Leo Barraclough Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AGC International, the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, will launch sales on the supernatural thriller “Late Night With the Devil” at the American Film Market in Santa Monica on Halloween. The film, a nightmarishly entertaining ode to the talk shows and horror movies of the 1970s, won the best screenplay prize at Sitges Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Leading German film and TV group Telepool, which is owned by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook, has restructured the leadership of its world sales and distribution arm Global Screen. Julia Weber, its long-time head of sales and acquisitions, is leaving, with Brianne Bonney becoming head of TV sales. Yoko Higuchi-Zitzmann, CEO at Telepool, commented: “With her talent, charisma and excellent taste for international titles, Julia Weber has successfully shaped Global Screen for many years and has represented the Telepool brand perfectly to all our partners around the world.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has revealed a raft of deals for key territories for Ramata-Toulaye Sy‘s feature film debut, “Banel & Adama,” which played in competition in Cannes and makes its North American premiere in Toronto. Variety reviewed it as “a dreamlike debut” in May. The film just won the Melbourne International Film Festival’s top prize, the Bright Horizons Award.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Adriano Valerio’s documentary “Casablanca,” which will world premiere on Thursday at Venice Days, has been acquired by Salaud Morisset for world sales. Variety has been given an exclusive clip from the film.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Cinemalovers has acquired all rights in Germany and Austria for “Mami Wata,” which world premiered in the World Cinema – Dramatic section of the Sundance Film Festival, and won the cinematography award. The film, written and directed by C.J. “Fiery” Obasi, with cinematography by Lílis Soares, is based on West African mermaid folklore and mythology.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing is this year’s Guest of Honor at IDFA, which holds its 36th edition from Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam. IDFA is also honoring filmmaker and artist Peter Greenaway with a Lifetime Achievement Award, a selective retrospective and an extensive on-stage talk.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The jury for the Docu Talents From the East Award, presented Sunday as part of CineLink Industry Days at the Sarajevo Film Festival, split the award between two projects: “A Picture to Remember” by Ukrainian director Olga Chernykh and producer Regina Maryanovska-Davidzon, and the Czech-Slovak co-production “Chronicle” by Martin Kollar. The award comes with a cash prize of $5,000. Eight documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe, planned for theatrical release during the next 12 months, were presented in the program, which is curated by the Ji.hlava Intl.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Picture Tree Intl. has picked up “Woodland” (“Wald”), written and directed by Elisabeth Scharang, which has its world premiere in the Centrepiece section at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film’s trailer has also just been launched.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Vienna-based sales agent Square Eyes has boarded Tana Gilbert’s feature debut “Malqueridas” ahead of its world premiere as part of Venice’s International Critics’ Week. The documentary was shot entirely on clandestine cell phones by the inmates of a women’s prison in Chile. ” ‘Malqueridas’ forms a collective memory of this often abandoned community, and shows how these mothers – and their love – withstand the trials of life in jail, far from family and loved ones,” according to a press statement. “In prison, they find affection in other partners who share their situation as mutual support among these women becomes a form of resistance and empowerment.”

Marta Balaga Before Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” there was “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story.” “Mattel did pay a visit to our office,” said acclaimed producer Christine Vachon at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Back in 1987, she was helping out on the Todd Haynes and Cynthia Schneider-produced movie. The now-banned film, dedicated to Carpenter’s tragic life and her untimely passing, featured dolls instead of actors. “Todd bought all these toys in garage sales. There were Barbies, but also all these Barbie rip-offs, so he was able to prove to Mattel that it was off brand,” Vachon said in conversation with Variety international features editor Leo Barraclough.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The 10th edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market, organized as part of the Venice Film Festival’s industry program Venice Production Bridge, has selected 62 projects in the final stages of development and funding. Filmmakers taking projects to Venice include Jim Sheridan, an Oscar nominee with “In America,” “In the Name of the Father” and “My Left Foot”; Annemarie Jacir, whose credits include Cannes’ “Salt of This Sea,” Berlin’s “When I Saw You” and Locarno’s “Wajib”; Aisling Walsh, who directed “Maudie” with Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, and “Elizabeth Is Missing” with Glenda Jackson; and Kim Mordaunt, who won best debut at Berlin with “The Rocket.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Aya Films has acquired U.K. rights to “Mami Wata,” which world premiered in the World Cinema – Dramatic section of the Sundance Film Festival, and won the Cinematography Award. Variety is debuting the teaser exclusively ahead of the film’s appearance in the Horizons section of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Aya Films will release the film in the U.K. in the fall. Dekanalog will release the film theatrically in North America in the fall as well. International sales are handled by Alief. The producer is Oge Obasi for Fiery Film Company Ltd. Brett Walker, president of Alief, said Justine Atkinson of Aya Films “showed the most passion, determination, flexibility and marketing know how above everyone else in her territory.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The board of the European Film Academy – the organization behind the European Film Awards – has decided to restructure board membership for 2024. The change will ensure an equal voice for different parts of Europe in strategic decisions. From the upcoming elections onwards, representatives on the board will be chosen from 15 regions in Europe. The move is designed to give a more equal distribution of voices from across Europe on the board. The restructuring will take place in two stages, allowing current board members elected in December 2022 for a two-year period to finish their mandate until the end of 2024.

Ben Croll Without a market component, the Monte-Carlo Television Festival has nevertheless built out and bulked up its industry section with each passing edition. More than anything, the move came out of sheer practicality, says executive director Cécile Menoni. “We realized that the professionals who were already present could benefit from certain professional content,” Menoni explains. “The idea was to involve the many people who were already in attendance. To federate the juries, nominees and journalists, and to convey their overall vision of cotemporary industry concerns.” This year’s festival business program runs from June 17 – 19, beginning with a conversation moderated by Variety’s Leo Barraclough that will find Amazon Studio’s Rola Bauer and executive producer Edward Ornelas discussing the challenges and opportunities, casting choices and artistic ambitions of the festival’s opening series, “Harlan Corben’s Shelter.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Charlie Harper,” starring Emilia Jones from Oscar-winning film “Coda,” has been sold to multiple international territories. The film will be directed by Tom Dean and Mac Eldridge from a script written by Dean. Toby Wallace (“Babyteeth,” FX’s “Pistol”) will star opposite Jones. The film has been sold to Germany/Austria (Tobis), France (SND), Japan (Kinoshita), Australia/New Zealand (Roadshow), Spain (TriPictures), Scandinavia (SF Studios), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Israel (Forum Film), South Africa (Empire), Latin America (Sun), Portugal (NOS), Greece (Odeon), Middle East (Front Row), Benelux (The Searchers), Baltics (ACME), and Eastern Europe (Unicorn).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sumerian has acquired the North American rights to brutal coming-of-age story “Mascot,” which had its world premiere in January at Slamdance, and its international premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam the same month. Sumerian is planning a limited theatrical release this year under the English title “Fortunate Son.” The pickup marks the second acquisition for Sumerian’s new film and streaming division, which launched this year. Sumerian founder Ash Avildsen said the film is “a dark, brutally authentic and beautifully shot independent film centered around troubled youth in unorthodox households. It will undoubtedly strike a nerve with audiences who appreciate gritty arthouse drama, as it did with me.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members. The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s KVIFF, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kirsten Niehuus, CEO at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, which funds films and TV series production in the Berlin region, and Simone Baumann, managing director of German Films, which promotes and supports the release of German films abroad, welcomed a wide array of guests to their garden party at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. Three Medienboard-funded films are in this year’s Competition: Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero,” and U.S. helmer Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City.” Niehuus told Variety: “Those are three very different productions, but it shows the spectrum [of films] that Medienboard supports.” Tunisian films, like “Four Daughters,” need international co-production funding to get made, she said, and “we believe in world cinema, so were very happy [to back it].” Hausner is “one of the most impressive female filmmakers [in the world], and I think there should be more female filmmakers on the Croisette and every other ‘A’ festival,” she said. “Asteroid City” is “the best of American arthouse filmmaking; very stylish, with a great narrative – so we love it,” she said.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor K5 Media Group has rebooted its international sales arm, K5 Intl., recruiting five industry veterans. It will sell and distribute eight to 10 new titles a year, across both film and TV. In its former incarnation, K5 Intl., which was founded by Oliver Simon and Daniel Baur, represented premium film titles like “ANON,” directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Amanda Seyfried and Clive Owen; Cannes competition title “Paterson,” directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Adam Driver; and Academy Award nominee “Land of Mine,” directed by Martin Zandvliet. K5 Intl. will be represented by its partners in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Berlin and Cologne.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Variety and Gotham Film and Media Institute kicked off the Cannes Film Festival in style, bringing together entertainment industry insiders and festival attendees for a welcome party at the newly revamped Carlton Hotel. The outdoor courtyard was filled with producers, executives and financiers and other Hollywood players, including Tom Bernard and Michael Barker, Martin Scorsese’s daughter Francesca, FilmNation’s founder Glen Basner, Cinetic Media boss John Sloss, CAA’s Ben Kramer and Black Bear International’s John Friedberg.  At the event, Leonine Studios was honored with the International Achievement in Film Award, a recognition designed to spotlight the honoree’s recent achievements. The German production, licensing and distribution company was formed by Fred Kogel in 2019 and established itself as one of Europe’s biggest movie buyers. It’s picked up more than 40 feature films, such as “Hunger Games,” “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Knives Out.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Germany’s leading independent film distributor Leonine Studios and A24 are partnering to set up joint label A24 | Leonine Studios, which will distribute films in Germany and Austria. The first films to be released under the new banner are the newly acquired titles “Wizards!” by David Michôd, starring Orlando Bloom, Naomi Scott and Pete Davidson, and Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw,” with Lily James, Harris Dickinson, Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White. The new label builds on the companies’ collaboration on multi-Oscar winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which was released by Leonine on April 28, 2022, and garnered more than 380,000 admissions in Germany and Austria.

William Earl Variety will present four conversations centered on global incentives and filming at Cannes Film Festival at the American Pavilion on Saturday, May 20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Panelists from Spain, Hungary, Poland and Film Alula will participate in conversations moderated by Variety reporters John Hopewell, Leo Barraclough and Nick Vivarelli. The panels will highlight each of the region’s facilities, incentives, and filming community. Guests of the conversations will include producers, sales agents, distributors and creatives looking to learn about the different filming opportunities in these regions. Juan Manuel Guimeráns from the General Secretary Spain Film Commission will speak on the Spain Location panel. Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Madants producer; Kamila Morgisz, head of film production and film project development at the Polish Film Institute; and Martin Moszkowicz, chairman of the executive board at Constantin Film will discuss production in Poland. Csaba Káel, film commissioner and chairman of the National Film Institute and Ildiko Kemeny, CEO/producer of Pioneer Stillking Films will speak about filming in Hungary. Charlene Deleon-Jones, executive director, Alula, will speak on Saudi Arabia production opportunities.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Taskovski Films, the London-based world film sales company, has picked up “Grasshopper Republic,” which will have its world premiere in the International Competition at Visions du Réel documentary festival in Switzerland. Filmed by Daniel McCabe over the course of three seasons in Uganda, “Grasshopper Republic” follows a grasshopper trapping team in verité style as these modern-day prospectors push into remote forests seeking their fortune by capturing this elusive prey. We witness massive generators being hauled up collapsing mudbanks. Light posts are erected with chemically treated bulbs, casting a lurid neon green pall over the tree canopy, irresistibly attracting the swarm to their corrugated iron traps.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor ZDF Studios, the commercial arm of German broadcaster ZDF, is to create the position of director international content partnerships with effect from May 1. The position will be taken by Jeffrey Haverkamp. The core tasks of this position, which has an interface between ZDF Studios and ZDF, will include initiatives to strengthen ZDF’s international programming partnerships, the exploration and initiation of framework and partnership agreements with new international programming partners of ZDF, and the evaluation of current programming offers with regard to the broadcaster’s programming needs. The position is located in the acquisitions and co-productions department, which provides services for ZDF. For the ZDF Studios Group, the creation of the new role is also intended to generate additional impetus for the distribution business from the development and expansion of international content partnerships.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka will star in a new German original series for Prime Video to be produced by Bldundtonfabrik (btf). The series is due to appear on the platform next year. Further details on the show have yet to be announced. “Anke Engelke and Bastian Pastewka are a real dream team in front of the camera. Viewers can look forward to their first series project together on Prime Video,” said Philip Pratt, head of German originals for Prime Video. The series joins a lineup of German originals that includes “We Children from Bahnhof Zoo,” “Deutschland 89” and “LOL: Last One Laughing.” Engelke, who is best known for her comedy roles but also appears in dramas, has recently been seen in “Kurzschluss,” “Der Onkel” and “Eingeschlossene Gesellschaft.” Among her shows that took German Television Awards were best comedy for “Ladykracher” (2002) and best entertainment show for “Wer stiehlt mir die Show” (2021).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Angela Schanelec’s “Music,” which will have its world premiere on Feb. 21 in competition at the Berlinale, has debuted its trailer with Variety. The film, which stars Aliocha Schneider and Agathe Bonitzer, is freely inspired by the myth of Oedipus. International sales are handled by Shellac. Found at birth abandoned on a stormy night in the Greek mountains, Jon is taken in and adopted, without having known his father or mother. As a young man, he meets Iro, a warden in the prison where he is incarcerated after a deadly tragic accident. She seems to seek out his presence, takes care of him, records music for him.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Six-time Primetime Emmy award-winner Frank Doelger, whose credits include “Game of Thrones,” “The Swarm,” “John Adams” and “Rome,” and Intaglio Films, a joint venture between Beta Film and ZDF Studios, have started production on surveillance drama thriller “Concordia,” set in an experimental utopian community. ZDF, MBC, France Télévisions and Hulu Japan have signed up as partners for the six-part series, shot in English and directed by Barbara Eder (“The Swarm,” “Barbarians,” “Cop Stories”). Doelger helms as executive producer and showrunner, alongside the executive producers Ute Leonhardt, Rafferty Thwaites, Jan Wünschmann and Robert Franke. Shooting takes place at various locations in Rome, Northern Italy, and Leipzig in Germany.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, which runs Oct. 25-30, has unveiled Opus Bonum, its international competition section. The 16-strong lineup includes eight world premieres. Andrea Kleine’s “The End Is Not What I Thought It Would Be,” from the U.S., is set during the pandemic. Kleine, the author of novels “Calf” and “Eden,” is seen performing stand-up comedy, monologues and music in a theater without an audience. Emily Allen’s U.S. film “Cisco Kid” features a young woman living in the middle of a vast desert in the American West, in the ruins of a town where the last of the oddball inhabitants struggle to survive.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. director-producer Laura Poitras, who won an Oscar and an Emmy with Edward Snowden film “Citizenfour,” and recently took the Golden Lion at Venice with opioid epidemic pic “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” will be the Guest of Honor at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. The 35th edition of the festival takes place from Nov. 9 to 20. Poitras will be honored at IDFA with the Retrospective and Top 10 programs, in which she curates 10 films. The Top 10 program includes reflections on political imprisonment (“Hunger” by Steve McQueen; “This Is Not a Film” by Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb), incarceration and psychiatry (Frederick Wiseman’s “Titicut Follies”), and genocide (Claude Lanzmann’s “Shoah”). As part of the Top 10, Poitras will be in conversation with several of her selected filmmakers during the festival’s public talks program.

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.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The organizers of the annual London TV Screenings announced Thursday that next year’s event – the third edition – will run from Feb. 27 to March 3. As well as the five distributors that founded the event, participants will include 17 others, such as the international distribution arms of NBC, Paramount and Warner Bros. The first in-person event earlier this year, which followed the online event in 2021, was attended by more than 500 international buyers. At the third edition, the founding distributors from the inaugural event in 2020 – All3Media Intl., Banijay Rights, Entertainment One, Fremantle and ITV Studios – are to be joined by a further 17 partners, with others likely to take part.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Feature documentary “The Ghost of Richard Harris,” which premieres Sunday at the Venice Film Festival, looks to answer the question: “Who was Richard Harris?” The film also contains the revelation that Harris was offered the role of Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” movies, but chose to take the part of Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” franchise instead. Variety spoke to director Adrian Sibley and Richard Harris’ son Jared Harris – a distinguished actor himself, and one of the originators of the project – about how the documentary came to be made. Sibley first broached the subject of making a film about Richard Harris some 20 years ago with the man himself, who responded: “I’ll do it, but only if I can tell the truth half the time,” Jared Harris recalls.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe 61st Monte-Carlo Television Festival opened Friday with a phalanx of stars and TV industry execs walking the blue carpet for the event, attended by Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife Princess Charlene. The opening screening was the world premiere of thriller “Last Light,” produced by MGM Intl.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorMads Mikkelsen, seen recently in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” is to headline the action spy thriller “The Black Kaiser,” directed by Jonas Akerlund (“Lords of Chaos,” “Clark”). The movie is written by Jayson Rothwell and Mikkelsen, based on the Dark Horse graphic novel “Polar” by Victor Santos.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor“1341 Frames of Love and War,” which world premieres in the Berlinale Special section of the Berlin Film Festival, has debuted its trailer with Variety. World sales are being handled by Reservoir Docs, excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, which are being sold by the filmmakers.The film is a documentary portrait of one of the world’s leading war photographers, Israel’s Micha Bar-Am.