SPOILER ALERT – Do not read ahead if you haven’t seen Immaculate yet!
05.03.2024 - 10:53 / variety.com
Ben Croll Feats of derring-do, bouts of inspiration and a hearty show of strength for Nordic animation are but three of many motifs underscoring this year’s Cartoon Movie, which runs over March 5 – 7 in Bordeaux. For this year’s 26th edition, the European animation sector’s flagship co-production and pitch forum will spotlight 55 overall projects while welcoming north of 800 industry delegates, with many making inaugural visits.
Boasting 22 new studios and producers alongside representatives from 42 sales companies and 76 distributors, the sterling attendance sheet also reflects animated fare’s growing importance in sales lineups and in festival curation – a fact echoed by the programers from Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight now attending for the first time. Nearly finished titles such as Kristina Dufková’s stop-motion teen toon “Living Large” and the Yuletide adventure “SuperKlaus” will screen as sneak-peaks, while Italian auteur Alessandro Rak (“Cinderella the Cat”) will present his latest project, “The Little Prince of Shangri-La,” as a concept pitch.
The Bordeaux showcase will also offer a first-look at Alexis Ducord & Vincent Parronaud’s much-anticipated “Into the Wonderwoods,” though the bulk of this year’s selection – accounting for 34 titles overall – will fall to In Devolvement titles, offering what could be seen as another industry bellwether. “There has been an enormous creative boom,” says Cartoon Movie general director Annick Maes.
“In the years following the pandemic, people were mostly finishing what was already on the table, what was already in production. They were not creating a lot new material — and now we have this big boost [to make up the difference].” According to Maes, stories of adventure and tales
.SPOILER ALERT – Do not read ahead if you haven’t seen Immaculate yet!
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian animation auteur Alessandro Rak – best known for European Film Award-winner “The Art of Happiness” and Neapolitan mob fable “Cinderella The Cat” – is at work on a new project titled “The Little Prince of Shangri-La” set in an imaginary Tibet and involving the search for the Dalai Lama. Rak’s new work, which follows “Yaya and Lenny — The Walking Liberty,” that launched in 2021 from Locarno, was unveiled earlier this month at the Cartoon Movie co-production and pitch forum in Bordeaux, France.
posted a behind-the-scenes shoot from her photo shoot for Italian Vogue costarring a four-legged friend—proving that not only can she walk the walk, she can also canter the canter.“Our new Italian Vogue cover on stands today,” Hadid wrote in the caption. “Shot at the farm with our Dallas, the horse with the biggest heart and lots of patience. I love you Dall.”This content can also be viewed on the site it from.In one of the photos and the behind-the-scenes videos, Bella Hadid lies on the horse’s back in an eggplant dress adorned with Western-inspired fringe.
Rachel Seo When the idea for her upcoming novel “Expiration Dates” began percolating in her head, author Rebecca Serle worried at first that the concept was “gimmicky.” “There was something missing,” she tells Variety over the phone, two weeks before the book’s March 19 launch. The premise — based on the question, “What if a woman got slips of paper that told her how long she’d spend in a relationship?” — felt like it verged on triteness.
Zendaya’s impressive 2024 is just starting. Her year, which kicked off with the premiere of “Dune 2,” an appearance at the Oscars, and innumerable stunning looks, continues with a new project. “Challengers,” her new film, will be released in April 26th, with a new teaser being released.Zendaya’s best looks at the ‘Dune: Part 2’ press tour: From vintage Givenchy in Seoul to Mugler in LondonZendaya looks angelic in vintage Roberto Cavalli during her latest fashion momentA post shared by Challengers Movie (@challengersmovie)“Challengers” stars Zendaya as Tashi, a promising tennis player who loses her career after experiencing an injury.
Stray Kids singer Hyunjin has released a brand-new solo track ‘long for you’, as part of the group’s ongoing ‘SKZ-RECORD’ series.The song dropped earlier today (March 15) on Stray Kids’ YouTube channel and is the latest in the band’s ongoing series of releases on the platform dubbed ‘SKZ-RECORD’.‘long for you’ has become the latest contribution to the series, and credits Hyunjin himself as both its sole writer and co-composer, alongside producer and singer Joha. The video also features exclusive cover art that was also created by Hyunjin.The last member to release new material under ‘SKZ-RECORD’ was bandmate Han, who dropped an original, self-composed song titled ’13’ just last week.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds have today (March 15) announced details of a UK and European tour – check out the full dates below.The tour will take place this autumn and follows on from the recent announcement that the band will release a new album this summer, ‘Wild God’. The band will kick off their tour on September 24 in Oberhausen, Germany, and will end in Paris, France on November 17.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Memento International has closed a raft of deals on “Fremont,” a critically acclaimed film starring Anaita Wali Zada, an Afghan refugee and first-time actor, and featuring “The Bear” actor Jeremy Allen White. Directed by BAFTA-nominated Iranian-born director Babak Jalali, the black-and-white movie tells the story of Donya, a young woman working at a Chinese fortune cookie factory in the San Francisco bay. Formerly a translator for the U.S.
Disney+ has revealed a first-look at a new drama about the life of German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The streamer has also confirmed when the six-part series will drop.
Kaouther Ben Hania will history for her native Tunisia on Sunday with its first Academy Award if her nominated work Four Daughters triumphs in the Best Documentary category on Sunday.
The Duke of Edinburgh has been appointed to the Order of the Thistle by the King as four new photos of him have been shared to celebrate his 60th birthday. The Order of the Thistle is Scotland's highest honour, and the King can give it to anyone he chooses without needing advice from the Prime Minister.
Everything Meghan Markle wears these days goes straight onto our style inspo Pinterest boards. We loved her snow bunny looks when she visited Whistler, Canada, last month, and now we're loving her latest ensemble: a coordinated two-piece that screams understated and sophisticated.
Stray Kids singer-songwriter Han has released a brand-new track titled ’13’ on the band’s YouTube channel.’13’ was officially released on March 8 at midnight KST, and is the latest in a wider YouTube series by Stray Kids dubbed ‘SKZ-RECORD’, an initiative where Stray Kids members release original songs and covers that are not officially part of their discography.Han marks the latest contribution to the series with an original track, which credits him as its writer and composer, alongside producers such as Vendors’ Helixx and ZENUR. The video containing the song comes with a picture of Han, and is not released on any other platform.The eight-piece last released music together in November 2023 with the mini-album ‘ROCK-STAR’, led by title track ‘LALALALA’.
EXCLUSIVE: It was on the set of Sky and HBO’s We Are Who We Are where Lorenzo Mieli asked Francesca Manieri, a feminist screenwriter, to pen a TV series about Rocco Siffredi, the infamous hardcore porn star. Initially, she could barely believe it. “I laughed,” she recalls. “I was sure he was joking.”
Morgan Matthews‘ upcoming road movie 500 Miles, starring Academy Award nominee Bill Nighy and buzzy teen actor Roman Griffin Davis, has sold to multiple territories for Beta Cinema, following its launch at the Berlinale’s European Film Market (EFM) last month.
There's no such thing as a quiet time in Weatherfield and next week proves it with lives in danger, arrests, a new official couple and returns galore in Coronation Street.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.
The latest task on the BBC One's hit show 'The Apprentice' will see candidates challenged to launch their own Formula E team.
Alex Ritman Well-established Italian producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli — who left their Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and The Apartment, respectively, earlier this year — are returning to the growing TV and film powerhouse with their new scripted outfit. The duo — who co-founded “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend” production house Wildside in 2009 before Mieli exited to set up The Apartment, which was behind the recent hit “Priscilla” — are yet to reveal details of their new company.
Strictly Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice, 33, has made it official with his new girlfriend, model Molly Brown, 24, on Instagram.