Patrick Wachsberger, Christine Vachon, Tom Quinn, Michael Barker & Tom Bernard Among Headliners At Tomorrow’s Zurich Summit

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given access to the international trailer (below) for “A Thousand Lines,” by one of Germany’s most successful directors, Michael Bully Herbig (“Manitou’s Shoe”), and starring two of its leading actors, Elyas M’Barek (“Fuck You Göhte”) and Jonas Nay (“Deutschland 83”). The film opened via Warner Bros. across German-speaking Europe two weeks ago. Beta Cinema is presenting it to buyers at AFM. “A Thousand Lines” – a blend of satire, drama and comedy – is written by Hermann Florin, inspired by Juan Moreno’s “Tausend Zeilen Lüge.” It is the fictional adaptation of one of Germany’s biggest media scandals. The story centers on freelance journalist Juan Romero, played by M’Barek, who encounters inconsistencies in a cover story by award-winning reporter Lars Bogenius, played by Nay.

Naman Ramachandran Celebrated filmmakers Anthony Chen (“Wet Season”), Anurag Kashyap (“Dobaaraa”), Ifa Isfansyah (“Losmen Bu Broto”), Joko Anwar (“Impetigore”) and Ho Yuhang (“The Ghost Bride”) are serving as directing mentors for the ongoing Malaysian Development Lab for Fiction Feature Films (mylab) initiative at the Busan International Film Festival. The directing mentors will work with the filmmakers of mylab and participate in depth conversations and exchanges on cinema and filmmaking. An incubator program for scriptwriters, directors, producers to work on developing scripts and film projects under lectures and the guidance of regional and international experts in scriptwriting, directing, producing, distribution, and markets and festivals, mylab focuses on projects at an early stage of development, with a team of scriptwriter, director and/or producer attached, targeted at regional or international audiences. 

If you run in certain pop circles (Gay Twitter) you've likely been aware of Kim Petras for a long time. But to the average listener, pop's best kept secret over the last few years is finally making her big, commercial breakthrough with her collaboration with Sam Smith, Unholy.

Colombian director Laura Mora’s drama The Kings Of The World has clinched the Golden Eye for best feature film at the Zurich Film Festival.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “The Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood will be feted at the 10th annual Middleburg Film Festival with the Agnès Varda Award, while “Triangle of Sadness” star Dolly De Leon will receive the festival’s Breakthrough Performance Award. “Empire of Light” actor Micheal Ward is being honored with the Spotlight Actor Award. The Sam Mendes film has also been named as the closing night film of the festival. 2019 Distinguished Composer Award recipient Terence Blanchard and his band, the E-Collective, will return to the festival and close out with a music performance.

There are few artists have effected the music industry like George Michael.

Tom Hardy To Narrate Sky And Netflix Nature Doc ‘Predators’

If you run in the right pop circles (Gay Twitter) you've likely been aware of Kim Petras for a long time. But to the average listener, pop's best kept secret over the last few years is finally making her big, commercial breakthrough with her collaboration with Sam Smith, Unholy.

The pressing post-pandemic issue of how to find a theatrical audience for arthouse films was the subject of a morning panel at the Zurich Summit. Among speakers were A24 acquisitions and distribution executive David Laub, Sierra/Affinity exec Kristen Figeroid and Christian Bräuer, MD of top German indie exhibition group Yorck Kinogruppe.

DEALSFuture has sold his songs catalogue to Influence Media Partners in an eight figure deal covering 612 works, including collaborations with many artists, such as Drake, Juice Wrld and more. “Future is a cultural icon”, says Influence Media’s Rene McLean. “He continues to be a blueprint for impact and success in the music industry and has reinvented music in ways that no one has ever expected”.Live Nation has taken a majority stake in German live company Goodlive, which runs festivals such as Melt, Splash and Superbloom, as well as operating a bookings and services divisions.

Ed Meza @edmezavar The 18th Zurich Film Festival kicks off Sept. 22 with a muscular lineup that includes some of the year’s most anticipated international pics while also putting the spotlight on Swiss and German-language cinema. In addition to a strong selection of U.S. films, including Oscar-winning writer-director Florian Zeller’s “The Son” and Neil Jordan’s “Marlowe,” Zurich is also honoring Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker and Tom Bernard for their contribution to cinema. “We are very proud that this year about one-fourth of our program are world or European premieres, which – especially when it comes to American films – are quite hard to get because there’s a lot of competition,” says ZFF artistic director Christian Jungen.

Taking a beat. Meghan Markle’s upcoming Variety cover has been postponed out of respect for the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Asghar Farhadi will preside over the jury for the International Feature Film Competition at this year’s Zurich Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, who directed the Oscar winners “A Separation” and “The Salesman,” U.S. producer Christine Vachon, whose credits includes Oscar winner “Boys Don’t Cry,” and Oscar nominees “Far from Heaven” and “Carol,” and Romania’s Alexander Nanau, the director of the Oscar nominated “Collective,” are among the jury members at the 18th edition of the Zurich Film Festival, which takes place from Sept. 22 to Oct. 2.  Farhadi will head the jury for the International Feature Film Competition. He is joined by the U.K.’s Clio Barnard, who directed the BAFTA nominated “The Arbor,” “The Selfish Giant” and “Ali & Ava”; L.A.-based Brazilian Daniel Dreifuss, a producer on the Oscar nominated “No” and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany’s Oscar entry; Swiss/Italian screenwriter and director Petra Volpe, whose credits include Tribeca prizewinner “The Divine Order”; and  Sweden’s Peter “Piodor” Gustafsson, the producer of Ali Abbassi’s “Border,” which won the main award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.

Michael Strahan opened up about something he's never spoken publicly about before, his fans branded him an inspiration.The Good Morning America host revealed earlier this year his personal anguish before fame and admitted there were times he felt utterly alone. MORE: Michael Strahan talks 'surviving' every day in heartbreaking confession about high school The former NFL player shared an emotional message with fans in the second episode of ESPN's More Than an Athlete and posted a clip to his Instagram.WATCH: GMA's Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts are friendship goals Michael - who had never played American Football until senior year of high school - moved from Germany to Houston as a teenager to try to break into the game, but it was far from easy for the star who admitted he was lost. His caption to the footage read: "I have never told this story publicly… let’s just leave it at that." MORE: Michael Strahan reveals bittersweet memory of late fatherREAD: Michael Strahan's rarely-seen son is his double in proud family photo The video began with Michael saying: "I'm gonna tell a story here which I don't think has ever been on tape about my college.A post shared by michaelstrahan (@michaelstrahan)Michael opened up on ESPN's More Than an Athlete"When I first went to Houston I was scared. Here I am a kid coming from Germany.