Essential Spirits for a Winning Oscar Viewing Party

Charna Flam Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts” (Spain), Lilo and Camilo Vilaplana’s “Plantadas” (U.S.), Hansel Porras Garcia’s “Febrero” (U.S., Cuba), Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” (Canada) and Pavel Giroud’s “The Padilla Affair” (Cuba, Spain) were among the winners at the 40th edition of Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival, which ran March 3-12. “The Beasts,” won the festival’s top awards, including the top jury prize, the $25,000 Knight Marimbas trophy and the Rene Rodriguez Critics nod. In addition to the two awards, “The Beasts” composer, Oliver Arson was recognized for his soundtrack and awarded the Alacran Music in Film Award, he was selected by Art of Light (Composer) Award honoree Nicholas Britell.

Actress Charlotte Jordan, known for her role as barmaid Daisy Midgeley in Coronation Street , has become a firm favourite for viewers since joining the show in 2020. Off-screen the 27 year old soap star lives in a stunning high-rise flat in Manchester with spectacular city views. Sharing a glimpse on her Instagram, the views from her floor-to-ceiling windows are breathtaking during both day and night, creating a perfect backdrop for curling up on the sofa and unwinding after a long day filming.

Ben Croll Cannes acclaimed filmmaker Marie Amachoukeli and leading French studio Miyu Productions will pair on “Happy End,” a macabre comedy Amachoukeli will co-direct with Vladimir Mavounia Kouka. Set for production in 2024, the project has already received backing from Bac Films and MK2, with the latter handling international sales. Variety has scored a first look at the project, which recently presented at the Cartoon Movie pitch and co-production forum in Bordeaux. Imagining a world without death and employing a visual style reminiscent of Max Fleischer, the 2D, adult-targeted film follows Bertha King, a suicidal career soldier who has the bad to luck to finally end things right as the grim reaper hangs up his scythe. Left yearning to die while death has gone on strike, the depressed hero must navigate a morose new existence all of sudden freed from the bonds of mortality.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has renewed International Emmy-winning hit Indian series “Delhi Crime” for a third season. The streamer’s India operation has also renewed “Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives,” “Kota Factory,” “Mismatched” and “She” for third seasons. Netflix India has also commissioned a documentary on the life of hip hop artist and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh who will deep-dive into the reasons behind his sudden disappearance at the peak of his career. The documentary will be directed by Mozez Singh (Disney+ Hotstar series “Human”) and produced by Guneet Monga and Achin Jain‘s Sikhya Entertainment, 2023 Oscar winners for “The Elephant Whisperers.”

On Monday, Khloe Kardashian debuted a brand new soft balayage hair colour as she celebrated the 40th birthday party of her best friends, twin sisters Khadijah Haqq McCray and Malika Haqq.The 38 year old reality star is known for changing up hair colour, length and style pretty often, and just last week was seen with waist-length honey blonde hair. However now, it seems Khloe has decided to make another change, and go for something a little lighter as she celebrated with her friends.

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent Japanese author Oe Kenzaburo, the winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature, has died at age 88. His date of death, ascribed to old age, was March 3. A total of six films have been made from Oe’s work, most recently the 2001 “Gibier d’élevage,” a reworking of “The Catch” by Cambodian director Rithy Panh. Born in 1935 in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Oe began writing while still a student of French literature at the University of Tokyo. Not long after graduating in 1957, he published “The Catch,” a novella about a Black American airman who finds himself captured by rural Japanese villagers in the waning days of the war. It won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize and was made into a 1961 film by Japanese Nouvelle Vague auteur Oshima Nagisa.

Sarah Polley won her first Oscar for her Women Talking.

As the old saying goes, write what you know and for Women Talking filmmaker Sarah Polley whose up for an Adapted Screenplay Oscar tonight, she’s been through so much of the campaign process that her next movie is set around awards season.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Donatella Versace knows how to bring out the stars. The glamorous guest list at her Versace fashion show on Wednesdsay night, staged on the roof of the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, included Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Cher and her boyfriend Alexander Edwards, Lil Nas X, Pamela Anderson, Dua Lipa, Danielle Deadwyler, Lily James, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Channing Tatum, Ariana DeBose, Matt Bomer, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Lucien Laviscount, Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, Russell Tovey, “Queer Eye” stars Antoni Porowski and Tan France, Paris Hilton, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Gottmik, Simone Ashley and Hunter Doohan.A post shared by Marc Malkin (@marcmalkin) The show was timed so that it ended just as the sun began to go down in Los Angeles, creating a dusty blue glow as the models — including Naomi Campbell, Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner — took their last walk around the champagne-colored runway. Versace appeared briefly to wave to the starry crowd.

Fan-favorite brand American Vintage is known for their elevated basics with a vintage European flair, and they just officially opened their first US store in NoLita, New York. Don’t be fooled by the name — this brand is a French label whose chic apparel will make you feel elevated with every piece you try on.

Naman Ramachandran Janchivdorj Sengedorj’s “The Sales Girl” (Mongolia), Asif Rustamov’s “Cold As Marble” (Azerbaijan), Ken Kwek’s “#LookAtMe” (Singapore) and Nader Saeivar’s “No End” (Iran) were among the winners at the  Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema on Tuesday. “The Sales Girl,” which played at Busan and won awards at the New York and Osaka Asian film festivals, won the Golden Cyclo, the festival’s top honor awarded by the international jury. “Cold as Marble,” which has played at Talinn Black Nights and the Goa festivals, took home three awards, including the grand jury prize and the Marc Haaz and Netpac jury prizes.

When filmmaker-actor-writer Miranda July was approached about narrating the documentary Fire of Love, she didn’t see herself as an obvious choice.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” has surpassed over 150 million hours viewed since its release on Oct. 14, 2022. The film, which dominated the BAFTA Awards in London with a record-breaking seven wins, including best film, director (Edward Berger), adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, original score and non-English language film, climbed up to No. 2 on the global list, according to numbers released by Netflix. Berger’s World War I epic tells Paul’s (Felix Kammerer ) journey from being a young, enthusiastic school boy wanting to join the army to a tired, worn soldier. It has been on the global Top 10 Non-English Film list for 14 weeks and has reached the Top 10 Films in 91 countries, including Germany, the U.K., U.S., Australia, France, Mexico and South Korea.

The Oscar-nominated documentary “Fire of Love” is getting the narrative remake treatment. The acclaimed non-fiction movie, concerning the scientific research and on-the-job romance of French volcanologist filmmakers Katia and Maurice Krafft, will become a live-action narrative feature film.

EXCLUSIVE: Searchlight Pictures is making a deal to turn Fire of Love into a narrative feature. The film, which tells the story of the scientific research and romance of preeminent French volcanologist filmmakers Katia and Maurice Krafft, is a frontrunner in the Oscar race for Best Documentary after premiering at 2022 Sundance, winning a Jury Prize and being acquired by National Geographic Documentary Films.  

Sundance prize winner Sofia Alaoui, Yemeni-Scottish Oscar-nominee Sara Ishaq and Emmy-feted Egyptian cinematographer Muhammad Hamdy will be among filmmakers presenting projects at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event, unfolding in Qatar March 10-15.

EXCLUSIVE: Cinedigm has picked up North American rights to the acclaimed French thriller Our Father, the Devil (Mon père, le diable), marking the narrative feature debut of writer-director Ellie Foumbi, which this Saturday will contend for Best Feature as the Independent Spirit Awards. The indie will be released in theaters later this year, with an exclusive streaming release on the company’s indie discovery platform Fandor to follow.

Matteo Berrettini takes pictures with fans during the White Party to kick off the Mexican Open tennis tournament in Acapulco, Mexico on Sunday (February 26).

James McAvoy and his wife Lisa Liberati joined Gigi Hadid for a fun night out in the Big Apple to celebrate her Netflix series!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Music Box is unveiling the trailer for “Revoir Paris,” a French drama boasting a Cesar-winning performance by Virginie Efira. The movie, which bowed at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight and played at Toronto, will have its New York premiere on June 23 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Film Center. A meditation on healing, the film tells the story of Mia (Efira), a married translator who survived a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant, and feels haunted by the trauma, yet unable to recollect memories of the tragic attack. Determined to reconstruct the sequence of events and reestablish a sense of normalcy, Mia finds herself repeatedly returning to the bistro where the shooting happened. In the process she forms bonds with fellow survivors, including banker Thomas (Benoît Magimel) and teenager Félicia (Nastya Golubeva). Efira, who just won a Cesar Award for her role in the film, stars opposite Magimel, the Cesar-winning actor of “Pacifiction,” as well as Grégoire Colin (“Both Sides of the Blade”) and Golubeva (“Annette”).