FiGa Films Swoops on Bolivian Drama ‘The Visitor’ by Martín Boulocq (EXCLUSIVE)

Soccer Aid is back for another year with two teams of celebs and football legends taking to the pitch in the name of charity.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Ran Tal’s moving documentary “1341 Frames of Love and War” has won three key awards at DocAviv and been sold to seven territories by sales company Reservoir Docs.Tal took home the best director prize while Nilli Feller snagged the editor award. In addition, the doc won the Kedar Foundation Award for a film inspired by Israel’s history and society, which includes a $15,000 cash prize.Since its world premiere at the Berlinale Special sidebar of the Berlin Film Festival, Reservoir Docs, which handles world sales excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, has sold the doc to several territories, including Non Stop (Nordic), Tanweer Films (Greece) and Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais (Portugal).

Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin had a cozy day out in New York City. The 32-year-old actress and the 46-year-old Coldplay frontman were spotted taking a romantic stroll around New York City.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentGlobal arthouse movie streamer, producer and distributor MUBI has acquired all Turkish rights to Iranian director Saeed Roustaee’s timely Cannes title “Leila’s Brothers.”A female empowerment drama set against the backdrop of a family crushed by debts linked to international economic sanctions, “Leila’s Brothers” won the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) prize for best film in Cannes’ main competition.  The film, which is Roustaee’s third feature, follows from his tense actioner “Just 6.5,” about a cop trying to pin down a drug lord.

Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner Carol Burnett has joined the cast of Mrs. American Pie, the Apple comedy series starring Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Allison Janney, and Leslie Bibb, among others.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Miami-based BTF Media and Loz Dos Studios, a Latinx production studio, are jumping on the Marilyn Monroe bandwagon, with a still untitled biopic in the works that promises an untold look at the iconic movie star’s Latina heritage and one of her final trips to Mexico. Details of the script are drawn from released FBI documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.The upcoming project will be another addition to the pantheon of film and TV projects that have proliferated through the years since Monroe’s untimely death in 1962, with the latest being Netflix docu “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” and the upcoming NC-17-rated drama “Blonde,” starring Ana de Armas, that is slated for release this year on the giant streamer.

Ray Liotta made his mark as an actor with his portrayal of Henry Hill in the Martin Scorsese-directed 1990 gangster film, , and the impact of that role will live on forever. Following Liotta's death at age 67 in late May, Scorsese penned an emotional letter for  where he reminisced on the actor and shared his regret for not working with him again following .«We had many plans to work together again but the timing was always off, or the project wasn’t quite right,» Scorsese wrote. «I regret that now.»The 79-year-old award-winning director went on to share that when he watched Liotta as Jay Marotta in the 2019 movie, his desire to work with him again was stronger than ever.«He’s genuinely scary in the role, which is precisely why he’s so funny — I remember feeling that I wanted to work with him again at this point in his life, to explore the gravity in his presence, so different from the young, sprightly actor he was when I met him,» Scorsese explained.«I wish I’d had the chance to see him just once more, too — to tell him just how much the work we did together meant to me,» Scorsese added.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Chef Mauro Colagreco of the three-Michelin star restaurant Mirazur will be attending the June 13 North American premiere of the documentary “Reinventing Mirazur” at the Tribeca Film Festival.  In a clip released ahead of its premiere in Variety, Colagreco explains the new philosophy behind the restaurant’s menus, borne out of the pandemic.As described, the doc takes “a deep dive into the life of Chef Mauro, who finds himself changing everything about his flagship restaurant after the COVID-19 pandemic halted his worldwide rise to prominence.”Forced to go into hiatus not long after his Menton, France-based restaurant was awarded the coveted three Michelin stars and the No.1 spot in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019, Colagreco spent more time in his estate’s vast vegetable and flower garden and came up with the idea to introduce menus pegged to the cycles of the moon. Since he sourced all the restaurant’s fresh produce from his garden, where planting and harvesting were timed according to the moon’s cycles, the menus would undergo a radical change.

Hunter King‘s new Hallmark Channel movie Hidden Gems is airing this weekend and we caught up with her to learn all about what went into making the rom-com.

Ray Liotta’s death announcement shocked the film industry, with many actors and directors publicly sharing emotional messages remembering the star.It was announced that Liotta died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic at 67. He was on location filming the movie ‘Dangerous Waters’ and accompanied by his fiancee Jacy Nittolo.“We were deeply saddened to learn of Ray’s passing, it’s a tremendous loss and our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, fiancé Jacy and daughter Karsen,” producers of the film shared to The Hollywood Reporter.The actor was known for his iconic roles throughout his successful career in Hollywood, from playing Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989), to Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (2019), Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move (2021) and Alan Taylor’s The Many Saints of Newark (2021).“He was so uniquely gifted, so adventurous, so courageous as an actor,” Martin Scorsese stated, sharing his experience working with him, “Playing Henry Hill in Goodfellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot.”“He absolutely amazed me, and I’ll always be proud of the work we did together on that picture,” the acclaimed director declared.“My heart goes out to his loved ones, and it aches for his loss, way too early.” Robert De Niro stated, “I was very saddened to learn of Ray’s passing.

Trainspotting and Grey's Anatomy actor Kevin McKidd is filming new ITV drama The Elect in Glasgow.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeBET+’s “Martin: The Reunion” has been given a premiere date: The special, which reunites the cast of the iconic 1990s Fox sitcom, will debut June 16 on the streamer.That’s one of several summer premiere dates BET+ is set to announce on Wednesday, Variety has learned exclusively. According to BET+, the 90-minute reunion brings back original stars Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II to reminisce about the show’s five seasons.The show even takes place on the iconic “Martin” living room set and is hosted by Affion Crockett.

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis says all Brits should check the outgoings on their bank statement as soon as possible. He's warned it could be 'dangerous' for your bank balance if you don't.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentSpecialty U.S. distributors Uncork’d Entertainment and Dark Star Pictures have acquired Italian director Pasquale Marrazzo’s LGBTQ drama “The Neighbor” for release in North America from Rome-based Coccinelle Film Sales.“The Neighbor” (which is titled “Hotel Milano” in Italy) is about two young men who are in love but get bullied by a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads that makes their life impossible as hatred and intolerance seeps into the rapport between their respective families.It’s the fifth feature written and directed by Marrazzo whose debut “South of the Sun” launched from Toronto’s Discovery section in 2001.

Martin Lewis has revealed his 12-point plan to survive the crippling cost of living crisis after sounding the alarm for yet more eye-watering bill hikes.

A follow-up to the $130M-plus grossing movie Law Abiding Citizen is happening with producer Lucas Foster and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer returning, as well as Gerard Butler and his G-Base partner Alan Siegel reprising their roles as producers.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe NBC drama pilot “Found” has cast Kelli Williams, Variety has learned exclusively.Williams joins previously announced series lead Shanola Hampton in the project along with fellow cast member Mark-Paul Gosselaar.The show is built around the fact that, in any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about. Public relations specialist Gabi Mosley (Hampton) — who was once herself one of those forgotten ones — and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In response to shifting dynamics at film festivals, many of which have been impacted by the pandemic, a new curated Spanish film platform, Panoramic.film is entering the market.Spearheaded by curator Xavier Puerto, director of the Festival REC de Tarragona and a Spanish-language film programmer for the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, Panoramica’s offer is two-fold: “We offer festivals the possibility of completing their line-up with especially curated programs and, through our selective catalogue, offer filmmakers the chance to see their films extend their rounds on the international festival circuit,” said Puerto.The idea for the platform came about after conversations with various festival heads and cultural institutions as they grappled with the changes brought about by the pandemic, with many forced to hold online or hybrid editions. “On the other hand, it is a common conversation among filmmakers that most films, for a variety of reasons, have a very ‘short’ life on the festival scene, regardless of their quality,” Puerto noted.With a number of festivals coming to realize that a hybrid version has enabled them to reach audiences beyond their borders, many have embraced it for the long term.“We want to help festivals with the sometimes rather complex process of presenting a hybrid version and help its audiences discover hidden gems,” said Puerto.In practice, Panoramica is integrated into the programming of the festival itself, as well as on its website with a series of conditions such as viewings with geo-blocking, specific dates or viewing limitations.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMK2 Films, the company behind six films playing at Cannes including Leonor Serraille’s competition title “Mother and Son,” has acquired French and international rights on the Raoul Peck catalogue from Velvet Film.MK2 Films will start selling the library of films during the Cannes Film Festival. The Raoul Peck collection comprises documentary and fiction, including the HBO documentary series “Exterminate All the Brutes” which earned Peck a DGA Awards nomination.The collection also includes “I Am Not Your Negro,” the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA-winning documentary narrated by Samuel L.