Guy Nattiv Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

With Tatami, Golda helmer Guy Nattiv and Holy Spider star Zar Amir have crafted what’s billed as the first feature co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian. The film, which bowed in the Horizons section here in Venice, is a sports drama with stakes that are far higher than winning or losing a match.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy, where debate over violence against women is currently raging, is celebrating International Women’s Day by becoming the first country to theatrically release “Tatami,” a female empowerment thriller about an Iranian judo fighter that made a splash in Venice and marks the first collaboration by Iranian and Israeli filmmakers. Italy’s BIM Distribuzione is bowing “Tatami” – which is co-helmed by Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider) and Israeli director Guy Nattiv – on 90 local movie screens on Friday as an International Women’s Day special preview at a discounted €3.50 ($3.80) ticket price.

EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn-based filmmaker Ged Dickersin (CODA) is launching True Indy, a production company intent on making films that can and should be made independently, with filmmakers telling acutely relevant stories for the world market.

EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn-based filmmaker Ged Dickersin (CODA) is now launching TRUE INDY, a production company intent on making films that can and should be made independently, with filmmakers telling acutely relevant stories for the world market.True Indy sees the opportunity to attract financing for films that can be made in the one to five million dollar range, reducing the financial risk to investors, and increasing the chances for a return on the investment. The company is introducing its slate of original U.S.-born indies, at the European Film Market during the Berlinale this year, as well as looking to partner with filmmakers from around the world in international co-productions. 

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, his producing partner at HyperObject Industries, have come aboard the Oscar-shortlisted animated short Wild Summon as executive producers. Joining them are Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman of New Native Pictures, who won an Oscar for their 2019 live-action short Skin and went on to adapt it into a feature starring Jamie Bell.

EXCLUSIVE: Actor Lior Ashkenazi has boarded Israeli-American filmmaker Matthew Mishory‘s Mosolov’s Suitcase, exploring the life and legacy of Ukrainian, early Soviet era, avant-garde composer Alexander Mosolov.

Israeli actress Gal Gadot is reportedly spearheading a Hollywood screening of a 47-minute video of the atrocities committed by the terrorist group Hamas during the October 7 surprise attack on Israel.The footage, provided by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), will be shown to a select group of celebrities and influential figures, i24 News reported. The first screening is planned to host 120 viewers, with potential additional screenings based on interest.In the early morning hours of October 7, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing 1,400 Israelis and taking 240 people, including foreigners, who remain hostage inside the Gaza Strip.The footage will be aired under the title “Bearing Witness to the October 7th Massacre” in both Los Angeles and New York this week, according to reporting from The Wrap.

When skepticism about the savagery of attacks by Hamas terrorists against Jews in Israel first surfaced, the Israel Defense Forces put together 45 minutes of gruesome imagery — most of it shot by the perpetrators — of murder, beheadings, rapes, and other atrocities against Jewish adults and children. Initially shown to world leaders, ambassadors and journalists covering the attack and the ensuing response by Israel military forces, that footage will be shown this week in screenings organized in Hollywood and New York.

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent “Snow Leopard,” the last film by Tibetan director Pema Tseden prior to his death in May, was awarded the Grand Prix at the closing ceremony of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday. Premiering out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival and later screening at Toronto, the film depicts the argument between a father and his adult son of how to deal with the title beast, which has descended from the mountains to kill sheep in their village.

Family drama Snow Leopard, directed by the late Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden, has won the Tokyo Grand Prix, the top prize at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list of winners.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent WestEnd Films has scored multiple sales, including to North America, on British director Patrick Dickinson’s drama “Cottontail,” which stars Japan’s Lily Franky (“Shoplifters”) and Ciaran Hinds. The film, first announced at the AFM in 2019, won the prize for best first feature last week at the Rome Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.

Backlash over Helen Mirren’s casting in “Golda”, a new biopic about late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, has flared up, and Mirren is responding.

Helen Mirren is sharing her thoughts on playing a Jewish character as a non-Jewish actress.

Helen Mirren thinks it is “ridiculous” that writers are being told to stay in their lanes.

Catherine Bray Billed as the first feature film to be co-directed by an Iranian and an Israeli filmmaker, “Tatami” goes all in with a lean and tense narrative that is part sport movie, part political thriller — with both parts equally neatly realized. Directed by Guy Nattiv and “Holy Spider” lead actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi (who also stars), from a screenplay by Nattiv and Elham Erfani, the film is set during the Judo World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, in which Iranian judo fighter Leila (Arienne Mandi) starts to perform better than anyone except perhaps her coach Maryam (Amir Ebrahimi) expected.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Growing up in Israel, Guy Nattiv knew one narrative about Golda Meir, the country’s prime minister from 1969-1974. “She was the pariah of Israel,” says Nattiv. “Everyone treated her like she’s a monster.” Unlike other historical figures, there were no parks or schools named after Israel’s first (and only) female prime minister.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The upcoming Venice Film Festival has announced it will hold a flash mob on the red carpet in solidarity with the women and men of Iran “who are fighting for their freedom and against the ongoing repression” and also “the filmmakers and artists who have been arrested or imprisoned,” the fest said in a statement on Friday. Festival organizers specified that the flash mob is partly in reaction to the conviction earlier this month in Iran of director Saeed Roustaee (pictured), who was sentenced to six months in prison for showing his latest film “Leila’s Brothers” at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and banned from making movies. Roustaee had been in the Venice Horizons section in 2019 with the film “Just 6.5.” Venice also held a red carpet flash mob last year in solidarity with then incarcerated auteur Jafar Panahi.

Why did it take decades for a biopic to be made about Israel’s first and only female prime minister, Golda Meir?

Naman Ramachandran Amazon Freevee has unveiled the first trailer for the new chapter of long-running Australian soap “Neighbours.” The continuation of the series – about the lives, loves and challenges of the residents on Ramsay Street in Erinsborough, Australia, a fictional suburb of Melbourne – will pick up two years after the finale in 2022. “Neighbours” ran for more than three decades and nearly 9,000 episodes before being canceled in 2022 when the show’s primary funder, U.K.’s Channel 5, pulled out. Freevee then picked up the rights from “Neighbours” producer and distributor Fremantle.

K.J. Yossman “Call My Agent” U.K. — launched locally as “Ten Percent” — will not return for a second season, Variety can confirm.

The trailer for Helen Mirren‘s new movie has been released!

The trailer for Guy Nattiv’s Golda has dropped showcasing Helen Mirren’s transformation into Israel’s first female Prime Minister Golda Meir. Watch the preview in the video posted above.

Helen Mirren is a fantastic actress. One of the best in the world, without a doubt.

L.A.-based director Guy Nattiv is back in his native Israel with new film Golda starring Helen Mirren as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Helen Mirren dedicated a Jerusalem Film Festival life-time achievement award to actors around the world on Thursday, just an hour before a looming SAG-AFTRA strike was made official.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin- and Paris-based Salaud Morisset, a leading short film production and distribution outfit, has acquired two feature films for world sales – one selected by Karlovy Vary Film Festival and the other by Locarno Film Festival – as the company accelerates into feature film sales and production. Salaud Morisset has taken world sales rights on Cyril Aris’ feature documentary “Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano,” which premiered in the main competition at Karlovy Vary this week, and Una Gunjak’s fiction feature “Excursion,” just announced as the opener of Locarno Film Festival’s Filmmakers of the Present section. Salaud Morisset, which is also a co-producer on “Excursion,” aims to continue fostering synergies between its production and sales operations as it commits to a full slate of feature projects.

Israeli director Guy Nattiv’s biopic Golda, starring Helen Mirren as Israel’s iconic Prime Minister Golda Meir, will open the 40th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival, running from July 13 to 23.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International WestEnd Films and Keshet Studios have unveiled a first look at “Golda” director Guy Nattiv and “Holy Spider” star Zar Amir-Ebrahimi’s political thriller “Judo.” The image, which features Amir-Ebrahimi (left) and Arienne Mandi (right), follows an Iranian female judoka and her coach as they face life-changing decisions during the Judo World Championships. “Judo” (working title) is co-directed by Nattiv and Amir-Ebrahimi. It is co-written by Nattiv and Elham Erfani (“The Case of Sacrifice”). The project is the first feature film to be co-directed by an Iranian and an Israeli filmmaker, during a time when the Iranian government still criminalizes any contact with Israelis, and state violence against women is amplified.

Helen Mirren is a classic beauty on the red carpet for the premiere of her upcoming movie, Golda, during the 2023 Berlinale Film Festival in Germany on Monday (February 20).

Dame Helen Mirren ditched her signature bob for ageless platinum waves as she attended the Berlin premiere of Golda.The actress, who last year admitted to still loving her former boyfriend, Liam Neeson, stunned as she attended the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in Germany on Monday and was pictured with long flowing hair extensions. Helen, 77, sported an off-the-shoulder floor-length black dress that featured a low-cut ruffled neckline, which she paired with gold chandelier earrings as she walked the red carpet.

War is coming in Guy Nattiv’s Golda, onscreen and off. But despite the media’s best efforts to turn the casting of British, non-Jewish actor Helen Mirren as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir into an explosive example of cultural appropriation, both Nattiv’s direction and Mirren’s performance are low-key and careful enough to rise above the controversy. In retrospect, it does seem a little strange that no other candidate was deemed suitable, and the movie won’t do much extra business on account of Mirren’s star power, but those anticipating a tone-deaf disaster will be sorely disappointed.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Oscar-winning actor Helen Mirren refused to address the controversy around her casting as Israel’s iconic Prime Minister Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv’s biopic during the movie’s press conference at the Berlinale. When asked to comment on the backlash and the issue of authentic casting, Mirren left it to Nattiv and her co-star Lior Ashkenazi (“Footnote”) to stand up for her while she smiled shyly. Mirren is neither Israeli nor Jewish, and critics have argued that she shouldn’t have been cast as Israel’s most important female figure. Nattiv said that when he met Mirren, he instantly felt like he was in the presence of a “family member” — an “aunt” who had the “Jewish chops to portray Golda.”

Israeli director Guy Nattiv has defended his casting of non-Jewish actress Helen Mirren as iconic Israeli Prime minister Golda Meir in his biopic Golda, which world premieres at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Vanessa Redgrave and Freida Pinto have boarded the family feature “The Boy at the Back of the Class,” based on the acclaimed children’s book. Directed by Stephen Herek (“101 Dalmations”), the film centers on a mysterious new boy called Ahmet who joins nine-year-old Alexa’s school. As Alexa learns that he is a refugee, separated from his family, she will do anything she can to help. With the adults out of the way, Alexa and her school friends come up with a daring plan to reunite Ahmet with his family – the start of an adventure that will take them all the way to Buckingham Palace. The film is penned by “A Street Cat Named Bob” screenwriter Tim John. Adam Rolston and David Braithwaite at Studio Pictures are producing. Nicola Pearcey of Picnik Entertainment and Paul Grindey are executive producing. Casting director is BAFTA nominee Carolyn McLeod.

K.J. Yossman Skin is a subject Israeli-American director Guy Nattiv touches on frequently in his work. He has directed no fewer than two (unrelated) films titled “Skin,” one feature-length, one short. The former, which premiered in Toronto in 2018, saw Jamie Bell win rave reviews as a white supremacist who tortuously has his tattoos lasered off after managing to break away from the Neo-Nazi cult that raised him. The latter, which Nattiv produced alongside his wife, Jaime Ray Newman, won the Oscar for live action short in 2019. Now Nattiv returns with “Golda,” his first feature since Toronto and another character study, this time of Israel’s fourth prime minister, Golda Meir, who is played by Helen Mirren. The film, which also stars Liev Schreiber and Camille Cottin, is set during the 1973 Yom Kippur war, when a coalition of Arab states launched a surprise attack on Israel on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

WestEnd Films has acquired world rights to Untitled Judo, a political thriller co-directed by Guy Nattiv (Skin, Golda) and actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Holy Spider).