‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ to Open Annecy Animation Film Festival

making a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith's hair loss during the Oscars. Reports now suggest that Rock didn't know about Jada's alopecia.

The 8th Annual Women’s Voices Now Film Festival: The Rights and Roles of Women: Redefining Our Shared Reality is in the books and the winning films have been selected by our jury: 

Wilson Chapman editorThe Indian Film Festival Los Angeles has announced the programming lineup for its 2022 edition, which includes Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” as a gala presentation.The festival, which spotlights films made about the Indian diaspora from filmmakers of Indian heritage, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with a return to in-person screenings for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of the festival, 10 feature films and 16 short films will be screened, including a world premiere and two North American premieres.“Reflecting on IFFLA’s 20 years, we find ourselves overjoyed by the range of incredible talent we have discovered and celebrated, introducing numerous emerging and established voices to Los Angeles,” IFFA executive director and founder Christina Marouda said in a statement.

LIVE – Updated at 13:21This year’s Oscars featured shocks, sighs and surprises – but all anyone will care about is a slap. The Academy Awards took place on Sunday night, with films including The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, Licorice Pizza and Coda battling it out in the big categories. The biggest story of the night had almost nothing to do with the awards: a shocking altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock sparked by a joke about Smith’s wife Jada.

This is the moment Will Smith interrupted the Oscars and hit comedian Chris Rock. Will Smith hit Chris Rock in the face on stage after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s haircut. Smith walked up on stage and appeared to hit Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.

Will Smith appeared to punch Chris Rock in the face on stage during the Oscars after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. Referring to Pinkett Smith’s buzzcut, Rock said: “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2.”

Ed Meza @edmezavarWith its focus on Costa Rica, the Málaga Festival Industry Zone (MAFIZ) is showcasing the central American country’s bourgeoning film sector and talent with presentations of feature films, works in progress, projects in development and the country’s scenic locations and support opportunties.Costa Rican filmmakers and their projects are participating in MAFIZ’s various sections, including the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF); Málaga Work in Progress; Málaga Talent and Hack Málaga.Nicole Chi’s documentary “Guián” and Daniel Ross Mix’s “El Zoológico de la Milla 70” (“70 Mile Zoo”) are the two Costa Rican projects taking part in the Work in Progress section. In “Guián,” Chi chronicles her own personal journey of discovery as she travels to China following the death of her grandmother Guián.

ABFF Ventures LLC, producer of the American Black Film Festival (ABFF),  announced that its custom-built online platform, ABFF PLAY, has broadened the company’s global footprint offering studios the opportunity to reach beyond the annual film festival to showcase content targeted to Black audiences.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAfter several hours of heated debates, Iris Knobloch, the former boss of WarnerMedia France and Germany, has been chosen by the board of the Cannes Film Festival to become its first female president, as Variety has learned . She will succeed Pierre Lescure who was re-elected for a third term in June 2020 and is planning to step down after the upcoming edition.The German-born, Paris-based executive was elected by the board of directors of the Association Française du Festival International du Film, which brings together public authorities and film industry professionals, amid much controversy in France.

2022 Malaga Festival Lineup:Main Competition“Emperor Code,” (“Código Emperador,” Jorge Coira, Vaca Films, Playtime, Spain)The Malaga Fest opener, a noirish crime thriller with special services operative Luis Tosar moonlighting for the elite, here trying to dig up the dirt on a young politico. Segueing rapidly to Netflix after an A Contracorriente release in Spain.“A Mae,” (Cristiano Burlan, Brazil) The latest from the prolific Brazilian narrative and doc director, maker of euthanasia-themed “Antes do fim,” and 2015’s “Hunger.” In it, a humble street vendor mother searches desperately for her missing son, claiming the right to at least bury his body.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentHBO Max’s “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” is set for a world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 13. Produced by Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Animation, the highly awaited animated prequel series to the now classic film franchise will see its first episode bow at Annecy’s biggest auditorium, the lakeside Bonlieu’s Grande Salle. The world premiere will be attended by executive producers Tze Chun and Brendan Hay, along with Joe Dante, director of the “Gremlins” films and consulting producer for the series.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann’s drama of the rock-and-roll legend starring Austin Butler (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and Tom Hanks, will world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Variety has confirmed.The movie currently has June 24 release date, which means it couldn’t open the festival unless Warner Bros. Pictures decides to have it bow on May 17 to kick off the milestone 75th edition.

Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru has been set to open the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in a world premiere on June 13. The fest is returning to a fully in-person event after last year’s hybrid edition. Annecy and the Minions franchise have a long history, going back to 2010’s Despicable Me.

Angelique Jackson Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” has been cleared for takeoff with a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.As Variety predicted earlier this month, the “Top Gun” sequel will screen during the French fest, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.Described by Variety’s Elsa Keslassy as the “planetary blockbuster Thierry Fremaux has been dreaming of since 2020,” the Cannes director first aimed to get the movie secured for an out-of-competition slot before COVID-19 delays upended the film release calendar.Cruise’s long-awaited return to the cockpit had been further delayed by the pandemic, which pushed the movie’s planned release date several times. The film is now set to hit theaters on May 27, while the Cannes Film Festival runs from May 17 to May 28.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Documentaries about the conflict in Ukraine, the Cuban migrant situation and the Palestinian refugee crisis were among top winners at MiradasDoc, Spain’s foremost documentary film festival which wrapped its 15th edition on March 12. Based in Tenerife, Canary Islands, the festival was an in-person event running March 4-12, while its market (March 8-11) remained virtual for the second consecutive year.The best international documentary prize went to “Option Zero” (“La Opcion Cero”) by Cuban filmmaker Marcel Beltran while the best debut feature award was extended to “Trenches” by French journalist Loup Bureau who has covered the Arab Spring in Egypt, the Syrian War and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the Donbas region. “Trenches” follows the intrepid young men and women who are fighting Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Two family dramas, the feature film Freda and short film You Can Always Come Home, have earned the top prizes at the 39th edition of Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival. Presented in a hybrid format with in-theater and virtual presentations, the 2022 Festival ran from March 4 through tomorrow.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editorThe Sun Valley Film Festival, which will be returning in-person for its 11th annual event from March 30 to April 3, has announced additional awards and films that will be screened this year.Variety will present this year’s Pioneer Award to Danny Strong on April 1. As a writer, director, actor and producer, Strong has earned two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two WGA awards, a PGA Award and a Peabody Award — with credits ranging from both parts of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” to “Dopesick.” Previous Pioneer Award winners include Shaka King, Aaron Paul, Eliza Hittman and Mark Duplass.Also on April 1, the Rising Star Award will be given to Netflix’s “Outer Banks” cast members Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Rudy Pankow, Austin North, Drew Starkey and Carlacia Grant.

Native sons and daughters of the American South have offered many a meditation on the soil where their lineage was replanted. But the observations and insights of documentarian Jon-Sesrie Goff form something that strikes with the potency of prayer.