‘Made in Ethiopia’ Review: A Compelling Look at Chinese Influence in Eastern Africa

Canal+ Ups Stake In Asian Streamer Viu

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief France’s Canal+ Group has increased its stake in multi-territory Asian video streamer Viu to 36.8%. It says that the move is in accordance with the terms of the strategic partnership with Viu owner PCCW Group announced a year ago and follows the satisfaction of key business milestones.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese industry executives will get a first taste of “Coolie,” a big-budget historical miniseries that focuses on the enslaved Chinese workers in Cuba in the 1860s. MM2 Entertainment is handling China rights to the production on behalf of I.E. Entertainment.

Addie Morfoot Contributor In “Satisfied,” Renée Elise Goldsberry’s vlogs capture how the singer-actor secured the role of Angelica Schuyler in what would become the 2015 Broadway phenomenon “Hamilton,” while also enduring fertility issues and trying to mother her two young children. The Tony winner began vlogging about important moments in her life 10 years ago.

Book adaptations are tricky. Just look at the films made from Stephen King novels for proof.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese animation film “Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle” took a clear lead at the mainland China weekend box office – despite only being available for two of three days. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed the film scoring $9.8 million (RMB69.4 million) in China, more than double that of second placed film “Be My Friend.” The win came despite “Haikyu!!” only being released on Saturday and measuring up against other tiles available throughout the whole of the Friday-Sunday period. “Haikyu!!” is the third Japanese film so far this year to lead the mainland Chinese box office, following “The Boy and the Heron” and “Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Earth Symphony.” It was produced by Production IG, Toho Animation and Sony Music Entertainment Japan and released by Crunchyroll in multiple territories.

Shanghai International Film Festival represent a showcase of directors who are also known-quantities, but who are worthy of higher profiles. (The festival’s Asian Talent selection has a further selection of six more directors seeking to break through.) The competition quartet fall into two pairs (a seventh and eighth generation maybe): the latest works of Guan Hu and the rarely seen Gu Changwei on one hand; and a younger generation of auteurs, Wei Shujun and Zhang Dalei. Guan is in need of rehabilitation after his 2019 war film was selected as the Shanghai festival’s opening film but experienced a last-minute cancellation due to the intervention of unforeseen layers of censorship.

Jenny S. Li Six first or second-time directors from China take up the majority of the 11 slots in the Shanghai International Film Festival’s Asian New Talents section. While family drama is the dominant genre, Variety takes a look what they are serving up: Adapted from the book of the same name, Wang Xinrui’s “Dreaming of Mother and Home” depicts the drama of an adult daughter and her mother who is struggling through the last stages of life.

Inside Out 2” just scored the biggest box office previews of 2024. Disney and Pixar‘s latest animated outing grossed $13 million in Thursday previews domestically, with $22.3 million worldwide. The family-friendly sequel is projected to launch between $80 million and $90 million this weekend.

A man who harassed a man by posting a series of anti-Chinese messages to him on social media has been brought to justice and sentenced by a judge. The Crown Prosecution Service said Radeko Keleman, 44, also admitted posting an offensive anti-Muslim message.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, better known by his stage name Anuel AA, has set his feature debut in Carlos “Spiff TV” Suarez’s indie horror film You Lose You Die. He joins previously announced stars Freddy Rodriguez, who also executive produces, and Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr (WWE star Charlotte Flair).

Marta Balaga Ricard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich’s kids and family animated feature “Panda Bear in Africa” is continuing its long journey and heading to France (Le Pacte), Switzerland (Praesens) and the Benelux territories (WW Entertainment) after a raft of sales by the film’s sales agent Cinema Management Group. In early fall, it will also release in the Middle East (Front Row Entertainment), Poland (Kino Świat), Portugal (Films4You) and Turkey (Filmarti).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sky Castle,” one of the most iconic Korean TV drama series of recent years, is to be remade by TV Asahi in Japan. The move follows the signing of a cooperation agreement between Korean content powerhouse SLL (previously known as JTBC Studios) and TV Asahi just last month. The two companies say that the Japanese retread is already filming and will begin to air from July.

Holly Jones China’s unwitting creative phenom Yang Zhigang, known as Busifan, presents an imaginative, heartwarming and gleefully chaotic animated journey in his latest feature, “The Storm,” selected to screen in main competition at this year’s Annecy Festival. The auteur previously worked in telecommunications and never formally studied filmmaking, yet emerged as a self-taught cult figure on China’s animation circuit via its Flash scene in 2004 with “The Black Bird,” a seven-act episodic that craftily followed a wary warrior and his avian aide.

Welcome to ElectionLine’s A View From Abroad series, in which we speak with media figures who are not from America but keep a close eye on its politics. Every few weeks, these smart observers will provide a unique perspective on the fraught and unpredictable campaign for the White House. This week, our interview is with Nadia Bilbassy-Charters, the Washington D.C. bureau chief for Al Arabiya, the state-owned Saudi Arabian Arabic news network.

Jessica Kiang Giving the traditional, star-driven period epic a gloss-coating of topicality, Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s “She’s Got No Name” is based on a notorious real-life murder case that unfolded against the turbulent backdrop of 1940s China. And although it’s probably most notable for providing Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi with a remarkably de-glammed central role, it is the setting, rather than the sincere but only tentatively feminist storyline, that will likely give this handsome, lengthy movie its international appeal.

Peak television was officially declared dead earlier this year when FX boss John Landgraf revealed that the number of scripted series on air in 2023 dropped 12% from the previous year – the first reduction in over a decade.

suffered betrayals of their own at the hands of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following a series of tell-all projects, appeared in good spirits as they toured the state-of-the-art facility ahead of the play, performed by third-year acting students in the Gielgud Theatre in the city center.On RADA’s website, the play is described as a “tense, simmering story” about a family that is “forced to confront the traumas they have long tried to bury” following the death of two family members.“As the sun beats down on their North London flat, and the authoritarian head of the family arrives from Ethiopia for the funeral, tensions rise, cultures clash and past betrayals are unearthed,” the play’s description reads.The drama school’s president and “Homeland” alum David Harewood told the Telegraph that the King “really seemed to enjoy” the production.The play marked the 120th anniversary of the drama school, which has trained leading actors including Sir Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston and “The Crown” star Imelda Staunton.Charles, a theater enthusiast in his own right, was named as the school’s newest patron earlier this month, taking over his late mother Queen Elizabeth II’s post, which she had held for 70 years until her death in 2022.At one point during his visit, Charles was heard joking around with some of the students.After being told that the school receives more than 4,000 applications from hopeful prospects, the King was heard joking, “Do you put them through the most horrendous auditions?”Elsewhere, Camilla shared some fond memories the outing had brought up for her from the past, saying the play reminded her of a “fantastic” night with her grandkids.“She loved it and she took all her grandkids and they said they had the

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Shanghai International Film Festival has unveiled a selection that is weighted heavily to world premieres and Chinese, local titles. That gives the festival showcase screenings for the newest works by established Chinese directors Gu Changwei (“Peacock, “Till Death Do Us Part”), Wei Shujun (“Only the River Flows,” “Striding Into the Wind”) and Guan Hu (“Old Fish”). Guan was rewarded in Cannes only last week for his Un Certain Regard-winning picture “Black Dog,” but will unveil his next effort “The Hedgehog in Shanghai’s main competition.

Blue Sun Palace was one of the prize winners at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival where it took the French Touch award of the Cannes Critics week selections (Simon Of The Mountains took the Grand Prize, the other major award from the section). French “Touch” is an ironic name for an award to a film where “touch” is key in several scenes depicted in the massage parlor setting where much of the movie takes place.