea what to expect in terms of the reception of it,” Goyer says.

While the scream of frustration that welcomed “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” may have folks wary of new “Star Wars” movies, a lot has also broken right for the franchise’s episodic adaptations. “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett” were well-received by audiences, and the return of Ewan McGregor in the new “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series is something of a television event.

Bianca Gascoigne has hinted that wedding bells could soon be ringing for her and her new beau Arron Wright. Celebrity Big Brother star Bianca admitted that she has plans to get married and is ready to take her relationship to the next step.The 35 year old has been dating Arron, a broker from Essex, for six months and said she believes he is "husband material". Bianca has previously dated Katie Price's ex Kris Boyson but, is now all loved up with her Mr Wright.