Oscar Nominated Producer Alexander Rodnyansky Boards Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s ‘Nosorog’ (EXCLUSIVE)

In a world where major animation releases start to look very similar with their Pixar-esque visuals, projects like “My Father’s Dragon” really do stand out.  READ MORE: ‘Maya And The Wave’ Review: An Uplifting Sports Doc About Maya Gabeira’s Quest To Surf One Of The World’s Biggest Waves As seen in the trailer for “My Father’s Dragon,” the Netflix animated feature has stunning visuals and a unique style as it tells the story of a young boy and the dragon he befriends.

Jon Burlingame editor Does Doja Cat’s hit song “Vegas” qualify to be an Oscar Best Song nominee? The short answer is: Maybe. But the tune from Baz Luhrmann’s biopic “Elvis” faces more challenges than the average new movie song. The three-and-a-half-minute, commercially released version of “Vegas,” a portion of which is heard during the first half-hour of the film, interpolates the 1950s classic “Hound Dog,” although more in its repeated use of a famous lyrical phrase (“you ain’t nothin’ but a…”) than any musical element. Because of that, original “Hound Dog” songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are co-credited as writers on “Vegas” along with Doja Cat (under her real name, Amala Zandile Dlamini), David Sprecher and Roget Lufti Chahayed, the latter two of whom are the credited producers.

CNN on Thursday denounced the Nicaraguan government after the network’s Spanish-language service CNN en Español was taken off the air there late Wednesday.

Marta Balaga LevelK has boarded Icelandic thriller “Natatorium,” directed by Helena Stefánsdóttir Magneudóttir. The film started shooting on Sept. 14, and is expected to bow locally next year. Produced by Sunna Gudnadóttir for Bjarstýn Films, marking the company’s first feature film, it’s financed with the support from the Icelandic Film Center and the Finnish Film Foundation. Scanbox, Sena and RUV YLE are behind the project as well. “I am mostly interested in working on films with female directors and/or scriptwriters, [projects] with high artistic integrity and universal appeal,” says Gudnadóttir, who previously worked on “A White, White Day,” and Iceland’s Oscar submission “Beautiful Beings.” She adds that “Natatorium” has three complex female leads, and 60% of the crew is female as well.

Wilson Chapman editorAlejandro González Iñárritu has released the first trailer for his Netflix Oscar contender “Bardo” — and the entire movie is now 22 minutes shorter.The Mexican filmmaker and two-time best director winner’s eighth film, “Bardo (or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths),” premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival. After screening at Venice and Telluride, Iñárritu went back into the edit room and cut down 22 minutes from the film, bringing its runtime to two hours and 32 minutes, without credits.“The first time I saw my film was with 2,000 people in Venice,” Iñárritu told IndieWire. “That was a nice opportunity to see it and learn about things that could benefit from being tied up a bit, add one scene that never arrived on time, and move the order of one or two things. Little by little, I tightened it, and I am very excited about it.”

Mother, the Bulgarian submission for this year’s International Feature Film Oscar race, has been deemed ineligible by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The film’s director, Zornitsa Sophia, announced the decision on social media this week.

Sean Hayes will return to Broadway this spring starring in Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright’s new play Good Night, Oscar, in which Hayes will play Hollywood Golden Age actor, pianist and wit Oscar Levant.

Clayton Davis Three movies into his film career, Harry Styles’ ability as an actor continues to improve with each of his outings. Beginning as a young soldier in Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” (2017), he returns to the silver screen with two films this year. In the first, he’s the charming husband to Florence Pugh in “Don’t Worry Darling,” with the press tour that keeps on giving. In the second, he portrays a closeted gay police officer in Michael Grandage’s drama “My Policeman” from Amazon Studios, featuring his strongest turn yet as an actor. But is an Oscar nomination in his future? Singers-turned-actors have had an inconsistent road to the Academy Awards. While there are successes such as Cher (“Moonstruck”) and Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”), Academy voters sometimes make actors prove themselves for a while to show they’re the real deal. Known as a “pretty boy,” Styles’ celebrity status does present an obstacle to overcome with awards voters. As Tom, the internalized conflict that Styles conveys is executed effectively, and if he decides to campaign and make a play for his first Oscar nomination, it will have to begin with Amazon choosing to submit him for supporting actor attention – which is not category fraud.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has closed distribution deals for Italy and Greece following the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The Israeli-Ukrainian co-production plays in Venice’s Horizons Extra section, and will have its North American premiere on Sept. 14 at Toronto Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema section. Rome-based P.F.A Films Srl will distribute the film in Italy, with a theatrical release planned for April 2023. The company’s recent titles include “Fabian – Going to the Dogs” by Dominik Graf, “The Audition” by Ina Weisse, and “Border” by Abbasi Ali.

Evgeny Afineevsky released his Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom in 2015, documenting the Euromaidan protests the previous year in the city of Kyiv that led to the collapse of the Russia-aligned Azarov government and the removal and exile of Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych as Ukraine’s president. Afineevsky returns to Venice this year with Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, a follow-up that details the real stories of the people of Ukraine as they continue their fight against Russia’s invasion of their country.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based Picture Tree Intl. has added “This Place,” by Canadian debut director V.T. Nayani, to its lineup. The film is to have its world premiere at Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 9 as part of the Discovery and Next Wave Selects sections. The film stars Devery Jacobs, who was the lead actor in “Reservation Dogs” and the upcoming Marvel Studio production “Echo,” and newcomer Priya Guns. The screenplay was co-written by V.T. Nayani, Devery Jacobs and Golshan Abdmoulaie. It tells the story of two young women falling in love for the first time and being jointly challenged by their own family histories, which bear the legacies of loss, migration and displacement.

Two-time Oscar-nominated director Dan Krauss is creating a Netflix documentary on the 2001 U.S. anthrax attacks featuring Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D star Clark Gregg performing scripted monologues. Scroll down for the trailer.

Christopher Vourlias On the eve of the 79th Venice Film Festival, where his powerful Ukraine war documentary “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” will premiere out of competition on Sept. 7, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky was in a frantic race against time. Footage was still being shot in Ukraine into the second week of August, with Afineevsky only completing the film on Aug. 31 — the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the A-list celebrities and foreign press at the festival’s opening ceremony, urging the world not to forget the war in Ukraine with the impassioned plea: “Don’t turn your back to us.”

Marta Balaga LevelK has boarded Icelandic crime drama “Cold,” directed by Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen and based on the bestselling book “The Undesired” (“Kuldi”) by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir. Still in production, it was recently pitched at Venice Gap-Financing Market. The story centers on Óðinn, living alone with his daughter Rún. As he investigates decades-old deaths at a juvenile treatment center, he begins to suspect that the sinister secrets are connected to his ex-wife’s mysterious suicide. As well as his daughter’s strange behavior. “Erlingur is an established, talented director who respects the audiences and finds it fascinating to thrill them,” says LevelK’s CEO Tine Klint.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Venice Film Festival title “Music for Black Pigeons,” directed by Danish filmmakers Jørgen Leth, best known for “The Five Obstructions,” and “The Lost Leonardo” helmer Andreas Koefoed, has debuted its trailer with Variety. The documentary, which premieres on Tuesday in Venice’s Out of Competition section, explores the lives and processes of some of the world’s most renowned and prolific jazz musicians, including Jakob Bro, Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Paul Motian and Midori Takada. Leth, who has directed more than 40 films including landmark works such as “A Sunday in Hell” (1977) and the surrealist short “The Perfect Human” (1968), returns to Venice after his feature documentary “The Five Obstructions,” which he co-directed with Lars von Trier, screened on the Lido in 2003.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given exclusive access to a first-look clip for “Amanda,” Carolina Cavalli’s quirky Italian-cool film in Venice Horizons, starring Benedetta Porcaroli (star of Netflix series “Baby”), and featuring Italian heavyweight Giovanna Mezzogiorno, and Italian “X-Factor” winner Michele Bravi. The film, which is reminiscent of early Wes Anderson, premieres at Venice on Monday, then goes to Toronto – it’s the only Italian film to play both fests this year. Charades is handling international sales. I Wonder is distributing in Italy. The film centers on Amanda, 24, who lives mostly isolated and has never had any friends, even if it’s the thing she wants the most. When she discovers that as toddlers her and Rebecca used to spend a lot of time together, Amanda chooses her new mission: to convince her that they are still best friends.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Nearly a year ago, the nation’s movie theaters were floundering and exhibitors were fearful that moviegoing could become a relic of the past. Sure, there were occasional big-screen hits, like “A Quiet Place Part II” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” but even those films weren’t bringing in pre-pandemic ticket sales and nothing was getting people really, truly excited about going to the movies. (Remember, this was before “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and, later, “Top Gun: Maverick” swooped in to save the day.) So AMC Theatres, the country’s largest cinema chain, took matters into its own hands. Rather than waiting for Hollywood studios to release the Next Big Thing, the company wrote a check for $25 million and set out to craft an advertisement to promote movie theaters rather than just movies. To convey its message, AMC turned to Nicole Kidman, the Oscar-winner who endeared herself to audiences through crowd-pleasers, dark thrillers and tear-jerkers like “Moulin Rouge,” “Eyes Wide Shut” and “The Hours.”

Awards season high. Following the news of the 2022 Emmy Awards nominations in July, numerous Euphoria cast members reacted to the critical acclaim their show received.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has debuted the trailer (below) for the Israeli-Ukrainian drama “Valeria Is Getting Married,” which will have its world premiere in Venice’s Horizons Extra Friday. The film will have its North American premiere at Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 14, where it is part of the Contemporary World Cinema lineup. The film, directed by Israeli female filmmaker Michal Vinik, is shot from the perspective of two Ukrainian sisters, and follows the tense emotional journey that unfolds over the course of one day. Valeria (Dasha Tvoronovich) arrives in Israel to meet the man she is supposed to marry, thanks to a deal made online. She is following in the footsteps of her older sister Christina (Lena Fraifeld), who is happy with her new life in Israel, but Valeria struggles with the decision.