Ukraine Showbiz Latest News and Updates

EXCLUSIVE: Anna Winger drew inspiration from comedy and entertainment in Casablanca when penning upcoming Netflix war drama Transatlantic.

Lise Pedersen The top Dox:Award at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen documentary festival, has gone to “Motherland” by Ukrainian-Belarussian director Alexander Mihalkovich (“My Granny From Mars”) and Ukrainian director Hanna Badziaka. Described by Variety as “an ominous portrait of the oppressive culture of cruelty in post-Soviet Belarus,” the film follows Svetlana, whose son died during his military service as the result of violent abuse, in her quest to expose and prosecute those responsible for his death. Dedicating the award to “all the Ukrainians fighting Russian aggression and to Belarussian political prisoners,” the directing duo thanked all those who helped them make the film, in particular the protagonists, “who were brave to stand in front of the camera and patient with us as it was a long journey of four years.”

Manchester’s Eurovision fans who failed to secure tickets for the annual singing contest will be able to line up the next best thing. The show is set to be broadcast live from Vue cinemas as it goes out to the world on May 13.

Ben Croll Mixing two parts maternal melodrama, one part fugitive thriller, and finishing with a precocious, child-actor twist, Nippon TV’s “Mother” format has proven an irresistible international cocktail, driving remake rights and series exports across the globe. Taking a victory lap of sorts at this week’s Series Mania Forum, Nippon TV’s director of international business development Yuki Akehi joined Spanish producer Eduardo Galdo to unpack this format-sales phenomenon. Created by Yuji Sakamoto and initially commissioned for broadcast in 2010, “Mother” follows a thirtysomething schoolteacher who feels her first ever pangs of maternal instinct when confronted with an 8-year-old pupil from an abusive home. Instinctively absconding with the girl and heading out on the lam, the new fugitive and her willing charge forge deep bonds beyond a legal framework.

Tyson Fury and his wife Paris are expecting their seventh child together. Mum and dad to Prince John, Venezuela, Prince Adonis, Prince Tyson II, Valencia and Athena, the couple's lovely news was shared via the 34 year old's heavyweight boxing champion's Instagram today, alongside a shot of them enjoying a film. "All is not lost!" Tyson wrote.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Three projects pitched at CPH:FORUM – the industry program of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen-based documentary festival – have been awarded cash prizes. They are Robin Petré’s “Only on Earth,” Iryna Tsilyk’s “Red Zone” and Yegor Troyanovsky’s “Cuba & Alaska.” The filmmakers were awarded at a ceremony in the Danish capital on Thursday. Petré’s “Only on Earth” garnered the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award worth €20,000 for best pitch. The docu, produced by Signe Skov Thomsen, and Malene Flindt Pedersen, depicts a journey deep into one of Europe’s hottest fire zones, Galicia, where wild horses roam the mountains under the watch of local cowboys. These horses are excellent at fire prevention, but now they are vanishing in the clash between humans and nature.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's eldest son Nicholas has been moved to a hospice where he is "battling" his gastric cancer.The Oscar-winning composer, 75, revealed via Instagram today that 43 year old Nick is "over the worst of this first bout of pneumonia" which he caught as a result of his "ghastly" condition. Andrew, who wrote the music for hit shows like Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar, said in a video to his 227,000 followers: "We’re all here and the family here has gathered around and it was the right place for us all to be I think." The musical theatre legend subsequently thanked the people of Ukraine who'd sent him a Cats T-shirt following the announcement that his son was "critically ill".

Prince William is following in his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s footsteps.

Alissa Simon Film Critic The ninth edition of Iceland’s Stockfish Film & Industry Festival, which runs March 23 to April 2, is innovating under an ambitious new team that includes one of Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch, Hrönn Kristinsdottír (“Lamb”), as artistic director and festival veteran Carolina Salas as managing director. Among the highlights will be a masterclass with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister (“Tár”), who is currently in Iceland shooting the fourth season of HBO’s “True Detective.” The screening program opens with Ukraine’s “Pamfir,” directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk and includes tributes to Oscar-nominated Polish helmer Jerzy Skolimowski and U.K. producer Mike Downey, recipient of the fest’s first “Outstanding Contribution to the Industry” kudos.

Eurovision 2023 Semi-Final running orders have been revealed – check it out below.The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool from May 9-13, with Mae Muller set to represent the UK with ‘I Wrote A Song’.The UK city was announced to stage the contest on behalf of Ukraine, after organisers deemed the country unable to host the event due to the ongoing war with Russia.You can find all the songs that are entered for this year’s competition here.This week, Eurovision shared the running order for the Semi-Final shows, which take place on Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11.Norway will kick off proceedings for the first Semi-Final, closed out 15 acts later with a performance by Finland. The second event is set to be opened by Denmark, with Australia hitting the stage last.We got #Eurovision2023 Semi-Final running orders ✨➡️ https://t.co/V1tz85qvRD pic.twitter.com/hSjYqudp6j— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) March 22, 2023The Big Five participants – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom, which make the biggest financial contributions to the contest – along with Ukraine, automatically qualify for the Grand Final.Check out the full schedule below.First Semi-Final Eurovision 20231. Norway2. Malta3. Serbia4. Latvia5. Portugal6. Ireland7. Croatia8. Switzerland9. Israel10. Moldova11. Sweden12. Azerbaijan13. Czechia14. Netherlands15. FinlandSecond Semi-Final Eurovision 20231. Denmark2. Armenia3. Romania4. Estonia5. Belgium6. Cyprus7. Iceland8. Greece9. Poland10. Slovenia11. Georgia12. San Marino13. Austria14. Albania15. Lithuania16. AustraliaMeanwhile, Eurovision final 2023 tickets sold out in just 36 minutes.Tickets for all nine shows including the live Grand Final went on sale

If you want to give your brain a challenge today, trying to figure out this optical illusion might be just the thing you need.

Prince William laid a wreath at a monument dedicated to soldiers in Poland as part of a trip to meet Ukrainian refugees being helped in the Eastern European country. The Prince of Wales, 40, visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw on Thursday morning - echoing a royal engagement carried out by the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, who did the same in 1996. William was greeted by a guard of honour and carried the assortment of flowers to the monument, spending around 10 minutes there before leaving.

ski crash with actor Gwyneth Paltrow caused a man to suffer long-term injuries, including to his mental health and cognitive ability, a Utah court heard on Wednesday, during a second day of testimony in a Park City courthouse. Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson is seeking $300,000 in damages for the impact of a collision between the two at the Deer Valley resort in Utah, which experts testified left the now 76-year-old with lasting damage.

Sofia Coppola’s 16-year-old daughter has shared a video revealing that she was grounded for trying to charter a helicopter. The teenager said in her now-viral video that she wanted to travel from New York to Maryland to have dinner with her camp friend.

Prince William is meeting the British and Polish troops fighting in the Ukraine-Russia war.

Prince William is making a surprise two-day visit to Poland, starting with a military base along the border with Ukraine Wednesday to thank troops for their commitment to helping the country defend itself against Russia.  "I just wanted to come here in person to say thank you for all that you’re doing, keeping everyone safe out here and keeping an eye on what’s going on,'' the Prince of Wales told British and Polish troops gathered in Rzeszow, a city in the southwest of the country that has become a hub for shipments of military and humanitarian aid bound for Ukraine. The city is around 40 miles from the Ukrainian border and is also a transit hub for refugees.  "You’re doing a really important job out here and defending our freedoms is really important, and everyone back home thoroughly supports you," he added.

Gwyneth Paltrow has appeared in a US court to stand trial in a case in which the Oscar-winning actress is alleged to have collided with a skier Terry Sanderson, leaving him unresponsive at the Deer Valley Resort in Utah in 2016. Sofia Coppola’s daughter says she was grounded for trying to charter a helicopter to dinnerPresident Biden presents National Medal of Arts to Julia Louis-DreyfusMartin Lewis explains how to get up to £200 'free cash' by switching banksMoment suspect tries escaping LAPD on skateboard after car chase3D printer attempts to make dessert from seven ingredientsPuppy 'kidnapped' by monkey as crowd watch onSuccession star Sarah Snook reveals she is pregnant with first childGwyneth Paltrow appears in court over Utah ski collisionThieves break in and steal more than £3,000 from Surrey Co-opPutin hails China’s Xi plan to settle ‘acute crisis’ in Ukraine_Original Video_m229956.

The Prince of Wales has thanked British troops based roughly an hour’s drive from the Ukrainian border for “defending our freedoms” as he kicked off a surprise trip to Poland. William, 40, told soldiers at an air defence military base in the south-eastern Polish city of Rzeszow that their work to keep “an eye on” the situation in Ukraine is “really important”.

As they smile for the camera Maryna Demianenko and Alyona Lykhosherstova’s hearts are silently breaking for loved ones left behind in wartorn Ukraine.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the former adviser to Melania Trump in the early days of her time as first lady, has called out reporting that the revelations about Stormy Daniels in early 2018 caused a split between the Trumps. Reporting by DailyMail.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — The gauntlet thrown down by the opening stretches of Viaplay banner title “The Fortress,” one of nine series in main competition at Series Mania, is to believe that this is fiction.  News footage plays of a pandemic, then a war; huge protests rage around the world as Norway’s prime minister addresses his nation to announce that Norway is building a wall to keep everybody else out. That’s been done before (Israel) and in metaphorical terms (Brexit).  Cut to nine years later: Norway is a bucolic paradise, Sweden next door a refugee camp hell, until strange bacteria kills fish and then humans, and Norway will, foreseeably, need international help and “what starts as a wall, ends as a prison,” comments Filippa Wallestam, Viaplay Group chief content officer.

Unspoken,” a war drama series wrapping in a thriller format one of ordinary people’s most relatable nightmares and the urgent relevance of a real-life game-changing conflict, walked off Tuesday night with the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award, the highest-profile industry prize at the biggest TV festival in Europe.  Given to one of 15 drama series projects pitched Tuesday on the first day of proceedings at the Series Mania Forum in its centerpiece Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, the Award carries a €50,000 ($53,500) cash prize, enough to boost seriously continued development on the TV show.  Produced by Match & Spark (Poland), Toy Cinema and 2Brave Productions (Ukraine), the six-episode series is created by Filip Syczyński, who is co-writing with Zhanna Ozirna. 

Russia's president has promised to "respond" to the UK's plan of sending ammunition to forces in Ukraine as they continue to defend against the year-long invasion of their territory.

Sen. Lindsey Graham urged the audience of “The Daily Show” to boo him during an interview with guest host and former Minnesota senator Al Franken Monday night.The moment came after Franken had asked the South Carolina Republican why Donald Trump would say such a “stupid thing” after the former president told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he could’ve stopped Russia’s invasion of Ukraine if he had the opportunity to negotiate with Putin – and “at worst, I could’ve made a deal to take over something.”Graham dismissed the question before arguing that Trump “did a pretty good job of taking the fight to the terrorists” when he was president.“He killed Soleimani, he killed Baghdadi,” Graham said.

Ben Croll Gaumont has kick-started the engine on “In the Car,” a road drama set during the early days of the war in Ukraine, that has just started shooting in confidential locations in and around Kyiv. Leading Ukrainian media group Starlight Media is handling production duties. Created by “Early Birds” producer Eugene Tunik, the dramatic series pulls from lived experiences of Kyivans scrambling for shelter following the Russian invasion in February 2022, with each episode finding local therapist Lydia (“How is Katia?” star Anastasia Karpenko) shuttling a different person to safety. Told from inside the protagonist’s car, the 10 episodes will explore different tales of resilience and civic responsibility.

The first international show to be greenlit in Ukraine since the start of the war has entered production.

Brian Cox is opening up about his support for the women of Iran.

Here are your Manchester United evening headlines on Monday, March 20.

Semafor reported on Monday.A “person with direct knowledge of the transaction” told Semafor that Smith sold more than $100 million of his own shares when A&E and Crossover Ventures invested a joint $500 million in Vice in the 2014 deal. Smith then told a friend he was now “post-economic.”Among the lavish expenditures he’s reported to have made: A vintage Rolls Royce, a mountain in Costa Rica and $300,000 on a single dinner in Las Vegas.

Marcus Rashford will not feature for England in their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine after withdrawing from the squad due to injury.

Exactly 100 days since England's dramatic World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of France in Qatar, Gareth Southgate will be meeting up with his players again as they build towards another major tournament.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent As it continues ramping up its premium docu slate, Mediawan has boarded “Sobibor – Escape from History,” a four-part documentary which is being developed by leading Dutch banner Submarine (“Last Hijack”). In the documentary series, the infamous death camp will be portrayed through the eyes of the rebels and survivors. It will tell the epic true story of a group of Jewish prisoners who managed to escape from inside the living hell of a Nazi concentration camp and attempt to rebuild their lives. Some seeked retribution, others redemption. Their children struggle to this day in different ways with the trauma of their parents. The series also follows two surviving relatives, a daughter and a niece who return to Poland, to their ancestral villages where their relatives were banished.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has travelled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine.

Marta Balaga “Succession” star Brian Cox gushed about wife Nicole Ansari-Cox at Series Mania, after she expressed solidarity with women of Iran at the fest’s opening, demonstrating the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom” to the photographers.   “My wife is half Iranian and she was one of the first people to cut her hair as part of the protest. We are living in such a difficult, dangerous time, particularly for women. In Afghanistan, in Iran. It’s unacceptable. I am very proud of my wife: She is a very strong woman with very strong opinions, and she taught me so much,” Cox told Variety during a roundtable interview.  

Marta Balaga French TV festival Series Mania started out playfully with a slew of humorous digs directed at its starry guests during the opening ceremony, including Brian Cox, back in town to hold a masterclass and introduce the latest episode of his smash hit “Succession.” “I didn’t have time to watch Season 3. I have to see my children grow up, Brian!,” exclaimed host Daphné Bürki, before introducing this year’s opening show “Greek Salad” by Cédric Klapisch: “A prequel to ‘Norwegian Omelette,’ always starring Romain Duris,” Bürki joked. Series Mania general director Laurence Herszberg joined in on the fun, giving a shoutout to “Emily in Paris’s” Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, attending with co-star Arnaud Binard: “She became a symbol of a Parisian woman. I hope there isn’t too much weight on your shoulders, Philippine!”

2022, “Cryptorealism is an expression of hidden meaning revealed through layer imagery, which requires active participation by the observer.”Famous collectors of Roostaei’s work include Paul McCartney, Anthony Hopkins and Hillary Clinton. His paintings are currently on display at Beijing’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Vancouver Fine Art Gallery and the Pashmin Art Gallery in Shanghai and in Hamburg.In May 2022, he sold some of his paintings to benefit the people of Ukraine.