Estonia’s Taska Film, Baltic Cinema Chain Apollo Team Up on Soviet-Era, Coming-of-Age Rock Drama ‘Dirt in Your Face’ (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes Jury Prize winner “Fallen Leaves” has snagged the 2023 Intl. Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) Grand Prix for best film of the past year.

There’s a new trailer for World on Fire, the Masterpiece war drama from The A Word’s Peter Bowker that bows Sunday, October 15, on PBS.

Todd Longwell This year’s batch of Emmy-nominated series is rich with visually arresting locations that subtly buttress dramatic themes and flesh out the lives of its leading men, from the Altadena Craftsman that serves as the home of grieving therapist Jimmy (Jason Segal) in Apple TV+’s “Shrinking” to the California prisons (the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi and the Stark Youth Training Facility in Chino) that house Bill Hader’s title character in HBO’s “Barry” to the downtown L.A. high rise where covert-agent-on-the-lam Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) lives when he’s posing as a wealthy investor in FX’s “The Old Man.” And, it turns out, choosing a location is not dissimilar to casting an actor, with looks, price, and personality all factoring into the decision.

When you look at Adam Sandler’s filmography you may either think outrageous comedy or some seriously impressive dramatic turns in movies like Punch Drunk Love, Uncut Gems, and Hustle. But for his latest Netflix flick he is taking a back seat on camera by basically playing the beleaguered dad to his real life daughters Sadie and Sunny Sandler, all in fictionalized roles but nevertheless all still in the family. Sandler’s real influence in You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah is as a producer and in this instance he has brought forward the right creative elements to make this adaptation of Fiona Rosenbloom’s YA book a complete delight.

EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has nabbed VOD rights to the hybrid fiction/non-fiction coming-of-age drama The Other Kids from writer-director Chris Brown, slating it for release September 19th.

Estonia has selected the Sundance prize-winning doc Smoke Sauna Sisterhood as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2024 Oscars.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Black Bear’s management arm has signed Swedish director Måns Månsson for representation. Månsson most recently directed “Estonia,” an eight-part Scandinavian series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster, which has been selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Primetime.

Keke Palmer and Usher are turning the drama between her and her boyfriend, Darius Jackson, after her appearance at the Las Vegas residency show into a hit music video!The duo dropped the music video for Usher's brand new single, aptly titled «Boyfriend,» on Wednesday. Although Palmer doesn't lend her voice to the single, she plays a prominent role in the music video.The video follows the 29-year-old entertainer as she and two friends get ready for a night out in Las Vegas, from doing their hair and makeup to selecting their gorgeous outfits before strutting their way to their destination, posing for pics in the hallway.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In what marks the most ambitious film from Peru’s leading producer Tondero and, most likely, Peruvian cinema in recent times, Pedro Almodóvar’s El Deseo, Infinity Hill (“Argentina 1985”) and Tondero have joined forces to co-produce a drama based on the hostage crisis that took place at the Japanese embassy in Lima in 1996. El Deseo executive producer Esther Garcia and Infinity Hill co-founder/chief creative officer Axel Kuschevatzky were in Lima to attend Tondero’s 15th anniversary festivities and for Garcia to receive a tribute from the ongoing 27th Lima Film Festival, which runs Aug.

LevelK has boarded “The Invisible Fight,” Estonian director Rainer Sarnet’s kung fu comedy set in an Orthodox monastery in the former Soviet Union. The film world premieres Aug. 11 in the main competition of the Locarno Film Festival.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dan Ackerman, editor in chief of tech news site Gizmodo, alleges Apple TV+ film “Tetris” illegally copied from his book on the popular video game, in a lawsuit he filed seeking at least $4.8 million in damages from Apple and others. Ackerman’s “The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World,” published in 2016, is about the game’s origins in the former Soviet Union and the fight for its global licensing rights. The lawsuit touted the book as a “literary masterpiece” and described it as “in the style of Cold War spy thriller.” According to the lawsuit, Ackerman sent a pre-publication copy of the book to the Tetris Co.

Gerard Piqué and Clara Chía were spotted enjoying a lunch date in the picturesque city of Barcelona. The duo were all smiles while the paparazzi captured them walking and holding hands. Dressed in complementary white and blue outfits, they effortlessly showcased their style, becoming the center of attention for their popularity and looks.

The Order of Succession is something that cannot be altered by personal preference. While the British royals understand this, it would seem that one foreign country had not grasped this as they made a rather strange offer to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1994. Huge socio-political change in the country at the time prompted them to ask the late Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, to serve as their head of state.The unusual offer was called "charming" but had to be sensibly declined by Buckingham Palace.

Courtney Howard While “Love in Taipei” promises transportive and transformative escapades with its adaptation of Abigail Hing Wen’s novel “Loveboat, Taipei,” the story’s core strengths are undervalued in the translation from book to screen. This Paramount Plus feature, centered on a young woman embarking on a life-changing overseas journey, only pays lip service to the struggle of a first-generation Asian-American caught between two worlds.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Switzerland has selected Carmen Jaquier’s standout first feature “Thunder” as its submission for the best international feature film category of the Academy Awards. The choice was announced Friday at a press conference held at the Locarno Film Festival.

Christopher Vourlias Wide Management has acquired world sales rights to Christina Ioakeimidi’s “Medium,” a story of first love set against the stifling heat of an Athenian summer that world premieres Aug. 14 in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Based on a novel by Giorgos Sibardis, the film follows 16-year-old Eleftheria (Aggeliki Beveratou), who escapes the suffocating reality of the Greek countryside to visit her pregnant sister (Katerina Zisoudi) in Athens.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Sterlin Harjo is surprised that you’re surprised “Reservation Dogs” is ending. The critically acclaimed FX series, which returns to Hulu on Wednesday with its third and final season, is a dramatic comedy about a group of Indigenous teens finding their place among family and friends as they grow up in Oklahoma. But the thing about coming-of-age tales, Harjo notes, is that eventually the characters come of age.

Alison Herman TV Critic The last we saw of the Reservation Dogs, the friends were letting go of their grief on a Los Angeles beach. The protagonists and namesake of the half-hour series on FX were thousands of miles from home, a testament to the flexible, expansive world-building of co-creator Sterlin Harjo and his team. “Reservation Dogs” is rooted in its specific setting of Indigenous Oklahoma, but the show also gives itself license to experiment with focus, tone and, eventually, geography.

Can summer camp offer a second chance? A teen finds himself searching for a new life in “Camp Hideout.” The comedy focuses on a summer camp full of interesting characters, most notably the temperamental leader Falco; Christopher Lloyd portrays the temperamental man who eventually joins in to help the young campers. Corbin Bleu, Ethan Drew, and Amanda Leighton also star.  READ MORE: Summer 2023 Movie Preview: 52 Must-See Films To Watch The film’s official synopsis: “When mischievous Noah (Ethan Drew) gets himself into trouble with 2 “bad guys” by accidentally stealing their property, he escapes to a summer camp.

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