City Kabul Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The Cannes Film Festival has a long tradition of showing films about world events and this year is no exception.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mediawan Rights has boarded “Kabul,” a highly anticipated thriller series produced by France’s 24 25 Films and Cinétévé. Shervin Alenabi (“Tehran”) and “Euphoria’s” Eric Dane (in a small role) have joined the international cast of the show, which already comprises Jonathan Zaccaï (“Le bureau des legendes”), Thibault Evrard (“The Night of the 12th”), Vassilis Kukalawi (“Kandahar”), Jeanne Goursaud (“Pax Massilia”), Gianmarco Saurino (“L’estate piu Calda”) and Valentina Cervi (“Medici: Masters of Florence”). The series, set against the backdrop of U.S.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based film sales agency Cat&Docs has acquired “Kamay,” the debut feature documentary from filmmakers Ilyas Yourish and Shahrokh Bikaran. The film will world premiere at Visions du Réel, which runs in Nyon, Switzerland, April 12-24. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below).

William Earl Variety’s third annual FYC Fest: The Shortlist will return Jan. 9 and feature 12 virtual panels with the top contending filmmakers and artisans that were shortlisted by the Academy in the sound, documentary short, documentary film, international film, original song, score, visual effects and makeup / hairstyling categories.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Five years after opening the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam with his feature debut “Kabul, City in the Wind,” Afghanistan-born, Netherlands-based filmmaker Aboozar Amini returns to IDFA to present his latest, “Kabul, Year Zero,” at the festival’s industry section, Forum. The choice to return to IDFA was an obvious one to Amini and frequent collaborator Jia Zhao of Silk Road Film Salon, who is co-producing “Kabul, Year Zero” alongside Julia Niethammer for Chromosome and Heejung Oh for Seesaw Pictures.

Darren Aronofsky‘s Protozoa Pictures and Los Angeles Media Fund are launching a joint venture focused on commissioning and producing new live theater projects as well as co-producing and supporting larger productions.

As if to come to the aid of her national cinema after the debacle that was Roman Polanski’s The Palace, Poland’s Agnieska Holland, soon to turn 75, restores some of her homeland’s cultural dignity with a devastating exposé that angrily, and quite brilliantly, questions its humanity and political integrity. At 144 minutes, and in black and white, it is not exactly a Trojan horse, and its moral rigor does not come with a spoonful of sugar. But Green Border earns every second of that running time, and with a focus and energy that belies its directors age. Awards-wise, this may prove to be the international feature to beat.

Christopher Vourlias When the last American transport plane left the tarmac at Kabul’s international airport in August 2021, ending a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and marking an unceremonious conclusion to what had been known as the “forever war,” the U.S. left more than unfulfilled promises and unanswered questions in its wake: Also left behind was more than $7 billion in military equipment, now in the hands of an Islamist government that rose to power not at the ballot box, but at the barrel of a gun.

Portishead‘s Beth Gibbons has teamed up with Afghan girl band the Miraculous Love Kids for a cover of Joy Division‘s ‘Atmosphere’ and David Bowie‘s ‘Heroes’.The release entitled ‘Atmosphere/Heroes’, blends the two songs together and sees Gibbons fronting the track with the group. You can view footage below.Gibbons said in a press release (via Pitchfork): “I was so honoured to guest on the Miraculous Love Kids’ reconstructed cover track ‘Atmosphere/Heroes,’ and to be a voice next to these brave and beautiful girls of Afghanistan.”The release marks two years since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan and women’s rights and freedoms were limited.The women in Miraculous Love Kids fled Kabul in Afghanistan, for Pakistan with their families and formed the band alongside American musician and activist Lanny Cordola.Cordola said he first met Gibbons in Islamabad, “just days after the Taliban takeover.”He added: “She confirmed her support and extended a generosity of spirit to the girls that was invaluable as she is truly one of the great voices in the world today.

The nominations are out for the 44th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and CNN leads the way with a commanding 45 noms ahead of Vice (30) and ABC and PBS (26 each). See the list of nominees in all 62 categories below or click here.

Murtada Elfadl How people perceive gender and react to it lies at the heart of “Transition,” Monica Villamizar and Jordan Bryon’s documentary premiering in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film follows Bryon, an Australian journalist, transitioning at the same time that he’s reporting from within Afghanistan as the country falls back under Taliban rule in 2021. His dilemma intensifies as he’s ensconced with a group of hardline Taliban fighters. They only know him as a man, so he’s able to have the access and security he needs to perform his job even as others in the country are losing their rights because of their gender. With that framework, the film feels like a documentation of a timebomb situation. At any moment things might change drastically for Bryon.

Never Have I Ever season four has arrived on Netflix, and as ever, the series boasts an extensive selection of songs in its soundtrack.Co-created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher (The Mindy Project, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Never Have I Ever follows Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a 15-year-old Indian-American student, as she deals with the death of her father, high school crushes and a complicated family life.Confirmed to be the show’s final run of episodes, season four sees Devi and her friends embark on their senior year as they prepare to make some tough decisions about their futures.Backing their final days at school is a huge selection of pop, rock and indie songs. You can find the full soundtrack for each episode below.Episode 1:“Just a Clown” by Primer‘We’re (Not) Alone’ by Brother‘You’re My Future by’ Rosie Thorne‘Do It’ by Spank‘Bye bye’ by Haiku HandsEpisode 2:‘Different World’ by Billy Lemos & Danny Dwyer‘Waiting’ by Yb.‘Ride With Me’ by Harry McNallyEpisode 3:‘Design’ by TENDER‘Don’t Be Mad’ by Ryan Pate & Ollie Gabriel‘Floating (Kabul Fire RMX)’ by KUOKO, Farhot, AgaJonEpisode 4:‘Touch’ by TENDER‘Sideways’ by Flasher‘Bad Girls’ by Kid Francescoli & Julia MinkinEpisode 5:‘I Want You Around’ by DAZZ & Zombic‘Do Me A Favor’ by KeeksEpisode 6:‘Caramel Flake’ by Tracy De Sá‘Living Legend’ by Ty Frankel, Chris Harris, and Davide Giovara‘my rose (Luca Edit)’ by Emma Castellino & LucaEpisode 7:‘Reflection (feat.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Germany’s Beta has licensed Spanish special ops thriller “La Unidad – Kabul,” to Max for the U.S., the third instalment in one of Movistar Plus+’s longest running franchises, “La Unidad,” whose six episodes deliver an engrossing and sometimes shocking take on the 2021 Fall of Kabul. With the purchase, all 18 episodes of Spanish series “La Unidad” are now available to stream on Max in the U.S.   Beta has previously sold the thriller, spangled by action scenes and haunting in its sudden deaths, to 50 territories including France, Latin America, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Australia.  

, and I don't know if I've ever screenshotted a hair color faster. Although, it's hard to say, especially with how impressive the Cannes beauty looks have been thus far.

Jennifer Lawrence steps out in a woven dress with a detailed back for the Bread and Roses photocall during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival over the weekend.

red carpet in a very unexpected shoe.On May 21, the hit the Croisette in a crimson Christian Dior couture gown with a ruffled bust, corseted bustier, and elegant shawl draped across her arms. Paired with a statement diamond choker necklace and subtle wine-stained lips, the 32-year-old Huger Games star embodied Old Hollywood glamour for the premiere of Anatomy of a Fall, save for one minor, deliciously relatable detail.Underneath Lawrence's gown was a pair of everyday black flip-flops, which could be seen as the actor descended the Palais des Festivals steps in photos from the event—and we can't help but think would be proud.

Late last month the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to condemn the Taliban for systematically depriving Afghan women of their rights, demanding the country’s fundamentalist Islamic rulers provide “full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls” in Afghan society.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and her producing partner Justine Ciarrocchi touched down at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday to promote their label’s first ever documentary feature, “Bread and Roses” — a harrowing and emotional look at the lives of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. After two decades of American occupation, the nation fell once again to the insurgent group, which moved quickly to strip women of basic rights — simple freedoms like the ability to work, appear in public without a male chaperone and receive an education. “It all just collapsed and a matter of days,” Lawrence recalled to Variety. “I was watching this from America, where Roe v. Wade was about to be overturned. We felt helpless and frustrated with how to get these stories off of the news cycle and into people’s psyches. To help people be galvanized and care about the plight of these women.”

Catherine Bray Afghan director Sahra Mani‘s well-received “A Thousand Girls Like Me” documented the quest for justice of a young incest victim, and now, Mani has returned with a similarly hard-hitting documentary, “Bread and Roses”, premiering in the official selection of Cannes as a special screening. Produced by Jennifer Lawrence, this film tackles an urgent and timely topic through a committed on-the-ground perspective, capturing the experience of three people, Zahra, Taranom and Sharifa, whose lives as they knew them were effectively ended when the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 2021. The film benefits from introducing a voice-of-god narrator or viewer stand-in to guide the audience through an arm’s-length survey of the situation. This is scrappy, up-close and personal filmmaking — which is not to say that anything here is hard to follow or purposefully obscure. It’s more that Mani trusts both her audience and subjects to engage with the actuality of what is happening without the need for intrusive formatting.

Spanish Screenings Goes to Cannes,  a selection of five pix in post which underscores the ever broadening compass – in genre, setting, protagonists, production bases and models – of film production in Spain. “Sima’s Song,” for example, is set in 1979 Kabul, “Jumping the Fence” on the Morocco-Spain border in Africa.  Many titles, though still in post production, come laden with prizes as projects, prestige deals or rich talent. “Sima’s Song,” from Afghan director Roya Sadat, whose “A Letter to the President” was shortlisted for an Oscar, won the Taicca Award at Busan’s Asian Project Market and the IFI-Pas Award at Mumbai’s Film Bazaar. Its producer, Alba Sotorra, was nominated for an International Emmy as a director for “The Return: Life After ISIS.”

Hannah Abraham Guest Contributor A documentary on the legal woes between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard headlines the new spring lineup from U.K. broadcaster Channel 4. At the channel’s Content Showcase in London, chief content officer Ian Katz unveiled a slate of “purposeful, provocative but never predictable” programming that he hopes will get people “thinking, arguing and asking questions about the world in which we live.” “Depp vs Heard” will be a three-part series by BAFTA-nominated series director Emma Cooper, investigating the notorious defamation trial that captivated global audiences for three straight months last year. The case — dubbed the world’s first ‘Tik Tok trial’ — was a global media event and raised significant issues regarding violence, gender and the nature of justice in the post-truth era.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and 13-Time Grammy winner Pharrell Williams will be honored by the Recording Academy at its annual Grammys on the Hill Awards, taking place on April 26. The event is intended to bring together congressional leaders and music makers to recognize those who have led the fight for creators’ rights, and the three will be honored for their contributions to support music creators. Special guests and attendees will be announced in the coming weeks.  “Grammys on the Hill is a celebration like no other, spotlighting music’s unifying power as we bring together our nation’s leaders with some of the most renowned artists in the world,” said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “It’s a privilege to honor Pharrell alongside Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Senator Cassidy, all of whom have fought tirelessly for pro-music policy that protects the creatives that make up our community.”

Afghan refugees living in hotels across the UK could be forced out of hotels and pushed into homelessness under new government plans, campaigners have warned.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Spanish SVOD platform Movistar+ wowed viewers at the Málaga Film Festival on Tuesday with the first episode of “La Unidad Kabul,” the third season of its special police unit thriller. The latest instalment is set in Afghanistan, where Spanish agents are on a new mission to meet an infiltrator with information about a possible attack in Europe. The elite unit is in the war-torn country as the U.S. ends its 20-year occupation, leaving Kabul to be taken by the Taliban. As Spanish authorities begin the evacuation of civilians and collaborators, the agents get caught up in clashes between the Taliban, Mujahideen and Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) forces.

Selling Kabul (★★★★☆) at Signature Theatre might have been able to hear the actors’ hearts racing.The Afghanistan-set drama by Sylvia Khoury, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2022, draws us fully inside the humble, endangered lives of Taroon (Mazin Azar), a translator desperately awaiting a visa to flee Kabul, and his sister Afiya (Awesta Zarif). Afiya, along with husband Jawid (Yousof Sultani), risks freedom and safety by hiding Taroon from the Taliban, and from the couple’s nosy neighbor, Leyla (Neagheen Homaifar).Ghaheri’s production draws us close inside the characters’ dire reality, and Afiya and Jawid’s cozy apartment, rendered in textured, naturalistic detail by Tony Cisek.Images on the living room television of former Afghan president Hamid Karzai — with Obama, with Putin — usher in the atmosphere of 2013 and America’s longest war, reinforced by the heap of Army fatigues piled in a corner.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-nominated director Whit Stillman (Metropolitan) is turning his hand to big budget rom-com adventure TV with The Splendid Affinities, a series set across Paris, Madrid and London.

2 min read A horrific video of the execution of a gay man in Afghanistan has been sent to the victim’s Mother. Reports in Pink News have suggested an activist from a local LGBT activist group, 22-year-old Hamed Saburi from Kabul, was kidnapped by Taliban extremists back in August.

The horrific execution of 22-year-old gay medical student Hamed Sabouri by the Taliban in Afghanistan has highlighted the worsening plight of LGBTQ+ people in that country as the world stands by and watches.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pathé and Chapter 2, a Mediawan company, are set to reteam with “Three Musketeers” director Martin Bourboulon on a riveting thriller set in the backdrop of the fall of Kabul and the takeover by the Taliban. The film is an adaptation of “13 days, 13 Nights, in the Hell of Kabul,” a sprawling real-life account of the events written by commander Mohamed Bida and published by Denoël last month. Bourboulon, who recently completed shooting “The Three Musketeers,” a big-budget two-part saga based on Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, will be filming the movie in French and English with an immersive and ultra-realistic style.

A 22-year-old gay man was reportedly shot dead by the Taliban in Afghanistan in August. The young man who was killed was identified as Kabul resident Hamed Sabouri.Trigger Warning: This story discusses brutal murder of a gay man, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.A local activist told Pink News that Taliban kidnapped Sabouri and a few days later sent a video of his murder to his family. Bahar, a member of Behesht Collective, an Afghanistan-based LGBTQI organisation, described Sabouri as a ‘shy ” young man who aspired to be a doctor. Afghan gay author Nemat Sadat, who set up a crowdfunding campaign last month to help evacuate LGBTQI Afghans, said that since the Taliban took over in August 2021 “the security of the LGBTQ+ community in Afghanistan has deteriorated dramatically”. According to Sedat, “Neighbours are reporting LGBTQ+ Afghans to the Taliban to gain social credit under their new regime.

Editor’s note: Hollie McKay’s latest special report for Deadline finds the veteran foreign affairs correspondent and Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield author back in Afghanistan more than a year after the U.S. withdrawal, and negotiating how to be a journalist in the country now the Taliban has solidified its return to power.

the departure of American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, chaos, fear and rampant violence has ruled the country, said Roberts, the director of “Escape From Kabul,” a new documentary chronicling the harrowing exodus premiering Wednesday on HBO Max.Armed raids are only the beginning of everyday terrors under Taliban rule now faced by Afghanistan citizens — including American allies unable to flee.“You’ll see it on the street, [the Taliban] have complete control and they’re hardliners. So people follow their rules and if they don’t, then you get beaten, or you get put in prison, or you don’t really know, because the rules aren’t really set yet … there were people getting shot at checkpoints,” he added.

Jamie Roberts’ terse, painfully precise documentary “Escape from Kabul” zooms right in on one episode—the massive last-minute airlift of Afghans and remaining American personnel from Kabul in August 2021—and never looks away, even when you might wish that it did. It’s a close-quarters kind of war film that moves in tight and leaves little room to breathe.

Jennifer Griffin has signed a new multi-year deal to serve as Fox News Channel’s chief national security correspondent.

does, relying on more dynamic, albeit repetitive, scenes of her having to address the danger in her life.Much attention has been paid to Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s executive-producing role in the film, a fitting match for a documentary on a female politician struggling against the status quo. Ghafari rages against the system in question, but one glance at her office and her peers, and it’s easy to see that her staff consists of mostly men.

Naman Ramachandran “Escape From Kabul Airport,” a documentary airing on BBC Two in September, will tell the inside story of the 18 days in August 2021, when the U.S. withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, and the subsequent evacuation of thousands of Afghan citizens from Kabul airport after the Taliban seized the city. The documentary is an Amos production for the BBC, in association with HBO and in collaboration with Arte France. It is produced by Emmy and BAFTA-winning Dan Reed (“Leaving Neverland”) and directed by Jamie Roberts (“Four Hours At The Capitol”). The film combines never before seen on-the-ground archival footage from the evacuation, alongside interviews with evacuees, eye-witnesses, U.S. Marines and Taliban fighters.