PBS Documentary Series ‘Independent Lens’ Announces Fall Slate (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNewen Connect, the distribution arm of the TF1-owned group Newen Group, has boarded “Balaton Brigade,” a prestige historical spy thriller series directed by Ildikó Enyedi, the Oscar-nominated Hungarian director of “On Body and Soul” and “The Story of My Wife” which competed at Cannes.Created by Gábor Krigler (“Terapia”), Balázs Lengvel (“Thos Janos”) and Balázs Lovas, the eight-part series was previously pitched at the Berlinale Series Market and was

Officials are learning more about what happened in the hours and moments before a man fell to his death after reportedly trying to do a flip on a Citi Field balcony during the Dead & Company concert in New York City last Friday night.

Ethan Shanfeld Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman and actor Brian Posehn (“The Sarah Silverman Program,” “The Big Bang Theory”) have teamed up with Heavy Metal Magazine to create new comic book series “The Axe,” coming in early 2022.A horror-comedy adventure, “The Axe” follows three nerdy, skatepunk, metalhead teenagers who steal an old, cursed guitar that opens a portal to an interdimensional hell-scape called Sheol.

Selome Hailu editorAll Arts unveiled the fall lineup for “The First Twenty,” a new content initiative exploring how the first two decades of the 21st century have impacted American art and culture. “The First Twenty” includes three new specials. Premiering on Sept.

Spike Lee is going back and re-editing the final episode of his documentary series about the September 11 terrorist attacks.  The Brooklyn-born filmmaker faced some controversy after he revealed in a recent interview that his four-part, eight-hour documentary series "NYC Epicenters 9/11➔2021½" will explore some conspiracy theories surrounding the terrorist attacks and even question the culpability of the U.S.

Chris Willman Music Writer“Let It Be,” the final release of the Beatles’ original catalog, wasn’t about to get memorialized in film and book form this fall without getting a boxed set of the actual music, too. And so months after fans got firm news about “Get Back,” the Peter Jackson documentary, and “Get Back,” the expansive hardback book, there’s finally confirmation that the album whose making those projects chronicle will officially get the deluxe treatment, come Oct.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSteven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon have landed a series order at HBO Max for the drama “Full Circle,” Variety has learned exclusively.The series reunites the pair after they worked together on the film “No Sudden Move,” which was released on HBO Max in July. Casey Silver, who was a producer on “No Sudden Move,” will be an executive producer on the series.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNENT Group, Scandinavia’s leading streaming company, has ordered “Ida Takes Charge,” a dark comedy series based on Kjersti Halvorsen’s acclaimed debut novel by the same name. The eight-part show, which shot this summer in Oslo, is directed by rising Norwegian filmmaker Rikke Gregersen, whose 2018 short film “Dog Eat Dog” won a Student Academy Award and a special jury prize at the BAFTA/LA Student Films Awards.

Back in March, Showtime’s series Halo, based on the hugely popular Xbox video game franchise, moved to Paramount+, while Paramount+’s The Man Who Fell To Earth, based on the Walter Tevis novel and the cult classic 1976 film, migrated to Showtime. (It had been ordered to series by Par+ predecessor CBS All Access which was more adult-focused than the broader, four-quadrant Paramount+).

Yesterday, it was announced by WarnerMedia that they’d added two more cast members to their cast of “Our Flag Means Death,” a pirate comedy series at HBO Max that will be led by New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi as history’s most notorious pirate, Blackbeard.

Christopher Vourlias Serbian drama “The Family,” which swept the newly launched Heart of Sarajevo TV Awards at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Monday, has sold to North America, Variety can reveal.Directed by Bojan Vuletić (“Requiem for Mrs.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorFeaturistic Films has unveiled an exclusive first look at the feature documentary “Afghanistan.” It follows filmmaker James Glancy, a former British Royal Marine Commando who was decorated in 2012 for his actions in combat, as he returns to Afghanistan with a small, handpicked team to help him answer the question that has haunted him over the past decade: Was it worth it?Dramatically, mid-way through the shoot, President Joe Biden announced that the

Naman Ramachandran “Nemesis,” a series based on “McMafia” writer Misha Glenny’s book “Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio,” is being co-produced by BlackBox Multimedia and Boutique Filmes. The story is based on the true-life story of Antonio Francisco Lopes, who went from a poorly paid man in Rio de Janeiro to “Nem,” the leader of one of Rio’s biggest slums and Brazil’s most wanted criminal and seen as a Robin Hood figure by the poor, but hated by the Brazilian elite.

He put a ring on it! Paul Walker’s 22-year-old daughter, Meadow Walker, seemingly announced her engagement via Instagram on Monday, August 9.

Biffy Clyro have announced they’ll be performing a concert at Dreamland Margate set to take place later this month.The Scottish trio will play the 15,000-capacity outdoor event space and theme park on August 25, as part of the venue’s Summer Series.

Netflix has announced that three television shows have officially been renewed for new seasons!

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentA long-gestating non-conventional documentary directed by Iranian multi-hyphenate Mitra Farahani centered around a conversation between Jean-Luc Godard and Iranian filmmaker and literary figure Ebrahim Golestan that took place via regular weekly email exchanges involving videos, images, aphorisms, and letters, is set to soon surface on the international festival circuit.The film, called “See You Friday Robinson: A Film Unlike Any Other,” stems from

Naman Ramachandran Series Mania, the annual series jamboree at Lille, France, has revealed 21 high-end series from 19 countries that will be part of its Forum Exclusives strand.Seven of these titles are world premieres, a new record since the creation of the Forum in 2013, Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania (Aug. 26 – Sept.

Rihanna is officially a billionaire.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Imagen Foundation has announced nominations for the 36th annual Imagen Awards, honoring film and TV shows that celebrate Latino talent.