Rock En Seine adds more acts to its 2022 line-up

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentRussia’s Roskino, the government-backed advocacy organization for the nation’s film and TV industry, has been barred from participating in Series Mania, the international TV showcase that will unfold in Northern France next month, Variety has confirmed.The Russian org was expected to host a presentation of buzzed-about content at Series Mania’s industry showcase in Lille, which runs from March 18-25. The festival disinvited Roskino after the French culture ministry vetoed its presence at at the event in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The news of Series Mania’s stand against Roskino was first reported by Screen.Roskino has in recent years ramped up its presence at key industry events, reflecting the emergence of new generation of Russian filmmakers on the international scene.

UEFA have voted to move this season's Champions League final to Paris as a result of Russia making the decision to invade Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Shares plunged Thursday ahead of the open as geopolitical conflict deepened with Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, dampening investor sentiment. Execs from Discovery touched on it in a conference call with analysts following earnings this morning.

This Morning host Holly Willoughby announced a big last-minute change to the ITV daytime TV schedules amid the news that Russia has invaded Ukraine. Thursday 24 February's episode of This Morning was running five minutes behind schedule, with an important news bulletin about the rising tension in Ukraine taking its place instead.

Download Festival has announced the latest additions to its 2022 line-up, with Skindred and Yonaka among the new names.The festival will return from June 10-12 at Leicestershire’s Donington Park. KISS, Iron Maiden and Biffy Clyro are due to headline.Today (February 24) festival organisers confirmed that Skindred, Yonaka, Alestorm, Banks Arcade, Bimini, Dana Dentata, Dirty Honey, Heriot, Kid Brunswick, Orbit Culture, Red Fang, The Velveteers and Will Haven have joined the line-up.It follows a previous announcement last September that A Day To Remember , Mastodon, Creeper, Shinedown, Black Veil Brides, Code Orange, Ice Nine Kills and more had been added to the line-up.

“Aziz Ansari is an incredible talent and, with this script, he brings a singular combination of insightful humor and pathos,” Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with him on his feature directorial debut which is long overdue, and of course working with the genius Bill Murray once again.”Taylor Friedman and Cameron Chidsey are overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures.

Aziz Ansari (Master of None, Parks and Recreation) is making his feature directorial debut with an untitled dramedy for Searchlight, based on the 2014 non-fiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by surgeon Atul Gawande, in which he’ll star alongside Oscar nominee Bill Murray (The French Dispatch, Lost in Translation), Deadline has confirmed.

The first ever Sands: International Film Festival, set to be held in Scotland’s St Andrews, has revealed its line-up.

Gail Halvorsen was a United States Air Force pilot known as the “Candy Bomber” for dropping candy over Berlin from his airplane during the Berlin airlift in 1948.  Gail Halvorsen joined the Air Force as a pilot during World War II, serving as a transport pilot in the South Atlantic. After World War II, Berlin was divided into four sections occupied by the United States, France, England, and Russia.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe relentless 15-year hunt for Adolf Eichmann, the notorious high-ranking Nazi criminal who fled Germany at the end of WW2 and hid in Argentina with his family, will be charted in a thriller series by Rose Bosch (“1492: Conquest of Paradise,” “The Roundup”).Titled “The Capture,” the six-part English-language series is being produced by Marc Missonnier and Christine de Bourbon-Busset at Lincoln TV, the Paris-based banner behind “Mirages” and “Cheyenne & Lola.” The script is now completed and the veteran producers are getting ready to introduce the project to potential partners, including broadcasters and streamers.Bosch, a former investigative journalist who is passionate about history, previously wrote the script of Ridley Scott’s Christopher Columbus film “1492: Conquest of Paradise,” as well as penned and directed “The Roundup” which depicted the infamous Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv) in Paris. The 2010 movie, which sheds light on the lesser-known mass arrest of Jews, including children, by French police in 1942 and their deportation in concentration camps, is still being studied in schools on top of being featured at the U.S.

Oh, this is love!!

Christopher Vourlias Germany’s Sola Media has closed a wave of international sales for the animated feature “Finnick,” produced by Riki Group, which will be released by Sony Pictures Russia in Russia and CIS on March 24.The CGI-animated comedy follows the adventures of 13-year-old Christine, who befriends the young prankster Finnick – one of the furry and usually invisible beings known as Finns. The odd couple has to team up as detectives to solve the mysterious events happening in their city.The Stuttgart-based sales agency has inked deals with Eagle Pictures (Italy), Independent Films (Benelux), Koch Films (German/Austria/Switzerland), Vertigo Releasing (U.K.), Tanweer (Greece), Selmer Media (Scandinavia), Myndform (Iceland), Rialto (Australia and New Zealand), and Black Sheep Films (South Africa), and holds exclusive distribution rights in multiple additional territories.