Int’l Critics Line: Belgium’s Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Playground’

David Benedict The gap between what you see and what you get has long proved fertile territory for playwrights. At his considerable best, not least his Oscar-winning adapted screenplay of his play “The Father,” French dramatist Florian Zeller (and translator Christopher Hampton) has shown that by cunningly changing what audiences are seeing, he can not only define but also dramatize emotional content.

Jamie Lang Belgium’s Panenka, producers of recent VRT breakout hit “Two Summers” – which premiered last week to a jaw-dropping 51% market share in its prime-time slot and which will soon be released worldwide by Netflix – will virtually pitch one of their upcoming projects, “This is Not a Murder Mystery,” at Berlin Co-Pro Series.One of 10 such projects set for this event, Co-Pro Series marks the first public pitch for “TINAMM,” with the creative team looking to the right co-production and distribution partner to help realize their murder mystery series. Panenka producer Kristoffel Mertens hosts the virtual Co-Pro pitch with co-creators Paul Baeten and Christophe Dirickx.Baeten is a novelist, essayist and TV screenwriter, whose credits include two seasons of the acclaimed drama series “Over Water” and the aforementioned “Two Summers.” Dirickx has written and produced several feature films, including Cannes players “The Misfortunates” from director Felix van Groeningen and Frank Van Passel’s “Manneken Pis.” International Emmy-nominee Hans Herbots (“The Spiral”) and Matthias Lebeer, a winner of two Golden Lions at Cannes for his work on GT Academy Europe, will direct.

Manchester City are expected to make four changes to their line-up for the Champions League last-16 opener with Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night (8pm).

Wilson Chapman editorGet ready to meet the many, many sides of Marc Spector.During the Super Bowl, Marvel Studios unveiled the second trailer for “Moon Knight,” the Oscar Isaac-starring limited series premiering March 30 on Disney Plus.The Marvel Cinematic Universe series stars Isaac as Moon Knight, a character first created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin in 1975 for the comic series “Werewolf by Knight.” In most depictions of the character, Moon Knight is the secret identity of Marc Spector, a former CIA operative turned mercenary who dies during a job in Sudan but is revived and turned into the conduit of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, becoming a Batman-esque vigilante. One of the character’s most notable traits is his dissociative identity disorder, which manifests in several distinct personas with defined personalities.

Osaze Urhoghide had a tough debut at his new Belgian club as the young Celtic defender was substituted at the break for KV Oostende.

After watching her family drama CODA break ground this morning as both the first Apple Original, and the first feature led by a predominantly deaf cast to land a Best Picture Oscar nomination, writer-director Sian Heder caught up with Deadline to discuss the meaning behind this recognition from the Film Academy, and upcoming projects including a biopic on disability rights activist Judy Heumann.

Denzel Washington’s nomination for best actor in the Joel Cohen film The Tragedy of Macbeth marks him as the most nominated Black actor in Oscar History, with ten nominations and two wins. 

CODA star Troy Kotsur this morning became the first deaf male actor ever to earn an Oscar nomination, speaking with Deadline about what the watershed moment centered on the Apple film means for the deaf community, as well as his upcoming film Flash Before the Bang and more.

Troy Kotsur made history this morning as he landed his first Oscar nomination for his turn in Apple’s acclaimed family drama, CODA, becoming the first deaf male actor to earn this recognition.

Sian Heder’s family drama CODA broke ground this morning as both the first Apple Original, and the first feature led by a predominantly dead cast to land a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog was the big winner at Sunday’s London Critics’ Circle Awards, scooping four prizes including Film of the Year. Scroll down for the full list of winners.

Naman Ramachandran Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” won four major awards at the 42nd annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards on Sunday.“The Power of the Dog” won film of the year, Campion director of the year, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit-McPhee, actor and supporting actor of the year, respectively. This is Campion’s second film to take the Circle’s top honor, 28 years after “The Piano” won in 1994.Olivia Colman’s performance in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” which was snubbed at the BAFTA nominations, earned her the actress of the year award.

Katie Price has been seen with full head bandage after undergoing an eye and brow lift.The 42 year old was seen with the bandage and bruising under her eyes as she left her rented home in Surrey holding two of her dogs on Wednesday afternoon. Mum of five Katie has always been open about the surgeries she’s undergone, including multiple boob jobs, liposuction and a Brazilian bum lift. She also shocked fans last year when flying to Turkey for multiple procedures, afterwards explaining that she was scared she’d “die” on the operating table.

As the Best International Feature race comes to a close, it’s fairly clear to see who the favorites are. Since it premiered at Cannes last year, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car has dominated the landscape, featuring highly in international critics’ awards and even penetrating the consciousness of the Golden Globes. But—as we saw at Cannes, where Hamaguchi only went home with Best Screenplay—critical mass doesn’t always impact on industry juries. It’s just as possible, then, that the Oscar might go to Norway’s The Worst Person in the World, a gently subversive romcom by Joachim Trier that captures the exact moment in a director’s career when they nail their style. To add a third alternative, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s sobering emigrant story Flee has been quietly making history, a feat that will be cemented if it becomes, as many think it might, the first film to compete in the International, Documentary and Animation fields.

Julia Child knew her way around a sauce the way Leonard Bernstein knew his way around a sympathy, the way Patrick Mahomes knows his way through a defense. That is to say, with panache.

Lana Condor, 24, who is best known as the lead star of the hit Netflix To All The Boys trilogy, has announced her engagement with a gushing post to her new fiancé Anthony De La Torre.The American actress has been dating her musician beau for six years, declaring it the easiest decision she’s ever made. Sharing the sweet announcement on her Instagram page, Lana wrote in the caption: “Saying YES was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. “I consider myself the absolute luckiest woman alive to live in your sphere.” The star went on to say she even thought Anthony was the “greatest” man in the world next to her own dad.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAmazon Prime Video has ordered its next French series original, “Darknet-sur-Mer,” (“On the Darknet”) a crime comedy series produced by Noor Sadar’s White Lion Films, a Mediawan Group company. The six-episode series, directed by Remy Four and Julien War (“On The Other Side of the Tracks”), has just started filming in the Charente Maritime region of Southwest France.

Mortal Kombat is getting a sequel!