India Donaldson Picks Up Polish Film Institute Award for ‘Good One’ at American Film Festival, Reflects on the ‘Price of Obedience’

EXCLUSIVE: Abramorama has acquired North American distribution rights to A Storm Foretold, a documentary about Trump adviser Roger Stone that becomes more urgent as the 2024 presidential election inches closer with every passing day.

The stars are stepping out for the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival.

Tubi Hires Endeavor Exec For International Expansion

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival launched its third edition on Thursday with a characteristically starry red carpet featuring the likes of Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone and Will Smith.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Though the Red Sea Film Festival will feature a slew of films from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – including 11 feature films from Saudi Arabia – there is a rich roster of international fare set to launch locally from Jeddah. Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AGC Intl., the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio AGC Studios, has picked up world rights from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, MBC Studios and VOX Studios on Yasir Al Yasiri‘s “HWJN,” and from O3 Medya and Dhafer L’Abidine’s Double A Productions on L’Abidine’s “To My Son.” Saudi fantasy romance ‘HWJN’ will open the Red Sea Film Festival on Nov. 30, while the emotional family drama “To My Son” will premiere in Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section.

Stuart Ford’s AGC International has picked up world rights to two Arab-produced titles, HWJN by Yasir Al-Yasiri and To My Son byDhafer L’abidine, ahead of their debuts at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. 

Jessica Chastain, resplendent in a shimmering silver tasseled jump suit, championed the power of art to bring about positive change at the opening night of the Marrakech Film Festival on Friday evening.

Rotterdam Film Festival Sets ‘Head South’ As Opening Film

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk coming-of-age comedy “Head South” will open the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam on Jan. 25, with the festival running until Feb. 4.

EXCLUSIVE: In a matter of hours, the latest feature from MTV Documentary Films will premiere on Paramount+: A Song Film By Kishi Bashi: OMOIYARI.

At the Award Ceremony of the 27th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), awards were presented to the winners of the festival’s five competition programmes and PÖFF’s youth and children’s film sub-festival Just Film.The jury of the Official Selection Competition, headed by Trine Dyrholm, selected Emma Dante’s drama Misericordia as their favourite, handing the film the Grand Prix for Best Film. Dante adapted her own play of the same name, telling the story of three prostitutes who live in the wasteland by the sea, where a village of outcasts has emerged. Its star Simone Zambelli also scooped the Best Actor Award.

Jurors in the trial of Lawrence Jones, who denies two charges of rape, have been urged to ‘not make assumptions’. The 55-year-old, former founder of tech company UK Fast is alleged to have 'stupefied' two young women with unknown drugs before raping them on separate occasions at a flat in Salford in the early 1990s.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ke Huy Quan just wrapped his debut run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to his role as Ouroboros (aka O.B.) in “Loki” Season 2. While it’s undetermined if he’ll pop up in the MCU again, the actor is already eyeing a jump to another massive Disney-owned franchise: “Star Wars.” In an interview with Collider, Quan recalled his “shameless” encounter with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in which he told her straight up to get him a role in the “Star Wars” franchise. “I love the MCU.

Christopher Vourlias Sofia Exarchou’s “Animal” won the Golden Alexander at the 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival on Sunday, marking the first time in 30 years that a Greek film took home the top honors at the country’s longest-running film event. Exarchou’s sophomore feature, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, was praised by Variety’s Jessica Kiang as “a poignant portrait of life amid the sequins and the seediness of a Greek resort.” The film follows a group of entertainers at an all-inclusive island resort preparing for the busy tourist season who are forced to wrestle with the dark reality that the show must go on as the sultry Mediterranean nights turn violent.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Auto-bio Pamphlet,” a Marathi-language film that is both a love story and a rage against class divisions, will open the 18th edition of the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival later this month. The festival will close with the world premiere of spy thriller “13 Bombs in Jakarta.” JAFF run Nov.

Naman Ramachandran Stuart Gatt’s “Catching Dust,” which premiered at Tribeca earlier this year, will open the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa. Robert Kolodny’s “The Featherweight,” which bowed at Venice, will close the festival.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Casino Royale” Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen and Moroccan actor-director Faouzi Bensaïdi will be celebrated with career achievement awards at the upcoming 20th Marrakech International Film Festival that will run Nov. 24- Dec.

Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary Against The Tide won the Golden Gateway Award at this year’s Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, while the Silver Gateway Award went to Bahadur – The Brave, directed by Diwa Shah. The Special Jury Award went to Kanu Behl’s Agra. 

Naman Ramachandran Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary “Against the Tide” has won the Golden Gateway Award at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. The film previously won awards at Sundance, Sydney and Seattle. Diwa Shah’s San Sebastian winner “Bahadur: The Brave” received Mumbai’s Silver Gateway Award.