Karlovy Vary Film Festival Helps Producers Hone Marketing Skills

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterThe online fest will bring the energy and magic of the live fest as it spotlights the best of independent Black cinema, studio premieres, conversations and panels, along with virtual networking events.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorThe 26th Sarajevo Film Festival has revealed a lineup of 49 films which will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards, whose main competition jury is being overseen by The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius.

Patrick Hipes Executive Managing EditorThe Bentonville Film Festival set the lineup for its sixth edition Tuesday, with the festival co-founded by Geena Davis unveiling its spotlight and competition program of indie feature films, shorts and episodic titles.The fest is set to run August 10-16 in the Arkansas city and is being engineered as a hybrid event because of coronavirus concerns, with digital screenings, panels and events to run alongside some on-the-ground premieres and

HBO's Spike Lee–directed filmed version of David Byrne’s American Utopia Broadway stage play is set to open the virtual Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10, fest organizers said on Tuesday (July 22). David Byrne's American Utopia features the Talking Heads frontman and 11 musical artists from around the world performing songs from the 2018 album American Utopia, as well as songs from Byrne's Talking Heads and solo catalog.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterThe Locarno Film Festival StepIn 2020 will take place virtually in the Variety Streaming Room August 5-7 with three 50-minute sessions covering the future of theatrical experience, the state of independent film production and the future of film festivals and markets.Speakers include Rodrigo Teixeira, Producer (‘Call Me By Your Name’, ‘Port Authority’); Kasi Lemmons, Director/Writer (‘Harriet’); Elissa Federoff, President Distribution, NEON; Daniel Battsek,

Andreas Wiseman International EditorThe Toronto Film Festival is to open with Spike Lee’s filmed version of David Byrne’s hit Broadway show, American Utopia.TIFF will this year be a mix of physical and online screenings with a much-reduced industry presence due to coronavirus.American Utopia hit Broadway in the fall of 2019 and was a hot-ticket through February of 2020. Lee shot the production during its Hudson Theatre run and the concert film will debut on HBO this fall.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“American Utopia,” a filmed-version of David Byrne’s hit Broadway show, will be the opening night presentation of the 45th Toronto International Film Festival. This edition of the annual Canadian gathering for film lovers is unlike any of the previous 44 iterations.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau poses with his family outside the 2020 Taormina Film Festival on Sunday night (July 19) in Taormina, Italy.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterHigh-profile filmmakers including Lucrecia Martel and Lav Diaz have contributed to a retrospective program for the Locarno Film Festival (August 5-15), selecting 20 titles from the event’s 74-year history that will have online and physical screenings next month.Due to ongoing pandemic disruption Locarno shifted the majority of its festival online this year, though ten of the below list of titles will still have physical screenings in Switzerland.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentAlthough the public part of this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival — the key event for the film business in Central and Eastern Europe — was canceled, the festival pressed ahead with its industry section, Eastern Promises, which ran July 6-8 in an online format.Eastern Promises selected 41 projects in development, production and post-production from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North

Leo Barraclough Senior International Correspondent“Wild Roots,” a drama about a lonely, ex-con bouncer who is reunited with his wild child daughter, has won the Works in Progress Award at Eastern Promises, Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s industry section. In the debut feature from director Hajni Kis, the two outsiders bond, but the father’s vehement nature and a family secret stand between them.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterInside Out, Canada’s foremost LGBTQ film festival, has unveiled the 16 recipients for its RE:Focus ‘Emergency Relief Fund’, which was created in response to the pandemic and its impact on the industry.

The Toronto, New York, Telluride and Venice film festivals, knocked sideways in their planning by the coronavirus pandemic, have unveiled a joint statement that commits the long-time rivals to cooperate and not compete for film titles and awards-season bragging rights in the fall. "This year, we’ve moved away from competing with our colleagues at autumn festivals and commit instead to collaboration.

Also Read: Sundance 2021 to Extend Beyond Utah, Be Held in 20 Cities Nationwide and OnlineAll four festivals take place within a month and a half of one another in the fall, and they’re the first stepping stone on the road to the Oscars, which for 2021 has already delayed its ceremony to late April.Venice is meant to take place Sept. 2-12, Telluride runs from Sept.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Venice, Toronto, Telluride and New York Film Festivals have joined forces in an alliance that will see the prominent fall events, all positioned six weeks from each other, collaborate rather than compete in a spirit of post-pandemic solidarity.The statement announcing this alliance provides scant details of what concrete form it will take, beyond saying that they “are offering our festivals as a united platform for the best cinema we can find.” But

Tom Grater, Andreas Wiseman The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the film calendar with Sundance, Toronto and London the latest festivals to announce hybrid events featuring physical and online activity.Below we rundown the current status of some of the key upcoming festivals and markets in the next six months; this list will be updated as developments happen.Sarajevo (August 14-21)Bosnia’s Sarajevo Film Festival is sticking to its August dates and is pushing on with a

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe upcoming Venice Film Festival’s reconfiguration due to coronavirus safety measures has been officially unveiled.Barring complications, Venice, which runs Sept.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorThe Venice Film Festival this morning said that the 77th edition will go ahead from September 2-12 with certain changes owing to sanitary protocols imposed by the COVID-19 crisis.