Romanian Filmmakers Call on Head of Romanian Film Center to Step Down

Disney has tapped Strange World filmmaker Qui Nguyen to pen a Society of Explorers and Adventurers film, based on its theme park activation of the same name, with Ryan Reynold’s Maximum Effort aboard to produce.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton’s HiddenLight Productions has named industry veteran Brenda Robinson as its first head of film finance and inclusion strategies. Robinson, an entertainment attorney, financier and producer, will be responsible for bringing new partners to HiddenLight’s slate of productions across film and television. Robinson’s appointment represents a number of developments in HiddenLight’s strategy, including the use of grant and equity funding to develop and produce projects that the company takes to market later in the production cycle. It also signals a desire to tell a wider spectrum of stories from a diversity of voices.

“It is nearly impossible to sum up a career of three decades in a few sentences,” said Fithian in a statement. “I will leave that to others.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin called on fellow council members Nury Martinez and Kevin de Leon to resign after the revelation of a leaked audio in which Martinez makes racist remarks about Bonin’s son.

A man was shot in the head late Wednesday night at a Philadelphia recreation center and is fighting for his life.  Police officers responded to the Stenton Park Recreation Center around 9:30 p.m. and found a gunshot victim with a wound to the back of the head, Fox Philadelphia reported.

Laying it all out on the table! The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars are reliving the drama during their season 12 reunion – and no one is holding back. 

Laying it all out on the table! The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars are reliving the drama during their season 12 reunion – and no one is holding back. 

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film & TV Festival’s long-time director Janet Pierson will now shift to a new emeritus role and will turn over leadership of the festival to her deputy Claudette Godfrey.Pierson, who has led SXSW Film & TV for the past 15 years, will now become Director Emeritus, which will still allow her to contribute as a programmer for the 2023 festival, and where she will also be honored by SXSW for her contributions to the festival and entertainment space over the years. Godfrey, currently the fest’s programming director, is now the new VP, Director of Film & TV, stepping into Pierson’s shoes.

Flanders Image, the promotional arm of the VAF film fund of Belgium’s Flemish-speaking community, has unveiled the 80 projects selected for its annual CONNEXT showcase, running as a hybrid event from October 10-24.

Manori Ravindran International Editor BFI festivals director Tricia Tuttle is stepping down from the role after 10 years. This month’s edition of the London Film Festival will be her last in the post. Tuttle has, for the last five years, led as director the BFI London Film Festival as well as BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. She was previously deputy head of festivals from 2013 to 2017. She will remain in the role through to early 2023, while the BFI recruits for a new festivals leader. Tuttle leaves the festival during what’s shaping up to be one of its strongest editions yet: the festival has more world premieres than ever this year, with headline films including Matthew Warchus’ “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” and Asif Kapadia’s “Creature.”

Tricia Tuttle will step down as BFI Festivals Director following this year’s London Film Festival, the BFI announced today. She will remain in post through to early 2023 while the BFI recruits a replacement. 

EXCLUSIVE: Eric Dean Seaton, who has directed episodes of Superman & Lois, Batman and Black-ish among others, is set to direct the first episode of BET+’s upcoming dark comedy Average Joe, starring Deon Cole. The series, which received a cast contingent script-to-series order in February, hails from Robb Cullen and McG.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran producer Richard Salvatore has been appointed Head of US Film Production and Distribution at Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment (ILBE) as the Italian company looks to grow its stateside footprint.

The Rome Film Festival has unveiled its first line-up under the new management team of former Rai executive Paola Malanga as artistic director and Cineteca di Bologna director Gian Luca Farinelli as president, who were both appointed to their roles last March.

period drama “Corsage,” starring Vicky Krieps as 19th-century Austrian Empress Elisabeth; Lukas Dhont’s tender coming-of-age film “Close,” the Belgian selection; Jerzy Skolimowski’s nearly wordless “EO,” a road movie from the point of view of a donkey that was submitted by Poland; and South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s stylish crime story/love story hybrid, “Decision to Leave.”Other films that could be positioned to do well include the German selection, Edward Berger’s harrowing new version of the classic antiwar novel “All Quiet on the Western Front,” a Netflix release; Spain’s “Alcarras,” a drama by Carla Simon that won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival; and “Our Brothers” from director Rachid Boucharev, who has represented Algeria seven previous times in the Oscar race, landing three of the country’s five nominations.As usual, the rule that allows an Academy-approved body from each country to choose that country’s Oscar submission has led to some surprises.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The 17th annual Rome Film Festival will fete James Ivory with a career honor, a mini retrospective and the Italian launch of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s personal new documentary “A Cooler Climate.” Ivory is expected in Rome to receive the award and present the doc about his life as a traveler that takes its cue from boxes of film the director shot during a life-changing trip to Afghanistan in 1960. The film premieres beforehand at the New York Film Festival. Rome’s Ivory mini-retrospective will comprise his films “Maurice”; “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; “The Remains of the Day”; and “A Room With a View.”

It has only been three days since Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest in Windsor Castle, but a new report is already revealing intimate details of how the monarch felt about her beloved grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, choosing to step away from their duties as senior royals. In an excerpt from "The New Royals" shared with Vanity Fair, author and royal expert Katie Nicholl details the toll their departure had on the queen, who was allegedly "deeply hurt by Harry's decision to leave his family and the country." The two officially announced their role change in January 2020.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Russell Crowe will be a guest of honor of the Rome Film Festival’s independently run Alice in the City section where his second directorial effort, the thriller “Poker Face” – in which he stars opposite Liam Hemsworth – is set to have its world premiere. Set in the world of high-stakes betting, “Poker Face” stars Crowe as tech billionaire and gambler Jake Foley, who offers his best friends a chance to win more money than they’ve ever dreamed of. But to play, they’ll have to give up the one thing they spend their lives trying to keep – their secrets. As the game unfolds, the long-time pals will discover what is really at stake.

A quicker response from prison staff may have saved the life of an inmate who was found unconscious in his cell, an inquest heard.