Hot Spots: How Ireland’s Booming Screen Sector Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down And Why It’s “An Overnight Success, Thirty Years In The Making”

Cornerstone has closed worldwide distribution deals for Andrea Arnold’s latest feature film Bird, which debuted at last month’s Cannes Film Festival. 

EXCLUSIVE: Non-fiction agency Indox, launched by former Dogwoof exec Luke Brawley, has boarded Visions du Reel competition title Mother Vera and will use the pic to launch a new boutique service focused on representing non-fiction and progressive media works in the UK and Ireland. 

Dakota Fanning wears a sleek green dress while arriving for the NYC premiere of her new movie The Watchers held at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on Sunday (June 02) in New York City.

Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones have finally revealed what their Normal People-related tease earlier this week was all about.Earlier this week, the pair of Mescal and Edgar-Jones took to social media to tease something related to Normal People, with the latter writing “We’ve got some news to share!! Watch this place,” alongside a photo of them on her Instagram Story.Now, the duo have finally opened up about the tease, shutting down speculation that the show is returning for a second season anytime soon. Instead, the two have announced a special charity screening of the entire show set to take place on June 16 at a Central London cinema that has yet to be revealed.Mescal and Edgar-Jones will raffle tickets to a special marathon screening of Normal People on the big screen.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off the Cannes Film Festival where it won several awards, Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “The Seed of The Sacred Fig” has been acquired by a flurry of high profile distributors in major international territories. Films Boutique, which represents the critically acclaimed political drama globally, has sold it to Lionsgate for the U.K.

Paul Mescal to play one of the Fab Four in his upcoming Beatles biopic.Mescal first gained attention for his award-winning role as Connell Waldron in the 2020 drama miniseries Normal People. He was also nominated for Best Actor at the 95th Academy Awards for his portrayal of Calum in 2022’s Aftersun.The actor is set to star as Lucius Verus in Ridley Scott’s upcoming Gladiator II. Verus is the nephew of the original film’s villain Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) but grows up idolising deceased gladiator Maximus (Russell Crowe).Now, The Hollywood Reporter has released a new feature highlighting 10 young movie stars who are taking Hollywood by storm.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has finalized global sales for the Cannes competition title “The Substance,” directed by Coralie Fargeat and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. The Match Factory has sold to Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Spain (Elastica Films), Scandinavia (Nonstop Entertainment), South Korea (Challan), Hong Kong (Golden Scene Company), CIS (VLG.FILM LTD.), Ukraine and Baltics (Adastra Cinema), Taiwan (Catchplay), Australia and New Zealand (Madman Entertainment), Poland (Monolith), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), the former Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Bulgaria (Beta Film) and Romania (Independenta Film 97).

The Match Factory has finalized a raft of international deals for Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes Palme d’Or contender The Substance, following its buzzy premiere over the weekend in the presence of co-stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid.

Weird sisters have been spinning their witchy webs in stories dating back to Greek mythology, which included a macabre trio of sisters who passed a single eye between them. There is something of that sense of a closed circle of unknowable femininity between the two teenage girls in September Says, the first film to be directed by Greek Weird Wave actor Ariane Labed, based on the 2020 novel Sisters by Daisy Johnson and set between England and Ireland.

Rarely in recent decades has the festival circuit been as disrupted as it has in the past 12 months. A confluence of local and global issues — from war to inflation, political unrest to societal shifts — have created a perfect storm for many of these vital cultural platforms, leading to funding shortfalls, staff losses, major PR headaches and in some cases cancellation. Amid shifts in consumer and industry behavior, there are also broader existential questions being asked about the role and potency of festivals.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Swedish director Ruben Östlund, who won Cannes Film Festival‘s Palme d’Or for “The Square” and “Triangle of Sadness,” was among the guests at the German Films and Medienboard Reception on May 18 in the garden of the Mondrian Hotel in Cannes. Östlund, who is in the Riviera resort to promote his latest production, “The Entertainment System Is Down,” was accompanied by Philippe Bober of Coproduction Office, one of the film’s producers, and Erik Hemmendorf of Plattform Produktion, Östlund’s Swedish producer. (They are pictured above.) German Films, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, was represented at the event by managing director Simone Baumann, and Medienboard, which is a film fund for the Berlin-Brandenburg region, was represented by its CEO Kirsten Niehuus.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Boosted by world-class incentives, Spain’s Canary Islands has attracted the shoots of some of the higher-profile movies on earth from “In the Heart of the Sea” to “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Eternals.” Now, however, a homegrown Canary Islands cinema is bursting onto the scene, a Canary Island New Wave cinema lifting off, hitting festivals and making ever more insistent production news. If a date can be attributed to the event, it may be March’s Malaga Film Festival.

It’s been 31 years since Screen Ireland (formerly the Irish Film Board) was re-established by the now President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. In those years, the government has continued to give strong support to the screen sectors, with the country offering an attractive 32% tax incentive on eligible spend for film and television production. Last year, the country’s government increased its section 481 tax incentive cap on eligible expenditure from €70 million to €125 million in a move to attract larger scale productions.  

Celtic hero Cameron Carter-Vickers jumped on a table to send his condolences to Rangers – as Parkhead punters lapped up his title celebrations.

Jeremy Clarkson has been named the UK and Ireland’s sexiest man for the second year running, beating the likes of Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland and Idris Elba.The Clarkson’s Farm star scored an impressive nine out of 10 points in the annual poll conducted by Illicit Encounters, which proclaims to be “the best online dating site for married people”.Entering the UK’s top 10 for the first time was Spider-Man star Tom Holland, who came second with a score of eight out 10. Completing the top three is the Prince of Wales, who has shot right up after coming near the bottom of the list last year.The annual Sexiest Man poll from Illicitencounters.com takes votes from 2,000 of its female members.

Jamie Lang Brazil’s O2 Play, the distribution arm of O2 Filmes group, will host a Cannes market screening for director Marcelo Gomes‘ latest feature, “Portrait of a Certain Orient,” on Friday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. in Lerins 4. Ahead of the screening, O2 has given Variety exclusive access to the romantic period drama’s international trailer.

Jim Jarmusch’s anticipated next film, “Father Mother Sister Brother.” They’re joining Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps, who were previously rumored to be starring after being photographed on set. “Father Mother Sister Brother” recently wrapped production in Paris following shoots in Dublin, Ireland and in the Northeastern U.S. Post-production has begun New York, and the film is expected to be finished later this year.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Principal photography has begun on “The Captive,” a historical epic from “The Others’” Alejandro Amenábar, starring Julio Peña (“Berlin”) as “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes, a prisoner of Ottoman corsairs, seen in a very first still from the film, alongside Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”), playing his captor, which has been shared in exclusivity with Variety. Paris and London-based production, finance and sales house Film Constellation handles worldwide sales.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor It is a great year for Ireland at Cannes, with five Irish films world premiering at the festival. Among the crop are Yorgos Lanthimos’ highly-anticipated “Kinds of Kindness,” Ariane Labed’s feature debut “September Says” and Ali Abbasi’s Trump biopic “The Apprentice.” Not only does Ireland have a slew of high-profile talent like actors Cillian Murphy and Ruth Negga, cinematographer Robbie Ryan and director Lenny Abrahamson, but the country also boasts locations that have attracted recent productions such as “Cocaine Bear” and “Abigail.” “We are a small country to get around but very diverse,” head of U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran producers Frida Torresblanco (Pan’s Labyrinth) and Frank Murray (First Reformed) have teamed up to launch Hangtime International Pictures, a new transatlantic production company headquartered in London and New York.