Samuel Theis’ ‘Softie’ Takes Top Prize at Thessaloniki Film Festival

Liza Foreman Opening this year’s Horizons of Arab Cinema section at the Cairo Film Festival, the omnibus film “Becoming” shows just how far the Saudi filmmaking community has come in supporting female filmmakers.Playing in an Out-of-Competition slot, directors Sara Mesfer, Fatima Al Banawi, Jawaher Alamri, Hind Al Fahhad and Noor Alameer collaborated to create this 70-minute fiction film, which seeks to amplify female filmmaking visions from the region.The filmmakers looked to “explore the

EXCLUSIVE: Anna Chazelle has signed on to write, direct and exec produce an untitled horror film based on the Greek legend of Medusa for Fangoria Studios.

Naman Ramachandran Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFor the upcoming 43rd edition of the Cairo Film Festival, which is the grande dame of Arab film events, fest chief Mohamed Hefzy and his team have assembled a rich mix of top notch Arab and international titles, including the world premiere of Tunisian star Dhafer L’Abidine’s directorial debut “Ghodwa” and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) premiere of “House of Gucci.” They have also recruited high-caliber talents and industry personalities such

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Torino Film Festival, the pre-eminent event for young directors and indie cinema — now being revamped after going virtual due to the pandemic — will somewhat symbolically kick off its upcoming 39th edition with the international premiere of “Sing 2” with director Garth Jennings in tow.“It’s a hymn to going back into movie theaters,” says Torino artistic director Stefano Francia di Celle on choosing the animated musical comedy, featuring more

A scene from I Am Samuel, the closing night film

Naman Ramachandran Italy’s Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes winning film “Cinema Paradiso,” will preside over the features competition jury at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec. 6-15).

George Bird Two of the most acclaimed climbing films of the year, Max Lowe’s “Torn” and The Alpinist, from Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, have taken big awards at this year’s Kendal Mountain Film Festival, held in the U.K.’s Lake District.Its hybrid edition proved once more a dazzling showcase of mountain and sports films whose subjects, themes and emotions went far beyond the adrenalin-rush thrills of reportage.Awards for the festival’s main international film competition were unveiled

The New Frontiers section of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival will be presented both in person, at a new Park City venue, and via a remote VR platform, the Sundance Institute announced today.

Will Tizard ContributorLife on the road and fantasy worlds held sway at the 29th edition of the EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival on Saturday, winning big after a week of scaled down but enthusiastic industry events, seminars and screenings celebrating cinematography.“C’mon C’mon,” shot by Robbie Ryan and directed by Mike Mills, won this year’s Golden Frog.

Marta Balaga Acclaimed cinematographers and ASC members Michael Chapman and Allen Daviau, who both died last year, were the focus of a legacy panel at EnergaCamerimage Film Festival on Monday, led by the likes of Lawrence Sher (“Joker”), Xavier Pérez Grobet (“Watchmen”), Amy Vincent (‘Footloose”) and Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”).Nominated for five Oscars for his work on “Bugsy,” “Avalon,” “Empire of the Sun,” “The Color Purple” and “E.T.

Christopher Vourlias France’s Manny Films, Austria’s Nabis Filmgroup and Bulgaria’s Are Digital have boarded Sofia Exarchou’s “Animal,” the follow-up to the Greek director’s San Sebastian prize winner “Park.”“Animal” takes place under the hot Greek sun and amidst the sweaty nights of an eternal summer.

Academy Awards.The best director award went to Venezuelan filmmaker Lorenzo Vigas, whose Mexican movie “La Caja” (The Box) is about a teenager who travels to collect the remains of his father and who begins to doubt his father’s demise.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Southern Spain’s annual showcase of standout recent European auteur cinema, the Seville European Film Festival, wrapped its 18th edition Saturday, Nov.

As host of NBC’s public affairs program Meet the Press, Chuck Todd generally can’t stray far from D.C. But for part of this week, anway, he’s venturing to the other coast.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Chris Stapleton was the big winner with six trophies including song and album of the year and Luke Combs claimed the biggest prize with entertainer of the year at the Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday night.Stapleton won song and single of the year for “Starting Over” and album of the year for his record of the same name.

NEW YORK -- Fox News Channel's prime-time lineup gets plenty of attention, but, lately, the network's viewers have been drawn to an early-bird special.In October, Fox's “The Five” eclipsed every show on cable news in popularity for the first time ever, the Nielsen company said. That's highly unusual for a program that airs at 5 p.m.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Middle East premiere of British director Joe Wright’s dazzling romantic drama “Cyrano” will open the Red Sea Film Festival, which is Saudi Arabia’s first full-fledged film festival and market with international ambitions.The ambitious event, which is a key plank of the kingdom’s plans to diversify its oil-based economy and become a prominent Middle East moviemaking hub – following the 2017 removal of its religion-related ban on cinema – is set to