Illumination to Bow New Footage of ‘Migration’ at Annecy Animation Festival

Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp performed a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ at their recent set at Glastonbury.The married couple — who both have extensive music careers and came together to form a musical duo in 2020 — took to the stage on Sunday (June 25), and performed renditions of some of their favourite classic rock hits.A highlight of the set came with their cover of a David Bowie classic, as they put their own spin on his 1977 fan favourite, ‘Heroes’.For the performance, Willcox took the microphone and handled the vocals, while Fripp remained seated and played the guitar through the track. Check out the footage below.Back in 1977, Fripp recorded the guitar for the hit Bowie track, as well as featuring on the singer’s two hit albums ‘Heroes’ and ‘Scary Monsters’.

Nearly 30 years ago, creators of Essence Magazine came to New Orleans to celebrate the publication's 25th anniversary with a salute to Black women highlighting culture, empowerment conversations with the nation's thought leaders and, of course, music. The Essence Music Festival has since morphed into the Essence Festival of Culture, which, in its 29th year, kicks off Thursday and goes through July 3 across various venues in downtown New Orleans.The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will hold most of the free workshops, vendor exhibits and celebrity meet-and-greets.

The live-action Ahsoka Tano series is set to release in just a few months! Many Star Wars fans are looking forward to this project and can not wait till late August to see the chosen one’s padawan back in live-action. Luckily, we will be getting some more footage very soon! Thanks to the ESSENCE Festival this weekend we will see a sneak peek at Star Wars: Ahsoka.   “Disney is proud to return to the ESSENCE Festival of Culture as a major sponsor and showcase the magic happening across our brands,” said Jill Estorino, president and managing director of Disney Parks International.

Dexys Midnight Runners‘ Kevin Rowland has recalled calling David Bowie “full of shit” and “a bad copy of Bryan Ferry“.The notorious comment was made during a support slot in 1983. Rowland was asked about it when taking NME‘s Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! quiz this month.“Nobody’s ever asked me about this before. We had to be escorted out of the area!” Rowland laughed.

Blondie‘s Debbie Harry has defended an incident in which David Bowie showed her his penis.The frontwoman originally shared the story in her 2019 memoir FACE IT.In an extract published by The Sunday Times at the time Harry recalled the moment, writing: “One time David and Iggy [Pop] were looking for some blow. Their connection in New York had suddenly died and they were out.“A friend had given me a gram, but I had barely touched it. I didn’t care for coke too much – it made me jittery and wired and it affected my throat.

2023 Tribeca Festival, director Mario Van Peebles opened up about his directorial debut, 1991’s “New Jack City,” alongside Fab 5 Freddy, Vanessa Williams and Michael Michele with an at-capacity crowd at the SVA Theater for an illuminating 35 minutes full of joy, surprises and honesty.It can’t be understated how jovial Van Peebles—the son of prolific Black filmmaker Mario Van Peebles—was from the moment he stepped on stage to quickly introduce the film, which chronicles the rise of a ruthless drug lord in the dilapidated slums of late-1980s New York City. By the time the opening credits began to roll he was encouraging a major clap-along in the audience to the groove-worthy opening track.

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival has unveiled the prize winners of its biggest edition to date, running from June 11 to 17.

Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 children’s book comes vividly to life in Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry’s joint feature debut, a castaway fantasy in which a young boy learns vital lessons about the natural order of things. Seasoned screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce is on board too, and yet this is likely one of his sparsest screenplays yet, leaning into the subtleties of the animation: traditional hand-drawn 2D with mixed-media elements for the background. Older kids will likely love it, but a beautifully stark encapsulation of the bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 may rule it out as something for the whole family.

This eye-catching, dimension-traveling adventure might be aimed at kids, but there’s plenty here for adults who grew up believing the possibilities of animation might be endless. Now that Disney has done its best to persuade us otherwise, Benoît Chieux’s fabulous Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams is here as a palate-cleanser, tucking away a tender story of love and loss in an insanely imaginative psychedelic brainstorm. If Matt Groening and Miyazaki took magic mushrooms and watched The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine together, they could conceivably come up with a movie to match this.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sunday,” by Uzbekistan-based director Shokir Kholikov, was Thursday named best film in the Asian New Talent section of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival. The Asian New Talent Awards are called Golden Goblet Awards, but are separate from the festival’s official competition section, and favor new and emerging talent. The main competition jury will hand out its Golden Goblets on Sunday. The best director prize in the Asian New Talent section was shared by two helmers: China’s Luo Dong won for “May.” So too did Kazakhstan’s Aisultan Seit for “Qash.” Luo previously attended the Shanghai festival’s project market ten years ago and has since completed one other film.

Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri was feted at the Annecy International Film Festival Wednesday morning with a “Golden Ticket” lifetime accreditation in a surprise session featuring Grammy-winning musician and Louis Vuitton designer Pharrell Williams.

Ben Croll Before Pharrell Williams put in a surprise appearance to honor Chris Meledandri with Annecy’s Golden Ticket lifetime achievement award, the Illumination CEO joined “Migration” director Benjamin Renner for a wide-ranging conversation and to present the first 25 minutes of the film.  Though the duo made sure to mention that the excerpt was not quite locked, the opening salvo was nevertheless polished and sure-footed, giving Annecy attendees a good impression of the final form. Set for release on Dec. 22, “Migration” seems like another crowd-pleaser – at least if auditorium’s laughs and applause offered any indication.

Naman Ramachandran Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri was presented with the Annecy International Film Festival’s lifetime accreditation Golden Ticket on Wednesday. In a surprise appearance, two-time Oscar nominee and Grammy-winning global superstar Pharrell Williams presented Meledandri with the festival’s honor. Meledandri is the creative producer behind “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the Despicable Me, Minions, Sing and The Secret Life of Pets franchises, and the upcoming action comedy, “Migration.” Williams, a longtime creative partner with Illumination, earned his first Academy Award nomination for his blockbuster song “Happy” from the studio’s “Despicable Me 2.”

Tina Fey and Jon Hamm have made it to the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.

The 47th edition of Annecy International Film Festival opened on a defiantly upbeat note on Sunday evening just three three days after its picturesque lakeside home was rocked by a violent knife attack.

Marta Balaga Variety will host a panel at the Annecy Animation Festival, Breaking the Borders of Animation, focusing on one of the key – and most exciting –  talking points in the medium: How animation is currently being revolutionized and reimagined by new waves of creativity and technology. The panel has been organised with Nickelodeon as its official partner.  On Tuesday June13, Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge will encourage his guests to wonder about the future of the art form, starting with Latifa Ouaou, EVP of Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation, who also executive produced “The Grinch” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”

Carole Horst “Nimona” took a twisty road to the big screen. But now it’s ready for its debut at Annecy Animation Film Festival. Pictured above is an exclusive still from the anticipated fantasy adventure. Based on the graphic novel by N.D. Stevenson, the feature follows Ballister Boldheart, a knight in a futuristic medieval world who is framed for a crime he didn’t commit. The only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a mischievous teen who happens to be a shapeshifting creature he’s sworn to destroy. “Nimona” started out at 20th Century Fox’s animation shingle Blue Sky Studios, which optioned the novel in 2015. Nick Bruno and Troy Quane were brought onboard in 2020 when creative direction of the film changed. The film continued production apace even after Disney completed its $71.9 billion merger with 20th Century Fox in 2019.

EXCLUSIVE: As the Annecy International Animation Film Festival begins to get underway this weekend, newly hired Warner Bros. Animation President Bill Damaschke has announced a rebranding of the motion picture division with a focus on filmmakers.

Organizers of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival said today that the event will open on June 11 as planned, but open-air screenings will be postponed a day following a Thursday knife attack in the city involving a group of nursery school-age children.

Ben Croll This year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival looks to break records with a wider international reach and greater studio participation than ever before. Already set to overtake last year’s attendance, the French lakeside fest,  runs June 11-17 and had run up 13,300 guests by late May — among them a U.S. delegation more than 700 strong.   “[This year marks] the most important U.S. presence ever at Annecy,” says artistic director Marcel Jean. “We’re taking in historical players such as Disney, DreamWorks and Pixar who will still come, as well as global platforms such as Netflix, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery. And [we’re welcoming] a number of big titles.”