Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘EO’ Wins Arab Critics’ Awards; Marrakech’s Atlas Workshops Announces Prizes; Munich Film Up! Unveils China, Iran & India Participants – Global Briefs

It may have seemed like a heavyweight match this year between House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but as far as the Critics Choice Awards are concerned, the HBO drama had the better performances.

It was two days after director Adil El Arbi’s wedding in Morocco when he and his co-director Bilall Fallah got the call that their recently wrapped $70M film Batgirl would be shelved as part of a cost-saving move for Warner Bros Discovery under David Zaslav’s new regime. 

All eyes are on Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning film industry as the second edition of its Red Sea International Film Festival continues to unfold this week in the port city of Jeddah, running from December 1 to 10.

Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla, the film agency of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), has announced the start of construction of the first phase of its new ambitious studio complex.

Polish maestro Jerzy Skolimowski calls EO, winner of the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize and just this week the Best Foreign Film award from the New York Film Critics Circle, “practically a road movie” whose POVs from the titular donkey “were the most effective element of the whole filming and editing.”

The first calendar year to see the physical return of almost every major film festival since the pandemic, 2022 has been a huge morale booster for filmmakers from all around the globe. And now, with the third edition of Deadline’s Contenders Film: International kicking off Saturday at 8 a.m. PT, that outreach expands even further: leaving a carbon-free footprint, our online event will showcase the myriad films that soared at Sundance, beguiled Berlin, captivated Cannes, thrilled Telluride, vitalized Venice and touched Toronto, all the while shining a spotlight on the must-see movies that might have flown under your radar.

Olive Stone voiced support for Saudi Arabia at the opening on Thursday of the second edition of country’s Red Sea International Film Festival, which he is attending as president of the international jury.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled a star-studded In-Conversations program as the second edition gets underway in the port city of Jeddah today.

Sideshow/Janus Films EO held well in week two, grossing $23,217 for the five-day holiday frame ($11,609 per screen) and $16,900 for the three-day weekend ($8,450 per screen). The new cume is $50.7k in a crowded arthouse market, a strong showing for the film starring a melancholic gray donkey. It expands to LA next week opening at Laemmle Royal, Alamo Drafthouse DTLA, Los Feliz 3, and Santa Barbara’s Riviera Theater at SBIFF. Director Jerzy Skolimowski will be on hand for Q&As all weekend.

Still processing. Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas were “shell-shocked” after being named Dancing With the Stars‘ season 31 champions.

Refresh for updates: A24 once again dominated the Film Independent Spirit Award nominations with 24 noms this year, and their Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert directed arthouse blockbuster Everything Everywhere All at Once leading with eight nominations. That movie launched out of SWSW last March, ultimately becoming A24’s biggest grossing movie with $70M domestic, $103M WW and will close to the year later continue its rally to the Santa Monica Pier where the Spirits will take place on March 4, eight days before the Oscars on March 12, 2023. There is no broadcast partner this year for the Spirits and that there will be more info on the various ways to stream the show globally as the show gets closer.

Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles welcomed a record 29 of the year’s buzziest movies from 14 studios and streamers live on stage Saturday at the DGA Theater. A crowd of key Academy and key guild voters took in the all-day affair, hearing from the stars and creatives behind the movies that are making noise this awards season. Now you can hear from them too.

Husband-and-wife writing and producing partners Jerzy Skolimowski and Ewa Piaskowska had the Deadline Contenders Film: Los Angeles crowd doubled over in laughter with their charming back and forth banter. The pair behid EO joined Saturday’s event via video and discussed their choice to create a film from a donkey’s point of view.