Oscar International Film Nominees Feature Youth in Search of Their Place in the World

In “The Hand of God,” the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino conjures memories of his formative years in picturesque Naples. Capturing both the sun-dappled summer days he passed in the company of his larger-than-life family and the profound tragedy that set him on a path toward filmmaking, this partly autobiographical drama focuses on Fabio Schisa (Filippo Scotti), a teenager growing up in southern Italy during the 1980s.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe upcoming Los Angeles-Italia Film Fashion and Art Festival will be honoring Italian directors Paolo Sorrentino (“The Hand of God”) and Enrico Casarosa (“Luca”) as well as costume-designer Massimo Cantini Parrini (“Cyrano”) all of whom have scored nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards. The 17th edition of the pre-Oscars event will be held March 20-26 at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre and also online.This year’s opening ceremony will be hosted by veteran Italian-American actor Robert Davi, who is also this year’s president of the event. Sofia Milos (“CSI: Miami”) and Hollywood acting coach Bernard Hiller will co-host.Consul General of Italy Silvia Chiave and Italian Institute of Culture chief Emanuele Amendola will also be introducing honorees both at the Chinese Theatre and during a separate March 25 event being held at the Italian Institute of Culture.

Bob Verini Of the five 2021 Academy Award nominees for best international film, Italy’s entry, “The Hand of God,” most directly combines two of cinema’s most treasured themes: intensely personal autobiography that is able to speak to a wider audience, and the art of filmmaking itself.Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino uses the character of 16-year-old Fabietto Schisa — played by newcomer Filippo Scotti — to examine the real-life experiences that led to his own growth as a man as well as his eventual birth as a filmmaker.Watching audiences connect so deeply with a character that is drawn so closely from his own experiences has hit Sorrentino deeply. “Now that it’s more than one year that I shot the movie, I have to say that it’s strange, because now I am sharing my pain with a big audience,” he shares.

At Water’s Edge, a mesmerizing queer dance short from the acclaimed, trailblazing transgender choreographer, and Homo Pol, a short dance documentary film by Amadeus Pawlica focused on the LGBTQ community in Poland.Monday, March 21, brings nine more in a program exploring relationships at opposite ends of the age spectrum, from budding young love to the Alzheimer’s-induced fading memory of a relationship more than 40 years in the making.Also part of Week 2 programming is the German short Pussy Cruising, a humorous take and fantastical riff on the subject posed by the question, “What would cruising among lesbians look like?”The seven films packaged in Week 3 examine the prejudices, discrimination, and other hurdles, some of them self-imposed, faced by people with queer identities, particularly as faced by those living in Iran, Finland, Greece, Spain, North America, and Chile — with The Bodies of Siegfried, Emilio Rodriguez’s documentary offering a visual exploration questioning the limits of art and pornography.Finally, queer challenges, from identity and self-image to romantic relationships, are explored in the final six selected for Week 4, beginning April 4 and ending April 11.Tickets per program, offering a full week of streaming, are $10, or $25 for a full festival pass.

, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Visual Effects. Starring Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac and Zendaya, this universe is one you surely want to enter. Watch Now is based off of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction saga of the same name, and follows Paul Atreides, a nobleman, who lives in the distant future in an intergalactic feudal society ruled by one all-powerful emperor. Paul is forced to relocate with his parents to the desert planet Arrakis — the most dangerous planet in the universe, better known as Dune.

J. Kim Murphy The Kyiv-based Molodist International Film Festival has penned an open letter to the film community calling on other festivals to join in a boycott of Russian films as a response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces.The festival’s statement cites an ongoing effort by modern Russia to “separate culture from politics” and to “[use] that same culture to distract the West from Russia’s wars, human rights violations, censorship and persecution of political dissidents.”“There are Russian filmmakers and intellectuals who have been truly vocal in their dissent and criticism of Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine throughout these years, and we know some of them personally,” the statement reads.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor“Power of the Dog” star Jesse Plemons is speaking out about Sam Elliott’s recent rant against Jane Campion’s award-winning Netflix film.“I laughed when I heard. I don’t know why,” Plemons told me at premiere of his new Charlie McDowell-directed thriller “Windfall” on Friday night at the London West Hollywood hotel. ”I haven’t listened to it so I’ve heard it from what people have told me.

Hugh Jackman has a lot of love for all of the women out there.

Andrew Barker Senior Features WriterThe documentary short competition has long been a prime stage for nonfiction talent, and thanks to the renewed interest of streamers and new platforms, the format is as lively as ever. This year’s nominees encompass a wide range of subjects, from female sports pioneers to homelessness, love in a warzone and childhood bullying.

Olivia Rodrigo has said that her forthcoming movie Driving Home 2 U (A Sour Film) will feature an unreleased piece of new music after the closing credits.The film is being released on Disney+ on March 25, and will feature a combination of live performances of tracks from her debut album ‘Sour’, interviews about the songs, and behind-the-scenes footage shot during recording sessions.In a new interview with Rolling Stone, she revealed that she’s added a previously-unreleased song to the end credits, a currently-untitled iPhone demo that is reportedly still in progress.“I was listening to some of [the unreleased tracks] and heard it and thought, ‘Oh, it’s kind of good!”She added that she’s been back in the studio working on the follow up to her platinum-selling debut LP. “I’m so, so excited to put out new music and to create the next set of worlds.”Elsewhere in the interview, Rodrigo discussed her forthcoming tour, which will be her first major shows in support of ‘Sour’ due to pandemic-related delays.“It’s a brand-new experience for me that I’ve never really had a test of, so it’s going to be really fun,” she said of the dates.

“The Power Of The Dog” may be leading the Academy Award nominations but that doesn’t mean Sam Elliott likes it.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticCritics matter. That’s how I interpret the love the Academy showed for “Drive My Car” this year, nominating the three-hour Japanese drama in four separate categories: best picture, director, adapted screenplay and international film, and in so doing, effectively issuing a referendum to the Spike Lee-led Cannes jury that awarded the Palme d’Or to the relatively divisive “Titane.”Sure, other non-U.S.

Ethan Shanfeld Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will return in person this fall, welcoming local and international guests from Sept. 8 to 18.“We’re thrilled to share this news about TIFF 2022 and to introduce fresh voices to our programming team,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of the festival.

Clayton Davis The Critics Choice Association announced the nominations for the 2nd annual Critics Choice Super Awards, honoring the most popular, fan-obsessed genres across film and television.Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and Jon Watts’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” led the film nominations with five noms each. Two of the three Peter Parkers landed acting mentions for Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland, but Tobey Maguire was omitted from the list.“Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” the four-hour cut of his superhero film with Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot, also landed in the best superhero movie category alongside “Black Widow,” “Eternals,” “Shang-Chi,” “Spider-Man” and “The Suicide Squad.” On the television side, Paramount Plus’ “Evil” and Netflix’s “Midnight Mass” led with six apiece.

The first ever Sands: International Film Festival, set to be held in Scotland’s St Andrews, has revealed its line-up.

David Brenner, the Oscar-winning film editor who worked on a string of blockbusters as well as nine films for director Oliver Stone, died on Thursday. He was 59. The news was confirmed by Avatar producer Jon Landau, with whom Brenner had been working on the sequels.

Zack Sharf If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.With Oscar nominations announced (see the full list of nominees here) and the 94th Academy Awards set for Sunday, March 27 at 8pm ET on ABC, the  race is on to catch up on every nominated film over the next few weeks. Fortunately, Variety is here to make that mission easier with a complete guide to streaming all 38 feature film nominees at the 2022 Oscars.

GoFundMe page set up by “Avatar” producer Jon Landau, as well as in a social media post by Snyder. Amber Brenner did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Brenner won his Oscar in 1990 (shared with Joe Hutshing) for working on Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July,” and he’s also credited on films such as “The Doors,” “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “World Trade Center,” “Man of Steel,” “300: Rise of an Empire” and most recently “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” He was currently at work editing James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels.