Ghana’s African Cinema Summit Sets Speaker Lineup Including IMAX Exec & Local Exhibition Heads

The Hunger Games franchise is still generating headlines to this day with the impending release of prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. However, we bet that even the most adoring fans don’t know all of the behind-the-scenes secrets from the original movies.

Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank, also known as Afreximbank, is gearing up to launch a $1B African Film Fund in 2024 to support the continent’s burgeoning film industry.

EXCLUSIVE: Virtual gaming world The Sandbox has teamed with studios and industry labels such as Lionsgate and Skydance on the Cinerama LAND Sale, a virtual cinema-focused network.

An Oldham mum-of-two threatened to post nude pictures of her ex's new lover 'everywhere' in a sinister text - before copies were spread across the victim's neighbourhood, including in her local pub.

EXCLUSIVE: Four years after his fourth acclaimed comedy special The Great Depresh premiered on HBO, comedian Gary Gulman has set his latest, Born on Third Base, to debut on Max. Directed and produced by James Webb (Mark Normand: Soup to Nuts), his new hour will debut on the streaming platform this December.

Zack Snyder‘s space adventure film “Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire” has set a one-week theatrical run ahead of its debut on Netflix. The film will be playing exclusively on 70mm from Dec. 15-21 at the following locations: Los Angeles (Egyptian Theatre), New York City (Paris Theater), Toronto (TIFF Bell Lightbox) and London (Prince Charles Cinema).

The Red Sea International Film Festival, has unveiled the 26 projects selected as part of its industry-focused Red Sea Souk Market, running from December 2 to 5.

Michaela Zee Russell Brand has been accused of sexual assault by a film extra during the production of “Arthur” in July 2010. In a lawsuit, filed Friday in the New York Supreme Court and obtained by Variety, a woman — referred to as Jane Doe — said that Brand “appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, and was carrying a bottle of vodka on set” prior to the assault. Brand, who played the titular role in 2011’s “Arthur,” then proceeded to expose himself to the complainant and in full view of the cast and crew, the lawsuit states.

Travel Man star Richard Ayoade has an unusual connection to former GB News presenter Laurence Fox.The IT Crowd star and comedian is married to Laurence’s sister, Lydia, making the pair brothers-in-law. However, while Richard, 46, and Laurence, 45, are seemingly on good terms, that hasn't always been the case. During an interview with The Sunday Times, Laurence explained that he’d briefly fallen out with his brother-in-law following an appearance on Question Time in 2020.

Kendrick Lamar's company pgLang is working with Global Citizen to establish a touring circuit across Africa. pgLang has committed to curating annual Move Afrika shows for the next five years, starting with a Lamar headline show in Rwanda on December 6. When major U.S.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Tunisian Youssef Chebbi’s “Plague,” Moroccan Adnane Baraka’s “We Don’t Forget” and Meryam Joobeur’s “Motherhood” feature among buzz titles at this year’s Marrakech Festival Atlas Workshops, which will have Martin Scorsese as their official patron. Consolidated as a key platform for Moroccan, Arab and African projects and pix in production made by a new generation of filmmakers and created by Marrakech Festival artistic director Remi Bonhomme, the Atlas Workshops unspool Nov. 27-30.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The philanthropic organization Global Citizen is teaming up with Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s company, pgLang, in an ambitious effort to establish a major music touring circuit across Africa. A kickoff event, “Move Afrika: Rwanda,” will take place Dec. 6 with the hip-hop superstar as the headliner.

EXCLUSIVE: Grammy award-winning Afrobeats artist Mr Eazi has signed on to headline the forthcoming fifth season of The Change Africa Podcast from Nexa Media. 

Thania Garcia Amaarae‘s uniquely futurist take on R&B and Afropop comes as the product of years of unexpected travels — sometimes brief, but momentous stays in distinct locations across the globe. Born in the Bronx, the singer-songwriter and producer spent a lot of her childhood and teen years: moving from New York to Atlanta to her family’s home base in Ghana. Amaarae is still globe-trotting, and when Variety recently caught up with her over Zoom, she was in an airport on the way to a release party for her latest magazine cover story.

EXCLUSIVE: Ugandan actress Tracy Kababiito, British-Nigerian actor Wale Ojo and Rwandan actress Isabelle Kabano are set to co-star in groundbreaking, pan-African Rwanda genocide drama Bisesero: A Daughter’s Story.

Edward Enninful, the editor-in-chief of British Vogue, has been named the most influential Black person in the UK.

Selome Hailu Netflix has set the voice cast for “Carol & the End of the World,” an adult animated series created by Dan Guterman that will debut on Dec. 15. Martha Kelly will play the title role.

Marcelo Cajueiro “A Batalha da Rua Maria Antonia,” directed by Vera Egito, nabbed the main Redentor prize for fiction film at the 2023 Rio de Janeiro International Film Fest which wrapped this year’s edition last weekend, consolidating its position as South America’s largest fest and world’s main showcase of Brazilian productions. The fest held the world premieres of 40 Brazilian features and four TV series.

Britney Spears‘ memoir, “The Woman in Me,” is being released on October 24 and several early, pre-release excerpts have now been released.

EbonyLife CEO Mo Abudu has called out TV’s gatekeepers, saying they must stop the excuses and begin to order African show with global budgets.