Experimental Anthology Film ‘Seven Faces of Jane’ Premieres at Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival

EXCLUSIVE: Zoë Kravitz has rounded out the cast for her directorial debut Pussy Island, with Christian Slater (Dr. Death), Alia Shawkat (Search Party) and Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise) signing on for roles, along with Adria Arjona (Morbius), Haley Joel Osment (Goliath), Liz Caribel Sierra (God’s Time), Levon Hawke (The Crowded Room), Trew Mullen (Sunny Family Cult), Saul Williams (Akilla’s Escape), Cris Costa and Kyle MacLachlan (Blue Velvet).

Clement Virgo’s adaptation of a coming-of-age novel set in Toronto’s hip hop scene is bound for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Director Taika Waititi is back in the Marvel business with Thor: Love and Thunder. There is a mix of horror, romance, and drama, but at its core is pure comedy that doesn’t always work but is good enough to entertain. Thor: Ragnarok saw a 180-degree image and personality change for the character and stands among the best of the franchise so far. The beauty of Ragnarok is its focused storytelling and poignant message, while Thunder is a little all over the place. But Waititi’s comedic timing, and talent for creating dynamic action scenes is too good to ignore, it’s missing crucial elements that would push the superhero movie from being good, to great.

As the 56th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) is about to kick off on Friday, there will be plenty to discuss at this year’s event in the picturesque Czech spa town. The prominent Central European festival, which is returning to its usual early July slot after last year’s edition was delayed to August because of the pandemic, will see 33 films from five continents screen across its three sections – the Crystal Globe Competition, the Special Screenings section and its new competition, Proxima, which replaces the former East of the West section.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Maui Film Festival has announced the slate of films and honorees for its 22nd annual edition.The 2022 festival will feature the Maui premieres of 13 feature films, including “McCurry: The Pursuit of Color,” “Gratitude Revealed,” “Facing Monsters,” “The Story of Everything,” “Pretty Problems,” “Kapo,” “Tango Shalom” and “Pe’Ahi.” The festival opener will be a special surprise, with the film remaining a secret until the screening on July 6.The in-person festival will take place at the outdoors Stardust Cinema, featuring live music, Kahiko style hula and other activities. In addition, 80 short and feature films will be available to stream online through the festival’s Speed-of-Light Virtual Cinema from July 6-31.

The Bentonville Film Festival announces the jury prize winners for their 8th annual Festival.

Christopher Vourlias Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, whose feature debut “Pamfir” premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight section, and director and former political prisoner Oleh Sentsov (“Rhino”) are among the Ukrainian filmmakers who say they’re “distraught” by the inclusion of a Russian film in the main competition at the Transilvania Film Festival.In a statement posted on Monday to the Facebook page for “Pamfir,” the filmmakers spoke out against the selection of Russian director Lado Kvataniya’s “The Execution” as one of 12 features competing for the Transilvania Trophy, criticizing the “illusion of cultural reconciliation” created by the festival’s decision and insisting that “art does not exist outside of politics.” The filmmakers noted that Kvataniya’s psychological thriller was produced with the support of the state-backed Russian Film Fund as well as Kinoprime, the $100 million film fund bankrolled by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the U.K.

Crystal Globe Competition“America,” Ofir Raul Graizer (Israel, Germany, Czech Republic)“Chemi otakhi” (“A Room Of My Own”), Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze (Georgia, Germany)“Edna provintsialna bolnitsa” (“A Provincial Hospital”), Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva (Bulgaria, Germany)“F—ing Bornholm,” Anna Kazejak (Poland)“Hranice lásky” (“Borders of Love”), Tomasz Wiński (Czech Republic, Poland)“Isihia 6-9” (“Silence 6-9”), Christos Passalis (Greece)“The Ordinaries,”  Sophie Linnenbaum (Germany)“Slovo” (“The Word”), Beata Parkanová (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland)“Tabestan Ba Omid” (“Summer with Hope”), Sadaf Foroughi (Canada)“Tenéis que venir a verla” (“You Have to Come and See It”), Jonás Trueba (Spain)“Tooi tokoro” (“A Far Shore”), Masaaki Kudo (Japan)“Vesper,” Kristina Buožytė, Bruno Samper (Lithuania, France, Belgium)Proxima Competition“A pak přišla láska…” (“And Then There Was Love…”),  Šimon Holý (Czech Republic)“Los Agitadores” (“Horseplay”), Marco Berger (Argentina)“Au grand jour” (“In Broad Daylight”), Emmanuel Tardif (Canada)“Balaye aseman zire ab” (“Like a Fish on the Moon”), Dornaz Hajiha (Iran)“Głupcy” (“Fools”), Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland, Romania, Germany)“Još jedno proleće” (“Another Spring”), Mladen Kovačević (Serbia, Qatar)“La pietà” (“Piety”), Eduardo Casanova (Spain, Argentina)“Ramona,” Andrea Bagney (Spain)“Stric” (“The Uncle”), David Kapac, Andrija Mardešić (Croatia, Serbia)“Tinnitus,”Gregorio Graziosi (Brazil)“Zkouška umění” (“ART talent show”), Tomáš Bojar, Adéla Komrzý (Czech Republic)“Zoo Lock Down,” Andreas Horvath (Austria)Special Screenings“BANGER.” Adam Sedlák (Czech Republic)“June Zero,” Jake Paltrow (USA, Israel)“The Killing of a Journalist,” Matt Sarnecki (Denmark, USA, Czech

The future of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival is looking uncertain following the unexpected cancellation of its previously announced sixth edition, which had been due to run October 13-22.

Directors Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre take home the top prize for their animated film Little Nicholas–Happy as Can Be at the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. 

John Legend and Jesse Williams are stepping out during the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.

Naman Ramachandran Variety can exclusively reveal a clip from “The Seven Faces of Jane,” produced by Roman Coppola and starring Gillian Jacobs, which will have its world premiere as the opening night film at Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival, Arkansas on June 22.The eight-chapter experiential road trip film is co-directed by Julian Acosta, Xan Cassavetes, Gia Coppola, Ryan Heffington, Boma Lluma, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong and Alex Takacs. Automobile giant Ford was looking for a unique way to reach consumers about new electric vehicle Mustang Mach E and speak to a diverse audience in authentic voices.

Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner hosted by Chanel is back with a star-studded evening. The event took place at the restarant Balthazar, in Manhattan, New York.

Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas have reunited on the red carpet!

Amanda Seyfried is supporting husband Thomas Sadoski on his big night!