‘False Flag’ Season 3 Unveiled at Berlinale

Addie Morfoot ContributorTrue/False, the preeminent non-fiction festival, returned as an in-person event Thursday, drawing documentary notables and fans of their work to a Missouri college town for the first lineup under the artistic direction of Chloe Trayner.There were 31 features and 19 short non-fiction films at the fest, which had more of an international tilt than usual and concludes March 6. Eight features, including “Fire of Love,” “I Didn’t See You There” and “The Territory,” had previously debuted virtually at Sundance in January, but screened for the first time for public audiences at True/False.Their respective directors — Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”), Reid Davenport (“I Didn’t See You There”) Alex Pritz (“The Territory”) – were among the filmmakers making the trek to Columbia for the 19th edition of True/False.

HBO Max has unveiled the first trailer for “Julia,” an upcoming series about the life of beloved culinary icon Julia Child.Created by Daniel Goldfarb (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), “Julia” focuses on Child (played in the series by Sarah Lancashire) during the years following the publication of her iconic cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” The series sees Child kickstarting her first television series, “The French Chef,” at the public television station WGBH.

Sasha Urban editorWearing a blush pink floral Prada gown and matching headband, Dame Helen Mirren told Variety at the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards that she felt like the “homecoming queen.” A fitting title, since she was on hand as the 57th recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award. But Mirren admitted her upcoming role as villain Hespera in the superhero film “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” set to release in 2023, won’t be quite as romantic.“I had such a good time in ‘Shazam,’ playing a Roman goddess,” Mirren told senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson during Variety On the Carpet presented by DIRECTV.

WeCrashed,” a new drama limited series starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway.Based on the podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork” by Wondery, “WeCrashed” tells the story of WeWork, a commercial real estate company that provides shared workspaces for technology startups. The show focuses on the rise and fall of Adam Neumann, the Israeli businessman who founded the company and stepped down in 2019 as its value plummeted.The trailer shows Neumann starting the company with his wife Rebekah (Anne Hathaway) and developing it into a global brand.

The final episodes of Netflix‘s hit Ozark will premiere on April 29 and the streamer dropped a first look teaser above.

K.J. Yossman Sky have released first look images for a new Sky Original drama, “Unwanted.”Inspired by the book “Bilal,” an investigative book from journalist Fabrizio Gatti, the eight-part series tells the story of an undercover human rights defender who is helping migrants journey from Africa to Europe as they battle human traffickers and government officials.Stefano Bises (“Gomorrah”) created and wrote the series in collaboration with with the collaboration of Alessandro Valenti, Bernardo Pellegrini and Michela Straniero.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editorWhen constructing the style for Season 2 of “Emily in Paris,” consulting costume designer Patricia Field said “it was time to shake it up a bit.”“As fashion these days has become rather monotonous and boring (jeans, sneakers, etc.), it was the perfect opportunity to develop Emily’s style as more colorful and optimistic,” Field, who is also known for the iconic style of “Sex and the City” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” wrote in a statement to Variety.Darren Star’s “Emily in Paris” follows Emily (Lily Collins), a marketing executive from Chicago who unexpectedly moves to Paris when the company she works for acquires Savoir, a French marketing firm. Throughout the first two seasons, Emily navigates her work, a new city and complicated romances.

Series Mania Forum’s 2022 Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.One of Europe’s most prestigious TV competitions, with titles competing for a €50,000 ($56,000) grand prize, this year’s Sessions form part of the Forum, which runs March 22-24.The lineup is rich in projects backed by top-tier producers and sales forces, while sluiced by large themes, such as racial and gender equality.The latest from top Italian company Fandango, producer of “Gomorrah” and “My Brilliant Friend,” “The Impossible She” turns on about the first woman to be selected for a Formula 1 race.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIna Garten’s new Discovery Plus series, “Be My Guest With Ina Garten,” has been renewed for two additional seasons ahead of its launch on March 26.The show will launch with full episodes on Discovery Plus, to be followed by a “food-centric half-hour” airing on Food Network at 12 p.m. ET, along with the debut of a companion podcast.Season 1 consists of four episodes, rolled out weekly in the same manner as the premiere.“Be My Guest With Ina Garten” features Barefoot Contessa inviting friends old and new to her East Hampton home for a day of conversation, connection, food and fun visits to some of her favorite local spots.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOnly six months after its 2021 edition, Series Mania will be back with a sprawling selection, including the world premieres of Michael Hirst’s “Billy The Kid” (pictured), the Israeli series “Fire Dance” and rap music-themed French show “Le monde de demain.”Underscoring the large presence of streamers within the roster, Series Mania will kick off with Netflix’s “Standing Up,” a new comedy series from “Call My Agent” creator and showrunner Fanny Herrero; while Disney Plus’ “Oussekine,” about a tragic case of police brutality in France, will close the festival.The lineup boasts 58 series spanning 21 countries. These were chosen from 331 series.

Series Mania has unveiled the nine shows from six countries competing for the prestigious International Competition along with revealing the lineup and guests of honor for this year’s edition, the first to take place in person for three years.

Ben Croll Fueled in no small part by international streamers looking to entrench their market share, production days skyrocketed across the European continent in 2021. But if the last year marked a gold rush for both service providers and content hungry viewers, independent producers have been feeling the squeeze.“It’s not a golden age when it comes to IP retention,” said Katharina Hiersemenzel, senior VP public policy of German mini-major Constantin Film.

Holly Jones Karlsson: It’s also the expectations they put on themselves. Harry’s constantly torn between what he feels is good music and what is just making money, a concern he shares with his father.

Winners are being announced for the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival. Follow the ceremony live via the below video feed from 7PM CET / 10AM PST, with the red carpet now underway.

Michelle Dockery and Michael Fox have gone from the sets of  “Downton Abbey” to a recording studio.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentLoco Films, the Paris-based world sales and production company, has unveiled the trailer for Yulia Trofimova’s feature debut “The Land of Sasha” which is premiering today at the Berlinale, in the Generation 14plus strand.“The Land of Sahsa” tells the story of an indecisive 18-year-old struggling to pursue his desire to become a painter as his mother urges him to choose a safer career path. The sudden appearance of the boy’s estranged father complicates things further. But when Sasha has an unexpected encounter with an unusual girl called Zhenia, he realizes he has no choice but to finally grow up.“The Land of Sasha” was produced by Katerina Mikhaylova and Konstantin Fam for Moscow-based Vega Film.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNetflix has dropped the trailer for “Standing-Up,” the new show by Fanny Herrero, the creator of French hit series “Call My Agent!”“Standing-Up” follows Aïssatou, Nezir, Bling and Apolline, four artists from different backgrounds who are trying to break into the world of stand-up comedy. They meet every day at the Drôle, a Parisian comedy club, where they come to practice their art: making people laugh.

Naman Ramachandran Projects from France-Iran and India were the big winners at this year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market, which is part of the European Film Market.The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, endowed with €20,000 ($22,628), went to the producers of Caractères Productions from France, and Honare Khiyal from Iran for their project “My Favourite Cake” by directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam. The VFF Talent Highlight Award with prize money of €10,000 went to director Shuchi Talati’s “Girls Will Be Girls.” The film is to be produced by Pushing Buttons Studios, an outfit founded by Indian actors Ali Fazal (“Death on the Nile”) and Richa Chadha (“Gangs of Wasseypur”) and co-produced by Sanjay Gulati and Pooja Chauhan of Crawling Angel Films (2020 Berlinale selection “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs”) and Claire Chassagne of Dolce Vita Films (2019 Venice and Cairo winner “A Son”).

The long-awaited movie Death on the Nile has finally arrived in theaters and audiences checking out the film this weekend will probably wonder if they should stick around for an end credits scene.

Jamie Lang HBO Max has revealed that principal photography has begun on a second season of its cult Spanish horror series “30 Coins,” from genre maestro Alex de la Iglesia, following an eight-episode commission. Shooting for the globetrotting series will take place in Spain, Italy, the U.S., France and the U.K., with the second season scheduled to launch in 2023.HBO has also released a grim teaser to mark the occasion, which includes a brief look at Eduard Fernández’s Padre Vergara, looking worse for ware after the events of Season 1.A hit in its native Spain, the series also found success abroad as its became available on the WarnerMedia-owned streaming platform in more territories.