Megan Prescott is best known for starring as Katie Fitch in the British series Skins in Seasons 3 and 4. Thirteen years after the show ended, the star is opening up about being diagnosed with autism.
14.03.2023 - 01:03 / variety.com
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese director Zhang Hanyi takes an unexpected turn with his latest feature film effort, “The Walking Bird,” which makes its appearance as an in-development project at the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), which takes place alongside the FilMart rights market. His previous film, 2017’s “Dragonfly Eyes,” was one of the most unusual and stylish films of the year from anywhere in the world. It told a disturbing (fictional) narrative through extraordinary found-footage obtained from hundreds of real-world CCTV cameras, and won the FIPRESCI and Ecumenical Jury prizes at the Locarno Festival that year.
While playing in a different register, “The Walking Bird” may be no less sinister.
“The story focuses on a 28-year-old woman who has difficulty handling the changes in her life. She returns to her hometown, faces up to her past and to her family and learns that her grandmother had used a special method to commit a murder. The woman learns the details and takes revenge on her father,” Zhang tells Variety. And while Zhang is not prepared at this stage to divulge the gory details, he makes no secret of his literary inspiration: “Portrait of the Cassowary,” a short story by Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar. Flightless, aggressive and standing two meters tall, with razor-sharp claws and the ability to jump, the cassowary is an Australian native that has the reputation of being the most dangerous bird in the world. Cortazar describes the cassowary as possessing “suspicious contempt” and “terrifying strength.” “Cortez’s language is very evocative and attractive. I was inspired to find out more and, for my research, went to Beijing Zoo where there is a cassowary. Having seen it for
Megan Prescott is best known for starring as Katie Fitch in the British series Skins in Seasons 3 and 4. Thirteen years after the show ended, the star is opening up about being diagnosed with autism.
Ryan Prescott has sent a personal message to Coronation Street fans days after they were left shocked by violent acid attack scenes. The actor, who plays Ryan Connor in the ITV soap, has been heaped with praise following the start of what will be a long storyline for the actor.
“Tetris.”Not the game of colorful blocks falling from the sky, but the new feature film about how the rights to “Tetris” were maneuvered out of the former Soviet Union by an American programmer and game developer named Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton). It’s a wild and deeply compelling story, the kind of Cold War caper that is even more incredible because it really happened. (Also, anyone who ever spent time with “Tetris” on the original Game Boy will be even more taken with the story.) Produced by “Kingsman” mastermind Matthew Vaughn, the movie has a decidedly poppy tone and visual aesthetic (embroidered with 8-bit flourishes) that makes it even more fun to watch.
Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer David Halls, the first assistant director on “Rust,” pleaded no contest on Friday to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, making him the first person to be held accountable for the shooting death of the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Halls, who was the film’s safety coordinator, appeared remotely for a plea hearing before a Santa Fe judge. Asked how he wished to plea, he answered, “No contest, your honor.” He will not serve jail time. Instead, he will serve six months of unsupervised probation. He is also expected to testify at a preliminary hearing in May, as prosecutors pursue involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed.
Coronation Street star Ryan Prescott took on what was arguably the toughest and most harrowing scenes of his career this week, as his character Ryan Connor fell victim to an acid attack as a long running stalking storyline came to a head. As his character now faces the prospect of life changing injuries and a gruelling road to recovery, it’s safe to say the scenes have not been for the faint hearted to watch - or to film.Thankfully after such emotionally taxing scenes on set, Ryan has a far more relaxed life off screen to help him unwind and decompress at the end of a long day.
EXCLUSIVE: The upcoming second season of HBO’s House of the Dragon will consist of eight episodes, two fewer than Season 1 of the Critics Choice Award-winning Game of Thrones prequel. It is part of a long-term plan for the show, which includes HBO mulling a green light for a third season, I have learned.
The BBC’s appointment of Chair Richard Sharp “should not stand” and the process was “fatally flawed,” according to former Director General John Birt, who threw his weight behind the corporation over the Gary Lineker scandal.
This Morning viewers have praised Coronation Street star Ryan Prescott after the shocking acid attack storyline on the ITV soap.
The “Mean Girls” musical has cast “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm as Coach Carr. The Emmy-winning actor and star of “Confess, Fletch” and “Beirut” will play the school’s gym teacher and sex-ed instructor.
Goldie Hawn has given fans a rare glimpse into her bedroom with Kurt Russell after sharing a video in which she attempts to give her pet pup a kiss.In the video, her puppy sits on its haunches on the couple's four-poster bed on top of a crisp white comforter. The bed's posts were draped in white chiffon curtains, while the bedroom's walls were covered in a dreamy blue and white wallpaper that gave the appearance of a cloudy blue sky, and furniture included a chic rustic white dresser. Goldie and Kurt have an impressive property portfolio, with homes in Manhattan, Vancouver, and Los Angeles, where this appears to have been taken.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The theatrical release of low-budget slasher movie “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” in Hong Kong has been abruptly canceled just two days before its scheduled outing. No explanation has been offered, but suspicions that the film may have crossed one of Hong Kong’s increasingly complicated political red lines are certain to be raised. That is because the Winnie the Pooh character is unflatteringly perceived to have a physical resemblance to China’s president, Xi Jinping. Online search for Winnie the Pooh is heavily censored within mainland China and Winnie the Pooh products are not distributed. China did not permit the import and release of Disney’s 2018 Winnie the Pooh film “Christopher Robin.”
Gabby Prescod is learning a lot about herself by watching herself on TV.«Several things,» the newcomer makes clear, speaking with ET over video chat. «One, I absolutely hate the sound of my own voice.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent French-Moroccan director Sofia Alaoui made a splash at Sundance with her sci-fi thriller “Animalia,” which used genre to explore dark sides of Moroccan society. The filmmaker is now employing similar tropes in the early stages on a TV series titled “Let the Earth Burn.” “Animalia,” winner of the Special Jury Award for Creative Vision within Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition, is about a pregnant young woman from a rural Berber background who winds up emancipating herself as aliens land in Morocco. “Let the Earth Burn,” unveiled during the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra Arab film and TV series projects incubator this week, takes its cue from real abductions and slayings in remote areas of Morocco of kids known as “Zouhri” whom the kidnappers believe have supernatural powers.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Fly Me to the Moon,” a work-in-progress from Hong Kong, dominated the prizes presented at the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum project market. It collected five awards and was invited to continue its journey at Cannes in May. Directed by first-time feature maker Sasha Chuk and produced by the veteran Stanley Kwan, the film tells the tale of a pair of sisters moving from Hunan to Hong Kong in the 1990s. They are faced with an identity crisis, poverty and their father’s drug addiction. It entered the market with $640,000 of its intended $705,000 production budget in place, and more than filled the gap with the prizes announced on Wednesday.
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield – who co-presented at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony – are set to star in “We Live in Time” for StudioCanal and director John Crowley.Plot details are under wraps for now but the film is being described as a funny and emotional love story. Production is tentatively expected to start later this year.
Ed Meza @edmezavar David Pujol, whose enchanting drama “Waiting for Dalí” premiered at the Malaga Film Festival on Sunday, has a new feature film project and an international TV series in the works. Pujol has just completed the script for “Rehearsal for a Kiss,” the story of a passionate yet hapless movie theater owner in Barcelona whose love of classic movies has left his cinema in a precarious position. On the verge of losing the family business, he seeks help from his uncle in America, who has made a career for himself as a character actor in Hollywood. A flashy, larger-than-life personality, the uncle returns to his native city after 40 years to help his nephew save the theater while also reconnecting with his own past.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “We need more love stories, even if they have their ups and downs,” says Hong Kong-based producer Cora Yim, who is behind the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) in-development project “The Marriage Drive.” HAF runs takes place alongside the FilMart rights market. The film is a simple-to-describe idea that writer-director Lawrence Kan has been kicking around and developing for some six years. The story involves a middle-class professional couple — he’s in the legal sector, she’s in finance — and tracks their childless, but not loveless, marriage over a period of 10 years from marriage to divorce.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Work-in-progress film project “The Remnant” is both a spotlight on those who feel powerless and also a very Hong Kong example of elements of the city pulling themselves up. “The Remnant” is one of the projects in the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) unspooling March 13-15 alongside Hong Kong’s Filmart market. It tells the story of a former gangster who, upon his release from prison, sets up a laundry in an anonymous district and lives a quiet life. After property developers try to grab a rundown building, young gangsters try to throw people out of the building, drug addicts cause trouble and the old-timer heeds his neighbors’ calls and fights back.
meeting up with a 16-year-old on the Growlr dating app.According to a memo from the Broward County State Attorney’s Office explaining its decision, the teen’s parents wanted to pursue charges against Parson but did not want to subject their son to be questioned on the stand and were reticent to allow prosecutors to speak with him to help determine the facts of the case.Assistant State Attorney Danielle Lennox, of the office’s sexual battery and child abuse unit, wrote in the memo that a victim advocate from the office had begun reaching out to the family after the charges against Parson were filed.In a May 2022 phone conference with the victim’s parents, Lennox explained what the process of pursuing prosecution would entail, but they were reticent to have their son speak with her.Lennox agreed to give them time to think and scheduled a follow-up meeting with the parents to arrange an in-person interview with the teen, but was unable to reach the family.
London-based PR maven Matthew Freud, joined by fellow Brit and collaborator Charlie Mackesy, offered his apologies for winning the Oscar for Short Film (Animated) for The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse.