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Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Want to know which international features vying for Oscar gold are worth watching? Variety‘s team of critics has been on the ground at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and other major film festivals, on the hunt for the best of the best. In December, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences unveiled its shortlist of 15 films eligible for the second round of voting in the Best International Feature Film category.

Taiwan’s government has suspended its Taiwan International Co-funding Program (TICP) in a move that appears to signal a change in direction towards more mainstream projects. 

William Earl administrator Michelle Yeoh cracked history open when she won an Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” last March, but she’s not sitting back to bask in the glow. “I exercise every day,” she says. “I do my whole routine of being in shape and knowing my moves.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese director Huo Meng, Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-chi and Macau-based Maxim Bessmertny are among a dozen emerging East Asian talent who will present feature film projects and works in progress at the Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe). The inaugural edition of the festival, running Jan.

Joe Leydon Film Critic You have to give the makers of “Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia” credit for their honesty in describing their “inspired by true events” drama.

Dry January — abstaining from alcoholic drinks for a month — as a way to reset health priorities after the holidays or as a test run for an alcohol-free lifestyle. And now there’s also “Damp January,” which can mean whatever you want it to but often involves cutting down to weekend-only drinking or trying lower-proof alternatives. Much of the interest is fueled by Gen Z, who want the style and flavor of cocktails to fit into their zero-proof lifestyles.

EXCLUSIVE: Cohen Media Group has set Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone’s latest pic, Io Capitano, for a nationwide release. 

Bradley Cooper’s film “Maestro” premiered in Venice this fall, it seemed his moment of glory had finally arrived.The “Hangover” star’s direction of the prestige drama and his performance as famed “West Side Story” composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein were greeted enthusiastically by critics. The pretentious historical movie is, of course, the sort of thing the press tends to rubber-stamp automatically.The picture is about a real person; a big chunk of it was shot in black and white; the main character leads a secret gay life in New York City and ages some 40 years over the course of the story.

Lacey Turner is one of EastEnders' most-loved actresses, having portrayed Stacey Slater since 2004 and tackled some huge storylines over the years. Lacey, 35, will once again take centre stage at Christmas on the BBC One soap this year, with Stacey being one of The Six and linked to the mystery murder on Christmas Day.There's a possibility she could even be the murderer, as it wouldn't be out of character for Stacey, who previously killed villainous Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) on Christmas Day in 2008. Lacey's life away from Albert Square is worlds away from Stacey's, especially her love life.

Hollywood trends may come and go, but horror? Horror never slumps. While the end-of-year narratives for 2023 may be overshadowed by questions of technology and corporate shenanigans – a word chosen for The Playlist’s audience of all ages – this was still a very impressive year for horror.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Sofia Coppola’s biopic Priscilla. Based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me co-authored by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, the script was adapted by Coppola who also directed.

due to an unknown illness. The “Because the Night” songstress, 76, was discharged Wednesday night after “a short period of observation in emergency.” According to the Local Health Authority of Bologna, per the Los Angeles Times, Smith is “in good health conditions” and is expected to return to the stage after “an appropriate period of rest.”The Post reached out to Smith for comment. In accordance with her doctor’s wishes, Smith has reportedly cancelled her performance in Venice Thursday night and her upcoming Milan show.

Patti Smith has been reportedly forced to cancel a show after being hospitalized in Bologna, Italy, with an unknown illness. According to local media outlet TGCOM24, Smith, 76, was slated to take the stage at Teatro Duse, the oldest theater in the city, before taking ill. “With great regret, we inform the kind audience that the [Patti Smith] concert scheduled for today 12 December 2023 at 9 pm will not be able to go on stage due to a sudden illness that struck the artist,” the venue wrote in an Instagram post.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Michel Franco’s Memory, the thoughtful drama that won Peter Sarsgaard the Best Actor Volpi Cup in Venice earlier this year. Franco directs and wrote the movie that also stars Jessica Chastain.

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based Women Make Movies (WMM) has acquired U.S. rights for Palestinian Oscar entry Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem.

Martin Scorsese‘s Western historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon on Wednesday was named Best Film by the National Board of Review, the second major awards honor for the Apple Original Films pic this week after it also won the top prize from the New York Film Critics Circle.

The Match Factory has posted a raft of deals for Michel Franco’s drama Memory, starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Saarsgard, who won the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor in Venice following its world premiere there in September.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent After skipping Venice due to the actors’ strike, a busy Willem Dafoe is back on the festival trail, attending the 20th edition of the Marrakech Film Festival with his wife, filmmaker and actor Giada Colagrande. He spoke to Variety about his ties to Morocco, why he’s “happy to be promoting and starting to work again” now that the strike is over, and his role in Tim Burton’s upcoming “Beetlejuice 2.” How does it feel to be back in Marrakech? I’m happy to be back. Morocco for me is “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a film that was a beautiful experience.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain has given her seal of approval to the tentative agreement reached by SAG-AFTRA with the studios to end the near four-month actors’ strike.

A Florida court case that was the subject of the Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya has seen its defendants ask for a retrial.

Wowcher, a popular deals website, has dropped the price of its biggest-ever Mystery Holiday deal for Black Friday. For only £89, you could find yourself jetting off to top destinations like Dubai, New York, Cancun, Egypt, Las Vegas or even the Maldives. If you're not one of the lucky ones to get a long-haul trip, don't worry! You could still bag a short break to a European city like Venice, Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Porto, Lisbon, Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Lake Como or Disneyland Paris.This deal also includes beach holidays to places like Crete, Ibiza, Portugal, Cyprus, Malaga, Malta and more.

China-set drama Stonewalling, co-directed by husband-and-wife team Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji, won best narrative feature at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, which is celebrating its 60th edition this year.

EXCLUSIVE: Female and non-binary filmmaker-focused international training initiative Circle has kicked off its inaugural Circle Fiction Orbit initiative at a meeting in Montenegro and unveiled the participants.

Focus Features has set a Jan. 26, 2024 theatrical release date for Goran Stolevski’s latest, Housekeeping For Beginners.

EXCLUSIVE: Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones) and BAFTA winner Francesca Annis (Fresh & Blood) are among a host of stars boarding season 2 of Ben Richards’ BBC legal drama Showtrial.

France’s César Academy has unveiled its annual Revelations list showcasing 32 emerging acting talents making their mark in the French-speaking cinema world.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer In “Masters of the Universe,” He-Man’s nemesis is the evil wizard Skeletor. In Hollywood, his greatest threat has been a list of studio partners that have sidelined him from the big screen for nearly two decades. The blond barbarian, based on a popular set of Mattel toys, may finally win the day.

Emiliano De Pablos The 49th edition of Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival, Spain’s largest confab for films from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, will honor Mexican star Cecilia Suárez with its City of Huelva Award. With leading roles in Netflix’s “The House of Flowers” and HBO Latin America’s “Capadocia,” Suárez has also be seen in ABC’s drama “The Promised Land” and has worked on films by as Tommy Lee Jones (“The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”), James L.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Marina Cicogna, Italy’s first major female film producer who shepherded films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Zeffirelli and Elio Petri, including Petri’s Oscar-winning “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion,” has died. She was 89. Cicogna died on Nov.

Sofia Coppola‘s “Priscilla” hits theaters today amid a great deal of buzz, partially thanks to star Cailee Spaeny winning the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival for her title role. But not everyone was thrilled Coppolla announced plans to adapt Priscilla Presley‘s 1985 “Elvis And Me” for the big screen last year.

Savina Petkova What if a new Messiah appeared today, but his supernatural power was to release people’s intimate videos unprompted? Such a beguiling premise shapes Armenian Vilnius-based director Marat Sargsyan’s sophomore feature, “The Grand Inquisitor.” In it, the omnipotent creature is an AI that looks like a human being and has a human name, Vermis. Soon, his crimes pile up, the authorities are helpless, and any investigation thwarted. The film will be presented next week at Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Agora Crossroads Co-production Forum.

Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” has received an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA, which means that stars Zegler, Blyth, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Hunter Schafer are allowed to promote the film before it premieres in theaters on Nov. 17. It’s not clear why the agreement was granted so close to the film’s release date.

Netflix has a bunch of anticipated films left on their 2023 release calendar, but maybe none more so than David Fincher‘s “The Killer.” And the director’s follow-up to 2020’s “Mank” sees him in familiar territory: adapting a hardboiled thriller in a way only he can. READ MORE: David Fincher On Why He Chose To Use The Smiths In ‘The Killer’: “I Thought It Was Amusing And Funny” Fincher reunites with “Se7en” scribe Andrew Kevin Walker for his latest feature, about an assassin who gets caught in an international manhunt after a hit goes wrong.

Shia LaBeouf is opening up in an interview about his career.

Alessandra Ambrosio and Richard Lee are making it very clear that they are still an item a few weeks after reports suggested they’d broken up.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “A Haunting in Venice” is getting a digital release just in time for Halloween. Kenneth Branagh‘s third Agatha Christie adaptation, which hit theaters in September, will debut on digital retailers and Hulu on Oct.