Oscars: Chiles Selects ‘Blanquita’ For International Best Film Category

Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer clinched the best film award in the main Official Competition of the 66th London Film Festival with her latest feature Corsage, starring Vicky Krieps.

Ed Meza @edmezavar The Lumière Festival’s International Classic Film Market (MIFC) in Lyon, France, is celebrating its 10th edition this year with a wide-ranging program focusing on bolstering classic film distribution, the prospects of new commercial territories, film education and a focus on Spain’s heritage film sector. The MIFC, which runs Oct. 18-21, kicks off with a keynote by Gian Luca Farinelli, director of Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna film archive. Market organizers praise Farinelli for “allowing classic films to be found, restored, reviewed and, most often, put back on the market firstly through the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, exhibition and distribution activities within the foundation, while maintaining strong links with cinemathques from around the world.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pathé and Chapter 2, a Mediawan company, are set to reteam with “Three Musketeers” director Martin Bourboulon on a riveting thriller set in the backdrop of the fall of Kabul and the takeover by the Taliban. The film is an adaptation of “13 days, 13 Nights, in the Hell of Kabul,” a sprawling real-life account of the events written by commander Mohamed Bida and published by Denoël last month. Bourboulon, who recently completed shooting “The Three Musketeers,” a big-budget two-part saga based on Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece, will be filming the movie in French and English with an immersive and ultra-realistic style.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi had his passport confiscated at the airport as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival. Haghighi was expected to present there the U.K. premiere of his latest film, “Subtraction.”  A BFI London Film Festival spokesperson confirmed the news to Variety and issued the following statement: “The Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi was due to travel to London today to support the UK premiere of his film Subtraction which is screening tomorrow at the BFI London Film Festival, but has been prevented from boarding his flight to the UK.  He was turned away by authorities in Iran and has his passport confiscated.  He has returned to his home in Tehran. We understand that no reason has been given to Mani Haghighi for the confiscation. The BFI London Film Festival supports Haghighi and all filmmakers in their freedom to make their films and present them around the world.

Violent crime continues to ravage Philadelphia as shootings and homicides devastate area residents. Retired Philadelphia police officer Nick Gerace told "Fox & Friends First" where he is placing the blame. "This all extends to Larry Krasner, our failed, radical district attorney here in Philadelphia," he told Todd Piro and Carley Shimkus on Wednesday.

Japanese director Naomi Kawase will preside over the international jury of the 44th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival, running November 13 to 22.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent French production powerhouse Studiocanal is moving into the Italian production market by joining forces with Rome-based shingle Elsinore Film with plans to co-develop and coproduce a slate of scripted and unscripted content for the Italian and international market. Elsinore Film is a boutique outfit headed by Annamaria Morelli (pictured, left), a former head of production at Italian streamer TimVision, who is known for her scouting activity. Morelli has had a hand in shepherding “Skam Italia,” the Italian adaptation of the Nordic drama series that’s a hit in Italy. She was more recently among producers of “Amanda,” a quirky teen dramedy about female friendship by newcomer Carolina Cavalli, that launched positively in September from the Venice fest’s Horizons section. 

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Nordisk Film, the deep-pocketed Copenhagen-based Scandinavian film powerhouse, has launched an advanced LED virtual production stage. Named the Shortcut LED Stage, the venue will provide advanced virtual production services for TV, film, commercial shoots, music videos and live events from Scandinavian banners that are owned by Nordisk Film, as well as other companies around the world. The first film productions that have used the Shortcut LED Stage include “Boundless,” the next opus in the “Department Q” franchise, as well as Ole Bornedal’s psychological thriller “Nightwatch – Demons are Forever,” among other projects.

Rebecca Souw “Bogota: City of the Lost,” one of the most expensive Korean films ever made, heads the sales slate presented at Busan by Megabox Plus M, part of Korea’s J Contentree listed company. Crime noir, “Bogota” took 21 months to produce and saw its principal photography start in January 2020 but soon become a victim of COVID. Song Joong Ki (“Space Sweepers”) stars as a young man moving to Colombia with his family for a better life, but he ends up living from hand to mouth. He later goes against all odds to dominate Bogota’s black market. The picture also stars Lee Hee-jun (“The Drug King”) and was directed by Kim Seong-je (“The Unfair”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Grappling with free-falling theatrical admissions and misplaced blame by exhibitors on so-called “auteur” movies, the leading lights of the French film industry sounded the alarm about the state of the country’s cinema sector during a dramatic and emotional conference. The jam-packed event on Thursday, called Appel aux Etats Generaux (Call for General Assemblies), was organized by some of France’s most established producers including Saïd Ben Saïd, Judith Lou Levy and Philippe Carcassone, who work frequently with directors Paul Verhoven, Mati Diop and Florian Zeller, respectively. The conference was held at the Institut du Monde Arabe, a cultural venue headed by Jack Lang, who served as minister of culture throughout the 1980s. More than 400 people attended the event, including members of the independent distributors guild (DIRE) and the directors guild SRF, the governing body of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.

Italy’s International Audiovisual Market MIA is expecting a return to full force this year ahead of its eighth edition in Rome from October 11 to15.

Egypt, which is home to the Middle East and North Africa’s biggest film industry, will not participate in the Best International Film Oscar race this year.

Mexico has selected five-time Academy Award winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truth as its official entry to the best international film category of the Oscars.

K.J. Yossman International streaming service Starzplay has been rebranded as Lionsgate+. Available in 35 countries including the U.K. and Canda, the re-brand will roll out tomorrow (Sept. 29) across all territories. The full list of territories where Starzplay will re-brand as Lionsgate+ is: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Australia and Japan.

Argentina has submitted Santiago Mitre’s political drama Argentina, 1985 to the Best International Film Oscar race.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary festival IDFA will host the international premieres of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” and Barbara Kopple’s “Gumbo Coalition” as part of its Masters program, as well as the world premiere of Coco Schrijber’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” The selection includes the work of several renowned directors who have reinvented their cinematic language. Patricio Guzmán breaks from his poetic approach to adopt a more direct, political form of filmmaking with “My Imaginary Country,” centering on the October 2019 protests in Santiago. Gianfranco Rosi directs his first archive-based film “In viaggio,” which sees Pope Francis’ journeys as a map of the human condition. Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed co-direct a film together for the first time with “Music for Black Pigeons,” a reflection on aging through jazz music, and Ruth Beckermann’s “Mutzenbacher” takes a look at a controversial erotic novel through an elaborate casting call.

Bulgaria has re-entered the International Film race for the 2023 Academy Awards with In the Heart of the Machine, directed by Martin Makariev.

When September rolls around, it means one thing for many of the top filmmakers in the world – time to hit the road. Venice, Telluride and Toronto come in rapid succession, to the point of overlapping. But for documentary filmmakers eager to showcase their work, there’s another important stop to make in September: the Camden International Film Festival in mid-coast Maine.

Clayton Davis With the news of Michelle Williams campaigning for lead actress, instead of supporting actress, for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” many are wondering if this big move will pay off. With bona fide contenders such as Cate Blanchett from “Tár” and Michelle Yeoh from “Everything Everywhere All at Once” already staking their claims as frontrunners, the category decision caused quite the stir on social media and punditry circles.